Maire

by Linda Windsor

  ’Tis love.

  The words echoed again and again with each hungry beat of Maire’s heart. It was a wonderful thing, this love. Without it, two hearts were incomplete. With it, they were truly one, not just with each other, but with God. If Maire never understood another thing about her new faith, she knew this to be true: God is love—and all things are possible in the name of love.

  EPILOGUE

  Now this isn’t THE END, dear friends, but THE BEGINNING…

  For so was lit the Pentecostal fire in me own heart and soul, turning sword land to saint land. ’Tis an eternal flame that spread like a wildfire and burns in the heart of my children to this very day. Mind ye, it isn’t always understood, nor is it always tended faithfully. But there it shines, like a faithful candle in the darkest winds of time and turmoil, lighting the way for me dear sweet Maire, as will all the future daughters of Gleannmara.

  GLOSSARY

  Below is a wee list of words and phrases, legends and facts compiled for the sake of gettin’ to know me and my children—where we come from and what made us say and do the things ye’ve witnessed in these pages. From oaths to ogham and faeries to Hebrews, ’tis a rich mix of me heart and soul, me past and present, put in me own words, just for you and yer likes to share over a noggin o’ punch or cider by a friendly fire. So have at it—ponder, chuckle, and believe what ye will. May God bless, for only the good Lord Himself can truly separate me history from legend.

  (A word in italics is one to look up for more o’ the story.)

  aiccid: heir apparent to kingship or clan chief

  aire: a noble, most often in literary reference, but can refer to a free man

  ainfine: kin descended from a common ancestor

  anmchara: soul friend, confessor, a soul mate

  ard rí (righ): high king

  bard: poet or historian of the druidic order; these good fellows recorded Erin’s history in verse and song. Their literary license is what makes the separation of history and legend so difficult for today’s scholars to discern.

  Interestin’ly enough, the Hebrews had no recorded history either, save in song or verse, until the Holy Scriptures. Not till the arrival of Christianity and the White Martyrs were Erin’s stories recorded for posterity.

  Bethlehem, Star of: see Star of the East for the druid legend regarding Christ’s birth

  bóaire: self-sufficient farmer/cattleman

  brat: outer cloak or wrap; the more colors, the higher the station of its wearer

  Brichriu’s tongue, by: Brichriu of the Poison Tongue was a satirist and cynic who hosted a grand feast of national importance, during which he deviously played upon the vanity of the wives of the heroes of the province. After readin’ this, ye’ll see plainly why the womenfolk often were not included in revelry.

  With poet’s persuasion, he insinuated privately to each lady, just prior to a stroll about his beautiful yard and gardens, that not only was she the most beautiful and her husband the greatest hero of Ulster’s province, but that were she to arrive first at the hall of the festivities after the outing, she would become queen of the entire province. The result, according to a translation of the Manuscript Materials of Irish History, was a chaotic, full-fledged foot race, “like the rush of fifty chariots” which shook the entire hall. The champions, on hearing this mad approach, “started up for their arms, each striking his face against the other throughout the house.”

  Brehon Law: original Irish Celtic law as interpreted by the judges/lawyers, usually druids; was later altered to reflect Christian values and renamed the Seanchus Mor at the Synod of Patrick in the fifth century.

  Take a peek at this further along, because that in itself is one of the key reasons why my children embraced the Light so quickly.

  brain ball: This grisly keepsake and/or weapon was a dried human brain, which was considered by the prehistoric Celts to be the essence of a man or of his knowledge. The brain usually came from exceptional heroes and men of knowledge, or as a battle trophy, having formerly belonged to a worthy foe. I’m thinkin’ it lends a whole new meanin’ to keeping your wits.

  bride price: the price paid by the groom to the bride’s family for the privilege and duration of his marriage to the lady.

  Quite the opposite of the dowry, wouldn’t ye say?

  by my mother’s gods (father’s gods, ancestor’s gods): A comprehensive oath to cover all possible gods (which were ever changing in importance) that a person might swear by without insulting one by leaving him/her out. Me children believed better safe than sorry and took no chances with this one.

  cloidem: sword

  Conor MacNessa: High king and poet associated with the Knights of the Red Branch at time of Christ in Erin’s heroic period of chivalry; see death of King of Kings, also Mebh crannóg, an artificial, fortified lake dwelling

  Crom; Crom Cruach; Crom Cruin: Crom is thought to mean great—Cruach or Cruin, as thunderer. This god is most often symbolized as the golden center in a circle of twelve stones, it’s thought he is the great god in the sun, surrounded by the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

  Now join me in takin’ this one step further, given the druidic belief of the one God who lived in the sun, it is not too farfetched to consider this an early name of God. In other cultures, however, Crom was simply a sun god and human sacrifices were made to him.

  Crom’s toes!: an oath reflecting the importance of the least part of the great god in the Celtic mind.

  So I’m thinkin’… here’s this Crom, big in me children’s mind as all get out, his altars made of stone, not to mention all the following words associating him with stone, something hard and enduring. Does that make his toes the pebbles at the foot of such reverent places?

  cromleac: altar of the Great God

  cromlech: a cap stone resting on two upright pillar stones, sometimes forming a passage; usually marks the grave of a giant, a hero, or a saint

  cumal: female slave; a monetary unit equal to one female slave

  Death of King of kings: The druid/magi legend passed down about Conor MacNessa, a high king of early Ireland at the time of Christ. He summoned his druid astrologers for explanation upon seeing darkness in the middle of the day. His magi interpreted the sign, telling him that the King of all kings, the Son of the one God, had been killed by His own people on a tree. Outraged and in terrible grief that such a horrible thing could happen, the beloved king took an ax and began chopping down the sacred grove of oaks. Having been gravely wounded in a battle by a brain ball lodged in his head, he was warned by his physician Faith Liag that any exertion might kill him. But the distraught Conor continued hacking at the trees, demanding to know who the wretches were that killed such a noble, loving man, until he collapsed in death.

  His legend, and that of the star of the East marking the birth of the King of kings, made druids who sought truth eager to accept the rest of the story of Christ. It was said that a representative of every race of mankind was on the hill of Calvary to witness Christ’s death, and that Conal Cearnah represented the Gael. (See Ethna Carbery’s book, From the Celtic Past, for the poignant story of Conal at the Crucifixion.)

  druid: a term covering a number of an elevated Celtic learned class—spiritual leaders, teachers, lawyers, poets, bards, historians, magicians; often called magi; see Star of the East (Bethlehem), Death of King of kings. St. Columba wrote, “My druid is Christ.” Substitute teacher or spiritual leader for druid to catch the drift of his meaning.

  Here I must add that these people were not just the black-robed sacrificers reported by Julius Caesar and other foreign observers of this secretive order. In fact, there’s not a shred of evidence that human sacrifice was ever done on Erin’s green shores, as was done in Gaul and Briton. Erin’s druids sought the truth, the light. They believed in an afterlife and a form of regeneration or rebirth, with each rebirth resulting in a soul more highly evolved than the last. This soul was helped in its refinement throughout its lives by spiritual beings—like our a
ngels, perhaps. They worshiped the one God, who lived in the sun, the Creator of Stars and the Five Elements—but they kept the secret of this supreme spiritual being among themselves, fearing the common man incapable of spiritual pursuits and understanding. They let the common man worship whatever earthly symbol he might understand, such as the sun for the farmer, the sea god for the fisherman, or the forest god for the hunter. They knew that man worshiped the creation, rather than the Creator, and saw no harm since the common man, in their learned opinion, could do no better.

  All that changed with the coming of Christianity and the teaching of a one-on-one relationship with the one God for all men. Those who truly sought truth and light embraced it, giving up their preferential and revered status as druids to become humble servants of God as priests. So did many Irish kings and princes. Why? See Star of the East (Bethlehem) and Death of King of kings.

  dun: a round tower fortification

  Fianna: the legendary warrior-band associated with Finn MacCool, a prehistoric Leinsterman

  Now these men were known for their stamina, their fighting abilities, and their love of the outdoors: they were much like mercenaries, often for hire, dashing with the ladies, and the subject of many a song and verse in Irish folklore.

  fine: a kindred group, a basic social unit of early Irish society.

  Finn MacCool (Finn mac Cumaill): a prehistoric Leinster leader of the Fianna

  Finn is oft referred to at Gleannmara. ’Twas him who first sucked his thumb after touchin’ the Salmon of Knowledge, and wisdom was revealed to him as a result to see him through a puzzlin’ situation. Sucking the thumb was thought to clear one’s thinking and perception, allowing one to see through illusion conjured by magic.

  foolraide: foolishness; insanity.

  fosse: a ditch or embankment

  fosterage: custom of placing children of noble families into the care of others in order to form political alliances. Like my Maire was fostered out to Erc and Maida of Drumkilly, allying the tuaths of Drumkilly and Gleannmara. Many times, these children were closer to their foster families than their own blood.

  geis: taboo, something forbidden; to break a geis was to invite certain death

  grianán: solarium, sun room; ’twas here the ladies liked to do their stitchery while the men swapped tall tales in the hall

  hall: the largest room or building in a fortification; used for dining, entertainment, administration, and often, sleeping quarters, at least for servants

  Harp of Tara: Pictures of this harp, the likes of which were used in Tara’s legendary halls, resemble Hebrew harps, like the one used by King David himself. ’Tis no small wonder, and that you’ll see plainly, if ye read about the Lia Fal.

  Noah’s descendants in Ireland: After the flood, descendants of Noah’s sons, Japheth and Shem, settled in Ireland. Japheth’s people were a reasonable lot, blendin’ in with all them that came, conquered, and ruled for a while, but Shem’s were a worrisome lot of pirates and brigands and became known later as the Fomorians.

  hostage cimbid: a person taken from a clan or tuath to guarantee a tribute or loyalty to his captors; some were treated as guests; others were treated as prisoners, depending on the disposition of the captors

  leine: tunic

  Lia Falle [Fal]: the sacred coronation stone of Ireland; Conn of a Hundred Battles discovered it when he stepped upon it and it shrieked. His druids explained after fifty-three days of consideration that the stone’s name was Fal, from the Island of Fal. It shrieks in recognition of the true high king and cries out each of his successors. Some claim it was taken to Scotland by the Dal Raidi kings where it became their coronation stone.

  Later, the English thought they stole it and put it in Westminster Abbey for safe keeping. That’s the official story.

  But there’s more to the Lia Faille than all that. Some say the original stone was smuggled into Ireland after the first destruction of Solomon’s temple and it’s no ordinary stone from the Holy Land, but the very one called Jacob’s Pillow! For it was this stone pillow upon which Jacob slept and from which he ascended into heaven. The prophet Jeremiah brought it along with other temple treasures, including, it’s said, the ark of the covenant. And all these treasures, them what haven’t been taken to Scotland, are still buried deep in the hill of Tara.

  Logaire, King and druidic prophesy: Logaire was the high king of Tara at the time of St. Patrick. It was his druids who foretold of the coming of Christianity and the end of the druidic as they knew it. Despite Patrick’s effort to give him the salvation message, Logaire died a pagan, struck by lightning. Makes a soul think, doesn’t it?

  Maire: a feminine Gaelic name, pronounced “MOY-ruh” (the first syllable sounds like the word soy, and the last a soft-sounding uh). At least that’s as close as a non-Gaelic soul can get to the root name, which means Mary, as in the mother of our Christ. And steppin’ back even more, ye’ll find the Hebrew name Miriam.

  maithre: mother

  Mebhe: Queen of Connaught versus King of Ulster: According to the Tain Bo Cuailgne or “Cattle Raid of Cuailgne,” Mebhe (Maeve), daughter of High King of early Ireland Eochaid Feidlech, married thrice: first to Conor MacNessa of Ulster; second, to the king of Connaught; and lastly, to Ailill of Ulster. She became involved with the latter in a match of counting worldly possessions.

  The gist is that Ailill had one prize bull, the brown bull of Cuailgne, the likes of which none in Mebhe’s herds could match. What started out as a loan of said bull, evolved into a full-blown war with four-fifths of Ireland at Mebhe’s call to arms. Aside from the senseless bloodshed over such a foolish thing, another marvelous legend was born—Cuchullain, foster son of Conor MacNessa, stood at the gap of Ulster and defended the fifth province of Ireland single-handed against Mebhe’s four. Mebhe was not often remembered or referred to with fondness, but Cuchullain’s victory has helped many a cold Celtic night pass more easily.

  Milesians: the last conquering race of Ireland and the ancestors of Irish nobility. The journey of these Celts from Iberia to Ireland was a feat in itself, but there’s even more to it than the original record in the Song of Amergin, which tells of the incredible voyage for that time period and the battle in which these brave people take Ireland as their own.

  Of Christian interest, however, is the origin of these people. In the time of the Exodus, the Hebrews stopped at a village on the sea. The people of this village gave them supplies for their journey and incurred pharaoh’s wrath as a result. The pharaoh sent his legions to destroy every man, woman, and child. These frantic people escaped by boats into the Mediterranean, whereupon God blessed them with a rare east wind, which carried them to the Iberian shores. Because they helped God’s chosen, the sea would always be a friend to their descendants, who later became not only the Milesians, but the Phoenicians, one of the greatest early seafaring races.

  muirnait: beloved, little love

  ogham: early Irish runic-alphabet; pronounced OM, which oddly enough is a Hebrew syllable pronounced the very same way.

  One God in the sun: The early magi of the druidry believed that there was only one God, one Creator, and that He lived in the sun, which was their equivalent to the heavens. Now, He was not to be confused with a sun god. Howsomeever, because these magi felt the common man could not comprehend such an omniscient being, they allowed him to associate the Creator with the sun.

  Early scholars, basing opinion on Celtic art, which features the sun frequently, assumed the druidry itself worshiped the sun, but that is now challenged by academics of equal knowledge and standing.

  In truth, them druids were a lot like the high priests of Jesus’ day, who kept the common man a priest’s length from our God, ’cause they didn’t think him worthy of direct contact with the Almighty. Then along comes the Son—in every sense and sound o’ the word—and enlightens the world to the fact that our Father in heaven wants His children to speak to Him directly, not through a priest, who, for all his good intentions is still human
and given to the temptations of this earthly life. What a glorious God He was, is, and will ever be!

  pooka: a precocious spirit, usually in the form of a horse, that can lead a person to faeries or misfortune, depending on its whim

  rath: a circular fortification surrounded by earthen walls; home of a warrior chief

  Salmon of Knowledge: A legendary fish from the River Boyne, that if eaten by a human, gave said human all knowledge. A famous druid caught it and was about to sup, when it was said that Finn MacCool accidentally touched the fish and acquired a portion of its gift in his thumb, making said druid furious.

  satire: much like a curse or a spell; to be satirized by a druid could lead to affliction or death

  scían: dagger

  serpent: symbol of knowledge; a druid

  serpents driven into the sea: Some scholars feel that the legend that St. Patrick drove the serpents into the sea was symbolic of Christianity separating the old druid order—those who sought truth and light became priests, while those who preferred to use their knowledge to further their own greed and ambition took to the sea for Gaul or Britain.

  Sidhe: the magical faerie people who lived underground and in caves, possibly the remaining members of the Tuatha De Dananns.

  Star of the East; Star of Bethlehem (druidic legend of the magi): In Scriptures, three magi traveled to Bethlehem to find out the significance of the star that commemorated the birth of the King of kings. This knowledge was handed down from magi to magi—druid to druid—and when Christianity came to Ireland, the druids who sought truth and light in earnest remembered the star and its legend, as well as that of the darkness at Christ’s death. These learned teachers then became students again to become priests and spread the Word of God and the rest of the story of the King of kings.

  Seanchus Mor: The Brehon Laws rewritten and edited to reflect Christian values; wisely Patrick gathered three high druids, three kings, and three priests to do this revision of Irish law, in order to permit the people to retain all their treasured heritage that was not contrary to the Word of God. Allowing them to keep the pagan holiday celebrations by rededicating the glory to God and His saints was another secret to the acceptance of Christianity in Ireland.