That's the idea of this blog: to share, as a mirror does, a few things here and there, topical or not. I'll focus mainly on the Irish language and what's left of the Celtic world, and also what's left of the Historical Church (mainly the Catholic one, which has had so close an interaction with the Celtic world), and in general anything that is of moment, as a friend would.
Obviously, postings might get a bit melancholy.
I've taught the Irish language as a hobby off and on for years while pursuing a writing and editing career in the U.S., (never becoming Januarius MacGahan, alas) till hearing loss made teaching language rather difficult. Then I went and worked in Ireland for a year, in an Irish-language bookstore in in the lovely town of Bray south of Dublin, eventually marrying a Hungarian lady, a linguist herself. So, such has been my fate.
As for the rest of what this blog contains, I've argued, debated, studied, and wrote about history, philosophy, and theology, both Christian (all sorts) and Muslim, as well as the old Celtic paganism – the latter of which we really don't know much about, whatever modern pagans say. That's because they hoarded their secrets, their spiritual treasures, and the only thing they shared were the great Celtic stories, their own Holy Writ. We have a good few of those still, but most were lost. So much lost. In any event, they had a "closed shop". You had to be in the right family line to be a druid or filid, the high poets. If it wasn't "in your blood" you didn't count. Just like in Appalachia today, it was not a matter of who you were, per se, but who you are related to.
As for politics, I'm pretty much a Stuart Royalist. A friend of mine, a Dominican priest, used to call himself that, and I took it up. Imagine my surprise that I found it basically true. I've always been a Traditionalist, admiring and missing what went before that seemed good, and brooding its loss. Readily, I must admit that Progress in science and technology great, but our problem with it is we seem without a moral anchor. Our technology gives us opportunities like this blog, unheard of even 20 years ago or so. But technology might also blow us all up, or turn us into computers, androids, or finish us off with a "white plague". It's just a roll of the dice, seemingly.
My favorite political thinker is Edmund Burke (whom I'm sure spoke Irish from childhood, but I've not proven that yet). G. K. Chesterton remains a major force in my life, and I hope to have an essay or two on "Distributism". (I actually began reading him before I began that well-known Ulsterman C.S. "Jack" Lewis.) As most of the Irish language enthusiasts in Ireland and the U.S. today are on the Left side of the political spectrum, I've not made too many close friends among 'em. Whether their being somewhat on the Left is good or bad in itself, it has meant there's not much "marketing" of Irish, and the language remains a "boutique" interest. But that question's about ten essays in itself.
In this blog, however, it's not to whom you are related that counts, but what your interests are. And also of first importance, besides being a mirror, the basic operating principle here is Socrates' saying, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Now, of course, over the years, believe me, I've learned that attitude goes against the normal human grain, which seeks for certainties, whether Left, Right, or Middle. They don't like their gods questioned. And I've got the strong feeling Socrates would meet the same fate today as he did back then.
Yet here, everything is open, on the table, reflected, as in a mirror, back to oneself and out to the world, the world of whoever, whenever, whether in English, or Irish, Hungarian (I'm living the Magyarország at the moment, and though my Magyar is helpless, I've go leor family and friends here who are fluent).
I pray the site may it be of service to someone. And to that someone I dedicate it.
An Préachán
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