The Keeper of the Bees

In Cumbrian dialects, thimble-flower is foxglove, tod is fox, bummel is bee in lore, faeries gave a fox, foxglove petals to put on it's toes - the fox's gloves - to raid the hen house without being heard more in my: 'Folklore of the Lake District' #folkloresunday 📷 Alan McFadyen

In Cumbrian dialects, thimble-flower is foxglove, tod is fox, bummel is bee

in lore, faeries gave a fox, foxglove petals to put on it's toes - the fox's gloves - to raid the hen house without being heard

more in my: 'Folklore of the Lake District'

#folkloresunday
📷 Alan McFadyen

Happy #FlowersonFriday!

Look at these beauties! ♡

◇ Botanic Gardens, Dublin

#nature #bloomscrolling #springtime

Spotted yesterday in the Botanic Gardens in Dublin

First bee I've seen this year with pollen sacs on hind legs!

And the season begins! ♡

#InsectThursday #nature #photography #macro #bees #springtime #bloomscrolling

For #StandingStoneSunday

Taken last week at Loughcrew, Co.Meath

#Ireland #archaeology #history #photography

St David is seen blessing a straw skep of bees being brought by a monk in a wheel barrow by ship from Wales into Ireland

Folklore describes #StDavid granting Irish monk Modomnoc permission to bring bees from his monastery in #Wales to #Ireland in the 6th century

David prayed that bees would flourish in Ireland from that day forth

Thank you St David! ♡

#StDavidsDay #folklore #tradition #stainedglasssunday #bees

My reflection in Walter De Maria’s Seen/Unseen Known/Unknown

◇Naoshima, Japan

#Round #Blueskyartshow

A 5000-year-old doorway!

◇ Seefin Passage Tomb, Wicklow Mountains

#archaeology #history #heritage #culture #Ireland #nature

The garden is giving again

Pure joy! ☆

#nature #spring #outdoors #bloomscrolling #purplefriday #plants #gardening #pollination #bees

Fáilte!

The rain stopped for just long enough to fully take in this special example of Neolithic art ♡

It's found inside Cairn T in Loughcrew, an area known as 'Sliabh na Cailleach' or 'Mountain of the Witch' & is 5000 years old

☆♡☆

#history #archaeology #folklore #heritage #Meath #Ireland

Love these!

#Wood
#BlueskyArtshow

♡☆♡

#Wicklow #Ireland #photography #nature

How beautiful! I must pay a visit!

As well as #StValentine's connection with romantic love, he is also said to be patron saint of beekeepers, charged with protecting beehives and ensuring the sweetness of honey...

#Honey being a synonym for a beloved...

Happy Valentine's Day ♡

#folklore #legend #love #bees

#LegendaryWednesday

Today is #StGobnaits feastday 💛

A beloved woman whose story is mostly known via #folklore she has inspired as a fierce warrior, tenacious female & patroness of the #bees

But Ireland's landscape remembers her. Holy sites & townlands bear her namesake across #Ireland to this day

#LegendaryWednesay

Looking forward to speaking at the launch of #FéileGhobnatan in Ballyvourney #Cork on Friday ✨

A weekend dedicated to the patron saint of the #bees 🐝

What's not to love! 💛

#festivals #ireland #speirghorm #gaeltacht #irishfestivals #folklore #béaloideas #countycork

@udarasnag.bsky.social

#Brigid, the Celtic goddess, is said to have brought bees to Ireland from her apple orchards in the Otherworld, providing a nurturing foodstuff, sweetness & a healing agent through her honey ✨💫

#FolkloreSunday #Imbolc #StBrigid #CelticGoddess #Folklore #Ireland #honey #myth #legend #fire #bees

Agus tú féin...agus tá an ghrian amach inniú chomh maith (well, ag an am seo ar aon nós!!)💫🔆

Today 1Feb is #Imbolc, the start of Spring & celebration of #Brigid - celtic goddess & Irish saint

It's a magical coming together of folk traditions from making crosses, Biddy Boys & the placing of a brat bhríde

This is her #holywell in #Kildare, said to be her hometown

Happy #StBrigidsDay x

It would be wonderful if other people shared photos of Sheela-na-Gigs found locally!
#sheelanagigs #photography #archaeology #history #heritage #stonecarvings #femalefigure #medieval #ireland #britain

Bees were once described as 'Coorus craiturs’ and have played their role in the history and folklore of Shropshire. You can read more about this lore by following the link below. 🐝 🐝 🐝

nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-...

#Folklore #History #Bees #Beelore #Folkbeliefs

So awful that it was destroyed...but so good you have a record of it. Thanks for sharing. She's a fine Sheela (Síle)!

A 'Sheela-na-Gig' carving found at St Gobnait's Church, Ballyvourney, Co. Cork

'Sheela-na-Gigs' have evoked much mystery in terms of their use, meaning & symbolism

They are carvings of naked females found on buildings between 11th-16th c.

One belief (which I favour) is that they symbolise fertility, others say they ward off evil spirits 💫

#LegendaryWednesday #WyrdWednesday

An Irish tradition on #NewYearsEve that says you should open the back door to let the old year out & when midnight strikes, open the front door to let the new year in!

Happy New Year ♡

#legendarywednesday #wyrdwednesday #irishfolklore #Ireland #traditions #customs #beliefs
Photo: Co. Cork

"The Keeper of the Bees" is a beautifully illustrated book on folktales about bees and beekeeping 🐝

💻️: https://tinyurl.com/2n9z96eu

#bees #beekeeping #folktales

A Rudbeckia-hugging bumble...
#SundayYellow #YellowSunday

Taken late last summer
#photography #nature #bees #flowers

Spotted this little fella out for a forage on my Melonia today... 16th Dec!!

#bees #bumblebees #climatechange #outdoors #nature #photography #plants #biodiversity #ireland

Furry bumblebees: one of my #favouritethings
♡

#blueskyartshow #eastcoastkin #photography #nature #bees #flowers #pollinators