Blogs

Some say that you have to be married to a person to know what they are really like. Perhaps this is particularly the case when the marriage is to the ghost of a 300 hundred year old pirate. A recent article in the newspaper The Irish Post reports that: "A woman who claims she married the ghost of a 300-year-old Haitian pirate says she needed an exorcism after their relationship turned sour."

Last year's inaugural Oie Voaldyn Manx Fire Festival in Peel was literally a spectacular success which returned with an even bigger display during the early May bank holiday weekend.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called for a new Scottish independence referendum in the second half of 2020. She made the statement when on a visit to Ireland this week where she met the Taoiseach (Ireland's prime minister) in Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath).

Irish Gaelic is a language that is “threatened” according to most linguists.  However, the numbers don’t seem to support that conclusion at first glance. In 2016 the Irish Government’s Central Statistics Office estimated that 1,761,420 Irishmen over the age of 3 could speak Gaelic, statistically a scant change from the 2011.

Belfast (Irish: Béal Feirste) now has a new Mayor, Sinn Féin Cllr John Finucane. He is the son of murdered Irish human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. In 1989 Pat Finucane (39) was shot dead by loyalists at his home in north Belfast, in front of his wife Geraldine, who was also injured, and their children Michael, Katherine and John.  It was found that loyalist paramilitaries acting in collusion with the British government intelligence service MI5 were involved in the murder. 

Recently Transceltic published an article on the history of the founding of Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and its founder William Hillary (4 January 1771 – 5 January 1847). The bravery of the volunteer crew of lifeboats can never be underestimated. Motivated by the selfless aim to save lives, the RNLI has saved some 140,000 lives since its foundation, at a cost of more than 600 lives lost in service.

There was an interesting news item on BBC Northern Ireland recently. Under the headline "Finn's Law: Search dog Max saves lives; who protects his?" The article focused on a four year old Labrador called Max, a rescue dog who finds missing people across the north of Ireland. Max lives in Bangor, County Down, (Irish: Beannchar, Contae an Dúin) and is a highly trained air scenting search dog. Max recently located a vulnerable woman who had been missing for almost two days in freezing conditions.

Standing next to the famous Isle of Man TT motorcycle road-racing circuit is a stone cairn. It is to the west of North Barrule (Manx: Baarool Twoaie) which is the second highest peak in the Isle of Man (Manx: Mannin) at 1,854 ft (565 metres). This cairn is a memorial to the 1930's Scottish motorcycling legend Jimmie Guthrie. He was six times Isle of Man TT winner. When looking north from this beautiful location the valley of Gen Auldyn stretches below towards the northern Manx plain. The most northerly point on the Island is the Point of Ayre (Manx: Kione ny h-Ayrey).

News from the Celtic League:

Over the years in the Scottish coastal town of Stonehaven (Scottish Gaelic: Cala na Creige) in Aberdeenshire, a number of unsigned metal sculptures have appeared. Placed around the Bay they include a seal, Viking boat, two fishing boats, lighthouse and sea creatures. Local people have appreciated the works of art and at the same time have respected the artist's decision to remain anonymous. Now the mystery artist has revealed his identity and has spoken to BBC Scotland's arts programme Loop.