Archive for August, 2010
Wrapping Up the Berry Business for this Lughnasa Posted by róislín on Aug 12, 2010
le Róislín Our last blog looked primarily at the berry known in Irish as “fraochán” [FRAYKH-awn] or “fraochóg” [FRAYKH-ohg] and in English, most commonly, as bilberry, blaeberry, or whortleberry, and additionally as winberry, whinberry, bog bilberry, myrtle blueberry, and black-heart. Confusingly, for me at least, as a non-pomologist, there’s also some overlap in terminology with…
More Lughnasa Customs (and a Quiz!) Posted by róislín on Aug 7, 2010
Lughnasa customs could be observed over a two-week period, depending on the local community. Some sources and written memoirs refer to the second Sunday as August as the date, other communities held their observances on the last Sunday of July. Whichever date was traditional for a given area, one of the customs that figured significantly…
Will The Real Lúnasa / Lughnasa / Lughnasadh Please Stand Up? Posted by róislín on Aug 1, 2010
(le Róislín) We’ll take a break here from pronunciation notes, to address the holiday at hand, currently called “Lá Lúnasa” (August 1). The entire month of August also derives its name from this holiday, mí Lúnasa, or simply, Lúnasa. And while there’s a book’s worth of information on how this festival was traditionally celebrated, we’ll…