Celtic Recipes

Manx CPI rises - What next from 'Cruella' life for stealing sticks.

Bernard Moffatt's picture
Submitted by Bernard Moffatt on September 10, 2018 - 2:03pm

What I averred last month has come to pass CPI is on the increase. The ‘fall’ last time was a construct simply an illusion as the government changes the way these things are measured.

Potential of 'dark tourism' could benefit Sligo Gaol in Ireland

Submitted by Eibhlin O'Neill on September 10, 2018 - 1:01pm

Dark tourism can be defined as tourism involving travel to places historically associated with death, suffering and tragedy. One such place hoping to take advantage of the increasing trend towards 'dark tourism' is Sligo Prison (Irish: Príosún Shligigh) in Connaght (Connacht) in the west of Ireland. This weekend the Friends of Sligo Gaol, hosted a conference on Crime and Punishment in 19th and 20th Century Ireland to mark the gaol's bicentenary.  The voluntary community group has been working for a number of years to promote the gaol as an important part of Sligo's heritage.

Anniversary of day Welsh activists set fire to RAF bombing school near Pwllheli

Submitted by Mair Williams on September 9, 2018 - 6:35pm

Yesterday was the anniversary of a significant event in Welsh history. On September 8, 1936 Saunders Lewis, Rev Lewis Valentine and D J Williams, a university lecturer, Baptist minister and school teacher, set fire to the partly built RAF aerodrome, near Pwllheli on the Llŷn Peninsula in north-western Wales. Welsh newspaper the Daily Post recounted the events of that day in an article yesterday. 

'Irexit' group seeking to register as political party in Ireland

Submitted by Eibhlin O'Neill on September 9, 2018 - 4:20pm

''Irexit Freedom'  is the name Hermann Kelly from County Derry intends to call a new eurosceptic political party in Ireland. Around 300 people attended a conference held in a Dublin hotel yesterday where a case was put forward for Ireland leaving the European Union. The plan is to now seek 300 registered voters and register 'Irexit Freedom' as a political party. They want to field candidates in the European elections and then in national elections.

The Fairy Flag And The Chiefs Of Clan MacLeod

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on September 9, 2018 - 1:40am

Fairy flag

The Fairy Flag (Am Bratach Sìth) is a flag which is said to have magical properties; it belongs to the chiefs of the Clan MacLeod. It is located in Dunvegan Castle, which is close to the town of Dunvegan (Dùn Bheagain) on the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The fragile silk flag is about 18 inches squared. The origins of the flag are not clear and there are a number of legends which say that the flag was a gift from the fairies.

One such story was that a young chief of the Clan MacLeod fell in love with a fairy princess and proposed marriage. The King of the Fairies initially forbade his daughter’s betrothal to a mortal, but relented on seeing her distress. However, he stipulated that the marriage should last no more than a year and one day, at which time she should return to the Fairy Kingdom with no human possessions. The couple were much in love and had a son. On the day that the marriage was ordered to end the sad couple were rendered apart. One version of the story is that she presented her husband with the fairy flag for protection at the nearby “Fairy Bridge” from where she re-entered the Fairy Kingdom. Another version is that the fairy princess told her husband to look after their son well and not to let him cry as she would hear and it would break her heart.

Rating retirement

Bernard Moffatt's picture
Submitted by Bernard Moffatt on September 8, 2018 - 3:59pm

If you are going to be a pensioner in these Islands off the coast of Europe apparently you get a better deal if you are Irish (ie 26 Counties).

Natixis which compiles a Global Retirement Index places Ireland in the top ten at No 7 in its 2018 index up there with Switzerland and the Nordic countries. The Republic had been at No 14 last year but has shot seven place up the list in contrast the UK which was ranked at 18 and has moved one place to 17:

Harmer having a bad week...Then 'Travelwitch' come along

Bernard Moffatt's picture
Submitted by Bernard Moffatt on September 8, 2018 - 3:08pm

I can be somewhat zany I have an irrational habit of hurling any missives from government immediately into the pedal bin which can have unforeseen consequences. Some of the offspring have remonstrated with me over this and I suppose it is a tad irrational. However just as I start to think that I’m slightly loopy some really zany individuals appear.

I mean of course ‘Travelwitch’ and I could have put money yesterday (and won) on the fact that they would pop up on Manx Radio today after yesterday's Liverpool berth announcement by Ray Harmer:

Discarded sleeping bags from music festival in Ireland distributed to homeless

Submitted by Eibhlin O'Neill on September 8, 2018 - 12:57pm

The Electric Picnic Music and Arts Festival took place between 31st August and 2nd September. Around 55,000 people attended the event this year and capacity is to be increased by 2,500 to 57,500 people next year. After the Festival was over, 650 sleeping bags were left by those attending. This prompted volunteers from Portlaoise Action to Homelessness (PATH) to request community help to launder the sleeping bags they collected from the festival site. The aim is to wash and dry the bags so they can be handed out to homeless people. The public response to the PATH appeal has been fantastic.

Cyclists journey from Lockerbie in Scotland to Syracuse in tribute to victims of terrorist bombing

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on September 7, 2018 - 4:34pm

Lockerbie (Scottish Gaelic: Locarbaidh) is a town in southwestern Scotland. The town has been in existence since the time of Viking influence in the period around 900AD. This part of southwest Scotland, including the ancient Gaelic Kingdom of Galloway, had increasingly fallen under Norse-Gael control during the 9th to 13th centuries. Sadly, the town came to international attention on 21 December 1988 after Pan Am Flight 103 crashed there following the awful terrorist bomb attack aboard the flight.

Mysterious Dùn Deardail ancient Celtic Scottish hillfort recreated in lego

Submitted by Douglas MacQueen on September 7, 2018 - 10:36am

Brick to the Past, is a team specialising in historically-themed Lego models, Using about 35,000 pieces they have built a model of Dùn Deardail Celtic Iron Age hillfort in Scotland. It was commissioned by the Fort William-based Nevis Landscape Partnership. It was built by Dan Harris of Brick the Pastand over a period of nearly seven months. Once built it had to be disassembled into smaller sections, in order that could be then re-assembled Glen Nevis Visitor Centre.over the course of four hours. 

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