Séamus Draoigall
• Illustrator & Graphic Designer
• Gaelic Researcher •
Write to me:
hello@deercun.com
Or give us an auld follow:
@deercun or @seamus.draoigall
Dia dhuit! Santiago is ainm dom.
I am a south-american born Maker and Artist living in and inspired by the beautiful land of Ireland. Like so many people and tribes before me, I came to these shores from far, far away, relentlessly heeding a call that was impossible to ignore, fighting through hell and heaven for the right and honor to call this island my home.
All throughout my years-long journey from Buenos Aires, Argentina into the arms of Éire, I led a mobile lifestyle supported by freelancing Illustration and Graphic Design work. I have done deep, extensive research into most aspects of Ireland’s complex and bountiful mythology, history, ancient laws and cosmovision; and I am an avid supporter of any endeavor that seeks to do honor to the Irish Tradition.
What do I mean by doing honor to it?
I’ve identified a strong tendency, both in and out of Ireland, to take Irish Mythology at face value, based more on the Classic/Western cosmovision we inherited from Rome and Greece, than in an effort to do the extremely hard work of trying to view things as they actually were, for the people that lived through them. People and even authors or guides who should know better are mixing Mythology with History, Religion and Anthropology.
Unfortunately, this has caused a LOT of misconceptions, lies and ignorance in the mainstream understanding of Irish mythology. People seem more interested in the ‘mystique’ and external shapes of the mythical tradition than in understanding exactly how it came about, who wrote it, why, in what socio-political context, and quite importantly who payed for it to be written. The Land has suffered much cultural onslaught at the hands of the Colonial machinery, and the lukewarm, naïve and short-sighted approach to mythology I come upon so often in modern times does nothing, I think, to restore the identity that was stolen. In fact, it keeps it further away.
From my foreigner’s perspective, I firmly believe the Irish people, today, have had no chance yet to interpret, embody and define what their own tradition means and stands for. It has always been fed to them, either by Christian clerics and poets in the Middle Ages; Anglo-Irish intellectuals in the late 19th century; neo-Pagan authors in the late 20th century, and social media personalities in modern times. It is well time they call their power back, and remember.
I want to do what I can to help the PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN AND LOVE IRELAND remember the story of the land they feel for; and using my scholarly skills and passion for historical facts to remind them that the Irish tradition is theirs to interpret, define, develop, protect, enliven, enjoy, and help grow, for themselves, the world and all those yet to come behind us.
Thanks for reading.
All throughout my years-long journey from Buenos Aires, Argentina into the arms of Éire, I led a mobile lifestyle supported by freelancing Illustration and Graphic Design work. I have done deep, extensive research into most aspects of Ireland’s complex and bountiful mythology, history, ancient laws and cosmovision; and I am an avid supporter of any endeavor that seeks to do honor to the Irish Tradition.
What do I mean by doing honor to it?
I’ve identified a strong tendency, both in and out of Ireland, to take Irish Mythology at face value, based more on the Classic/Western cosmovision we inherited from Rome and Greece, than in an effort to do the extremely hard work of trying to view things as they actually were, for the people that lived through them. People and even authors or guides who should know better are mixing Mythology with History, Religion and Anthropology.
Unfortunately, this has caused a LOT of misconceptions, lies and ignorance in the mainstream understanding of Irish mythology. People seem more interested in the ‘mystique’ and external shapes of the mythical tradition than in understanding exactly how it came about, who wrote it, why, in what socio-political context, and quite importantly who payed for it to be written. The Land has suffered much cultural onslaught at the hands of the Colonial machinery, and the lukewarm, naïve and short-sighted approach to mythology I come upon so often in modern times does nothing, I think, to restore the identity that was stolen. In fact, it keeps it further away.
From my foreigner’s perspective, I firmly believe the Irish people, today, have had no chance yet to interpret, embody and define what their own tradition means and stands for. It has always been fed to them, either by Christian clerics and poets in the Middle Ages; Anglo-Irish intellectuals in the late 19th century; neo-Pagan authors in the late 20th century, and social media personalities in modern times. It is well time they call their power back, and remember.
I want to do what I can to help the PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN AND LOVE IRELAND remember the story of the land they feel for; and using my scholarly skills and passion for historical facts to remind them that the Irish tradition is theirs to interpret, define, develop, protect, enliven, enjoy, and help grow, for themselves, the world and all those yet to come behind us.
Thanks for reading.
The Gaelic Woodland Project
I am in the Board of Directors of the Gaelic Woodland Project, a Registered Charity (n. 20206178) that is working to create a new native Irish woodland under the model of people-powered reforestation; and we need all the help we can get! Find out more here.
deercún 