Irish Cultural Center
1106 N. Central Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
602-258-0109 www.azirish.org

Video - "In Search Of Ancient Ireland"
followed by a Discussion Led By George O'Brien

7:00 PM $5

This program will cover the first of the three part PBS series.

The Irish Cultural Center, 1106 N. Central Ave in Phoenix, will show Part 1 of the PBS video, "In Search of Ancient Ireland" on Fri, Feb 10th at 7:00 PM. This fascinating series was first broadcast in 2002 and includes controversial ideas which will be the topic of the discussion that will follow.

Interest in ancient Ireland continues to increase as more and more is learned as a result or recent archeological discoveries. Visitors to Ireland are typically amazed to find numerous ruins and stone work that are not just hundreds, but thousands of years old. The video "In Search of Ancient Ireland" gives an overview of what is known and questions some popular beliefs about early Ireland.

The discussion that follows will be led by George O'Brien, Events Coordinator of the Irish Cultural Center and a long time student of Irish history.

The following is taken from PBS - In Search Of Ancient Ireland

Who are the Irish ... really? IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT IRELAND journeys 6,000 years to separate fact from fiction. The program will provoke surprise among some viewers as they discover little-known facts, including: the Irish people may not even be Celtic; St. Patrick was a minor missionary who had very little impact on the nation's conversion to Christianity; scholarly monks in the seventh century re-invented Ireland's heroic, mythical past -- the stories we know today -- in order to convert its pagan peoples; Ireland actually benefited from the Viking invasion.

IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT IRELAND spans the centuries, from the Stone Age world of mound-building farmers whose gods ruled the forces of nature to the 12th-century Norman invasion, when Ireland first came under English rule.

The opening hour examines whether there are kernels of truth in the legends of mighty warriors like Cu Chullain and immortal rulers like Queen Maeve. Are the Irish even Celtic? Archeologists have found little evidence. The program also delves into the vast burial mounds that dot Ireland's verdant landscape, the climatic Bronze Age disaster that changed Ireland forever, the ensuing era of prosperity that transformed Ireland into Europe's richest nation, the role of Rome in Ireland, and the founding of a new kingdom in Scotland by Irish warlords who would ultimately take over the entire country.

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