show notes s01 e06
Irish Mythology Podcast

Iúil 30, 2020

Episode 6

The Druid that Killed John the Baptist

Thank you for listening to this episode!

Here you’ll find our notes, links to research and some personal highlights from your hosts. 

Welcome | fáilte 

In this episode we hear about the druid Mog Ruith and his daughter Tlachtga travelling from County Kerry to the Middle East to study the magic of Simon Magus, and how on the way, Mog Ruith becomes the executioner of John the Baptist. We ask:

• Who was Mog Ruith?
• Why did he and his daughter, Tlachtga travel to the Middle East? 
• Does this story have a hidden meaning that points to the early Irish Church’s struggles with both imported heresy and native paganism?
• Why aren’t Mog Ruith and Tlachtga as well known as some other Irish Mythological figures?
• Why did Mog Ruith behead John the Baptist?
• Why were he and Tlachtga associated with Simon Magus?

We also talk about heresy, Roman influences in Iron Age Ireland, the oared wheel, and Kerry UFO sightings . 

Have you heard about the Druid, Mog Ruith and his most famous deed? I thought not. It’s not the sort of tale you would hear from a teacher or a priest.

Resources

• The Beheading of John the Baptist by Mog Ruith. 
• The Executioner of John the Baptist
• Tlachtga (Metrical Dindshenchas Poem 45)
• The Prose Tales in the Rennes Dindshenchas (No. 110, Tlachtga)
• Chadbourne, Kathryn. “Giant Women and Flying Machines.” Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 14 (1994): 106-14. Accessed July 30, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/20557278

• Paice MacLeod, Sharon. Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld. McFarland & Company, Inc. North Carolina, 2018.
• The Holy Bible, ESV, Kindle Version.
• The Siege of Knocklong
• Smith, Andrew Phillip. John the Baptist and the Last Gnostics, The Secret History of the Mandaeans. Watkins, 2015.
• The Nag Hammadi Scriptures. Ed. Marvin W. Meyer. Harper Collins E-Books.

• Nicknames (Schools Collection, duchas).
• Ancient Cork – Druidic Temple at Glenville (Duchas)
• St. John’s Eve Bonfires (irisharchaeology.ie)
• A Story (Valentia Island, flagstone covering stairs) (Duchas)

credits

Written, presented and produced  by Marcas Ó hUiscín and Stephanie Ní Thiarnaigh. 

Music – Celtic Warrior by Damiano Baldoni (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 public licence 

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Air traffic control audio courtesy of http://www.liveatc.net

All sounds cc or attribution licence.

Sounds on attribution licence from freesound.org – 

• Dsound1977 – Night Cyprus Sea
• Dymewiz – Footsteps (Snow, Sand)
• Xserra – Abu Dhabi, arab drums + Tanger drums
• csengeri – Storm 200408
• Inspector J – Footsteps, stone.
• hifijohn – abstract background music
• pogmothoin – Bodhran
• sonsbcnintercultural – Setar Alireza Farrokhzadi