Gaol Naofa's latest article is up on the site! The article is by Sionnach Gorm himself, and it's titled History, Myth and Genocide: Real and Imagined; Or The Pagan Problem with Patrick. As you might guess by the subject matter, the original aim was to get the article up in time for St Patrick's Day, but alas, deadlines? Meh. So we're putting it out now because it's just too good to sit on until next March.
The article takes an in-depth look at the history of St Patrick and the way he's presented in the sources we have about him, as opposed to the less... realistic... view that's often circulated -- he's a genocidal maniac! He killed the druids! Weugh! Arg! I give you exhibit A as evidence:
Which I moaned about myself in a post last year. Although, as we note in the announcement over on the Gaol Naofa website, the wailing and anguished gnashing of teeth has died down somewhat in recent years, the recent theft of the statue of Manannán prompted some rather ignorant comments about "Christian's trying to finish what Patrick started," which shows that there are still misconceptions about who Patrick was and what he actually did during his time in Ireland. Gorm does a great job in showing that this kind of view just simply isn't based in reality, and I think it's a really important piece that needs to be read.
This article is the final part of a trilogy from Gorm, with part one on Gorm's blog titled Leprechaun Vomit… or why I hate St. Patty’s, and part two up on the Gaol Naofa site titled Pagans, Polytheists, and St Patrick's Day. They're all well worth a read!
