Alexander the Great and the Little People!

Even from the beginning, it seems that the Irish/Celts were part of history and placed their impact in the most stunning of ways. From art and education to battles and war. Alexander the Great seemed to have need of them in order to become the great conqueror of legend himself.

It was the great warriors of the Irish that were called on by Alexander the Great to fight his wars in Persia and in Egypt and the Holy Land. Yes, they were! Grand, powerful men they were, and Alexander in 335 BC asked them to sign a peace treaty and fight for him in fear that they would join his foes. For, you see, the ancestors of the Irish are the Gaels who, many years ago, were the ancestors of the Galatians in the area of what is now called Turkey. Oh, the fine reputation those Greeks had for fighting and conquering the great lands and all the time it was the Irish!

The peace treaty did not last long after the untimely death of Alexander the Great, for the wild Irish Celts admired the Greek gold too much and invaded Macedonia and Delphi.

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The Irish "Little People" are descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of lovely folk, tall and graceful with flowing blonde hair. They were workers in gold and silver and legend has it that they originally came from Falias, Gorias, Murias and Finias in the north.

"It is God who suffered them, though He restrained them

they landed with horror, with lofty deed,

in their cloud of mighty combat of spectres,

upon a mountain of Conmaicne of Connacht.

Without distinction to descerning Ireland,

Without ships, a ruthless course

the truth was not known beneath the sky of stars,

whether they were of heaven or of earth."

poem in the Lebor Gabála Érenn

When the warrior Celts invaded the land of Eirenn, the Tuatha Dé Dananns were driven into the hills and caves. A Druid poet priest was called forth to apply his great wisdom to the task.

So there are the Tuatha Dé Dananns today, grown small, living in the caves, living in palaces of gold and pearl, coming out only at night to dance in the moonlight and make pail circles in the grass and play tricks on the simple folk. The priest had pronounced, "The land shall be divided in half. Our great race will have all the land above ground and the Tuatha Dé Dananns shall have all the land below."

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Over the next several weeks, I will be publishing, with the aid of my daughter, Bettse Folsom, a series of answer & questions & snippets about Ireland that many people have asked me during events where I have attended. The recordings of these can be found on my YouTube channel, HelenWalshFolsom or if you have a question, please contact me by email and I will be happy to address it.

Thank you for reading my blog!