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John Byrne was installing a new central heating unit in his home in Dublin in 1992 when he found a letter in the fireplace. It was a little scorched, but still readable.
On Christmas Eve 1911, a brother and sister, who signed their names, “A or H Howard”, penned their personally designed letter to Santa with their requests for gifts and a good luck message at their home in Oaklands Terrace, Terenure (or Terurnure, as the children spelled it) in Dublin.
They placed it in the chimney of the fireplace in the front bedroom so that Santa would see it as he made his way into the Howard household in the early hours of the morning.
A check of the 1911 census lead Byrne to believe the children were 10-year-old Hannah Howard and her seven-year-old brother Fred, who lived at the address with their parents and older sister. Link -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Eric Luke)
Sarah of the food blog Snippets of Thyme stayed at a bed & breakfast in Dingle, Ireland. Breakfast included soft boiled eggs kept warm in adorable little sweaters. The duck feet on the cups only added to the cuteness.
Link -via Tasteologie | Bed & Breakfast Website
Sunny Wieler’s GPS led him on a mysterious detour in which he saw 150 scarecrows doing the things townspeople normally do. They were busy competing for the title of best scarecrow! The All Ireland Scarecrow Championship is part of the annual ‘Howya’ Festival in the town of Durrow, Ireland. See more scarecrows at Stone Art Blog. Link -via the Presurfer
(Image credit: Andy Walsh)
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Perhaps.
Archaeologists discovered two medieval skeletons buried with large stones
shoved into their mouths, as a precaution against them rising from their
graves like zombies:
The "deviant burials" were comprised of two men who were buried there at different times in the 700s.
One of the men was between 40 and 60 years old, and the other was a young adult, probably between 20 and 30 years old. The two men were laid side by side and each had a baseball-sized rock shoved in his mouth.
"One of them was lying with his head looking straight up. A large black stone had been deliberately thrust into his mouth," Chris Read, head of Applied Archaeology at IT Sligo, said.
"The other had his head turned to the side and had an even larger stone wedged quite violently into his mouth so that his jaws were almost dislocated," he added.
Initially, Read and colleagues thought they had found a Black Death-related burial ground. Remains of individuals buried at the end of the Middle Ages with stones stuck in their mouths have hinted at vampire-slaying rituals.
It was believed that these "vampire" individuals spread the plague by chewing on their shrouds after dying. In a time before germ theory, the stone in the mouth was then used as a disease-blocking trick.
Since the vampire phenomenon didn't emerge in European folklore until the 1500's, the archaeologists ruled out this theory for the 8th century skeletons.
"In this case, the stones in the mouth might have acted as a barrier to stop revenants from coming back from their graves," Read told Discovery News.
Link (Photo: Chris Read)
Previously on Neatorama: The Chewing Dead | See also: Zombie Shop over at NeatoShop
Vital. Maligned. Mysterious. How well do you really know the potato?
During the 16th century, Europeans fell in love with a number of exotic plants from the New World. But the potato wasn’t one of them. It would take two centuries and a spectacular PR campaign for people to even consider eating the ugly vegetable. But once the potato took root, it determined the fortunes of nations as no other crop has ever done before.
STARCH RIVALS
Spanish explorers brought potatoes back from South America in the 1500s. They’d been introduced to the veggie by the Incas, who grew hundreds of varieties of spuds. But the tuber had few takers in Europe. Since God hadn’t mentioned potatoes in the Bible, the clergy preached that the starch was the Devil’s handiwork. Also, because the gnarly potato can look like a leper’s hand, rumors quickly spread that potatoes caused leprosy. Needless to say, the talk did little to boost the vegetable’s popularity.
While most Europeans wouldn’t touch the potato, they didn’t mind growing them to feed their livestock. Then something strange happened. During a series of failed harvests in the early 1700s, farmers watched in horror as many of their favorite crops died; meanwhile, the potato flourished. Rulers across Western Europe took note and began actively encouraging their people to cultivate potatoes, going so far as to hand out free seeds, along with pamphlets abut how to grow them. The Austrian government took a more straightforward approach: They threatened peasants with 40 lashes if they refused to convert to the potato.
Parmentier
Some countries began to embrace the crop, but France remained a holdout. Finally, in the midst of a terrible famine in 1770, the government got so desperate that it offered a prize to anyone who could find a food capable of curbing the problem. Agriculturalist and pharmacist Antoine-Augustin Parmentier won the essay contest for his rousing defense of the potato. Parmentier believed that the humble starch could prevent the masses from starving to death, and both the scientific community and the monarchy endorsed his ideas. But it would take more than a prize-winning essay to sway France’s working class and its aristocracy, neither of which trusted the suspicious-looking, leprous root.
SPUD MAGNET
Parmentier was determined to save his countrymen, even if it meant tricking them into giving the potato a try. In 1785, he organized a series of promotional stunts to win public opinion. At a royal banquet, he served potato dishes to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette and presented them with potato flowers; the king pinned a flower to his lapel and the queen wore a garland in her hair. The occasion instantly sparked a passion for potatoes among the nobility, who were slaves to royal fashion.
more …
Photo: James Young
For the last ten months, James Young has assembled a collection of photographs of water towers in Ireland. BLDGBLOG has more:
Many of the structures are militaristic and even explicitly fortress-like. They are prisons for water. Others could be mistaken for ornamental menhirs, functionless and inexplicable totems standing patiently in the fog and rain.
A blessing is nice even if it isn’t authentically Irish. However, a green tint and traditional syntax make this comic from Grant Snider perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! Link -via J-Walk Blog
First, you take a boat from Ireland eight miles out into the ocean. At a tiny island with two steep hills, you climb up 600 ancient steps. At the summit, there is a cluster of stone huts around a small garden area. This is the monastery at Skellig Michael, where a few monks at a time lived completely isolated from the rest of the world from the 7th to the 12th century. Yes, you can go there if you like, or just read more about Skellig Michael, and see more pictures, at Atlas Obscura. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
We once featured an Euler diagram that explained the British Isles, the United Kingdom, and Great Britain. This video explains all that clearly but quickly, then goes on to explain the British Empire, the Crown Colonies, Crown Dependencies, and other terms that confuse Americans and others who don’t deal with such geographical concepts every day. If this goes too fast for you, the script is available from C. G. P. Grey. Link -via reddit
We are familiar with leprechauns, although the American version from the Lucky Charms package isn’t quite the original. There are plenty of other creatures from Irish folklore you can learn about in this list. Have you ever heard of the Bean Nighe?
The Bean Nighe is the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth, condemed to wash blood the shrouds of the soon-to-be-dead for until the time at which they would have died of old age. The spirit has one nostril, one long fang, sagging breasts, and webbed feet. If you’re brave enough to steal a suck off her breast, you can claim status as her foster child, and she will grant you a wish.
As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, botanist Dr. Declan Doogue of the Royal Irish Academy says that there may not be enough shamrocks for the celebration!
The shamrock was “hit hard” by the severe winter weather and “won’t be easily found” this week, said Doogue, who also stated the national plant was under threat because of modern farming methods.
In its place, bogus shamrock plants are being used, he said, stating that he hoped the shamrock that President Obama would receive from Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen would be the real thing.
If worse comes to worst, Irish people who want the real thing may have to use shamrocks from England. Link -via J-Walk Blog
This video incorporates footage from 1935, in which Irish craftsmen build a coracle from willow and an ox hide, then use the craft to set their nets in the River Boyne. One has to admire the skill and experience required to propel a keel-less craft in a reasonably straight line. As the narrator notes, these river craft are related to the larger currachs that were capable of substantial ocean voyages.
Found at Scribal Terror.
Victoria’s Way Indian Sculpture Park is home to over 14 amazing pieces respresenting the spiritual progression to enlightenment. These statues were created by craftsmen in Mahabalipuram, India. I love the fact this amazing Indian Sculpture based is in County Wicklow, Ireland! The results speak for themselves.
Link – via babycreativeblog
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by cakehead loves evil.
An oak barrel of butter has been found in a bog near Gilltown, Ireland. Two workers, John Fitzharris and Martin Lane, noticed a white streak in the peat and uncovered the barrel, estimated to be 3,000 years old. Pádraig Clancy and Carol Smith of the National Museum of Ireland took charge of the barrel.
“It’s rare to find a barrel as intact as that,” Mr. Clancy explained, “especially with the lid intact, and attached. It’s a really fine example.”
He estimates that the barrel is approximately 3,000 years old, from the Iron Age.
At the moment it is being dried out by staff at the Conservation Department. Once dry it will be soaked in a wax-like solution which preserves it.
“At 35ks, it’s a pretty big one,” Ms. Smith explained. Other examples of bog butter they showed tended to be less intact and much smaller.
Link -via Unique Daily
