Review of "101 Things You Didn't Know about Irish History"

Writing this review of the non-fiction paperback titled, "101 Things You Didn't Know about Irish History," written by Ryan Hackney and Amy Hackney Blackwell, is a challenge.

If I tried to entice readers of this blog with the entertaining facts from the book, I'd be having to say, "Spoiler Alert" all the time.

Still, it is a book you should read.

Before I read the book, I knew some parts of Irish history, but I probably knew "enough to be dangerous," as the saying goes, because I could conflate causes and effects and confuse places and times. So as not to mess it up, I tried not to talk about things I wasn't sure of, and that was most of Ireland's history.

Now, I'm not an expert from reading this book.  One book could never do that. However, I have a better appreciation of the history of Ireland and a handy reference book so I can find the right slot when I'm asked in the future to focus upon any part of Irish history.

I admire that the book deals with the sectarian divides that rend Ireland, especially in Northern Ireland, with even handed explanations and a plethora of facts. Maybe the authors' American perspectives have served them well. Maybe the authors are removed enough from the present day conflicts to sort through all the conflicting Irish viewpoints and stay neutral. Whatever the cause, the result is refreshing.

The coverage of topics is wide and not just about battles and dates. The important persons are all included. However, the common people and a wide range of institutions are related as well. The times discussed vary from the end of the most recent ice age up to the present time at the book's writing (the book's copyright is 2007, and is noted to have been abridged or adapted from the Everything Irish History Book copyrighted 2004 by the same two authors).

The format of the book is helpful.  There are 101 labeled segments or chapters in 236 pages, so the average is a little over 2 pages per segment.  The pages are on the small side, but the fonts are clear.  Reading a segment can definitely be fit into the small spaces of a busy person's day.  Still, the flow of the topics builds, so those who want to read a lot at once won't feel slighted.

There are almost no illustrations.  I think they could have added a particular illustration: a timeline to graphically illustrate the topics discussed in the segments.

My wife says I'm such and engineer, but personally I find the use of bulleted or numbered lists is relatively sparse. The bulleted list on Oliver Cromwell is a devastating indictment.  More use of these lists may have helped organize and relate thoughts.

The mention of the Irish language (Gaeilge) throughout and the inclusion of a very small Primer of the Irish language (and another of Irish Proverbs and Blessings), will help explain to the uninitiated that Ireland has another language from English and a long cultural history.

I would have been okay with a longer book if it expanded he discussion of the Troubles, the peace process, and the modern Irish politics.  Or maybe these authors would do that in a new book?

My final observation is that the entire book, although non-fiction, does show that the authors did inherit the Irish knack for story telling, and there are some doozies they tell. Whether you read it under a fluorescent light in a hotel room or near the glow from a peat fire, enjoy the stories of a real country coming to grips with the past and the future.

Irish Advent Calendar in Irish (Gaeilge) and English (Bearla)

There is an online Irish Advent Calendar here:

http://www.facebook.com/IrishAdvent

Story behind this Irish Advent Calendar:

Thanks mostly to my wife, we have enjoyed reading an Advent Calendar every year leading up to Christmas.

Several years ago I got the idea to make an Advent Calendar in Irish. Like normal, I did not do anything with the idea.

Yet, I didn't forget the idea.

A year later, maybe more, I mentioned my idea to Pastor Jim and I think to my own pastor, Pastor Karyl. Later, Pastor Karyl, gave me an Advent Calendar that is basically like a trifold card.  I think it's the one that has a baby angel with halo and wings, standing by one lamb and holding another lamb, on the cover. Inside there are conifers behind a scene of animals and cute kids surrounding the baby Jesus in a manger.  There are little doors with animals or sprigs of holly on the doors.  The doors are numbered 1 to 24 and under each opened paper door is a little more of the story in words. Yah, it's very much on the cute side.

How un-tech, eh? A story that unfolds (pun intended) day by day for almost a month.

You might not get the idea until you see the little ones really enjoy opening the doors by number. Hey, at a certain age this is a big achievement! 

I hope to reach that age again.

This September, I started to translate the calendar's phrases and I wrote my version of the Irish right on the card next to each door.

This created some high emotion when my wife thought I was marking up our family Advent Calendar. Hopefully the two calendars are the same, or I owe my wife a new Advent Calendar . . . in English.

Still I knew my translations were pitiful.

Roslyn, Nancy and Jonathan from my online Irish class agreed to help me correct my translations.  I thank them for all their thoughts and hard work.

At about the time the group translation was about to kick off, the thought occurred to me that I wanted to have the English version and Irish version displayed day by day. If I posted or put this Advent Calendar out there, I'd be infringing on the copyright for the version written in English.

I went on a personal crash course on the Advent story, reading different versions of the New Testament Bible and other writings on the Internet.  All this so I could write an original version in English of Advent for use as a calendar.

I learned that the donkey, which everyone is certain is in the story, that Mary rode on from Nazareth to Bethlehem, is not mentioned in the Bible.  Most scholars and others think it makes sense given Mary's advanced stage of pregnancy and the distance, but it's unstated in the Bible.

I also learned there is no inn keeper mentioned.  The statement in the Bible is that there was no room at the inn.  And the Greek word for "inn" might mean "guest room in the back." Some people think that Joseph's whole family was back home for the census, like a government imposed family reunion, and Joseph and Mary came late, so they got to sleep in the room where animals also slept. Either way, Jesus was wrapped and placed in a manger, right?

Speaking of the census, there was a problem with the Greek word for census as it could be translated as "tax."  That and a Jewish scholar thought the purpose of the census was so that a tax could be levied.  A fair number of versions of the Bible say Joseph was going to be Bethlehem to be taxed, don't you know, while most scholars today agree the trip was for a census. 

I feel bad about, that for space reasons and presumably to keep the story devoid of downers and violence, the Advent story in these calendars generally avoids the side plots with Elizabeth bearing John the Baptist and King Herod having all the children in Bethlehem killed.  Still, the good part is that as an adult, that leaves those parts to be discovered and to enrich appreciation of all the characters and the story.

Ideas that have been proferred to me or have occurred to me:

1. The Facebook version could have art along with the story. Vicki gave a couple of images of her artwork to use. Thanks Vicki!

2. Frieda said cloth Advent Calendars used to be made in the Pawling Avenue Methodist Church in Troy, New York, USA.  She suggested there could be an Irish Advent Calendar wall hanging.  It would have 24 pockets and the script for each day would be put on small papers tucked in one per pocket. The design would be open to interpretation, but with some fine sewing, the result should be pretty and suit the purpose.

3. Make this calendar an instrument of peace and reconciliation among the Irish by making the daily messages in three languages: English, Irish (Gaeilge), and Scottish Gaelic. I think the inclusion of all three languages would be very symbolic of the peace that is possible if all the sides of the Irish conflict cooperate. Anyone know of someone fluent in Scottish Gaelic who could help with this project?

4. My dream would be to sell these Irish Advent Calendars, whether on paper or made of cloth, and donate the proceeds to peace makers in Ireland.

5. A bigger dream would be to make Advent Calendar's in multiple languages whereever there are conflicts between different cultures around the world to spread the feeling of peace.

So much for my Irish Advent Calendar saga.  If you have an idea of how to spread the Irish Advent Calendar or Advent Calendars elsewhere, leave a comment to this blog, or contact me at shamrockroad(at symbol here)gmail.com .

Let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas or a merry whatever holiday you celebrate to praise or respect God.

Rod / Ruairí

Irish Advent Calendar

The First Nollaig?

 ⁷And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn.  (Luke 2 )


Most English speakers are used to the word Noel meaning Christmas. The o is long and the second syllable gets the volume stress.

The word Noel, sometimes with different spellings, is a given name as well.

According to Merriam-Webster, the origin of noel is:

French noël Christmas, carol, from Old French Nael (Deu), Noel Christmas, from Latin natalis birthday, from natalis natal

The English word for the original gathering or a display of the holy family in the manger at the time of Jesus the Christ's birth is nativity. It can also refer more generally to the process or circumstances of being born.

Again from Merriam Webster, the origin of nativity is:

Middle English nativite, from Anglo-French nativité, from Medieval Latin nativitat-, nativitas, from Late Latin, birth, from Latin nativus.

Other references tie nativus and natalis to nasci (to be born).

The Irish (Gaeilge) word for Christmas is Nollaig.

Interestingly, Nollaig can also be a person's given name as well.

And to make life interesting, Nollaig is also the Irish name of the final month of the year or December in English.

Nollaig has cousins in other Celtic tongues such as:

Nollaig - Scottish Gaelic
Nollik - Manx
Nadolig - Welsh
Nedelek - Breton
Nadelek - Cornish

The resemblance of Nollaig to Noel and nativity is obvious in the history of the words.

In Old Irish the word for Nollaig was "Notlaic" and this compares to the Latin "natalicia" (for the day of birth), from the verb "(g)nasci" (to be born).

Some say the precursor language to both the Latin and the Celtic tongues was Indo-European and the word for birth in Indo-European was *gen- (to give birth).

Upon first inspection, there seems to be a large difference between words starting with g and words starting with n. However, an author named Joshua Wachuta has put it this way:

The letters gn often simply make the n sound, and this has given rise to cognates that have dropped the g entirely. Consider the word natal, an adjective meaning "of or relating to birth." It shares an obvious relationship to gen- in meaning, but at first glance it bears little resemblance in sound or spelling. Children, however, don't always look like their grandparents. Sometimes it's more useful to compare cousins, like natal and genital. Suddenly the resemblance becomes apparent. The new root, stripped of the g, has given rise to other similar words like nascent, native, and nativity.

And now we can add: words like Noel and Nollaig came from the Indo European *gen-.

Whether you say “Happy Noel to you,” "Feliz Navidad," or “Nollaig shona duit,” we wish you the best in this time of birth and renewal!

Irish Short Films

This post is simply a list of short films in the Irish language on YouTube with English subtitles. They vary in quality and style. However, they have multiple uses. They are uniquely entertaining. They mostly show the most common dialogue words used in Irish. They can help Irish language students learn conversational Irish. If you can read English, you don't have to speak Irish to understand the dialogue. Or even Chinese or French, but you'll see what I mean.

Fíorghael (Irish Language Short)

Féileacán (Irish language short)

Fluent dysphasia - Classic irish language short film

Fluent dysphasia -(part 2)Classic irish language short film

yu ming is ainm dom. full version

Ní Féidir! (Short Irish-language Film with English subtitles) 2011

Identity Crisis (Irish short film with English subtitles) 2001

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An Interview On a Documentary on the Irish Catskills

For an expanded discussion by Reverend Harold Good of reconciliation in Ireland: Click here.