Saint Mathias Celtic Festival - July 21 in Brainerd

Paddy and I will be speaking and signing books and CDs at the Saint Mathias Celtic Festival in Brainerd, MN on July 21.

The fourth annual Saint Mathias Celtic Festival will be held at The Farm on St. Mathias (7579 St. Mathias Road, Brainerd, MN 56401) on Saturday July 21, from 11 am - 6 pm.

I'm on at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm, talking about my books, all the research that goes into them, and I'll bring along images of bog people archaeological treasures, as well as samples of Irish turf—or peat, as it's usually called here.

Paddy will be speaking and playing a few tunes at 1:00 and 4:00 pm, about his compendium of 1,000 tunes, The Paddy O'Brien Tune Collection, and about all the older musicians he learned from, and how he happens to carry more than 3,000 Irish tunes in his head.

Besides our scheduled presentations, Paddy and I will both be on hand for the main part of the day, just to chat with people, and to sign books and CDs.

The Farm on Saint Mathias is proud to be partnering with Finnegans to support the Emergency Foodshelf Network’s Harvest for the Hungry program. Buy beer from Finnegan's truck at the festival and all proceeds will be donated to Harvest for the Hungry.

Live entertainment on the Main Stage will feature the Hounds of Finn, the Gunn Slingers, Rumgumption, and Center for Irish Music student musicians with Live Ireland's Singer of the Year Norah Rendell—all emceed by Welsh storyteller John Dingley. Check out the full schedule!

Traditional Celtic craft demonstrations will include sheep shearing, fiber spinning, dying and weaving. The festival will feature demonstrations by stonecutters, blacksmiths, metalsmiths, fiber spinners and the Blue Ox Brewers Society. Activities for children will include facepainting and a special music show.

Featured vendors will be selling Celtic clothing, soaps, music, and craft items. Vendors include: From the Ground Up Pottery, Fiber Creations by Tammy Severtson, Handcrafted soaps by Backwoods Bathing, Celtic Cottage, Reclaimation furniture, The Center for Irish Music and more. Food on site will be catered by Prairie Bay restaurant in Baxter!

Another from the 'I Don't Have to Make Anything Up' Department

Another set of human remains were discovered in early August in Cul na Móna bog in County Laois (Ireland). According to Ned Kelly of the National Museum of Ireland (who very kindly sat for an interview with me in April), the lower limbs may have belonged to someone who was a victim of human sacrifice a couple of thousand years ago. At first the archaeologists believed that the lower portion of the body was encased in a leather bag, but now they're trying to determine whether the 'leather bag' found with the body is actually its torso.

This is one of the very few Irish bog bodies discovered in situ, that is, in its original location, so it's a rare find indeed. More will be revealed as the archaeologists and forensic scientists begin their work.

IRISH TIMES story on the bog find

RTE news story on the Laois bog body

IRISH ARCHAEOLOGY article about recent bog bodies

THEJOURNAL.IE article on the Laois bog body