Talk:Early history of Ireland
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Relying on old theories

Won't go into the O'Rahilly discussion, which is certainly a valid one, but P-Celtic & Q-Celtic? This view of Celtic liguistics has been almost utterly supplanted at this point! See Insular Celtic.

Too Much O'Rahilly Influence?

I think there is something of the same problem with this article as there is with Ivernic language in that there is far too much reliance placed on the theorys - and that is all they are - of T.F. O'Rahilly. Besides, I'm sure you are all aware by now that over 95% of Irish people have little or no Celtic ancestry. Fergananim

I've rewritten a paragraph and changed a few heading levels to make it clear where these theories come from and that they're not universally accepted. I'm reading O'Rahilly at the moment and, while he seems to have thought things through, he doesn't show his working, as it were. Characters are dismissed as ancestor deities or relexes of "the hero" very casually. It seems to me at least as likely that Cormac mac Airt, for example, was a fondly remembered historical king that legends have gathered around as a god. But his theories are influential and widely disseminated, so I think it would be more useful to include them and make it clear where they come from than to delete them. --Nicknack009 19:31, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I'm not saying you should delete them, merely pointing out that they are simply theorys, and ones that are not now widely accecpted. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of time for O Rahilly, but as I said on another talk page, he presents his theorys as if they were authoritative fact. They're not. Fergananim

I believe the theories should have their own article and be summarised on this one. As it stands, they make up almost half the article. Also, it's not clear whether or not the "Gaelic conquest" section is part of O'Rahilly's theory or accepted fact.

Lapsed Pacifist 30 June 2005 05:34 (UTC)

If no-one objects, I'll summarise the theories in the article and then move them to a new page.

Lapsed Pacifist 09:15, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

Further Points

I do accecpt that peoples such as the Cruithne, Fir Bolg/Builg/Érainn did come to Ireland but I would still be slow to accecpt the term invasion. Think of them more like the Vikings and Normans who did arrive and conquor areas of Ireland but who within a number of generations became utterly assimiliated into Irish society.

Nor do I accecpt that the Gaels were one of these peoples, as the word is derived from the Welsh language which simply means raiders and denoted people who came from Ireland, whatever their ethnic origins within Ireland. A good example would be the way we still think of those who came to Ireland in 1169 and after as English (though they were mainly of Flemish, Welsh, Norman and Anglo-Saxon origins) simply because they came from England. Fergananim, 12th July 2005.

I have a question.

What was Ireland like in the year 10 A.D.? --68.37.116.234 21:05, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

There is little solid historical information about Ireland at that time other than the fact that it was Iron Age and Celtic. According to mythology, that would have been around the time of Cuchulainn, Conchobar, and the Tain. Celsiana 16:08, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

yes it would be very interesting to read more about ireland during the time, when the romans were ruling england and wales. was there any roman influence on ireland. did some romans to try to conquer ireland and so on? --134.147.116.186 (talk) 06:48, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Celtic arrival

Celsiana, I reverted your last edit because it's introducing material that, without references, is merely POV:

"It has traditionally been thought it was Celtic invaders that brought Celtic language into Ireland, but recent genetic and archeological studies have lead to the formation of the newer, more controversial theory that the adoption of Celtic culture and language was a far more gradual transformation, brought on by cultural exchange with Celtic groups in mainland Europe. Many linguists would, however, argue that usually a culture would only abandon it's native language in favor of another under the pressure of political dominiation."

Controversial according to whom? Which linguists? It sounds good, but you need to cite sources to avoid running afoul of WP:WEASEL. Dppowell 16:25, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Technical note on title

History prior to writing is oxymoronic, the prewriting periods are best placed in Prehistoric Ireland.

Valid point, I support it. Dppowell 03:41, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

This could be moved to Iron Age Ireland, since that's the only bit not already duplicated on Prehistoric Ireland. --dab (𒁳) 10:32, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

As good a name as any I suppose. Early history/early historic would be Early Christian Ireland, if there had been an article written on that. Angus McLellan (Talk) 10:49, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Cleanup

I've added a cleanup tag to the article. Much of it needs to be looked over, but I was specifically referring to the quotes from the book with the page numbers; they need to be done according to the MoS, and probably trimmed down so they don't overwhelm the article.--Cúchullain ^t/c 01:54, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Gaelic conquest of Ulster

I'd just like to voice my concerns about the theory that the Gaels, whoever that refers to, invaded Ulster and drove out the indigenous population, the Uladh, who escaped to Scotland. This is a growing myth invented by certain sections of the Ulster Loyalist community who then claim to be descendants of the Uladh, and that the plantation of Ulster was not colonisation but a joyous return of the true people of Ulster. The Irish then are the real invaders and must be ethnically cleansed is the usual conclusion of this arguement. While certainly the article does not go this far it can be used by certain groups to reaffirm their justification for hatred of Republicans in Northern Ireland, which is indeed what is intended for. For more information on the origin of this nonsense visit the Protestant Unionist Loyalist Social Education website at http://www.pulseresources.org. It's a website designed to forment extremist views amongst gullible young men in the Unionist community and there views certainly do not reflect the majority of Unionists. Certain numbers of these people may check with Wikipedia to see if what the extremists are saying is actually true and seeing the Gaelic conquest theory put forward (without any evidence) may misguide them into believing that it as fact.

I would also like to criticise the theory of T.O.Rahilly. His theories are based on linguistic influences, which mean nothing in terms of political history and only reflect cultural growth and exhange of knowledge and ideas between the Celts, and his own analysis of Irish mythology which was written down by christian monks, which aren't the most reliable sources considering they at the time sought to stigmatize and dismiss the indigenous belief systems in Ireland. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.18.179.80 (talk) 23:03, 7 July 2008 (UTC)