Articles

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Aliens and Irishmen!
• Attack of the Plastic Patty's
• Beyond Green Beer and Leprechauns
• Celebrating the Saint of Ireland - St. Patrick
• Celtic Cats - Magical Mystery Purr!
• Celtic Love, nothing short of Epic!
• An Interview with a Faerie in the 21st Century
• Five Miracles of Storytelling
• Halloween, the Celtic American Holiday!
• Irish Standard Time
• Kerns + Galloglass. Scariest Team on Earth!
• One old Biddy you don't mess with
• The Problem with Fairies.... NEW!
• Saint Preserve Us
• Shaggy Dog Stories - a Celts best friend!
• St. Patrick's Day: A story of celebration and survival
• Storytelling for Kids
• A Tough Act To Follow - Mystic, Legend, Saint,… Patrick.
• Tying the Knot, Celtic Style

Irish Standard Time!

Legends and Lore by True Thomas the Storyteller

"Ah, so where is everyone?" "Oh, don't worry. They'll get here. I think everyone is on Irish Standard time". When said amongst the Celtic community, it's usually a joke. Outside the community it can sometimes be seen as a veiled insult implying laziness, etc. To outsiders, watching a group of Celts putting on an event can seem pretty chaotic, but somehow it all works, and rolls along fine.

But it is intriguing. The Celts have always had an interesting relationship with time. All jokes aside, ancient ceremonial sites prove that the Celts had a very keen understanding of time, and of astronomy. These amazing sites (like New Grange) still continue to align to Solstices, and other celestial events, and probably will, long after we are gone. Since they lock to the starry sky, our ancestors probably had much clearer skies than the Isles enjoy today.

In Celtic folklore, there are a lot of pretty weird stories involving time. In folktales from cultures around the world, we hear the story of a person who travels to a magical realm, disappearing for many years. When they return, the minute they touch the ground, "poof" all the years are back in an instant.

Probably the most famous version of this (besides Rip Van Winkle) is the Irish legend of poet-warrior Ossian, son of Fionn Mac Cumhal (Finn Mac Cool). He fall's in love with a fairy woman, and rides off with her to her land. And like most fairy stories, disregards her warnings, decides to go home on a magical horse and visit the relatives. When he comes back to Ireland, all the people he knew are just ancient legends. As long as he does not leave the back of the horse, he will not age. But he offers to help some folks move a large boulder, the saddle girth snaps, and presto, he hits the ground and ages hundreds of years. Unlike most stories, he does not crumble instantly to dust. Instead, even as a withered old man, he sticks around a while to relate the stories of the Fianna to St.Patrick and his scribes, (thank goodness!).

So people disappearing, and reappearing years, even centuries later are not unknown. Most of them on reappearing, age immediately, although sometimes, they just continue to age normally (like Thomas the Rhymer, or TamLin, etc.) Usually, these events were tied to a location like a fairy ring. This kind of time travel could be exceeding dangerous. There is even a type of fairy grass or sod where some unfortunate could step on the wrong tuft of grass (a féar gortach) and starve completely to death in instant.

Lesser known stories have people who have magical experiences where they experience a whole lifetime in a moment. They get married, have kids, lead incredible lives, and suddenly they pop back into their normal lives. To anybody observing them, they would see nothing unusual, but participant would often be left with a souvenir, and a lot more wisdom.

Time has always been fluid thing to the Celts- even into the 18th century there are reports of people showing up an hour before they would arrive. A person would note someone walking by who was reputed to be away in America, wave greeting, all as normal. An hour or day later the person would arrive "for real" and both persons would be confused!

There's an old joke where someone asks an Irishman, if there is a word in Gaelic, which corresponds with the Spanish word "mañana". The Irishman pauses, and after a great while replies…"I'm afraid, sir, there is no word in the Irish, that conveys such a great sense of urgency." This strange sense of time often shows up when the Celts step up to any microphone.

So, if folklore and legend have any parallels to modern day life, you may find the following; coordinating a Celtic event may seem like an eternity, yet magically friends can show up in an instant. Your friend can take a lifetime to get a pint from the bar, and yet the evening will pass in a flash. Don't worry….you are just on "Irish Standard Time"