New Article: History, Myth and Genocide: Real and Imagined; Or, The Pagan Problem with Patrick

Although it’s been heartening to see that (for the most part) there has been very little of the “black armband/All Snakes Day” crowd in recent years, there are still undoubtedly a lot of misconceptions that abound whenever the subject of St Patrick, and St Patrick’s Day, comes up. This was especially evident in the rather ignorant comments made by (thankfully a minority of) people about “finishing what Patrick started” following the theft and destruction of the Irish Manannán Mac Lir statue in February this year. As such, we feel that there’s still very much a need to dispel these misconceptions and present a more factual view of Patrick and just what, exactly, he might be held accountable for…

Although we’re a little past the usual March madness that reaches a fever pitch as St Patrick’s Day approaches, we feel that this latest article from Sionnach Gorm, History, Myth and Genocide: Real and Imagined; Or, The Pagan Problem with Patrick, addresses some really important stuff that goes beyond the usual topics that are explored when his name comes up.

This is the final component of Sionnach Gorm’s “St. Patrick’s Day Trilogy,” the first part of which can be read at his blog post, Leprechaun Vomit… or why I hate St. Patty’s, and the second part can be found here on the Gaol Naofa site, at Pagans, Polytheists, and St Patrick’s Day.

April 9, 2015

New Stuff – Article and Youtube Channel

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!

Just in time for Lá Fhéile Pádraig, Gaol Naofa is pleased to announce the publication of a new article for our website, along with the launch of our new Youtube channel.

This time of year tends to stir a bit of controversy and debate over St Patrick, and one of our members, Sionnach Gorm, has weighed in on the subject with a fantastic article on Pagans, Polytheists and St Patrick’s Day, where he explores the history of conversion, Patrick, and what that means for Polytheists and Pagans alike.

Complementing this, we’ve uploaded two videos to our new Youtube channel, concentrating on Lá Fhéile Pádraig. The first of those takes a look at the harmful stereotypes surrounding the day, while the second concentrates on the various misconceptions that we have encountered over the years. These are part of a series of videos on the festival year in the Gaelic calendar, and we’ll be working on further videos for the other festivals, and more, in due course.

Also on our Youtube channel, we’ve created a number of Playlists of videos that might be of interest to Gaelic Polytheists, covering subjects such as music, language, folklore, festivals, and more! If you subscribe to our channel you can keep up to date with any new additions as they’re added.

March 12, 2014