Newbridge School of English

25/12/2020

We would like to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!

30/01/2020

Our first classes in 2020 begin on Thursday 6th February.
Elementary and Interemediate levels are available.
Send message or give us a call 0858370471
Here are 5 quick tips to improve your English reading:
📖 Read what YOU like.
📖 Read and re-read different types of texts.
📖 Improve fluency and read at different speeds.
📖 Keep a dictionary, mark new words and try to use them in daily life.
📖 Read out loudly and listen to how you sound.
.. and keep practicing.

31/12/2019

Happy New Year!

25/12/2019

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

22/12/2019

06/12/2019

The La Tène Cult Stones'

La Tène' is the name given to a European culture that developed and flourished during the late Iron Age; from about 450 BCE to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BCE. La Tène artwork is characterized by elegant, stylized curvilinear forms usually found in metalwork. However, in Ireland, we are lucky to have a number of examples of La Tène artwork carved onto stone.

31/10/2019

Donn - The Lord of the Dead

In Irish folk tradition, Donn – from the Celtic word ‘dhuosnos’ meaning dark or Dark Lord – is a mythical deity associated with death and the dead.

Donn appears in some of the earliest Irish mythological literature. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Takings of Ireland), Donn was the eldest of the seven sons of Míl Espáine, and leader of the first group of humans, known as the Milesians, to settle in Ireland.

31/10/2019

The Tale of Jack O' Lantern

The term "jack-o'-lantern" was first applied to the mysterious lights sometimes seen at night over bogs, swamps, and marshes. These ghost lights—variously called jack-o’-lanterns, co**se candles, fairy lights, will-o'-the-wisps, and fool's fire—are created when gases from decomposing plant matter ignite. However, for centuries before this phenomenon was understood, Irish people had a different reason to explain these mysterious lights.

The Tale of Jack O' Lantern

The term "jack-o'-lantern" was first applied to the mysterious lights sometimes seen at night over bogs, swamps, and marshes. These ghost lights—variously called jack-o’-lanterns, co**se candles, fairy lights, will-o'-the-wisps, and fool's fire—are created when gases from decomposing plant matter ignite. However, for centuries before this phenomenon was understood, Irish people had a different reason to explain these mysterious lights.

So the tale goes, there once lived a blacksmith called ‘Stingy Jack’ who invited the Devil into a tavern to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his round so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. However, Jack left the tavern without paying for the drinks and put the coin in a pocket that had a silver cross in it, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form.

Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he wouldn’t seek revenge and wouldn’t claim Jack’s soul when he died. As the legend goes, when Stingy Jack eventually died, God would not allow him into heaven, and the Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, wouldn't allow Jack into hell either. Instead, the devil gave Jack a single lump of burning coal to light his way and sent him off into the night. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the land with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”

In Ireland, people have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. However, as the legend suggests, the original lanterns were made from turnips, not pumpkins. It wasn’t until Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America in the mid-1800s, that pumpkins began to be used instead.

31/10/2019

Samhain (Halloween) has its roots in the pagan traditions of Ireland and has been an important date since ancient times. Marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter, Samhain (pronounced “Sow-when") roughly translates as ‘end of summer’.

Samhain (Halloween) has its roots in the pagan traditions of Ireland and has been an important date since ancient times. Marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter, Samhain (pronounced “Sow-when") roughly translates as ‘end of summer’.

The people of ancient Ireland believed that the year was divided into a light half (beginning at Bealtaine) and a dark half (beginning at Samhain). Each day was seen as beginning at sunset and so the new year was also thought to begin with the arrival of the darkness, at Samhain.

Written about in some of Ireland’s earliest literature, many important events in Irish mythology happen during or begin at, Samhain. In addition, there are a number of ancient monuments, some built over 5000 years ago, that are aligned with the sunrise or sunset at Samhain.

Although its date is now fixed on the 31st of October, Samhain would have originally fallen on the astronomical Cross-quarter day, midway between the Autumn equinox and the Winter solstice (a few days later than the modern date of Halloween). The other cross-quarter days are Imbolc (February), Bealtaine (May), and Lughnasadh (August), all of which are ancient festival days.

In the mid-8th Century, Pope Gregory III moved the date of ‘All Hallows Day’ from 13th May (the date of the Roman festival of the Dead) to 1st November, possibly to coincide with the festival of Samhain. The night before ‘All Hallows Day’ then became known as ‘All Hallows Eve’ which was then shortened to ‘Halloween’.

Despite the ‘Christianisation’ of this ancient festival - in Ireland at least, Samhain still retained many of its pre-Christian traditions. It was seen as a liminal time, when the veil between this world and the otherworld was lifted, allowing the Aos Sí (faeries or spirits) to pass through. In order to appease these spirits, people would leave food for them outside the house.

A fruit cake called Barm Brack is traditionally served at Samhain, inside which, symbolic items were hidden. A person's future was foretold by the item they happened to find in their slice; for example, a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth.

The dead were also honoured at Samhain. The souls of those who had died since the previous Samhain were thought to revisit their old homes, one last time, before leaving for the otherworld (See previous post on Donn - Lord of the Dead). Often, places were set for them at the table and a chair put by the fire to welcome them.

Bonfires are also traditionally associated with Samhain when all fires would be extinguished and re-lit from the Samhain bonfire. These fires were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers with various associated rituals.

‘Mumming' or ‘guising’ (disguise) was also a popular custom. People, especially children, would dress in costume with faces blackened from the sacred bonfires to mimic the dead and offer protection from the supernatural forces at large during Samhain.

Jack-o-lanterns (now made from pumpkins, which come from America), is another tradition that originated in Ireland, where the lanterns were made from turnips or swedes. A folktale about a blacksmith named Jack who outsmarts the devil but wanders the earth undead gave the lanterns their name. (See previous post - The Tale of Jack O’ Lantern)

During the 1840s the potato blight forced nearly one million people to emigrate from Ireland to the United States, taking their Samhain/Halloween traditions with them. The earliest references to Halloween appeared in America shortly afterwards and since then it has become one of that country’s major holidays… in a somewhat altered form.

With all the crass commercialisation of the modern Halloween, we should all try and remember the origins of this ancient festival day.

Oíche Shamhna Shona Daoibh. . . !

Happy Samhain. . . !

18/10/2019

The Punchestown & Craddockstown Longstones are two of the ‘Seven Stones of Kildare’…

04/10/2019

Tree of Life. “You are drawn to the light as a moth is drawn to the flame. It is for your protection that the veils of night shroud your lives on earth. The physical body guards the dormant powers within you as does the shell of earth guard it’s jewels of power. Each life center should be awakened through the central spine. Each awakened center has the seeds of immortality. There are those with ambition that take the fruits. But the fruits of this assault never last. Only fruits growing upon the tree bring it eternal life, for these derive their perfection from the roots that grow from the matrix and from the sun. Lean yourself into the tree, and the life force will permeate your being. “ from Oracle of the Goddess Isis, by Olivia Robertson.

Tree of Life. “You are drawn to the light as a moth is drawn to the flame. It is for your protection that the veils of night shroud your lives on earth. The physical body guards the dormant powers within you as does the shell of earth guard it’s jewels of power. Each life center should be awakened through the central spine. Each awakened center has the seeds of immortality. There are those with ambition that take the fruits. But the fruits of this assault never last. Only fruits growing upon the tree bring it eternal life, for these derive their perfection from the roots that grow from the matrix and from the sun. Lean yourself into the tree, and the life force will permeate your being. “ from Oracle of the Goddess Isis, by Olivia Robertson. ✨♾✨♾✨ The Druid Path is nature’s path reorienting the body to live in harmony with the soul. This great tree in England is a master teacher of strength of stillness, absorbing wisdom and strength from its roots through the seasons of life and death. If you’re called to walk the Druid way join us on our journey to meet the great teachers of its origin including Philip Carr-Gomm this August. Only 2 spaces left 🙏🙏

17/09/2019

Almu - Home of Fionn Mac Cumhaill

Rising out of the plains of Kildare is the Hill of Allen, the highest point in the county at a height of 206m (676 ft). According to mythology, this was the home of one of Ireland's greatest heroes, Fionn Mac Cumhaill and its old Irish name is ‘Cnoc Almaine’ or Almu.