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From: "Elizabeth O'Donoghue" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Blood of the Irish
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 19:32:00 -0000
In-Reply-To: <814481245.213381231296408793.JavaMail.root@sz0093a.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net>


Kirsten believes:

'The Druid/bards were not the originators of
the legends. Christian monks were. By the time these tales were composed
the druids had long since disappeared from history.'

----------------------

That's not entirely true. It wasn't until the Council of Drumcreat around
670 AD that the Druids agreed to give up their role as priests in deference
to the Catholic monks. They did, however, continue with their functions as
bards and brehons. It wasn't until the Council of Kilkenny in the mid
1400's that the Normans were commanded by the English to follow English
common law rather than Irish Brehon law - not that that was a great success
for those Normans like the Earl of Desmond who had 'gone native'.

The role of bard was a hereditary one, and the amount of information that
they memorized was truly incredible. The O Duinnin's were hereditary bards
in Munster. There is a genealogical poem of the O'Donoghues written by an O
Duinnin in 1320 that lists their lineage all the way back to the beginnings
of the Eoghanacht. There is a well respected O Duininn still living in Cork
that retains many of the old stories, which will probably die with him if
someone doesn't record them.

So the role of druids/filidhs/shamans on this little island died out long
before their other roles faded. Remember, once no one believed there was a
real Troy.

Elizabeth

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