“Let the light of knowledge guide you through the darkness of ignorance.”
Douglas Hyde
Cover art is ‘The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife’ by Daniel Maclise – Portrayed as a pivotal moment in the Norman conquest of Ireland and the death of Gaelic Ireland, Strongbow being Norman and Aoife being an Irish princess.
Druid belief continued particularly well in old Ireland where druids were allowed to be integrated more fully into the Christian framework over time as the religion established itself there. The Brehon Laws are incredibly important, if not of the utmost importance to researching and understanding the druid role and the ways they impacted their communities. In The Senchus Mór, the largest section of the Brehon Laws, where a summary of the ‘old law tradition’ of Ireland is given, it specifically states at the beginning of the text that the laws of ancient Ireland would essentially remain the same except that the druids lost their status to some significant extent with their rule no longer being considered the supreme of the land. Going forward, the druids would have to answer to the church while it being alluded that they still maintained mostly the same practices and role in society. These laws changed very little over hundreds of years and nothing was re-written pertaining to the druids specifically.
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Isla Skye
Isla Skye is an American Celtic scholar, teacher, author and herbalist that splits her time between the States and Ireland. She has studied the druids and related practices for over 20 years. She is a published author of children’s books as well as other folkloric literature and is currently working through an M.A. in Celtic Studies. Her hobbies are family time, camping, hiking, reading, writing and research.
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