Books'nSundries

(See Irish Genealogy links below this article)
* The music chosen for this page is a haunting old Irish ballad simply entitled, "Pearl"

       Ireland is the westernmost and after Great Britain the second largest island of the British Isles. It is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean and lies across the North Channel, the St. Georges Channel and the Irish Sea from Great Britain. The island has in recent history been divided politically into Northern Ireland, a constituent part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, formerly Eire.
     Historically the island is divided into four districts and thirty-two administrative districts called counties. The Republic consists of Connaught, Leinster, and Munster provinces totaling twenty-three counties, and three of the counties of Ulster province. Northern Ireland consists of six counties; the remainder of Ulster province. The present situation is the end result to date, of the many and unequal wars of conquest initiated by the more numerous and powerful English across the narrow stretch of water separating them. I posit that the Irish have yet to be completely subdued and will never be.
     The island contains a total of 32,050 square miles - The Republic of Ireland 26,600 and Northern Ireland 5450 square miles.   Population in the late 60's was 2,884,002 and 1,484,755 respectively; a total of 4,368,757. The maximum length of the island is 302 miles and the extreme width is 174 miles. The east coast of the island is fairly regular with few extreme features, but the west coast however, is strewn with steep cliffs and deep valleys and many little islets torn away from the mainland by the powerful Atlantic Ocean. Overall the surface of the island is lower in the center and higher towards the oceans. The varied system of low mountains range from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea level, and in roughly the center of the island lies a system of rivers. There is a central plain 50 by 100 miles which contain many bogs and lakes. The main rivers of Ireland are the Shannon and Erne which form a chain of lakes. These two drain the central plain, the Shannon emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. There is a system of canals with locks which aids in movement of people and goods and facilitates communications.
     Ireland's climate is typical of islands in this locale; prevailing moist winds from the Atlantic Ocean makes for an average winter temperature range from 40 to 45 degrees F. which is about 20 to 30 degrees higher than other places of this same latitude in the interior of Europe. The summer temperatures are also governed by the influence of the Atlantic Ocean making for a mean temperature range of 59 to 63 degrees F. in summer, from 5 to 10 degrees lower than other places of the same latitude. Rainfall averages 40 inches a year.
     Things that grow in Ireland are those which came from England and the western portions of the European continent, principally sedges, rushes, ferns, and grass. Animals also came from the same places. The Irish deer and garfowl were exterminated in prehistoric times and since civilization came to Ireland centuries ago, it early lost its bears, wolves, wildcats, beavers, and native cattle, leaving only the rodents of the woods and fields and the small birds. There are no snakes in Ireland, the only reptile being the lizard.

    The history of Ireland is a rather long and sad one, filled with hardship, strife and tyrannical oppression. Legend has it that Ireland was first inhabited by various Celtic tribes; the Nemedians, Firbolgs, Fomorians, and the Tuathe de Danann. These were subdued by the Milesians (Scots), also of Celtic origin. Ireland is mentioned by the name of Lerne in a Greek poem in the 5th century BC and by Hibernia and Juverna by some Classical writers, but little is verifiably known before the 4th century. The Irish Celtic tribes, called Scoti, harried the Roman province of Britain just across from them, and this extended to the coast of Gaul until the time of the Irish king MacNeill, during whose reign St. Patrick attempted the conversion of the natives to Christianity, encountering great obstacles.   Ireland had its own kings who were subject to a monarch who controlled the central district called Meath. The monarch resided at Tara, a hill in present day Meath (ever wonder how the Tara of Gone With the Wind got its' name? It was brought here by the Irish immigrants). Each clan was governed by a chief selected by its most important family, and laws were administered by professional jurists called brehons who were given lands and certain privileges.
   In the 6th century monasteries were established in Ireland and thrived during the "Dark Ages" in Europe. Many missionaries went out from these down through the centuries. The Scandinavian incursions checked Irish civilization for two centuries and the Norsemen established settlements on the coast sending raiding parties inland until their overthrow in 1014 by the Irish king Brian Boru. The king of England, Henry II, made the first plans towards the conquest of Ireland in 1155 by showing a forged "bull" from Pope Adrian IV authorizing him to take possession on the stipulation that an annual revenue would be paid the papal treasury. About 1165 Dermot McMurrough was deposed as king of Leinster and sought help from the King of England. He received permission to enlist English subjects to return to take back his former territories, which succeeded for the most part. A few years later after his death his son-in-law Richard Strongbow claimed his kingdom and in 1172 Henry visited the island and Strongbow and some minor chiefs paid homage to the English king, allowing him to take possession of portions of the island. The Anglo-Norman adventurers soon met with strong resistance but finally established themselves on these lands.
     During the 13th century more Anglo-Norman adventurers succeeded in firmly establishing themselves in Ireland. Edward Bruce, brother of Robert Bruce king of Scotland attempted to overthrow the English but failed at the Battle of Bannockburn. Even so, English power declined and the descendents of the Anglo-Norman settlers gradually became identified with the native Irish. In the 14th century Richard II, King of England invaded Ireland with large forces, failed to effect his goals, but England still retained large areas and had much influence. In 1537 Henry the VIII introduced the Reformation into Ireland and the Irish monasteries were destroyed. He then was content to leave the Irish basically under their own laws as overseen by his appointees, and the papacy allowed him to assume the title of King of Ireland.
     Queen Mary I was the first to begin the colonization of Ireland by English settlers. The Irish people of Kings and Queens county were driven out and their lands given to the English colonists. Shane O'neill started a rebellion but it was crushed and English oppression later under Queen Elizabeth I became much more severe. Then began a long progression of Irish rebellions, mostly crushed, but successful for a time when Hugh O'Neill, Third Barron of Dungannon, defeated an English army on the Blackwater and later another led by Robert Devereux. In 1603 the English quelled this uprising and the greatest cruelties and treacheries were perpetrated on both sides leaving much bitterness lasting for decades, even centuries. The English burned crops, homes, villages and put their inhabitants to death. The Church of England confiscated all that belonged to the Irish Church of Pale as well as that of the Irish Celtic Church, and English law was proclaimed the law of the land. In 1641 another uprising sought to defeat the English and was successful until 1649 when English statesman and soldier Sir Oliver Cromwell and his 10,000 soldiers defeated the Irish on two occasions and his successors finally succeeded in subduing the Irish again a few years later. Again for many years the English ruled harshly trying to break the fighting spirit of the Irish.
     In 1689 the Irish again attempted to throw off the English yoke with some success, but in 1693 they were again overwhelmed at the Battle of Boyne. Irish commerce and industry were deliberately crushed at this time by the English, which led to the economic collapse of Ireland. Many emigrated, the Catholics to Spain and France, the Protestants to America. About 1778 the Irish Protestants assembled 80,000 volunteers and in alliance with the French who had entered into an alliance with the Americans, demanded legislative independence for Ireland. Not receiving such relief the Society of United Irishmen organized yet another rebellion in 1798. Insufficiently armed they made a brave fight but were overwhelmed again by the English at Vinegar Hill. The English parliament then passed and proclaimed the Act of Union which attempted to totally dissolve all things Irish, but failed. In 1803 yet another armed outbreak was attempted, led by the Irish patriot Robert Emmet, but was easily suppressed. All Irish including the Catholics were them compelled to pay tithes to the Anglican (English) Church resulting in more bitterness, hardship and deprivation. Great cruelties were again perpetrated by both sides during the ensuing so-called Tithe War, as the Irish demanded the repeal of the harsh Act of Union.
     Some relief was felt when the English converted some of the tithes to rent payments which the Irish were also required to pay their English oppressors, but from 1845 to 1847 rent-racked Ireland suffered a disastrous famine resulting from the failure of the potato crop. Again large numbers of the Irish emigrated, especially to America. The estimate is that by the end of 1848 the Irish population had decreased by 500,000 from both death and emigration.
     Irish resistance went underground after this, when many secret societies were formed, working for the establishment of an Irish Republic, though many ecclesiastical and agrarian reforms were made by the English trying to placate the Irish. Agitation for Home Rule dominated Irish politics, led by the great Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell. The most prominent of the Societies started a rebellion in two counties and killed an English administrator, after which the English Coersion Act gave the English Lord Lieutenant of Ireland the power to arrest any person on any pretext. Then the Crimes Act made these oppressive measures even more harsh and stringent.
    Then in 1900 the Irish political leader and journalist Arthur Griffith founded the Sinn Fein, an organization to promote Irish economic welfare and to achieve the complete political independence of Ireland. This spawned the underground IRA (Irish Republican Army)
     The rest, as they say, is history. The history of OUR times.

Here are some Irish Genealogy sites to start you off, and a couple "Civil" War sites as well, since approximately as much as 85% of the people who settled the South were of direct Irish decent:

         OF DEMOCRATS & Gullible dupes

                                        by Emil T, Miller (Tony)

            ...like Popeye says: "Tha's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!"

     No matter how much it pains me, I must face the fact that it is I who am the primary subject of this article. It has taken me some years to discover this distasteful fact, in the case of my interaction with certain Democrat "friends". To admit this fact is painful. I write of it now only for the benefit of other such naive folk who may at some point find themselves at this unfortunate juncture as did I.
     There is really no excuse for it, but ego forces me to offer a semblance of one. When one person has been good friends with another over a long period of time, and gotten in the habit of overlooking faults as they became even closer friends, while at the same time being naturally inclined to magnify their attributes (both admirable qualities), it is easy to fall into the bad habit of condoning what should never be condoned, and ignoring or going along with things which are a direct anathema to all you personally stand for. Be assured that I myself require much forbearance and understanding, but not in the area of focus of this article.
     It is wisely said that opinionated people should avoid the subject of "Politics" and "Religion" entirely, and concentrate on more amenable subjects. I could also rightly say that close-minded folk who are incapable of accepting truth and facts, and then arriving at conclusions using common sense rather than dogmatism put into their minds and mouths by others, should avoid such subjects. Either we ourselves are like this, or we have friends who are, and the difference is obvious. As I said, I have a lot of faults, but being unable to adapt my thinking and to change my mind when confronted with truth, fact and common sense, is not one of them.
     For the most part, over time, one's old friends and acquaintances are naturally thinned out based on the positions we hold on the weightier matters of life, leaving only compatible and lasting friendships which, like fine wine and true-hearted women, age and mellow wonderfully with time. Usually. There is however, a vast divide between truly held positions and falsely held ones, between being realistic regarding our "friends", as opposed to sweeping the distasteful truth under the rug. A position truly held and admitted to, whether right or wrong as measured with truth and fact, is to be accepted at face value with some degree of respect, even if wrong as rain, and then dealt with accordingly. And in doing so, incompatibility requires separation, for who wants to live with contention and discomfort? But the issues of today go much deeper.
     It is a sad but straight fact that in America both Politics and Religion have become extremely contentious and polarizing over the last 40-50 years. They both came into sharp focus during the course of the Presidential Election of 2004, and for good reason. It is this sharp focus that made me wake up to the fact that I have been a Gullible Dupe, and have been for some years, as regards certain of my friends who vote "Democratic". When such an intelligent friend says to me, a professing Christian (although admittedly not a very good one), that he votes "Democratic" while at the same time professing with a straight face that he himself is also a Christian, he has insulted me and made me a Gullible Dupe unless I move to confront this extreme Atheist, ANTI-CHRISTIAN contradiction by rational discourse (which usually always fails with these people), or, by cutting off further fellowship. In this case the friend, being a life-long "union man", has actually expected me to believe that he votes "Democratic" based on this one issue alone, on the presumption that Republicans are not pro-union (probably correct), saying that they have "never done anything FOR them (unions)". He has been thus in fact, actually expecting me to be duped into believing that he is not only a true Christian but a patriotic American as well, in spite of all the facts and all the agenda of the Democrat Party he votes for to the contrary - which is actually ridiculous on the face of it. In point of fact it is ANTI-AMERICAN not to mention anti-Constitutional, to go along with forced unionism, simply because every American has the basic, inherent right to whatever job is available that he is qualified for, without being forced to join a union and pay union dues to union fat cat Leftists. Until just recently I was holding my nose and going along with this friend's Anti-Christian, Anti-American "Democrat" agenda - but no more. There comes the time when one is forced to draw a line in the sand as to his basic beliefs and where he stands. Not to do so is to be made a Gullible Dupe.
     Unless he is an intellectually ignorant dupe of the Democrat Elite, such a contradiction cannot be ignored inasmuch as it is the "Liberal" (Socialist) Democrats who are and have for years been systematically tearing down our Christian religion and traditional family values. They have done so among other ways, by supporting organizations who distribute condoms and promote sex and the gay homosexual lifestyle in our public schools, by promoting this perverted lifestyle in our public life while appointing Leftist judges to promote their agenda by removing "under God" from our Pledge of Allegiance and prayer and the 10 Commandments from all public schools and other public places and functions, and by promoting legalized gay marriage while defeating all attempts in Congress to stop these things and defeating all attempts to pass a Constitutional Amendment preserving marriage as between one man and one woman (the basis of civilization throughout time immemorial). Unless he/she is intellectually ignorant and therefore a total dupe himself, there can be no doubt as to that friend's godless, anti-American, Atheist intentions, or that he agrees and knows full well that it is also the Leftist, Socialist, Democrat-appointed, unelected Federal Judges who have promoted so much of this destruction in our country. Why? Because he still votes "Democratic" (Socialist). To be perfectly clear, it is his/her SOCIALIST intentions which actually are least in doubt, since Atheism is a prime tenet of despicable, degenerate Socialism, the natural enemy of individual freedom and liberty. I cannot think of a single Democrat friend I have ever had who is an intellectually ignorant dupe, which makes the simple process of elimination unavoidable. And so very sad and unfortunate in some cases.
     Now, if such Democrats simply said straight out and openly that they are an ideological Socialist and hold those beliefs close to their vests, they could not be thought of as making a fool of you. You would then, if you continued fellowship with them, be joining and agreeing with them, both in fact and effect, thus becoming a de facto Socialist yourself, ergo, a political whore, not to mention a virtual, if not actual, traitor.   The trouble is, in my case this is exactly what I had been doing and unaware of, because I had for years put their obvious ideological Socialism out of my mind in my inordinate desire to preserve our friendship (indeed, I have so few friends anyway, that I cannot afford to lose even one, unless it be necessary). I mean, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, has feathers and swims in another pond with all the other Socialist ducks, it must be such a duck, and ultimately the time must come when that "friend" has to be recognized as not being a friend at all, just someone who is making a fool of you and tearing down our country. This time came for me some time ago as these facts dawned on me during the 2004 presidential election when our country came so obviously close to falling into the abyss of godless Socialism, the gay marriage issue just one of many dangerous, anti-Christian, anti-American issues we are facing as a nation today. And NOW? God Help us!
     There are other obvious, in your face indications of the manifestations of the Socialist Conspiracy of those who have taken over the Democrat Party, the makeup of which are either Socialist ideologues or their blind, ignorant (Yellow Dog) dupes. Both are equally as dangerous to our Constitutional Republic (we DO NOT have a "Democracy"). Make no mistake, a Conspiracy by the Socialist Elite to destroy our Constitution and replace it with a "Socialist Democracy" is just what it is. And whether the aiding and abetting of it is intended, or unintended in ignorance by some citizens (our friends?) who these Leftists Elites call their "Unwashed Masses", the fact remains that they are just as much the enemy of our country and our traditional Constitutional American way of life as the Democrat Socialist Elites, and the endorsement of the Democrat Party by the traitorous COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. again this year as in all recent years past (since 1971), leaves no doubt of it.
     Thankfully, for the first time, in that 2004 election cycle, certain categories of the electorate, notably some church-going Christians as well as many decent Americans who otherwise do not go to church, appear to have awakened to the simple fact that we are in a cultural, ideological war for the very survival of our Constitutional Republic and our moral, Christian way of life as set up by our Founding Fathers - all who were Christians by the way, without exception. At that time many of these got up off their apathetic, head-in-the-sand, complacent duffs for the first time, went to the polls and voted their values and core beliefs when they voted for the Conservative, actively Christian candidate George W. Bush on 2004, but since that time the Leftists have successfully denigrated a good president who acted forcefully in our behalf based on the best information he had, and left the world and our standing in the world in tatters. I for one will NEVER forgive them for this.
     Again I point out that we are in a cultural, ideological WAR for the heart and soul of our country and our Christian religion, and without realizing it we have been for many years now. The Liberal (Socialist) Democrats are, and have been for decades, hard at work trying to destroy our Christian religion, legislate our Constitution out of existence, and replace it with their "Socialist Democracy." More true Americans need to wake up and start seeing these traitors as what they are - our mortal enemies. Furthermore, I for one, will no longer call either an ideological or an ignorant dupe of an Anti-Christian, Anti-American Democrat my friend, and if it ever comes down to blood in the streets I will fight them all to the death, so help me God.

                                        ©Emil T. Miller - 2004

   ~ Truth, Fact, and Common Sense ~
                     Something Democrats seem incapable of. Wonder why.
                                                    by Emil T. Miller - 2004

Here are some questions that Democrat "friends" can be asked and then their response measured, regarding their party of choice:

* Which party defends and votes against banning the heinous practice of Partial Birth Abortion? Which party champions the murder of millions of babies through Abortion on the pretext of "the woman's right to choose", knowing full well that the woman has no right to choose the death of another person - the baby in her womb - as a means to absolve herself from her responsibilities/immoralities? THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party has fervently raised our taxes at every opportunity for the last 60+ years, while exponentially increasing the size and scope of Government by creating a plethora of Welfare Giveaway Programs and Agencies funded from our tax dollars in return for the votes of the malingerers of all races?
     THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party incessantly promotes the lies that "Republicans are for the rich" and that "Democrats are for the common man", knowing full well that the direct opposite is true, that Republicans believe in finding the common man a job by promoting business expansion, and that Democrats believe in the common man finding the welfare office in return for their votes!
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party has tried for years to ignore our Bill of Rights and destroy our 2nd Amendment which ensures our right to keep and bear arms, by legislating it away incrementally? Which party passed the onerous, useless, so-called "Assault" Weapon Ban (in truth a semi-automatic rifle ban)? And which party is responsible for ALL the 20,000 useless gun laws now on the books, laws which do nothing to keep them from criminals but serve ONLY to limit access to them by honest, law-abiding citizens? THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.

* Which party has prostituted themselves to un-American forced unionism, to the Union fat-cats and to all their Socialist goals of denying the right of every American to the job of his choice that he may be qualified for, who requires their permission to work and by requiring union dues which they continue to use to illegally spend in getting their "Liberal" candidates elected without that member's consent? THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party has gathered to themselves every Left-Wing Anti-American organization in the country and the world, who champions their causes and takes their money - such as Planned Parenthood, the Communist Party USA, the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), all the Gay and Lesbian organizations, all the Atheist organizations in the country, the Socialist ACLU, Terresa Heinz-Kerry's Socialist Tides Foundation, such avowed Socialists as George Soros, - and other Leftists and organizations numbered in the hundreds, too many to list here? THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party continues to vote against School Choice which would allow the poorest among us (especially minorities) to pull their children out of the dangerous, crime-ridden, drug-infested, undisciplined Public Schools which STILL graduates students who can't even read above the 4th grade level, and send them to a private school which would actually teach them something?
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party has for years filibustered all Conservative Judicial Appointees who they suspect might allow prayer back in schools, stop the Atheist movement to remove God from our society, and to stop other pro-American efforts such as the reversal of Roe v Wade - the legalized abortion murder law? THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party refuses to allow a vote on defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and who refuses to allow a vote to prevent the defacing/burning of our American Flag? THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party is consistently working to undermine our efforts in Iraq and the War on Terrorism while pushing their Socialist Agenda?
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party has refused to vote for tort reform to protect the Trial Lawyers Assn which through their frivolous lawsuits promoting excessive liability insurance premiums are driving doctors out of their professions to the extent that medical costs/insurance premiums are becoming unaffordable by many Americans? THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

* Which party some years ago started all this uncontrolled, massive, 33 million illegal Mexicans who are costing Billions of our tax dollars for free education, free medical services, and free spending money from our almost busted Social Security Trust Fund (SSI payments) with their total ignoring of our immigration laws by encouraging their coming across illegally and promising amnesty in return for their votes back when they were in power?
     THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

     Finally, I will point out that the words "Separation of Church and State" is NOWHERE to be found anywhere in our Founding Documents. That phrase, found only in an obscure letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Baptist Association of the time, had nothing to do with the 1964 court case except that it was seized upon by unelected, Democrat-appointed Socialist Judges to use to fraudulently remove prayer from public schools, and the Democrats and their judges have used this one court "decision" as a "precedent" to continue to expunge God and religion from every aspect of our public and private life ever since - all championed by the Democrats.

     The bottom line for me is that from this point on, I will disavow any and all "friends" who vote "Democratic" against my country and against my deeply held Christian beliefs. If that sounds harsh, or "intolerant", so be it and the devil take the hindmost.
                                                          ... © Emil T. Miller (Tony Miller)
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