Ruins of Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland.
Dunluce Castle is a now-ruined medieval site in Northern Ireland, the seat of Clan McDonnell. This is also a place where an early Irish fort once stood.
The first historical recording of the people called the Celts was in Ancient Greece around 700 BC.
Moving from East and Central Europe, the Celts first arrived in Ireland about 500 BC.
The story of their arrival is intermingled with that of the coming of the Tuatha de Danaan, a mythical tribe of the Goddess Danu.
With the arrival of Christianity in the fifth century AD, written records then observe that the Celtic language was being spoken all over the island of Ireland.
However, the Celtic Ogham script was used in Ireland from the fourth century AD to the eighth century AD.
The script consisted of strokes or notches cut along the edge of a standing stone. 
Therefore, Ogham is seen as being the first written records of life in Ancient Ireland.
The written word was not, however, much required in Celtic life, as the hierarchy placed the storyteller high in importance within the tribe.
Within this is also placed the Druid, whose powers of recall, knowledge and tribal history, as well as poetry and lore, was central to the wellbeing and social standing of the tribe or clan.
In this, the Celts loved storytelling. Before they learned to write, the Celts passed on their stories from one generation to another. Here is my grandfather, Hugh O’Neill of Tyrone, who was both a wonderfully gifted storyteller and musician. My elder brothers, Phelim and Sean are with him by the fireside in Omagh, County Tyrone.
The Celts built large earthen banks or stone walls around their farms to protect themselves and their animals.
These walls were called raths or duns.
Many place names in Ireland include the word rath or dun.
Examples such as Rathcormac and Dunloe come to mind…try looking at a map of Ireland and see how many you can pick out!
Many of the fortified homes were enlarged to become know as Hillforts, offering more protection and domination of the landscape. Oftentimes these sites were used later to build castles and larger settlements.
Ireland is covered with the memories of our ancient tribes and people.<
This reminder formed the words as I walked the woodland sanctuary, on this last day of November. 
The leaf-covered earth I walked upon reminded me of that sacred contract, one long since forgotten by humankind.
From the sacred well flows the life-giving force of the Otherworld.
All the ancient races of the Earth understood this.
The contract was broken by those who nurtured a greed for more and more wealth.
This continues today and is the reason why Mother Earth has been brought to the edge of destruction all across Her land and seas.
The native pre-Christian mythology of Celtic Ireland is highly Goddess-centered.
This is in recognition of the understanding that the Earth is female and the force is that of the Creatrix.
Irish mythology, in particular, is filled with stories of powerful women.
These women, often revered and greatly honoured, were seen as incarnations of the ‘Sovereignty’ goddess.
The land speaks.
It is a most blessed time of the day, when the energy is rising.
My morning ritual is the same…I walk the land and listen, not just with my ears but with my whole being.
The energy of the Goddess flows out from the spring well and across the woodland…I listen.
I walk always in awareness of the Otherworld which influences my own.
I walk in service to the land.
This Goddess-centred land feels a part of me and I a part of Her.
The Otherworld is inextricably linked to the land I walk.
The Otherworld is not about the dead.
The Otherworld is referred to as the ‘land of the living’ in ancient lore.
The Goddess has a great propensity for shape-shifting…so as I walk the land it is oftentimes I am followed by birds.
Tomorrow marks the first day of December and the descent towards the Midwinter Solstice.
This will herald the return of the rise of the light, as we move towards Imbolc.
Yule begins on the Midwinter Solstice and continues until the first day of January.
The sacred walks of Winter continue…
