FYI - The term "Celtic," from the Greek Keltoi was used by the Greeks to refer to the peoples who lived beyond the Alps. This term, more or less, meant stranger. There were many tribes who were referred to as the Keltoi, each of which had their own unique culture and identity. These tribes were mainly found in the areas we modernly refer to as Northern Italy, France, and Germany. Of note, the cultures of the British Isles and Ireland - which in contemporary thought form the heart of the Celtic culture - were still unknown to the Greeks and therefore not held under the term Keltoi. It is only later that archaeologists and linguists begin defining things such as the Hallstatt and La Tene' periods and deciphering the Indo-European languages that we see an expansion of the use of the term "Celtic" extending into non-Keltoi cultures. Coupled with the European unification propaganda of the 1800's, the term "Celtic" became a rallying point for all of the European countries as a point of ! mutual identification. Many times, the term "Celtic" is used by scholars as a way to generalize and hide their lack of knowledge regarding the origin or subject of their work. By taking the time to specifically state the culture we are able to alleviate vagueness in our writing and expand our understanding of the topic. However, the term "Celtic" has become quite popular and is perhaps one of the more widely recognized terms we can use when referring to this widespread group of cultures on a collective basis. ----- Original Message ----- From: CARADOC28@aol.com To: IRL-CAVAN-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 12:34 PM Subject: Re: [IRL-CAVAN] St Pats Day In a message dated 3/17/2004 8:20:58 AM Eastern Standard Time, ancabhan@taconic.net writes: > Did he not bring > Christianity to Ireland-beginning with using the Shamrock as the vehicle to > explain the trinity? I have read that prior to Patrick and the change to > Christianity, that the Irish were Pagans, worshipping Lugh, the Sun God. Can > anyone give some sort of synopsis for those of us who are in need no they were christian just not roman catholic.i am a keltoi catholic and as such identify with the people who started worshiping at tara and we making kings on the stone of scone. and the reason i wera black is all i want is tobe at the last coming andhear both sides explainto christwhy they needed to kill their christian brothers in his name . and that included st patrick another englishman [roman] telling irishmen how to think. Chelsea,Ma.-Woburn,Ma.-denning-dennen-danin-dinan-dinihey-denningston-dinning- carlon-carroll-dever-cogan-malone-heslin-piscopo-mazzola-martini-farrell-mchug h-farley-grimes-lynch-doherty-SanDanto,Ita-Adargh,longford-Revere,Ma-Wintrop,M a.-sprague- and ever growing list Jim Denning ==== IRL-CAVAN Mailing List ==== To unsubscribe from this list click on mailto:IRL-CAVAN-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe (list mode) or mailto:IRL-CAVAN-D-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe (digest mode)