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T To continue the biblical analogy, our New Testament is evolving as we speak, being “written” in the actions, writings, and re-codification of ancient customs, laws, social structures, and beliefs of our people in the modern day. Sinnsreachd belief holds that our Ancestors made a pact with our Gods, specifically Ériu, that we would hold to the ways they taught us, honor them as our Gods, and hold sacral the customs and wisdom they passed down to us. We believe that in converting to Christianity, and later abandoning native culture and customs for Anglo-American ones, that our ancestors broke this pact, and lost everything that made them what they were as a result. Sinnsreachd is a cultural faith that seeks to reverse this breach and, through living the way we believe we were taught to, renew the pact with our Gods. Sinnsreachd is not about living in the past, however, and we embrace modern technology and understandings of science and cosmology. Our ancient cultural values, society, laws, etc. are not only perfectly viable today, with some modernization, but are vastly more preferable to the evolving global monoculture that is rapidly spreading to every corner of the planet. To that end, we believe that it is our duty to not only preserve and honor our culture, but to help guide it into the modern era so that it can be the foundation for the future. It is important to understand that while our túath, like all Sinsearaithe, hold sacred our ancient way of life, we do not believe in stagnation or anachronistic play-acting. In many respects, we are just like anyone else- we have lives, hopes, dreams, strengths, faults, and go about our daily lives. However, we do so with one eye to the past to guide us, one to the future to see where we are going, and our feet firmly planted in the here and now to make the journey. Our culture and faith do not find separation from our daily lives, but are instead a subtle yet potent part of our every waking moment. We take very seriously our duty to restore our culture to its rightful place for our descendants. It is in that mindset that we have preserved our ways and traditions, including our social structure, our social identity, our castes, and much more. Túath na Ciarraide is a túath, which is a multi-purpose word that can simultaneously mean a tribe of people and the land on which they dwell, often being seen as one in the same. According to the Claire Local Studies Project of the County Claire Library in Ireland- “...the term túath signified a clan or tribal family. In later times it came to mean a unit of territory, namely the ancestral or patrimonial lands of a tribe or tribal grouping. The túath could be described as the smallest unit of land over which a local taoiseach or clan chief exercised control.” In many regards this simplest explanation is the ideology in defining a túath that goes into the Sinnsreachd movement. We use the oldest, most straight-forward measure of social identity our people have ever had, and that is the foundation of our way of life- the túath. Within Sinnsreachd, a túath is comprised of two or more family groups called finte (fine singular). As mentioned previously, Túath na Ciarraide is made up of three such family groups, better described as dearbhfhinte (dearbhfine singular). Dearbhfhinte are extended family groups made up of multiple households (called teaghlaigh, teaghlach singular), which are in turn all members of a fine descended out to four generations from a common ancestor (i.e. a great-grandfather, the grandfather and his siblings, all of their children, and all of their grandchildren.) Dearbfhine Ciarraí has three generations, and Dearbhfhinte Carthach and Sionnaig both have two generations. Upon reaching a fifth generation, the fine divides up again into more dearbhfhinte based on the second generation (in other words, Tanya’s great-great grandchildren will trace the root of their dearbhfhinte to one of her children, meaning that as many new dearbhfhinte will one day exist as she has children). Each dearbhfine chooses from among them a leader of their family who will become the ceann fine (plural: ceanna fhine), or “family head”. Máirtín Ó Sionnaig is the ceann fine of Dearbhfine Sionnaig as well as the Tánaiste, or heir-apparent to the chief, Tanya Ó Carthach is the ceann fine of Dearbhfine Carthach as well as the seanchaí, or chief lore-keeper and story-teller, and Tiffaní Ó Ciarraí is the ceann fine of Dearbhfine Ciarraí as well as an aire échta, or land-owning warrior. The ceann fine leads the dearbhfine he or she comes from under the direction of the rí in what amounts to an unofficial familial parliament of sorts. They speak for their fine and advise the rí, and any of the three can call for a vote in matters pertaining to our túath and it’s operations. This could range from funding special projects to voting for a new rí in the event of the abdication, death, or incapacitation of the sitting rí. Since much of what we do is more laid-back and less official, these votes are relatively rare and generally only called in matters of great importance. Making up the population of Túath na Ciarraide are men, women, and children who fill many roles in our way of life. The members of a Sinnsreachd túath are divided up into occupation and/or rank-based castes, though there are two important caveats that must be made here to fully understand this caste system. First, unlike the castes system of India, Sinnsreachd castes are very loose and mobile, a place within our society based on merit and skill rather than accident of birth. One can move up (or down) within the ranks and castes of our people based on their drive, their demonstrable skill and expertise, and their dedication. Second, Sinsearaithe view castes in a more laid-back manner, seeing a person of one caste or the other the way an average Westerner would see a banker, a lawyer, a police officer, a plumber, a priest, etc. Likewise, due to the meritocratic nature of our people, a person achieves rank within the túath structure based on what they can and are willing to achieve. Status is likewise defined by one’s accomplishments and dedication within their caste, or in their movement from one caste to a higher one due to accomplishment and skill. Sinnsreachd recognizes five basic classes of persons into which occupational castes fit based on the old social strata found with the Féinechais, or Brehon Law. Túath na Ciarraide is no different in this regard. The first rung of this ladder is made up of people who actually aren’t full members of our túath, the fuidreacha (Fuidir singular), or students. Traditionally the fuidreacha were the unfree serfs that were nominally part of the túath, but did not have full rights within it. While we do not have serfs or anything of the sort these days, we DO have a class of people who fall within that grey-area of being half-in, half-out of our túath. Those we are fostering into our way of life are willing members of our túath, but are still learning and, like children, cannot be expected to follow every custom and law, nor be allowed (due to such ignorance and inexperience) to have an active hand in shaping the affairs of the túath until they are more knowledgeable. So, instead of meaning "serf", fuidir in the modern sense refers to those we foster who fill a similar status of being part of a túath but not having voting rights or the like within it. The next step up are the féine (féne singular), or “freemen”, who comprise the vast bulk of the túath's population. The féine are the general population of Túath na Ciarraide, being further divided into two sub-ranks- the ócairí (ócaire singular), or non-land-owning persons, and the bóairí (bóaire singular), or land-owning persons- to denote status. The féine are comprised largely of people from various trades and skills, as well as unskilled labor, farmers, and warriors. They build, create, maintain, grow, and produce many of the things that make the túath function. In some ways, they are the muscle and bone of the túath. It is not uncommon for a féne to move from occupation to occupation, and as a result the féine are not really identified by caste or occupation (as opposed to the professional specialists of the airí and nemhedacha), merely by their land-owning status (e.g. ócaire, etc.). The exception to this would be the laochra (laoch singular), or warriors, and the ceardaithe (ceardaí singular), or craftsmen. These two professions are life-long ones and, like the specialists of the next two classes of person, laochra and ceardaithe are recognized by their profession first and foremost. The laochra of Túath na Ciarraide are soldiers, security contractors, police, and anyone who's profession it is to use force and skill to protect others or to engage in warfare. The ceardaithe include craftsmen and women of many trades, to include scientists, IT professionals, and other high-tech professions in addition to the more traditional crafts such as carpentry, masonry, smithing, etc. A ceardaí within our túath is anyone who has a specific craft or technological specialization. This is the point where Sinnsreachd social strata split into two equal, but separate branches, each having a leadership role over various aspects of our way of life. The first branch is the airí (aire singular), the martial elite and the "captains of industry", so to speak- those who lead the warriors, head the companies, and are the landlords of the túath. In many ways, they are the martial and economic leadership of the túath, as well as one half of the political leadership. In addition to martial leadership, the airí are responsible for managing and caring for the land our túath owns and uses. Airí are, in some very basic ways, akin to a medieval knight. They, like the knights of old, are a martial land-owning class. Often, the airí are, or have retired from being, non-commissioned officers or officers in the military, are upper-ranking officers or detectives within law enforcement, or the leaders and managers of security contractor and bodyguard firms. Their leadership capabilities that gain them the status of aire also land them into positions of leadership in the world of the Host Nations in which we dwell. Part of what separates the airí from the rest of the laochra, above and beyond their leadership skills, is their ability to use their cunning minds and charisma for more than leading laochra. They can just as easily arrange and organize the logistics and staffing for a tribe-sponsored program to build a solar power plant as they can set up, organize, and staff a security detail. Airí are organized into six ancient and hierarchal ranks, each with a specific purpose and duties. The aire cosring is the lowest rank of the airí, and has the least duties regarding his or her standing. They are, in many ways, akin to officer cadets- in charge of a group of people, but still under the tutelage of the higher-ranked airí. The airí cosring are each responsible for the management and protection of any lands that they own, as well as learning the basics of leadership and management within our túath, which makes the airí cosring basically airí-in-training. Thus, their specialty is as students. Next comes the first full-ranked aire, the aire déso, an aire who has earned his or her place among the hierarchy of the tribe, and are no longer under tutelage to another. Like the airí cosring, the airí déso are managers over land and people, but unlike the airí cosring, this is the aire déso’s forte. Specializing in management of the affairs of land and leadership, this is the “average Joe” of the airí. An aire déso is responsible for the land he or she may own, and for arranging the instruction and education of the fuidreacha in the ways of our culture and beliefs. Thus, their specialty is the management and instruction of newcomers as well. Equal in rank to the aire déso, but having a very different, very specialized martial purpose, is the aire échta, the purely-martial arm of the airí. Aire échta roughly translates to mean something akin to “Lord of Blood-Vengeance”, and were so named because they were the leader of a warband that specialized in avenging a homicide-based offence against the túath. Today, such a purpose is a bit less bloody-minded and a great deal more benign, but still martial in scope. The airí échta are responsible for the training and, in many cases, employment and managing of laochra, as well as the instruction in the duties of that caste to those teenagers who show the traits of the laochra and are learning their ways. Túath na Ciarraide has, as one of its industries, an executive protection firm in which the airí échta act as instructors and team leaders. The officers under them are the very same laochra for whom they are responsible, thus allowing the modern-day expression of their ancient purpose and employing them in a viable capacity. Unlike the aire déso, the aire échta does not manage land at all, for his or her purpose is very specific to the defense of the tribe. The next highest aire is the aire ard, who is the lowest of the top three airí ranks commonly called flatha (flaith singular). The flatha are, for lack of a better term, a rank of administrators and upper-end managers, responsible more for the overall workings of the tribe and less responsible for the management of land. As such, the airí ard are generally project managers for tribe-based programs or businesses. The other two ranks of the flatha are the Aire Tuíseo and the Aire Forgill. Similar to the airí ard in most ways, they are further up the hierarchy, and are often owners of various tribe-based businesses, in which they employ their clients, in addition to cultural duties. Those duties include acting as executors for the projects of the túath, managing said projects upon request, and maintaining the túath infrastructure as it evolves during the construction and implementation of our community project. If the airí are the economic and martial leaders of our túath, then the nemhedacha (nemhed singular) are the social and religious ones. Nemhedacha are a collection of intelligencia, religious persons, cultural, and artistic specialists. Some of the castes within the nemhedacha are restricted to those with certain natural gods-given gifts- Imbas Forasnai, the gift of poetic inspiration and insight that leads to great wisdom and the ability to give just counsel, Tairngreacht, the gift of prophecy and the ability to see the probabilities of the future, and so on. Others are based on more easily codified and measured secular or medical skills. Each is a leader of one sort or another, and thus charisma and leadership abilities are likewise important. Túath na Ciarraide has five castes within the nemhedacha, each with specific cultural, religious, and/or secular duties. The brúghaithe (brúghaí singular) fulfill a vital part of our culture, the ethic of hospitality. The brúghaí is the professional host of the túath, responsible for arranging the logistics and planning of all four fire festivals, and any other events involving guests of the túath itself. This person is responsible for upholding the laws of hospitality for the túath as an entity rather than an individual person or family, and thus this position is representative of the túath as a whole. Túath na Ciarraide does not currently have a dedicated brúghaí, as our former one moved away to go to college, so the various ceanna fhine fill that role at gatherings based on who’s turn it is to host. The next caste is the filí (file singular), or lorekeepers. These are bards who record, keep, and recite the lore of our people, our songs, our histories, etc. These people are important to record and keep our lore and histories so that we don't have to dig around on the internet for days on end to find a particular story, because it is right there within one's own túath, being recited as it should be. Chief among these are the seanchaí (seanchaithe plural), the chief storyteller and lore keeper, and the breithiúna (breitheamh singular), the keepers of cultural law and arbiters in disputes. Related to the filí are the draoithe (draoi singular), more commonly (though mistakenly) known as “druids”. The draoithe are not priests, per se, but are more akin to rabbis- religious scholars and teachers, seers, and quasi-clergy. Draoithe are held to high standards of education, knowledge, wisdom, and proven ability, and thus they are very rare within Sinnsreachd. Not every túath has a draoi, so they often fulfill their duties for multiple túatha. Túath na Ciarraide has not yet found anyone who meets our standards for a draoi, and thus Padraig Mac Iain of Clann Eoghanachta fills that role for us. Lastly, we have the executive leadership of Túath na Ciarraide, the rí (ríthe plural) and the tánaiste (tánaistí plural). The rí is the chieftain, the nominal head of the túath. If the túath is a corporation, then this would be the CEO. The tánaiste is the second-in-command of the túath, the person who steps in to fill the void until a vote is called in the event that the rí is incapacitated or killed. Túath na Ciarraide, like many Sinnsreachd túatha, is still growing. While we do foster people into our túath, we prefer familial growth. This does not mean that we will not consider people who show a keen and honest interest in Sinnsreachd, not by a long shot. We foster in folks, both single persons and families (though not parts of families, such as one spouse or the other rather than both, as we have discovered that this causes serious problems), who live in the Southeast and East Texas region. However, we have a positive population growth from within already. With the recent birth of Fionna Ó Sionnaig at Samhain of 2007, we have expanded by yet another member. Fully one-third of the membership of our túath is under the age of eighteen, and that number grows every year, with the rí and his wife expecting to have a child within the next few months (03 April 2010) and others settling down to have children of their own. This is the way it should be- Sinsearaithe born and raised in our faith and culture expanding our túatha- and we hope it is an inspiration to all Sinsearaithe. |
