The links between Tolkien’s epic works and Celtic Mythology are well know and besides which, who amongst us doesn’t love Middle-Earth? Today sees the launch of a High Definition version of an amazing 40 minute fan film made by Independent Online Cinema which tells a story not covered by the trilogy of films which we all know and admire. The Hunt for Gollum tells the story of Aragorn and Gandalf’s quest to discover the part that Gollum played in the War of the Ring. Go and watch this - you won... read more

Irish iPhone App goes into high gear Do you remember when we brought you news of the great little iPhone/iTouch App for learning Irish Gaelic from the company known for its free services to the language learning community? The App has gone to version 1.1 with some amazing improvements. Byki will teach you over 1000 critical words and phrases with an easy, addictive, and lightning-fast 3-step process. Perfect your accent with native speaker sound, quiz yourself, and use the search feature to ... read more

In Episode 22, which carries on with tales from the Irish Mythological Cycle and is set in the time of St Ciaran, we hear about a day of incredibly bad weather. The ancient and mighty Eagle, Leithin, sets off on a quest to discover whether there was ever a day of worse weather. This tale, re-discovered in 1916, re-tells a common theme in Celtic Mythology - the search for the oldest animal.

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our... read more

Pic: www.independent.co.uk

The Independent tells us: The largest hoard of prehistoric gold coins in Britain in modern times has been discovered by a metal detectorist in East Anglia.

The 824 gold staters, worth the modern equivalent of up to £1m when they were in circulation, were in a field near Wickham Market, Suffolk. Almost all the coins were minted by royal predecessors of Boudicca, the warrior queen of the Iceni tribe who revolted against Rome in AD 60.

The Wickham Mar... read more

The BARDS proper occupied a high position in Ireland. The Ollamhs had colleges at Clogher, Armagh, Lismore, and Tamar. On this, Walker’s Historical Memoirs, 1786, observes that

“all the eminent schools, delectably situated, which were established by the Christian clergy in the fifth century, were erected on the ruins of those colleges.”

They studied for twelve years to gain the barred cap and title of Ollamh or teacher. They were Ollamhain Re-dan, or Filidhe, poets. They acted as herald... read more