When trying to connect meaningfully and find native sources for Irish Paganism within the reality of our living Irish traditions, things aren’t what they used to be.
These days, we are blessed with a burgeoning plethora of native Irish voices raising to speak truth about our own culture and heritage.
Which is damn useful if you’re a person trying to figure out how to ethically and respectfully incorporate those traditions into your Pagan or Celtic Polytheism work.
At the Irish Pagan School, we try to recommend and promote these Irish voices as much as the paid materials that keep the doors open and the lights on here, because we are – first and foremost – a community service based business.
These examples of FREE native sources for Irish Paganism are only the tip of the iceberg, so please add your own (native Irish only, please) favourite free resources in the comments below.
- Shane Broderick – https://irishfolklore.wordpress.com/about/
A University College Cork graduate with a BA (Joint Hons) in Folklore and Celtic Civilisation. His blog (and facebook page of the same name) bring the varied and rich corpus of Irish folk traditions to a wider audience. He takes an academic approach, while at the same time keeping it accessible to the non-academic reader.
- Orlagh Costello – https://mybrigidsforge.com/about/
A blog about Brigid, Irish deity, saint, nun, ollamh, and much, much more. Being Irish, Orlagh has grown up with stories about Brigid, practices about Brigid, superstitions about Brigid her whole life. Our landscape here in Ireland is covered in sacred wells, placenames and other indications of our love of the being in question. This blog is a mix of fiction (clearly labelled as such), the results of her research into our Irish lore on Brigid and the topics Orlagh links to her, as well as writings on her energetic practices and modern issues she believes Brigid would be interested in.
- Michael Fortune – http://folklore.ie/About.html
Michael grew up in a family immersed in story, superstition and folk belief in an area known as ‘The Macamores’, an old Gaelic stronghold stretching along the east coast of County Wexford. Growing up in an environment steeped in folklore has awarded Michael a natural understanding of the crossover between traditional and contemporary beliefs and customs, and the fluid borders where fact and fiction meet. As a result he has been commissioned to undertake multiple folklore collections on film throughout Ireland over the past fifteen years, in rural and urban communities, with young and old. At the core of Michael’s recordings are people and his genuine connection and engagement results in uniquely rich and personal material. He has a special interest in the supernatural particularly surrounding May and Hallowe’en customs. (His Folklore.ie FB page is also well worth a follow.)
- Geraldine Byrne – https://www.celebratingwords.com/about-me
A Poet and educator, Geraldine has taught online classes in Poetry and folk magic traditions, and has been a teacher and leader in Irish spirituality for many years. She is happy to work with anyone who requires it regardless of any considerations of sexual orientation, gender, or spirituality. Her focus is on creating truly bespoke ceremonies, inspired by the needs and aspirations of her clients, to not only reflect the occasion but enable the person to express their unique sense of self.
- David Halpin – https://www.facebook.com/CircleStoriesDavidHalpin/
A blog relating to Irish and world fairy lore, mythology and ancient history. A strong focus upon consciousness, and the esoteric aspects of folklore.
- Dr Jenny Butler – http://drjennybutler.com/
A well known folklorist and the leading authority on the academic study of contemporary Paganism in the Irish context, having conducted the first ever ethnographic study of Irish contemporary Paganism.
- Eddie Lenihan – https://eddielenihan.weebly.com/about-eddie.html
In gratitude to the excellent storytellers who have shared their proud and ancient Irish tradition with him down the years – and who were so insistent that it should not die – Eddie has done his best, through personal appearances, as well as books, tapes, CDs and video, to spread the wonderful message of Irish lore – no difficult task, since its own very depth and scope make it a world unparalleled. Make sure to check out his podcast on Spotify etc. too
- Pagan Life Rites (Ireland) – http://paganliferites.org/about/
The concept for Pagan Life Rites began to be developed in 2012 given that there was no organisation offering a comprehensive list of Priests and Priestesses covering the island of Ireland for those seeking spiritual services from a Pagan perspective. In light of this a collective of Priests and Priestesses came together to form Pagan Life Rites. (Lora O’Brien is a co-founder.) This collective comprises a group of people who have not only been running their own covens or groves, but also have been serving their communities in a variety of ways. By providing Moots as contact points, facilitating open rituals for celebrations, providing workshops and training, and hosting other educational events, people have been able to come together to learn more about their own personal spiritual practice and honour our indigenous traditions.
- An Scéalaí Beag, Jon O’Sullivan – https://www.dagdabard.com/
Irish tour guide, weaver of words, a teller of tales of his patron Deity, the Dagda, chief of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He runs 2 blogs here, posting stories inspired by the native lore (and sometimes directly dictated by Big D himself), as well as thoughts and opinions on relevant Irish topics. There’s also a YouTube Channel!
And seriously, if you have a specific question, I have likely done a blog or a video on it. PLEASE check for that before emailing me?!
Of course, there are our free online classes are great Native Sources for Irish Paganism too, at the Irish Pagan School. https://irishpaganschool.com/courses?query=free