Absurdly Dangerous

What is the difference between a short story and a novel? What are the common elements of short stories and novels? What are the five stages of a plot?

Perhaps you wanted to be entertained or transported to another place and time.

One of my favorites to read about is Gaelic Ireland. Gaelic Ireland was a Gaelic political and social order that existed in Ireland from sometime in the prehistoric era until the early 17th Century.

Gaelic Ireland was a Gaelic political and social order that existed in Ireland from sometime in prehistoric era until the early 17th century. Before the Norman invasion of 1169, Gaelic Ireland comprised the whole island. Thereafter, it comprised that part of the country not under English or at least foreign dominion at a given time. For most of its history, Ireland was a patchwork hierarchy of territories ruled by a hierarchy of kings or chiefs, who were elected by a system known as tanistry. Warfare between these territories was common. Occasionally, a powerful ruler was acknowledged as High King of Ireland. Society was separated into kin groups and, like the rest of Europe was structured hierarchically according to class. Throughout this period, the economy was mainly pastoral and money generally not used. A Gaelic Irish style of dress, music, dance, sport, architecture, and art can be identified, with Irish art later merging with Anglo-Saxon styles from Great Britain developing insular art.

Gaelic Irish culture was initially pagan and was mainly based on an oral tradition, although inscription in the ogham alphabet began in the protohistoric period, perhaps as early as the 1st century BCE. The conversion to Christianity accompanied the introduction of literature, and much of Ireland's rich pre-Christian mythology and sophisticated law code were preserved, albeit Christianized. Ireland was an important center of learning and preserved knowledge during the Early Middle Ages. During this time, Irish monks helped to spread Christianity along with elements of Gaelic art and culture to Anglo-Saxon Britain and on to non-Christian areas of mainland Europe in the Hiberno-Scottish mission.

In the 9th century, the Vikings began raiding and founding settlements along Ireland's coasts and waterways. These became Ireland's first large towns. Over time, these settlers were assimilated into Gaelic society and became the Norse-Gaels. After the Norman Invasion of 1169-71, large swathes of Ireland came under the control of Norman lords. The King of England claimed sovereignty over this territory--the Lordship of Ireland--and over the island as a whole. However, the Gaelic system continued in areas outside Anglo-Norman control. The territory under English control gradually shrank to an area known as the Pale. Outside this, many Hiberno-Norman lords adopted Gaelic culture. There was a regular conflict between the Gaels and the Norman Settlers.

In 1542, Henry VIII of England declared the Lordship a Kingdom and himself King of Ireland. The English then began to conquer the Island. By 1670, Ireland was fully under English control, bringing the old Gaelic political and social order to an end. The Gaels, also known as Goidels, are an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to North-western Europe. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic. Other Ethnonyms historically associated with the Gaels include Irish and scots, but the scope of these nationalities is more complex.

Of the different racial strains that mingled their blood with the English, the Irish were the most important. They were desperately poor. The available lands near the coast were already taken. Armed with axes and plows and seed potatoes and rifles, they moved into the American backwoods. Standing on a mountain, I worry that when my children die, no one will remember my ancestors. The Scots-Irish are Americans of Presbyterian and other Ulster Protestant Dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who migrated to North America during the 18th and 19th centuries. Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language from Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages.

Manx is a Goidelic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, historically spoken by the Manx people. The Manx people are an ethnic group originating from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea in Northern Europe. They are primarily a Celtic people with significant Norse and English influences. White British is an ethnicity classification used in the 2011 United Kingdom census. A number of ethnicity classifications exist in the United Kingdom. These schemata have been the subject of debate including the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorized, and the relationship between ethnicity, race, and nationality. The High Court of Tynwald is the Legislature of the Isle of Man.

The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state in Northeastern Europe occupying most of the Island of Ireland. Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the North, the Atlantic Ocean to the West, and the Mediterranean Sea to the South. A drainage divide is a line that separates neighboring draining basins. In hilly country, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single range of hills or mountains. It is known as a dividing range. in flat country, the line may be more difficult to discern. A valley floor divide is a low drainage divide that runs across a valley sometimes created by a stream capture.