irish identity and piratical resistance in the caribbean

Irish Identity and

Piratical ResistanceEva de Lourdes Edwards, PhD

English Department, College of General StudiesUniversity of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras

at16th Eastern Caribbean Islands Cultures

(‘ISLANDS IN BETWEEN’) Conference, ArubaFriday, November 8, 2013

Read by: Prof. Sally Delgado, UPR-RP

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Gráinne Ni Mháille

Meeting with the Queen of England, 1595

Captain Grace O’Malley commanded from 3 to 20 ships during her career. Her galleys could carry as many as 300 men apiece.

(Anne Chambers, 2012)

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Emerging Irish Identityin 16th Century ‘Ireland’

The demise in Ireland of a society ruled by powerful warrior women coincided with the advent of Christianity and the influence of Roman law which accompanied it. (Chambers, 2012)

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Celtic Goddesses

MorriganSequana

BóinnSinainn

Dillon, Myles and Nora Chadwick. The Celtic Realms: The History and the Culture of the Celtic Peoples from Pre-history to the Norman Invasion. Edison: Castle Books, 2006. Print.

Nau

tical

Fem

ale

Figu

rehe

ad o

n Sh

ip B

ow

Mor

rigan

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Trader, Smuggler, Pirate

To the English, she was a “Commander of thieves and murderers at sea.”(Warrior Women – Grace O’Malley: The Pirate Queen, documentary film, 2003)

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Rockfleet Castle

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Cunliffe, Barry. The Druids: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

Lonigan, Paul R. The Druids: Priests of the Ancient Celts. Westport: Greenwood P, 1996. Print.

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BadbBirth, Death, RebirthReturn to Earth’s womb after death; rebirth as a new expression of nature.

Trio of War GoddessesMacha, Morrigan, Nemain

Tripartite deities reappear in other mythologies: Sumerian, Hindu, Egyptian, Chinese, Norse, Greek, Roman, etc.

(Brabazon, 2002; Campbell, 1991; Graves, 1975; Markale, 1999)

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St. Patrick Chasing the Snakes Out of Ireland

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Portolan Maps-Navigation Charts

Developed from the 13th Century, found in Italy, Spain, and Portugal

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Clare Island in Clew Bay

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Tower of HerculesTorre de Hércules

Foundations following a Phoenician design in origin; rebuilt by Romas as a lighthouse

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-- You deign to proclaim yourself our equal?-- I proclaim myself a free Irish woman of noble blood.

The

two

she-

king

s (C

ham

bers

, 201

2)

Llywelyn, 1986

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Eden, Pinnacle Point, South Africa

Prehistoric Superhighway, orKelp Highway

Sout

h Af

rican

Roc

k Ar

t

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Seafarers

Celtic, Gaelic

Gauls, Gaelic

CeltiberianGaelic

Whorter (2008) presents the influence of Gaelic languages on modern English.

Two examples:-meaningless ‘do’ (do, does, did)- and –ing present constructions

No other Germanic languages have these features; Celtic languages do.

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Pirates of the Caribbean

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There are no coincidences,just unexpected glimpses of a hidden pattern.

Thank you.

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