What Is a Druid?

Often when the combatants are ranged face to face, and swords are drawn and spears bristling, these men come between the armies and stay the battle, just as wild beasts are sometimes held spellbound. Thus even among the most savage barbarians anger yields to wisdom, and Mars is shamed before the Muses.

Diodorus Siculus Histories c.8 BCE

In ancient times a Druid was a philosopher, teacher, counsellor and magician, the word probably meaning ‘A Forest Sage’ or ‘Strong Seer’. In modern times, a Druid is someone who follows Druidry as their chosen spiritual path, or who has entered the Druid level of training in a Druid Order.

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History of Ireland

By, Rev. Geoffrey Keating.

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Irish Wisdom Preserved in the Bible and Pyramids

By Conor MacDari

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Ireland: Ur of the Chaldees (1873)

By Anna Wilkes

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Ireland: Land of the Pharaohs – Andrew Power

Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

By James Bonwick, 1894

WHO were the Druids? This question has agitated the minds of the learned for a long period; and various, as well as contradictory, have been the replies. Tradition preserves their memory as of a pious and superior race, prominently associated with the British Isles and France, and, in a lesser degree, with Belgium, Holland, Germany, and the lands of Scandinavia.

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Hill of Tara

The megalithic passage tomb called the Mound of the Hostages (Duma na nGiall) is the oldest monument on the Hill of Tara dating back to between 2500 B.C. and 3000 B.C. The passage, 4m in length and 1m wide, was subdivided by sill stones into three compartments each containing cremated remains.

A wonderfully decorated stone can be viewed from the entrance gate. The engravings may represent the sun, moon or stars as religious symbols or maybe the stone was used as a prehistoric calendar. Drawing of decorated orthostat. 
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Sources:
The Knowth 
Mythical Ireland 
Megalithic Ireland 
Sacred Destinations 


 

Carrowkeel

Megalithic Complex

Carrowkeel was one of the least known of Ireland's ancient sites until recent years. It is the most spectacularly situated of all the great megalithic complexes. The neolithic monuments are spread across the highest summits and ledges on the north ends of the Bricklieve Mountains in south County Sligo. Carrowkeel is situated on the west side of Lough Arrow, overlooking the modern village of Castlebaldwin. It is easy to find, well signposted from the main Dublin/Sligo (N4) road below.

This whole area, a good chunk of County Sligo was one of the most important centres of neolithic Ireland. Carrowmore and Carrowkeel are joined by the Uinshin river which flows from Lough Arrow to Ballisodare Bay, the main road through the thickly wooded region. It is a landscape rich with physical remains of the ancient past, and mythical echoes that can still be perceived in the majesty of the locations and views from the top of the mountains across the plains of Sligo. 

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Sources:

Carrowkeel 

Megalithic Ireland 

Saints and Stones 

Newgrange 

Voices from the Dawn 

Dowth

Dowth the Fairy Mound of Darkness is about the same size as Newgrange and Knowth and was built in the same period over 5000 years ago. The mound was subjected to a very unprofessional excavation in 1847, two passage tombs were discovered but the mound was severely damaged in the process. The passages tombs are much less spectacular than Newgrange or Knowth with shorter passages and lower roofs. Both are on the western side of the mound, they are referred to as Dowth North and Dowth South. The Dowth North passage is 14 metres in length; the chamber is cruciform in shape with an annex off the right hand recess, the chamber roof is corbelled and is 3 metres high. Click to read more....

Sources:

The Knowth
Newgrange 
Megalithic Ireland 
Mythical Ireland 
Voices from the Dawn 
Ancient Ireland 
World Heritage Ireland 

Newgrange Sirius Mysteries

Fourknocks

Fourknocks is a Passage Chamber Tomb built about 5000 years ago. It is located 10 miles southeast of Newgrange between Ardcath in County Meath and the Naul in County Dublin. The name Fourknocks may be from the Irish Fuair Cnocs meaning Cold Hills or maybe Four Cnocs is a reference to the Four Tombs (Four Hills). Only the main tomb pictured above has been excavated and is open to the public. Click to read more....

Sources:
The Knowth
Meath.ie
Mega Lithic Ireland
Mythical Ireland
Ancient Ireland
Voices from the Dawn

 

Loughcrew

The Cairns are megalithic structures originally built about 4000 bc as burial chambers. 

The Megalithic Cairns are dotted around the Slieve na Caillaigh hills at Loughcrew, the main concentrations are on Carnbane East where Cairn T is the centrepiece and Carnbane West where Cairn L is located. The illumination of the passage and chamber at the Winter solstice sunrise in Newgrange is world famous. Less well known is the Equinox illumination at sunrise in Cairn T at Loughcrew. The backstone of the chamber is illuminated by a beam of light at sunrise on the Spring and Autumnal Equinoxes.

The sun light is shaped by the stones of the entrance and passage and descends the backstone while moving from left to the right illuminating the solar symbols. 
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Sources:
The Knowth
Loughcrew Gardens 
Meath.ie
Mega Lithic Ireland
Mythical Ireland
Carrowkeel
Voices from the Dawn

Newgrange

Newgrange was constructed over 5,000 years ago (about 3,200 B.C.), making it older than Stonehenge in England and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Newgrange was built during the Neolithic or New Stone Age by a farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley. Knowth and Dowth are similar mounds that together with Newgrange have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO  Click to read more....   

Sources:  
The Knowth   
Mythical Ireland   
Newgrange Ireland
Meath.ie  
World Heritage Ireland   
Megalithic Ireland  
Voices from the Dawn 

Knowth Flint macehead, 3300-2800 BC

This ceremonial macehead, found beneath the eastern chamber tomb at the great passage tomb at Knowth, in the Boyne Valley, is one of the finest works of art to have survived from Neolithic Europe. The unknown artist took a piece of very hard pale-grey flint, flecked with patches of brown, and carved each of its six surfaces with diamond shapes and swirling spirals. At the front they seem to form a human face, with the shaft hole as a gaping mouth.
If it was made in Ireland, the object suggests that someone on the island had attained a very high degree of technical and artistic sophistication. Click to read more....

Ireland’s County Names

Antrim / Aontroim
Ulster – Established c. 1400, the name translates to “lone ridge” or “lone dwelling.”

Armagh / Ard Mhacha
Ulster – Established c. 1584, the name means “Macha’s height.” Macha was a Celtic goddess said to have given birth to twins after racing a horse.

Carlow / Ceatharlach
Leinster -- Established c. 1306, the name translates to “place of cattle.”

Cavan / An Cabhán
Ulster – Established in 1584, the name translates to “the hollow.”

Clare / An Clár
Munster  -- Established in 1565, the name translates to “plain.” The county may have been named after the Norman de Clare family. Before 1565, Clare was known as Thomond, which means “North Munster.”

Cork / Corcaigh
Munster – Established c. 1200, the name means “swamp” or "marsh." (But don’t tell anyone from Corcaigh.)
Derry / Doire
Ulster – Established in 1585, the name “Doire” means “oak wood.”
Donegal / Dún na nGall
Ulster – Established in 1584, it means “stronghold of the foreigners” (Vikings). It was also known by some as Tir Chonaill, which means “the land of Conall.”

Down / An Dún
Ulster – Established c. 1520, the name means “the fort.”

Dublin / Áth Cliath / Dubhlinn
Leinster -- Established in 1185, the “Áth Cliath” part means “hurdled fort” and the “Dubhlinn” part means black pool.”

Fermanagh / Fear Manach
Ulster  -- Established in 1584, the name translates to “Men of Manach” or, more specifically, “men from the county of the lakes.”

Galway / Gaillimh
Connacht – Established in 1565, the county was named after the river Gaillimh, which means “stony.”

Kerry / Ciarrai
Munster – Established c. 1200, the name translates to “People of Ciar.” Break it down further, and you find that Ciar means “black” or “dark brown” and Raighe means “tribe.”

Kildare / Cill Dara
Leinster – Established 1297, it means “church of the oak.”

Kilkenny / Cill Chainnigh
Leinster – Established c. 1200, it means “church of Cainnech,” and was named in honor of St. Cainnech, who converted the county to Christianity in 597.

Laois / Laois
Leinster – Established in 1556, the name derives from Uí Laioghis, which means “people of Lugaid Laigne.” Lugaid was granted land in the area after driving invaders out of Munster. Hard to spell, but better than its original name, “Queen’s County,” which was in honor of “Bloody Mary” Tudor.

Leitrim / Liatroim
Connacht – Established in 1565, the name means “gray ridge.”

Limerick / Luimneach
Munster – Established c. 1200, the name means “bare spot.” The Viking name for the county was “Hlymrekr” which meant “mighty noise.”
 
Longford / An Longfort
Leinster – Established in 1586, the name means “the port” or “the riverside fortification,” a reference to the Shannon River.

Louth / Lú
Leinster – Established c. 1200, the county is named after the Irish god Lugh (now spelled Lugh).

Mayo / Maigh Eo
Connacht – Established in 1565, the name means “plain of the yew.”

Meath / An Mhí
Leinster – Established in 1297, the name means “the middle.” It was once the home of the High Kings of Ireland.

Monaghan / Muineachán
Ulster – Established in 1585, the name has a few translations: “hilly land” or “bushy / hilly field.”

Offaly / Uíbh Fhailí
Leinster – Established in 1556, it was originally named after the Gaelic territory of Ui Failghe. In 1556, “Bloody Mary” Tudor named this area “King’s County” after her husband, Philip of Spain. The name was changed back to Offaly after the creation of the Irish Free State.

Roscommon / Ros Comáin
Connacht – Established c. 1292, the name means “Comán’s wood” and was named in honor of St. Comán, who founded the monastery of Roscommon in 550.

Sligo / Sligeach
Connacht – Established in 1565, the name means “shelly place,” a reference to the river’s abundant supply of shellfish.

Tipperary / Tiobraid Árann
Munster – Established in the 13th century, the name means “well of the Arra,” a reference to the river that runs through the county.

Tyrone / Tir Eoghain
Ulster – Established in 1585, the name means “Land of Eoghan.” It’s a tribute to Eogan mac Néill, who founded the Kingdom of Ailech, which is present-day Tyrone.

Waterford / Port Láirge
Munster – Established c. 1200, the name means “Larag’s port.” It was also known by the Norse term for “ram fjord.”

Westmeath / An Iamhí
Leinster – Established in 1543, the name means “the west middle.”

Wexford / Loch Garman
Leinster – Established c. 1200, the name comes from the Norse term for “fjord of the mud flats.”

Wicklow / Cill Mhantáin
Leinster – Established in 1607, the Irish name translates to “Church of the Mantan.” “Mantan” means “toothless one,” and refers to a saint whose teeth were knocked out by irish pagans around the time of St. Patrick. The Norse name for this area meant “the meadow of the Vikings.”

Druidic Symbolism

From all these facts it appears that the population of Ireland came from the West, and not from Asia - that it was one of the many waves of population flowing out from the Island of Atlantis - and herein we find the explanation of that problem which has puzzled the Aryan scholars. As Ireland is farther from the Punjab than Persia, Greece, Rome, or Scandinavia, it would follow that the Celtic wave of migration must have been the earliest sent out from the Sanskrit centre; but it is now asserted by Professor Schleicher and others that the Celtic tongue shows that it separated from the Sanskrit original tongue later than the others, and that it is more closely allied to the Latin than any other Aryan tongue. This is entirely inexplicable upon any theory of an Eastern origin of the Indo-European races, but very easily understood if we recognize the Aryan and Celtic migrations as going out about the same time from the Atlantean fountain-head. There are many points confirmatory of this belief. In the first place, the civilization of the Irish dates back to a vast antiquity - Ignatius Donnelly (Atlantis: The Ante-Diluvian Epoch, 1882)

As we have shown throughout the Irish Origins of Civilization, the symbols and traditions we associate with Judaism, Christianity, Templarism and Masonry, originated in Ireland.  
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