Alastair Kneale's blog

The Manx name for May Day is "Laa Boaldyn" and it is thought that the word Boaldyn derives from "boal" (wall) and "teine" (fire). In the old Manx calendar this day was celebrated on May 12 and was called Shenn Laa Boaldyn (Old May Day). Boaldyn, is known as 'Bealtaine' in Ireland and 'Bealltainn' in Scottish Gaelic, it marks the beginning of summer and is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals. In the Isle of Man (Mannin) the use of fire was one of a number of customs used at this time of year, to fend of witches and evil spirits.

Yn Commeeys Celtiagh - Celtic League Mannin draws attention to this article in The Belfast Telegraph. It looks at the Harvard Archaeological Mission to Ireland in the 1930's in their search for the origin of the Celts. The archaeolgy advisor to the mission was the then director of the National Museum of Ireland, Adolph Mahr. Dr. Adolf Mahr (7 May 1887 - 27 May 1951) was an Austrian archaeologist who was Gruppenleiter (group leader) of the Dublin branch of the Nazi Party Auslandsorganisation (NSDP-AO).

Yn Commeeys Celtiagh - Celtic League Mannin draws attention to this article about the dodgy dealings of the BBC. The BBC, with its second rate and bias news coverage, actually forces people to pay for its upkeep. The Isle of Man, in particular, should not feel compelled to force its people to pay the BBC Licence fee. The work of the BBC is funded principally by an annual television licence fee costing £150.50  per year. At this time such a licence is required to legally receive broadcast television by all households across the Isle of Man.

News from Manx National Heritage:

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE BUILDING CONSERVATION FORUM

The Isle of Man’s historic buildings are the focus of international journal ‘Context’

From the stone monuments in our landscape to the architecture of the TT Course, the latest edition of ‘Context’ from the Institute for Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) brings the rich variety of the historic built environment in the Isle of Man into focus for an international audience.

News from the Celtic League:

Former Catalan government minister and St Andrews University professor Clara Ponsati is facing extradition from Scotland to Spain under a European Arrest Warrant. This is a result of  her involvement in the organisation of last year’s Catalan independence referendum. Carles Puigdemont, President of Catalonia from January 2016 until October 2017 when the office was abolished by Spain following the Catalan declaration of independence, was also detained in Germany on a Spanish arrest warrant on March 25 and is now released on bail.

A davit used to hold lifeboats in place on the doomed ocean liner Lusitania is being moved to the Lusitania Museum in Kinsale, County Cork (Irish: Cionn tSáile, Contae Chorcaí). The davit has stood in Annalong Marine Park in County Down (Irish: Contae an Dúin) in the north-east of Ireland for the past 30 years. It was originally found having been caught in the nets of the fishing boat Croidte an Dúin near the site of the sunken Lusitania in 1965.

News from the Celtic League:

On the fiftieth anniversary of the Tuskar Rock Aer Lingus crash I thought I would post two RTE Archive items which are seldom aired they were made some years ago.

The first deals with the sequence of events and focuses on the original report and includes an interview with the Accident Inspector who compiled it:

News from the Celtic League:

The 50th commemoration of the 61 victims of the crash of Aer Lingus flight EI 172 (St. Phelim) took place on Sat, last in Rosslare Harbour, Co. Wexford, Ireland. The flight had been on its way from Cork to London. It is Ireland’s worst aviation tragedy.