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Title: Moorish Pilgrimage To Ireland Author: Hakim Bey Language: en Topics: Ireland, travel Source: Retrieved on 17th May 2021 from https://hermetic.com/bey/pilgrimage
I’d asked my friends Gordon Campbell and John Stephenson To find a
Beltaine (May Eve) celebration to attend. But the old Celtic holidays
are not widely celebrated (although I later found out from Barbara
O’Flynn of the Folklore Dept. at University College in Dublin that Nay
Fires and May Bushes are still to be seen in Sligo). John discovered
that some enthusiasts for Celtic Christianity living on the Arran
islands led by one Fr. Dara Molloy, would be having a bonfire, so we set
out from Dublin on Apr. 30 for the West. With Gordon’s madcap driving we
were in Co. Galway by evening in time for the oysters & Guiness at
Moran’s-on-the-Weir, a famous old pub. Next day we were in Inish Mor
(Mor, pronounced “moor”, means “great” in Irish!), the main Arran island
and visited the amazing megalithic “fort” Dun Aengus (the Celtic god of
Love). (At each megalith site we visited we had a few pipes, and thus
were able to interpret everything in true M.O.C. style.) That evening we
trudged up to the “cult” headquarters, an old farmhouse, and took part
in the ritual. Fr. Dara turned out to be a very interesting sort of
heretic, who told us “Rome is the enemy!” and spoke of his friendship
with Ivan Illich. The weather was amazing (during the whole trip in
fact) and the bonfire was pleasant. Dara gave us copies of their
excellent Zine, Aisling (available from Aisling magazine, Inis Mor,
Arainn, Co. Na Gaillimhe, Eire; phone/fax 099–61245).
Next morning we took the ferry to Connemara, the Gaelic-speaking region
of Galway, and the village of Carraroe, to meet Bob Quinn, author and
filmmaker of *Atlantaean: Ireland North African and Maritime Heritage.
(The book can be obtained from Quartet books, 27/29 Goodge St. London
wlp lfd. As for the film, Bob gave me a VHS copy which i will try to
make available to the faithful.) Bob and his companion Miriam gave us a
warm welcome, although they were recovering from a big conference on
Gaelic-language TV accompanied by lots of drink and traditional music
dance. Bob told me about his latest research (on “druid” oak-lore) and
gave me other interesting material on Irish/Oriental links. In a burst
of enthusiasm we decided to found an international scholarly
gesellschaft devoted to Irish/Oriental research (esp. Morocco), to be
called the Atlantaen Society. We hope to hold a conference in Carraroe
around May ! next year, if possible. I’m working on a preliminary
newsletter and will make it available to all MSM readers A.S.A.P. This
amy well turn out to be the most valuable thing I accomplished in
Ireland, and I’m extremely excited about it.
That afternoon we passed south through the fascinating little city of
Galway, which has many Spanish & Moorish connections (such as the famous
Claddagh ring, originally a moorish design brought back by a goldsmith
named Joyce who’d been captured by Barbary Pirates.) Then on to Co.
Clare (John Stephens ancestral land) and the Bursen, a barren region
rich in neolithic sites. On Bob Quinn’s advice we stopped to see the
Poulnabrone Dolmen, one of the most impressive.
That evening we arrived in Co. Cork (my own ancestral county) and the
village of Doneraile, where Gordon’s friends Jim & Fran are renting a
Gregorian mansion with an Anglo-Norman square tower named Castle
Saffron. Unbelievably exquisite! The grounds include an iron age fort,
overgrown with bluebells, which we investigated. (The rent on all this
is less than a small apartment in New York) Jim is a mycologist, and
told us about an indigenous “magic mushroom” called liberty caps.
Next day — joined by Gordon’s wife Julie — zoom zoom — we were in Kerry
— saw the Paps of Anu (the Mother Goddess), two breast-shaped mountains
with megalithic “teats” on the summits — and then visited Staigue — a
megalithic or iron age royal residence of great beauty; and then pushed
on to Gordon’s village, Ballinskellig, on Kerry’s stunning coast, where
he is hoping to build a stone pyramid (if the planning commission allows
such heresy!) We checked into a weird hotel run by mad ex-monks, and
spent the evening drinking with an old Shanachie, Mick Murphy, who told
us that liberty caps are not recent imports but were known to the druids
(this would explain a lot). When I told Murphy about the difficulty I’d
experienced trying to trace the origin of my great grandfather Patrick
Rion, he came up with a memorable line: “Many a man’s had to change his
name when he changed his country!”
The Skellig islands, or rather Skellig Michael ( — that’s St. Michael
Archangel, who likes big pointy hills and islands ) were once the home
of a monastic community of the Celtic Church; their beehive huts,
chapels and tombs still survive. Despite the presence of tourists ( we
considered ourselves pilgrims ) the visit was profoundly moving — and
exhausting enough to amount to a penance! So we rewarded ourselves with
an amazing meal ( fresh seafood & Kerry mountain spring lamb ) and a
visit to Ballinskellig’s other old shanachie, the bard Michael Kirby….
All to short a visit, as we were in the middle of 18 different
fascinating folk-loric subjects we had to leave. Kirby told us, for
instance, that the Tuatha De Danaan literally disappeared underground
when the Celts arrived, not only into the megalithic mounds but also
extensive tunnels ( Viet Cong style ). Later, at Knowth in the Boyne
valley, we saw such tunnels, although they’re dated to the 9^(th) cen.
AD and were supposedly used by Christians hiding from Vikings.
Our visit to the Brugh Na Boinne — Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange — was the
culmination of our megalithic peregrinations. By great good luck John
Stephenson was able to find an artist/archeologist, John Aboud ( yes, an
Oriental ) who had worked at Knowth for 10 years, to give us a tour of
the site, which was closed to the public. Astounding! Words fail me!
Best of all, an hour in the central eastern chamber, contemplating the
megalithic art and the bones of the Tuatha De Danaan! Aboud believes
that Knowth was a center for communal festivities, while Newgrange was
the secret “Druid” university. (Of course we’re talking 5000 BC here,
long before the Celts & the Druids per se. ) But Newgrange has
unfortunately been “restored” & opened to the public. Much of it’s aura
has been dissipated by tourism, not to mention the restoration work,
which is very unconvincing.
The rest of the trip was spent in Dublin, visiting lovely old Gregorian
mansions ( inc. John Aboud’s ), browsing the book shops & spending all
my money, and hanging out at Bewley’s Oriental Coffee Shop in Grafton
St., the boho center of Dublin. In further issues I hope to describe
John Sephenson’s plans for an immense celebration of the millennium in
Ireland in 2000 AD ( very similar to our Jubilee project, but in this
case backed by the Irish Ministry of Arts, which seems to have fallen
into anarchist hands! ). Also, as soon as the Atlantaen Soc. is launched
formally I’ll send the prospectus to the MSM, and hope for many members.
The Church is off to a grand start in Ireland, and the next ten years (
at least ) promise to be magical indeed.