I understand that the work which is being carried out by The Office of Public Works (OPW) has made considerable progress. Wooden oak beams which will support the four floors have been installed and the castle now has a roof for the first time in centuries.

Nenagh Castle is recognised as the finest cylindrical keep in Ireland was built in 1200 Theobald Walter, the founder of the great Butler dynasty of Ormond. It formed the north corner of a pentagonal court with a towered gatehouse on the southern side and strong towers on the north-west and south-east angles. This has now vanished, except for fragments of the gatehouse and east tower, but the keep still stands proud to a height of 100 feet. Its topmost quarter was added about 1860 by the Bishop of Killaloe in emulation of Windsor Castle.

Work on the restoration was recently delayed due to an archaeological find claimed to be of "huge historical significance". The find is believed to include a curtain wall of the 13th century castle and the ruins of a medieval manor house.

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Moneygall is a small village just a few miles from Nenagh and excitement there is now running high with this latest discovery. Up until now, Hillary Clinton would have been favourite to become the next US President with most local people, but I'm afraid with this recent discovery, poor Hillary is now demoted and Obama (or O'Bama as the locals have renamed him) is the preferred favourite around these parts. One local man says that family records indicate he is distantly related to Obama.

Click here to read more.

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I have carried out a lot of work (too numerous and boring to mention) to the house since I bought it a year ago last July. I don’t know why I’m doing this – the house was in perfect condition when I bought it - apart from a few small jobs that really needed attention.

To date, I have put down new floor covering in the kitchen. It’s a pretty large kitchen and I have carpeted half of it to turn it into a nice dining area. The cooking area, I have re floored with wood-effect vinyl.

I am now on my third suite of sitting room furniture. There was a nice suite in the house when I arrived here and as a consequence of my brilliant bargaining skills, I got the vendor to include it in the price of the house. Lucky me!! Lucky him!! I soon discovered that all I had done was saved him the cost of moving it to the rubbish tip. Yes, it looked nice ok but I soon discovered that appearances can be deceiving. While it certainly looked nice and indeed, the armchairs were quite comfortable, I soon noticed that the settee was anything but. I acquired this piece of knowledge by noticing that anyone who sat on it seemed, after a short space of time, to have difficulty disguising their discomfort. I think of Judy, especially, who used to sit on it with her computer when she and Tom were here last year. I’m sorry Judy for your discomfort and, I know, I should have adhered to what you always say- “sit on it first before you buy it”. Really good advice, but then I’m sure you have heard the saying “never look a gift horse in the mouth”.

Anyway, I’m not going to go through the processes that have brought me to acquire the suite I have now. It’s beautiful brown leather and fits the room perfectly. It’s expensive but it hasn’t cost me any more than if I bought it the first day because I have acquired it by a method of “trading up” with the same furniture supplier that I have known for some time. In fact, when I did the math before I bought it, I discovered that after all the trading I am well ahead. And I sat on all the chairs too to ensure their comfort before I had it installed. Thank you Judy for that sound bit of advice (she made me write that).

So, now the furniture is installed and all seems well. One problem!! Now the carpet doesn’t look right, nor do the window curtains. I never particularly liked either of those but I had decided I could live with them but, the installation of the furniture has changed all that. There is only one thing for it now. A complete re design is the order of the day. This is where I recruit some help and who better than my good friend Judy. So with the aid of modern technology, to communicate between Minnesota and Nenagh, we embarked on the plan to give my room a complete makeover.

Out goes the carpet and curtains. My own carefully thought-out ideas for the refurbishment of the room are dismissed politely but firmly. I am now in the hands of a power greater than myself. Pictures of different carpet colours and textures are transmitted across the lines and eventually we choose a nice beige carpet with brown interwoven flecks. This I was reliably told would pick up the colour of the seats. Who am I to argue?

Another family friend, who is of a similar mindset to Judy when it comes to decorating, helped me choose and hang the curtains. They look great!!

Well, the job is now finished and I’m quite pleased with the result. My sincere thanks to Judy and Monica for all your help and expertise.

Oh, I nearly forgot. My Christmas decorations!! Yes, in the midst of all the decorating, I managed to get my Christmas decorating done. My “giant” Christmas tree is now shining brightly in the window and is a beacon to all who pass the way.

Merry Christmas everyone.

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If you would like to see some pictures from my visit to America, please click here

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I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia -Amzanig Jduy huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt........lol...ya.

Hvae yuo got a wniny the pooh lihgt Joe?...Hvae yuo got a pgielt lihgt Joe?

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This legend, seemingly an obvious joke, began circulating on the Internet in mid-1995 and was picked up by the media a few months later. The inclusion of specific details (e.g., the name of Armstrong's neighbour, the date of the press conference on which he revealed the meaning of his remark) apparently led some to believe the farcical story might have some truth to it.
At its most basic level, this tale is a humorous anecdote that plays on the stereotypical portrayal of Jewish wives as reluctant to engage in recreational sex (and especially oral sex). In variant forms of this legend the last name of Neil Armstrong's neighbour is different, but the name used is always a "Jewish-sounding" one, such as Gorsky, Seligman, Schultz, or Klein; the unusual word order employed by the wife in her refusal ("Oral sex you want?") is also a stereotypical speech pattern attributed to Jews. On another level, this legend can be seen as an attempt to humanize a cultural hero by associating him with a story that is both humorous and racy: Neil Armstrong, the world-famous astronaut, is made to seem like a "regular" guy.
Any doubts about the veracity of this legend are laid to rest by the NASA transcripts of the Apollo 11 mission, which record no such statement having been made by Armstrong. Armstrong himself said in late 1995 that he first heard the anecdote delivered as a joke by comedian Buddy Hackett in California.
When the space shuttle Columbia crew completed a repair mission on the Hubble Space Telescope in March 2002, chief repairman John Grunsfeld called out (in homage to this legend) "Good luck, Mr. Hubble" as the telescope drifted off.

Sorry to spoil a good story but I hope you enjoyed it anyway!!
And Yes, I know the picture is Buzz Aldrin.
jw.

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On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words after stepping on the moon, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," were televised to Earth and heard by millions. But just before he re-entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark: "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky." Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good luck, Mr.Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died and so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question.
In 1938, when he was a kid in a small mid-west town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a fly ball, which landed in his neighbor's yard by the bedroom windows.
His neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky. "Sex! You want sex?! You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"

A True story.

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A few months before I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind,he had a special niche. My parents were complimentary instructors: Mom taught me the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to her room and read her books (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home...not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad was as a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in the home, not even for cooking. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis.

He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... and NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you were to walk into my parent's den today, you would find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?.... We just call him, "TV."

**Note: This should be required reading for every household!

** He has a younger sister now. We call her, "computer

Thank you Alfie

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The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich." It is just the opposite.

What do your get for your $160,140?

Naming rights --- First, middle, and last!

Glimpses of God everyday.

Giggles under the covers every night.

More love than your heart can hold.

Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

A hand to hold, usually covered with jam.

A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.

Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney Land, and wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always get treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first date, and first time behind the wheel. You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God.

You have all the power to heal a booboo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

ENJOY YOUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS!!

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Funny I should describe my passage through Cashel in this way because, having been born and reared nearby, Cashel is my home town but having left it forty odd years ago to take up residence in Nenagh, I now just see it as another town en route to Nenagh and home.

Perhaps that statement is not strictly true, because Cashel still holds many memories and fondness for me and, if time permits, I’m usually compelled to linger there for a while.

On this occasion, Friday being a beautiful sunny day, I stopped just on the outskirts of town and got out of the car just to have a walk around and take some pictures of the World famous Rock of Cashel.

I suppose if we live close to a historically-famous structure such as this, and see it every day of our lives, we tend to take it for granted. I, having been born and reared under the shadow of the Rock, thought to myself of the numerous times I passed it by on my way to school or on my way to the town, without a second glance, but what an awe inspiring spectacle it must be to a first-time visitor to the town of Cashel.

Rising 200 feet, the Rock of Cashel - also called St. Patrick's Rock - is a huge outcropping of limestone. And on top of the Rock, visitors today can see what experts call the most significant group of medieval buildings in Ireland.

St. Patrick is said to have come here in A.D 448 to baptize the royal family. The legend goes, Patrick accidentally stabbed the king's foot with the pointed tip of a shepherd's staff, the kind bishops use in religious ceremonies. The king assumed it was part of the ritual so he silently endured the pain.

Even if that tale isn't totally accurate, historians say they are quite certain that St. Patrick really did come here.

Among other reasons, historians say it simply wouldn't have made sense for the great saint of Ireland not to have come to Cashel, which was then a hub of early Christianity.

The Rock itself was a natural defensive fortress and, long before the time of Saint Patrick, the kings of the Munster region were using it as their inauguration place and royal seat of power. Kings in Cashel also had important links to the religious world, and in A.D. 1101 the king gave the Rock to the church.

In the 900 years since then, another set of rulers - powerful churchmen - erected the buildings that make a striking profile even to this day.

The towers and walls stir up feelings of awe, mystery and wonder, both by day and at night when they are illuminated by floodlights.

Today, the oldest structure on the Rock is a distinctive round stone tower built in 1101. It was a free-standing bell tower, and it is still intact and complete, including its cone-shaped stone roof - a style unique to Ireland.

The second-oldest building is Cormac's Chapel, named for the king who ordered it built.

This compact chapel is one of Ireland's first, finest and most ornate Romanesque churches, built of squared sandstone with a finely cut facade, carved arches and rib-vaulted interior.

On some pillars, carved stone heads seem to suggest different racial characteristics, resembling a very early United Nations.

You can walk inside, look around and admire the fine details. View the frescoes in the interior above the doorway. There are debates about the meaning of the various images, and some say the images over the door might depict Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Also inside Cormac's Chapel is an ornate stone coffin, or sarcophagus, said to be perhaps the resting place of Cormac or, more likely, his brother who preceded him as king.

The largest structure on the Rock is a cathedral built in the 13th century. It's a tall building, squeezed in between the old round tower and Cormac's Chapel.

The newer, 15th-century buildings - built as a residence and hall for church singers, known as the Vicars Choral - have been fully restored and serve as a museum, displaying artefacts of daily life from centuries past as well as relics of stone sculpture found at the rock.

The museum also shows a film of less than 20 minutes that is well worth seeing for a quick overview of the history and enduring significance of the Rock of Cashel.

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Leading up to the long-awaited sale of my house and a move to a new home, I have been going through some old photographs during the weekend and putting them on the computer for posterity.

Some of those photographs I can identify because they are of family members and events that occurred during my time here. Others are of previous occupiers of the house and it’s going to be an interesting project researching those and trying to find out who the people are. I’m looking forward to doing that.

My son Tim who was helping me do some clearing during the past week found some interesting objects in a long-closed-off portion of a storage place. One thing in particular, I would like your help in identifying. I have a slight clue as to what it may be, but if anyone can confirm what the picture below is of, I would greatly appreciate it.

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An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"

"That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them."

"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would
not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path.

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I know there are lots of bison in the world, even here in Ireland, that are being raised for commercial purposes but it’s to nice see that, with the help of dedicated people, and despite the problems that beset them, there are still some 20,000 of the wild variety that can roam the prairies free from the greedy hands of commercialism:

WASHINGTON, May 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Just in time for Mother's Day, five wild baby bison have been born on the plains of eastern Montana. The bison are part of a wild herd that live on a new prairie wildlife preserve and are the first bison to be born on this part of the Great Plains -- the heart of their historic range -- in 120 years.

"These baby bison are the perfect Mother's Day present for anyone who loves prairie wildlife," said Sean Gerrity, president of the American Prairie Foundation (APF), the non-profit owner of the prairie preserve. "These baby bison are entering this world just as the grass is starting to grow after a long, cold winter. Just a few days old, they're already running around, playing and chasing each other."

Although around a half-million bison live in North America, just 20,000 or so can be considered "wild" and most wild bison are beset by problems such as small herd size, intensive management and culling practices, absence of major predators, and non-native diseases. There is no viable bison herd that is free of problematic diseases such as brucellosis or other infections that exist under natural conditions, and no herd is large enough or healthy enough to maintain the long-term genetic health of the species.

"These baby bison are a lot more than just cute, although they certainly are that," said Dr. Curt Freese, director of the Northern Great Plains office of World Wildlife Fund, APF's partner on the prairie preserve. "These bison babies represent a future for our children and grandchildren that include wild bison. Most people have no idea how threatened bison are."

Article is reproduced in full with my thanks to: Noel Twigg of the American Prairie Foundation, 406-582-3495, and Erika Viltz of World Wildlife Fund, 202-778-9542

Wishing mother's everywhere, a Happy Mother's Day!

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One of the biggest differences between a typewriter keyboard and the computer keyboard is the row of keys at the top of the keyboard that are labeled F1 through F12. Commonly referred to as Function Keys, these keys were frequently used in the good old days of DOS programs. In today’s Windows world of computers, you can probably use your computer without ever using one of these keys. Yet, these function keys provide some interesting shortcuts for common computer functions that can be useful tools in everyday computing. The function keys are frequently used in combination with other keys such as the CTRL key, the ALT key, and the Shift key. This results in a plethora of possible keyboard shortcuts.

Here is a brief rundown of the function key and what they can do for you.

F1
As a throwback to DOS days, you will find that the F1 key will often bring up a help menu. If you press F1 while working in a program, help for that program will usually appear. If you press F1 while at the Windows desktop or when the Windows Explorer is open, a Windows help screen will pop up. If you happen to be working in a program and would like to see the Windows help screen, simply press the Windows key (the key with the Windows logo on the bottom row of keys) on your keyboard and press F1 at the same time.

F2
You can use the F2 key to rename an item when working in Windows. Highlight any folder or file, and press F2. You will then be able to type a new name for the object. After you type the new name, just click outside the name box or press the enter key to make the name change. This works just like right-clicking a file or folder and selecting Rename.

F3
When you are working in Windows, the F3 key will open the Find Files window.

F4
The F4 key has some very useful functionality. You can press F4 to open the Address bar when working in Internet Explorer. This will allow you to type the address of a Web page for quick access.

You can also press the Alt key and the F4 key at the same time to close the open Window that you are currently working on.

F5
The F5 key is the refresh key. You can press F5 when viewing a Web page to make sure that you have the most current version of that Web page. You can also use F5 when in Windows to refresh the screen. This can be a handy shortcut. If perhaps you are viewing the contents of a floppy disk and you insert a new floppy, your screen will still show the contents of the first floppy. Just press F5 to refresh the screen and see the contents of the floppy you just inserted.

F6
This key is often used to move the cursor around the structure of the program. Pressing it will often cycle you from window to window.

F7
The F7 key does not have any functionality in Windows. It may, however be used in some individual programs. To find out if it is available in the program you are using, bring up the program’s help screen and type in the words function key.

F8
The F8 key can be used to access Safe Mode if pressed during the computer’s boot up process. This is a trouble-shooting mode which will start the computer with minimal drivers.

F9
The F9 key does not have any functionality in Windows. It may, however be used in some individual programs. To find out if it is available in the program you are using, bring up the program’s help screen and type in the words function key.

F10
F10 is the key that is used to activate the menu bar in many programs. You can use F10 to highlight the first menu choice, and then use the arrow keys to move around the menus. Pressing the Shift key while pressing F10 will bring up the shortcut menu. This is similar to right-clicking on an object.

F11
Press F11 when you are working in Internet Explorer and the window will open to full screen mode. This will make all the toolbars disappear and can be useful to see more information on the screen. Press F11 when you are in full screen mode will toggle you back to your normal view.

F12
The F12 key does not have any functionality in Windows. It may, however be used in some individual programs. To find out if it is available in the program you are using, bring up the program’s help screen and type in the words function key.

Most programmers adhere to using the F1 key for help. They often also program the other function keys to perform in the manner stated above. However, you will find that each program you use may be different. For instance pressing F5 when in Internet Explorer will refresh the screen. Pressing the same key in Outlook 2000 will make the application check for new mail. Using F5 in Microsoft Word will bring up the Find and Replace menu.

Many programs extend the usefulness of the function keys by using key combinations. The most common combinations are Shift + a function key, Alt + a function key, and Crtl + a function key. These combinations can be very useful. For instance, in Microsoft Word, when any text is highlighted, pressing the Shift key plus the F3 key will change the case of the text from all caps, initial caps, to all lowercase. Shift + F7 will choose the Thesaurus command. These shortcuts allow you to access such functions with one keystroke rather than three or four mouse clicks.

Since functionality can defer, it is often good to look in the help menu of the program that you are using to find a list of the function keys and their uses.

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There's a land where I go when I need to share
that's not on a map, yet exists everywhere.
A land of names without faces, a curious place
A modern creation that's called cyberspace.
There's all sorts of people with cute little names
Like Pookie, and Sandman and Rosebud and Flames.

Some are just snobs and some are real fun.
And some of them just want to find someone.
But both good and bad they all play a role.
Still each one unique, but part of the whole.
We talk and laugh and wonder why.
We flirt and hug and sometimes cry.

We can't be heard and can't be seen.
Yet, there it is, right on our screen.
But all in all the most curious part
Is the power it has to open our heart.
To share with a stranger those things we've concealed
Which to our closest of friends we'd never reveal.

Our deepest regrets and most troubling fears
The scars in our life which bring us to tears.
What gives them the power to reach into me
and show me the truths that I never see.
How do they manage to open my eyes
And make me confess the deceit and the lies.

I don't understand this magical spell.
But I know that without it my life would be.....
This must have been planned by the Creator up above.
Cause there's no place on earth where you'll find as much love.
When I need direction I know I can find
those angels from heaven just waiting online.

~ Author Unknown ~

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According to several modern archaeologists, it now seems unlikely that the Irish have Celtic roots.

In a statement that horrified Irish nationalists, Richard Warner, an archaeologist at the Ulster Museum in Belfast, told the Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations: "The average Irish person probably has more English genes than Celtic."

The history of Ireland's original inhabitants is steeped in mystery. In The Book of Invasions, written during the 11th century AD, it was recorded that the Fir Bolag (Bagmen) were a race of hairy, subhuman slaves, and the Tuatha de Danaan were godlike creatures who survived Christianity as fairies, leprechauns and banshees. However, historians say that wasn't until the 18th and 19th centuries that the idea of common Celtic roots became fashionable and acted as a catalyst for Irish nationalism. Following independence in the 1920s, Irish children were brought up to believe that the Celts or Gaels settled in their country, becoming the predominant racial group by the 5th or 6th century.

Warner argues that archaeological evidence proves most Irish people are descended from Mesolithic hunters and fishermen, who arrived about 8,000 BC, possibly from Scotland. However, the English invaders exerted the next greatest influence. "In round terms", he told the Association, "the image of the Irish as genetically Celtic people, in fact the whole idea of Celtic ethnicity and of Celtic peoples, Irish, Welsh and all the rest of it, is a load of complete cock and bull."

It is known that the Celts came into their own around the 5th century BC. Although they were a distinct ethnic group throughout central Europe, they do not appear to have had any significant effect on the Irish gene pool. Warner believes that, "if you can find Celtic blood lines now, it will probably be among the Germans".

After prehistoric people settled in Ireland, leaders such as Brian Boru (born AD 941) established kingdoms. However, from 1170 the English started to arrive after Dermot McMurragh, the king of Leinster, invited Richard de Clare, an Anglo-Norman warlord, to assist him in settling a dynastic dispute. Additionally, the campaigns of Elizabeth I and Cromwell ensured that English tenants and former soldiers settled in Ireland.

Warner explained to the conference: "In terms of the ability to recognise present DNA values, the intrusion of English blood and southern Scottish would be larger than any other group apart from the original Mesolithic inhabitants." This was backed up by Professor Jim Mallory, an archaeologist and linguist from Queen's University in Belfast, who agreed that, "if you believe the Celtic languages spread late in prehistory, they were accompanied by minimal population movements. There is no evidence in the archaeological record for a large influx of a foreign population".

Warner hopes that his case will be proved when the Royal Irish Academy completes its genetic map of Ireland. Many thousands of DNA samples will be analysed and compared with genes taken from skeletons discovered by archaeologists.

Warner believes that it is sadly ironic that the Aran islands off Galway, where the population is partly descended from Cromwell's soldiers, is one the few places where it is still possible to hear the Irish language being spoken. "Aran is going to be the last bastion of spoken Irish," he asserts, "so the Irish language will die in the mouths of the English".

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The Banshee is not exclusive to Irish mythology. In Scotland, she is known as ban-sìth, bean-shìth, or bean sìth, but in both countries sheperforms the same role - to foretell the impending death of a person by her eerie cries and wailing. In Scotland though, I believe, she is more often seen at the edge of a stream or river washing the clothes of one who is about to die.

It is said that a banshee guards each Milesian Irish family (those with most ancient Celtic lineages), so keep your ears open if your name starts with O’ or Mac/Mc, or if your name is Kavanagh. There is, we are told, a banshee for each branch of these families, and she can follow the descendants to America, Australia, or to anywhere on the globe- she never leaves her family. Despite her somberness, a banshee's attentions to a family were thought to be a mark of high station, especially in Ireland, and several hundred families boasted their own banshee. Unless you had one in the family, you could not claim to be truly Irish.

The banshee, depending on where you live, is variously described as a beautiful young woman, weeping for the coming death of a loved one, or she may be a gruesome hag foretelling it. All agree on one distinctive feature - her fiery red eyes, said to be so from centuries of crying.

The beautiful banshee is more common in Ireland and the ugly more common in Scotland. Both the beautiful and the ugly figures often wear white; in some areas, she wears a white gown with red shoes. She may also wear a grey cloak over a green dress. The beautiful banshee has long hair which she strokes with a gold or silver comb.

Countless people claim to have seen and heard one. One witness has described 'a tall, thin young woman with uncovered head and long hair that floated round her shoulders, dressed in something like a loose, white cloak or a sheet thrown around her, and uttering piercing cries'. Another claimed to have seen a banshee sitting on a stile, a small woman, with long light hair and wearing a cloak.

Mercifully, she will never be heard or seen by the person whose death she has come to foretell - although I’m not sure if that is such a good thing. If everyone around you is seeing and hearing her, and you’re not, well, draw your own conclusions.

The wail of the banshee is most often compared with the keening of Irish mourners, and thus she is often known in Gaelic as an bhean chaointe, ‘the keening woman’. Less flattering commentators have compared her sound to that of a dog baying at the moon.

The banshee is most often a solitary person, although an assembly might wail at the passing of an especially noble or holy person.

On a lighter note, Scottish legends tell us that any man bold enough to creep up behind the banshee and grab her breast will be granted a wish.

It is not known if any man has ever succeeded.

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The picture is of Europe and Africa when the sun is setting.

Half of the picture is at night.

The bright dots you see are the cities lights.

The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert.
The lights are already on in Holland, Paris, and Barcelona, and that's it's still daylight in Dublin, London, Lisbon, and Madrid.

The sun is still shining on the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Mediterranean Sea is already in darkness.

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands; below them to the right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and further south, close to the farthest western point of Africa, are the Cape Verde Islands.

The Sahara is huge and can be seen clearly both during Daytime and night time

To the left, on top, is Greenland, totally frozen.

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I was saddened to hear of the death of one of my favourite singers...Gene Pitney.

Mr Pitney, who was aged 66, was found dead from natural causes in his hotel room in Cardiff, South Wales on April 5,
during a tour of Wales.

Go ndeanai Dia trocaire ar a anam

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In modern Ireland today, most of those places are designated National Monuments and, except in very rare irresponsible circumstances, are still treated with the greatest respect and reverence.

Not because of any lingering fears of the supernatural or fears of incurring the wrath of the fairy folk that were once thought to inhabit them, but in this more enlightened age, they are now recognised for what they are - burial places, monuments, and the remains of homesteads and fortifications of bygone civilisations. All now play a major role in our National Heritage.

The image above is of one of Ireland’s most famous forts. Dun Aengus is an impressive stone fort built on Inis Mor. It is a series of 3 semi circular stone walls of huge thickness and
height. These form protection on most of the circumference and on the remaining of its circumference is a sheer 300 ft cliff down to the Atlantic Ocean. It is a wonder on how and why this fort was built; one can only stare in awe at this great feat all those years ago.

To finish this section, here is a little anecdote that will illustrate the seriousness with which things supernatural are treated with in Ireland today:

“It is said that the vernal equinox, on March 20, is one of the dates during the year when creatures of the underworld roam the earth. Most gardai (police) would offer that any weekend after pub closing time is a good time for a sighting”.

More tomorrow………

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Ireland is steeped in mythology and legends. It is a magical country, from Giants and Banshees to Leprechauns and fairies - the tales are endless. Fine, that is the culture.

Even the most romantic of visitors will know we do not still believe in all that, but, just like any other country, we are proud of our culture, proud to acknowledge it, talk about it, show you places where it has left its mark, and leave it where it belongs, in our culture and mythology.

Even up to fairly recent times, fairies and banshees played a big role in Irish beliefs and culture. In the building of houses for example, great care would be taken that no part of the structure encroached on a “fairy path” - a track way thought to be used by “The Little People” as they made their nightly sojourns from one place to another. Encroach on that and bad luck would follow not only you but your descendents also, to the end of your days.

In many minds now the perception of fairies is that they are the winsome little winged creatures of children’s books and bedtime stories. Not so, I’m afraid, the fairy of Irish folklore.

Many tales revolve around the Tuatha de Danaan, the People of the Goddess Dana, who are Ireland's collection of shadowy Neolithic figures who were banished into an underworld existence by the hero gods of the invading Celts. Greatly reduced in size and power, these immortals lived on as the sidhe (pronounced "shee"), an Irish word for fairies. In his Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry, W.B. Yeats concluded that once the old gods were deprived of their worship and offerings, they were diminished in the popular imagination. Eventually they evolved into fairies.

Variously known as The Good People or The Little People, a popular nineteenth century belief was that fairies were fallen angels, or those unable to attain heaven. They were not wicked enough to be confined to hell but were banished to earth’s twilight places.

Rural superstition agreed on one point: Sidhe neighbours demanded respect. They had power to grant favours, but, if neglected or disrespected, could also prove spiteful. Thanks to pishogues (fairy spells) hens refused to lay eggs, milk would go sour, livestock and farmer alike would sicken. Accidents and untimely deaths were proof that the fairies had been insulted in some way.

The four leaf shamrock, a symbol of good luck, is thought to guard against fairy bewitchments.

More tomorrow…

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Don't worry!..there's no danger of a collision. The closest fragment will be about six million miles away--or twenty-five times farther than the Moon. That's close without actually being scary.

Click here

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