Picto Diary - 18 April 2019 - Ring of Kerry

Above: TIMDT ponders Skellig Michael. County Kerry, Ireland. 18 April 2018

"Holy grail of Irish monastic settlements."

Seven miles off shore.

"The most fantastic and impossible rock in the world." George Bernard Shaw

Populated by 12 to 20 Irish Catholic monks from circa 600 AD to 1100 AD.

King of Norway, Oleg Trygvason, who introduced Christianity to Norway, was baptized at Skellig Michael in 993 AD.

Skellig Michael remains a place of pilgrimage and penance for the devout to this day. — at Skellig Ring.

From around 500 AD to 900 AD , after the departure of the Romans, Europe entered the dark ages. Christianity was suppressed, classical knowledge was not preserved.... barbarism prevailed. But, not in Ireland. Catholic monks flocked from Europe to Ireland, built and peopled monasteries, and kept classical knowledge and Christianity alive. Monks in these communities created copies of scriptures and the classics by writing them down in Latin. By circa 1000 AD, monk missionaries traveled to Europe to bring the message of Christianity to Euro cultures emerging from tyranny. Many historians claim that without the efforts of the Irish monasteries, Christianity would not have survived in Western Europe.

Visits to Skellig Michael are only allowed in the summer... and then only with pre booking. Visitors can clime the five hundred stone steps to the summit where beehive shaped stone houses and other stone structures can be found.

Skellig Michael reminded me of Mont St. Michele in Normandie if for no other reason that both Skellig Michael and Mont St. Michele are unique rock islands a short distance from the mainland.

Seeing Skellig Michael left me with two thoughts. 1. I'm somewhat ashamed to not have heard of this place before I came. While there are many important monastery ruins in Ireland. This one stands out as special. It is as far away from mainland Europe as one can get. I try to imagine the lives of the ascetics who lived here... the passion for the message of Jesus that would bring them this far away for a life commitment. 2. I'd like to come back here when I can actually visit the island... climb the steps... and attempt to channel the spark that ignited a world movement.

Above: TIMDT views chariot used to carry Irish hero, Daniel O'Connell from Dublin prison. Derrynane. County Kerry. Ireland, 18 April 2019.

Derrynane House: O'Connell family home from time he was four years old.

O'Connell liberated Ireland from the last oppressive anti-Catholic penal laws...1830's. He organized a massive, non violent, grass roots movement that formed the energy necessary to eventually accomplish Irish independence in 1921.

O'Connell died at the apex of the potato famine in 1845. — at Derrynane House.

Irish History Condensed:

The Celts (500 BC to 450 AD) - A warrior people with more than a hundred petty kings, they feuded constantly with rival clans and gathered in ring forts for protection. Druid priests conducted pagan, solar-calendar rituals. Celtic world lives on today in the Gaelic language and legendary heroic figures such as Finn MacCool. In 55 BC, the Romans conquered the Celts in England, but Ireland and Scotland remained independent, their history forever skewed in a different direction... Gaelic, not Latin.

Irish Monks (450 AD to 800 AD) - Gaelic Ireland was unaffected when ancient Rome fell in Europe and took the achievements of Roman culture with it. Ireland became a beacon of culture for the rest of Europe. Ireland's patron saint, Saint Patrick, came to Ireland in 432 to launch a period of Christian monastic settlements dominating Ireland for four hundred years.

Vikings (800 AD to 1000 AD) - Rape and pillage of monastic settlements... but, later intermarriage, settlement and integration into the Gaelic/Christian culture. Vikings created the coastal cities... Waterford, Dublin etc.

Anglo-Normans (1100 AD to 1500 AD) - By 1250 Anglo-Normans occupied two thirds of the island. Anglo-Normans were big time administrators ushered in a new age in which society (government, cities, and religious organizations) was organized on a grander scale. The Black Death came in 1348 and spread more rapidly and fatally in the tight Norman quarters than it did in rural, far flung Gaelic clan settlements. The plague, along with Normans intermarrying with Gaels, eventually diluted Norman identity and shrank English control.

End of Gaelic Riule (1500's) - Rise of oceanic exploration increased strategic importance of Ireland for empires... English, Spanish, Portuguese... To forestall Spain's using Ireland as staging area to face off against English, English control of Ireland increased. The Reformation, and Henry VIII's embracing Protestantism, exacerbated divide between Protestant English controlled city areas and Catholic/Gaelic rural areas. France got into act by using her belief in Catholicism to leverage Irish Catholics against their English/Protestant overseers.

English Colonization and Irish Rebellions (1600's) - Skirmishes and power struggles between English/Protestant and Gaelic/Catholic Ireland. England's power concentrated in larger port cities. Area around Dublin was called "The Pale...." hence the expression "beyond the pale." Following his coup d'état over King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell invaded Ireland, and brutally obliterated the last of the Royalist (Catholic) forces. Thus began a heavy handed Protestant rule over Ireland that persisted through the end of the 18th century. The Penal Laws were one of the most brutal manifestations of this period of Protestant rule. Catholics couldn't vote, hold office, buy land, join the army, play the harp, or even own a horse.

Protestant Rule (1700's) - Ireland thrives See above imageeconomically. But, "beyond the Pale" rebellion is never far from the surface. 1801 England forces Ireland into union... British Isles. From this point on, those opposing Irish independence called "unionists."

Potato Famine (1800's) - Daniel O'Connel (see above image) known as "The Liberator," campaigned for Catholic equality and for the repeal of the Act of Union (seeking Irish independence. Any hope of Irish revival was snuffed out by The Great Potato Famine (1845 to 1849). Up to 1MM starved to death and 2MM emigrated, mostly to the US. Irish/English relations deteriorate further as Irish blame UK for lack of assistance to Irish in time of need. Some Irish believe Britain's insouciance towards Irish was calculated. Culturally, the old Gaelic, rural, Catholic Ireland was being crushed under the Industrial Revolution and the political control wielded by Protestant England. Ireland turns out a series of influential writers: W. B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and James Joyce.

Easter Rising, War of Independence, Partition, and Civil War (1900 to 1950) - Irish political parties ranging from less militant (Sinn Fein) to more militant (Irish Volunteers) organize and gird for independence. Britain pre-occupied with WWI. Easter 1916 1500 Irish Volunteers march on Dublin. England strikes back. Attempted revolt fails and 300 Irish Volunteers are killed. Most of Ireland, not ready for frontal assault on Brits says 'meh...' until Britain executes at Dublin GPO sixteen Irish Volunteer leaders. Now Irish are mad... ready to back a more forceful attempt at independence. 1918. Irish rebels mount insurrection. Kill police officers. Britain retaliates with WWI vets, known as "black and tans" with exceeding brutality. Britain, worn down by WWI gives in... agrees to independence. Northern, mostly Protestant counties, one quarter of island's population, don't want to leave Britain. The rest of the island, mostly Catholic wants full independence. Two separate, self governing countries are created, both part of British Commonwealth. Militant, Catholic Irish don't like partition. They want full independence. They form the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Civil War. IRA wages street war on the armies of the Irish Free State, whos leaders supported the political settlement as a stepping-stone to future independence. Dublin ravaged. Irish Free State, led by Michael Collins, emerges victorious. IRA goes underground. 1949 Irish Free State left the Commonwealth and officially became the Republic of Ireland.

Republic Rising/Northern Ireland "The Troubles." 1950-2000 - 1950's Ireland hemorrhaged its best and brightest and emigration soar. 1960's Republic of Ireland begins transformation into modern nation. 1973 Republic of Ireland joins European Union. New continental markets were opened to Irish trade. Through 1990's Republic becomes fast growing, globalized economy. Favorable tax laws attract foreign investment. Ireland earns moniker, "Celtic Tiger." Meanwhile, Northern Ireland experiences "The Troubles." Catholics militate for equality under Protestant domination. IRA cells militate for Northern Ireland to be absorbed into the Republic. From 1970's to 1990's, northern Ireland a low level battle ground with IRA using terrorist tactics to achieve its ends. 1998. Good Friday Peace accord... suspension of hostilities.

2000 and Beyond - Good Friday Peace Accords allow for Northern Ireland to join with the Republic on majority vote. But, majority vote not accomplished. IRA ceases hostilities in 2005. British Army removes forces from Northern Ireland in 2007. 2016. Great Britain voters vote to leave European Union. Anxieties, in both the Republic and Northern Ireland grow about possibility of a new hard border between the two countries. Rumblings of renewed sectarian violence with recent killing of reporter in Derry.

Above: Staigue Ring Fort. County Kerry. Ireland. 18 April 2019.

Staigue or Staig is a ruined stone ringfort three miles west of Sneem, on the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The fort is thought to have been built during the late Iron Age, probably somewhere between 300 and 400 AD, as a defensive stronghold for a local lord or king. — at Staigue Ring Fort, Ring of Kerry, Ireland. See historical review, above, to put Staigue Ring Fort into historical context.

Above: Celtic Steps. Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. 18 April 2019..

This presentation was excellent in every way. — at Celtic Steps The Show.

A friend told me that the reason Irish clog dancers move only from the waist down is because during the period of the penal laws, dancing for Catholics was illegal. British penal law enforcers would pass through villages and see seeming immobile people through the windows, not realizing that real dancing was going on out of their sight line. Just saying... I haven't researched it. But, why do the Irish dance in this fashion?

Addendum:

Hi Steve,

I was interested that they didn’t want you to do any activities after Mohs surgery. I had it on my nose and went from the surgery room back to the office. No one at the clinic said anything about restricting my activities. Anyway, after the pain medicine started to wear off, I remember sitting at my desk and feeling like someone hit me across the bridge of my nose with a two by four. It took several days for that pain to subside.

Best wishes in your recovery.......hope to see you at the Big Dog Ride this summer.

Take Care,

Tim,
Colorado Springs, CO

1st trax plate belongs to a friend of mine. Former golf pro who skis on first chair group on Silver Lake Express. I bought his Rossignol Sky 7s.

The Actuary,
Park City, UT