The Ślęża group disintegrated eventually within the local population??. They mixed, nothing "disintegrated" about that, adding to a diversifying gene pool ;) wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more... :)
"Among the most significant Celtic finds in Lesser Poland are the extensive and wealthy settlement in Podłęże and its associated cemetery in Zakrzowiec, both in Wieliczka County, and a multi-period settlement complex in Aleksandrowice, Kraków County. The Podłęże site was occupied from mid 3rd century BC on and yielded many metal objects, coins and coin blank molds, large collection of glass bracelets. The Zakrzowiec Celtic graves have the form of large (several meters long) dugout rectangular enclosures containing the ashes and grave offerings, such as pottery and personal ornaments. Graves of the same type but of a later period, 1st to 2nd century AD, are also found around Kraków, which demonstrates continuation of the Celtic tradition even after the arrival of Germanic tribes in the area. The Celtic burial site investigated in Aleksandrowice contains a rich 2nd century BC assemblage of funerary gifts including iron weapons and decorative elements. The unique fancy decorations, including a sheath with a recurring dragon motif, relate the findings only to the Celtic settlement area in Slovenia and western Croatia.
I have always felt welcome here by Polish people, well for the most part :)
I like the way I had the bit about the pre-Celts in Ireland on this thread now. Our histories are much more diverse and interesting than our present preconceptions.
And I think worth exploring a little more :)
And this is only a few thousand years, we are the result of a much much older people :)
You are a disgrace to every Irish person who has ever lived and those yet to be born.
SeanBM wants to invent history to make him feel better about his traitorous acts, tough **** Seanie boy, you are anti Irish scum and will be treated as such. You are a rodent.
RevokeNice"...disgrace to every Irish person who has ever lived and those yet to be born. .... traitorous...scum...rodent." =============================================
SeanBM has provided this thread with most interesting historical information while you call people names. You remind me of an incredibly boisterous and rude saloon drunk
Go raibh mile maith agat. I will continue this thread soon with, Sheela na Gigs, Celtic crosses (the mix of Paganism and Christianity) and other stuff I find interesting.
"Sheela na Gigs (or Sheela-na-Gigs) are figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva." On the corners of Churches no less.
In Ireland we say Síle-na-Gig (Sheela nah Ghee)
Hhmmm... "Another theory, espoused by Joanne McMahon and Jack Roberts, is that the carvings are remnants of a pre-Christian fertility or Mother Goddess religion."
This is the theory i am more familiar with, although looking through the web there are a number of theories, feel free to post what you think :)
"The Divine Hag of the Christian Celts " Or the goddess Cailleach is said to ward off evil spirits and also is a fertility symbol. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cailleach
Do you know that before Poland become Christian country in 966 there were churches (not many ) build by Irish missionaries?
I am searching for this but I can't find anything. I am curious if they built these churches with any Celtic elements. The next element of Celtic symbols I was going to do were the high crosses which only stopped being made in the 15th century. So if anyone knows any churches build by Irish missionaries pre-966, I would like to look it up.
Yeah, maybe but there are existing high crosses in Ireland dating back to the 6th century that are still in fairly good condition. But of course they have been maintained. Here are some photos of the historic ruins of Monasterboice en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasterboice It was founded in the late 5th century.
Also bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/muiredach/muiredach.html Here is a good site
These Celtic crosses show a cross over from Celtic pagan religion to Christianity. For the transition from a pagan religion to Christianity to take place, the Catholic church used pre-existing festivals and symbols from the pagan religion. So like in Poland you have Wianki which is the reminisce of a pre-Christian religion, so the Church renamed it St. John's day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wianki
Same thing happened in Ireland, Halloween is from pre-Christian times. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween
What I find interesting is the symbolism used on the crosses at Monasterboice, i will continue this in a while
My family name is from the Emerald Isle....my hair is long and 'red'.....although the lord has decided that I should have 'grey' bits at this time....and I live in Poland....is this thread about me?
The Welsh have a soft spot for both the Irish and the Geordies. I think we should make the Geordies honorary Celts. Rumour has it that when the English decided to try and eradicate the Welsh language they sent a bunch of Geordies to teach us English. This basically means that the Geordie lads got on the lash with the Welsh boys and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately nobody quite knows if the Welsh speak pissed Geordie or the Geordies now speak pissed Welsh.
Celtic version of the Welsh National Anthem in Welsh.
Very nice, thanks. I can't understand a word of Welsh, it is very different to Gaelic Irish, to my untrained ear. But please add to this thread as you see fit, show us something from Celtic Wales, time to shine :)
is this thread about me?
If you consider yourself a Celt, then YES :) My hair is almost completely grey, women like it and that is all that concerns me about that particular point;)
the name 'Legnica' (Polish town; German version is 'Leignitz') is associated with Celtic god Lug.
Interesting.
Lúgh/Lug
Lugus diffusion in Celtic religion is apparent from the number of place names in which his name appears, occurring across the Celtic world. The most famous of these are the cities of Lugdunum (the modern French city of Lyon) and Lugdunum Batavorum (the modern city of Katwijk, 10 kilometers to the west of Leiden)
A good place to start to learn about Welsh mythology is to read the Mabinogion - it's a series of ancient books put together to form a manuscript. As for the Welsh language, I think it's up there somewhere with Polish in the difficult to learn category.
It come to me .....I was reading about Irish dated before 966 in Poland. Unfortunately cannot remember where:( All I know it what some pretty specialist magazine on archeology - in Polish, I think ...sorry:( I remembered it by chance anyway.
Below are some links I have found - there may be more of it,,
Irish Mission in Poland
As for the Irish Christianity in Poland, long time ago Alfons Parczewski published a book:
(Preliminaries of the Christianity in Poland, and the Irish mission). The book has been digitized and is available for free:
wbc.poznan.pl/publication/107604
In the more recent times the subject was taken by Jerzy Strzelczyk, as you probably know.
There is a webpage in Polish about the parish Tropie in Lesser Poland.
See the history section:
tropie.tarnow.opoka.org.pl/historia.htm
..where the author tries to argue that the Irish missionaries were responsible for establishing the local church, ca. 828! He believes the alleged Irish mission had came from Nitra, Slovakia) Polish only.
Archeology
The book cited below is undoubtedly academic, but in English:
Celts on the margin : studies in European cultural interaction 7th century BC - 1st century AD dedicated to Zenon Woźniak, Krakow 2005 should contain bibliography of the subject...
Sometimes Archeologia Zywa (a popular magazine about archeology) publishes articles and notes about Celtic excavations in Poland (in Polish...) There is a search option.
archeologia.com.pl
I have found a site of the Warsaw Univeristy project Ekspedycja Celtycka
Well. there was an amateur linguist dr Feliks Michalowski (an emigree medic, had a G.P. practice in France, 19th century.) He published some articles and brochures about alleged affinities between Poles and Celts. Argued, for instance that the word Gaidheal had something in common with the Polish word gaduła ;) (gaduła: in Polish, a talkative guy) Sadly, as you Gaels know, the middle d is not pronounced here...
I am afraid, but the theories of the old doc are regarded as rather fantasy now. However, I would be happy, if anyone will proove at least that the talkative Gorale had genetically anything in common with the Gaels... (As for now, I am afraid that the only Gaelic Goral should be Colin Farrell's new son... ;)
Thanks for the suggestion! I need to go first through all they have produced already;) And it seems at the moment they are more preoccupied with ancient Slavs, especially Sorbs, than Celts.. Personally, I can't believe that Celts were Slavs ;) My specialty is rather the 19th century than the ancient times.
