Another fact about the incredible state of North Carolina that you might find to be quite interesting is the fact that in the mountains of the Appalachians, there is an area with the highest concentration of Scotch-Irish peoples in the United States.  It is Franklin, North Carolina that these Celtic peoples call their home.

When there are so many people of the same decent in a place known for celebrating cultures and history, it only makes sense that there would be literal celebrations and events going on.

One of the main events in Franklin that captures all of the rich culture is the Taste of Scotland Festival.  At this festival people can come and enjoy traditional Scotch-Irish foods, dance, crafts, histories and much, much more.

It simply does not get any better for people looking to celebrate and have a good time.

The video below shows a look at the wonderful event that takes place every year in Franklin, North Carolina.

Think about it, now.  I bet that you might even have a couple of different things that you do in life that are from varying cultures.  For example, you might celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th every single year.  That is a time of remembrance of the death of St. Patrick in the 5th Century.  The Irish have celebrated this day for over 1,000 years, and today it is still celebrated though many are not too aware of the history or reasoning behind it.

Another cultural holiday that many people celebrate regardless of their own cultural heritage is Cinco de Mayo.  Of course, if you are from Mexico, this holiday is very possibly one that you celebrate.  But there are many people of other backgrounds who celebrate the day of the battle of Puebla and celebrate Mexican culture and heritage.

So you see that it is very common for cultures to merge and coincide together in people’s lives regardless of the primary culture observed.  It is such a fabulous thing that so many cultures can do this and make life more exciting and enjoyable.  Imagine how dull things might seem if you were not able to celebrate different cultures and heritages in life.  It might not be something you would want to consider though as it just might seem too dull.

No need to worry though.  It is just like you see on television and non stop vid, as long as there are different people on this earth, there will certainly be many different cultural observances to embrace and celebrate.

Commissioner Hawkes is foremost concerned about the ways in which third-party applications that run on Facebook use  information. He has called on Facebook to be completely transparent with users on this matter, and also wants Facebook to give users control over the removal of any personal information from the social network and all related databases at will.  Good luck, Mr. Hawkes!  We’d all like that.

In the following video, you can listen to the sounds of Carol of the Bells, performed by Celtic Woman, one of the most celebrated Celtic musical acts worldwide.  The Christmas music performances have long been held in the highest regard, and fans flock thousands of miles each year to attend these hauntingly beautiful concerts.  There are lots of great reasons to listen to Celtic Christmas music in general, but Celtic Woman has a sound that will stay with you throughout the holiday season.  Here is a video of their performance of Carol of the Bells.

This sizable donation will pay for musical equipment  teachers to tutor the nation’s students.  An additional two million euro  is being provided by Ireland Funds, an international charitable organization supported by people of Irish ancestry all around the world.  These combined funds hope to bridge a gap between now and 2015, with the ultimate goal of government taking over by then.

The Irish government education spending cuts are a desperate attempt to save 6 billion euros  this year, and are part of the terms of the national economic bailout package. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn stated that he is “very grateful for U2″ during this time when his country does not find itself “in a position” to invest in arts education.

Over the next seven years the outlook is not much better for Ireland’s educational funding.  Projections see an increase in expenditure cuts growing at an annual rate of 10%.  With much of Europe feeling the effects of global financial crises, just as here in the United States, it remains to be seen whether funding will be replaced by the Irish government by 2015, but people are hopeful that some alternate method of continuing these programs can be arrived at before they expire.

Ireland, like all Celtic nations, has a deep rooted history of spoken and sung lore.  The Celtic way of life has always been closely associated with music and storytelling, so keeping funding for music education alive in the schools is less about frivolity and more about preserving the culture.

About the Author: Eowin O’Toole  is a graduate student of Celtic music and history living in the United States.  As such, he knows well the necessity of having  reliable home alarm systems in areas prone to crime.  He plans to move back to the UK after grad school.

While looking up some information to help a friend begin a family ancestry project, I stumbled upon a map that I think might be very helpful to anyone who wonders where his clan originally came from. The following map details the areas of the Scottish Clans, their traditional ancestral lands as well as any to which they expanded as a result of winning (or losing) clan wars.  You’ll see a bit of it is clipped, but it should still give a lot of people some valuable starting information.

‘On straw or hides the diners would gather, seated on the ground, and eat their meat with their fingers in a cleanly but leonine fashion, picking up pieces of meat in two hands and eating directly from the bones.  Parts that were hard to tear off were cut through with the small dagger which hangs attached to their swordsheath in its own scabbard’.

The men and women of the house were attended by younger sons and daughters. Brave warriors were honored with the best cuts of meat. During the Celtic Iron Age, the establishment of salt mining along Britain’s coasts began. Salt enabled the Celts to preserve meat for storage during winter.   Celts in the region of Gaul, who loved pork especially well, prepared hams so renowned that they were shipped off to Rome as a delicacy. In Britain’s mainland, nothing is known about the popularity of salted meats. Some of the surviving Italian recipes of the mid-second century BC detail the process of making these hams:  hams had to be covered with salt and steeped in their own brine for seventeen days, then dried for two days, rubbed over with oil and vinegar, and smoked for two days more. It is believed that Celtic Britons would have employed a similar technique, minus the oil and vinegar dressing which was not a part of their culture.

Here, pictured, is a modern dish likely derived from the traditional Celtic cooking.

Some parts of the northern Iberian Peninsula, including  Galicia, are also sometimes included as part of the Celtic nations. The region’s unique culture, distinct from that in most other parts of Spain and Portugal, contains predominantly Celtic features. For example, the region’s music consists of an extensive use of bagpipes, an instrument common in modern Celtic music, which once was used as a terrifying herald of war.  Owing to this, many musicians from Galicia and Asturias regularly take part in Celtic music festivals like the Breton Festival des Cornemuses. Many people have noted Celtic cultural traits in parts of Northern Portugal as well, but unlike Galicia and the other Iberian Peninsula Celtic countries, no Celtic language has been spoken or used there since at least the Middle Ages.

Many people around the world are second or third generation descendants of Celts who were removed from their homelands for various reasons during what has been deemed the “Celtic Diaspora,” during which large areas of the United States of America experienced a heavy migration of Celtic peoples, or people from Celtic nations. Irish Catholics settled in great numbers  in the East Coast cities of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Most Scots migrated to areas in the Southern United States, including Appalachia, and can be found in the Carolinas.

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