This is a re-release of last year's August Fair Folk Almanac for Patreon about the Irish festival of Lughnasadh, its mysterious history, and its afterlife in modern Irish folklore.

This is the feast of the harvest's beginning, of the shining sun, of first precious golden loaf.

In Irish, Lughnasa is a gathering for the god Lugh, who was responsible for teaching the people of Ireland how to harvest the grain, and for maintaining the four quarters of the year, with the harvest at their peak.

Music:

Intro theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods

10:00 Instrumental track: The Dear Little Isle (air)” by Antóin Mac Gabhann & Caitlín Nic Gabhann with Brian McGrath

18:45 "Corn Rigs" by Us and Them

29:00 "The Band of Shearers" by Carla Sciaky

37:15 "Corn Rigs" by Whirligig

44:30 "The Lammas Tide" by the Corries

51:05 "Corn Rigs" by Whirligig (again)

The book I referenced is "The Festival of Lughnasa" by Máire MacNeill