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Wednesday 15 December 2010

Restoration II: Clans and the Role of the Church

If a fully Irish Monarchy in today's world is to make any kind of sense, we need a ressurrection of the traditional clan mentality of the Goidelic celts. Something which still exists to an extent in both Ireland and Scotland where family ties still remain incredibly strong in comparison to the rest of western civilization. Family means alot, who you are, who's related to you by blood or marriage, who your parents were still matter a great deal and this has obvious pros and cons. Obviously this is nowhere near as strong as it used to be, the McLoughlin clan say, feels nothing for an opposing sept of the same McLoughlin clan on the other side of the island, despite both septs of the family have common shared ancestry. In fact it is no controversial thing to say that these septs dont have a chieftain, or if there is one they don't know who he is, (the Irish Clan chieftains is a male only held title while in Scotland females may hold the title, although this is rare). And here is where the role of clan chieftans of even the none royal clans can play a vital role in an Irish Monarchy in the form of a native aristocracy that will make sense to the Irish psyche, thus necessitating a renewal of the clan mentality.

The clan chieftain's role is simple, he is the head of the family. The buck of family affairs stops at him. He is by virtue the clan's 'favoured uncle'. In the old ages this would mean he was the military and political chief of his clan and the go-to person if someone wished to petition their regional king. In the modern a
ge he would provide and equally important role, that of unity and family identity, bearing importance on familial relations and establishing a deep seated sense of cultural pride which has obvious benefits. He will be often at times the only link one disparate sept of a clan shares with the larger sept, creating a sense of security. I do not intend to argue the chieftains control political power, because that would be ridiculous and unneccessary as such chieftains would have unstated influence anyway due to their position, besides, if clans had chieftain appointed representatives to their local district councils, suddenly people would have their local governments filled with people who give a damn about the condition of their roads and schools.

Clan relations would of course, cause Irish society to become more complicated and sophisticated as a result, as everyone has not only loyalty but Blood loyalty to the aristocratic ruling class, creating an inherent sense of worth and expectation of higher standards of even the lowest class of Irishman. It also dissuades revolutionary ideas, as no one really wants to kill their favourite Uncle. Well ok no one who is sane anyway. The Chieftains would of course have a keener sense of duty to their clansmen as a result.

Now such a system is not perfect but its an example of how the clan system can justify and create an intelligible aristocracy to a race of people who've only ever in recent memory been familiar with the English model, which has obvious drawbacks on the people's view of legitimacy of the monarchy.

I will touch upon the role of the Royal clans later on in this exercise, and how they relate to the local clans and the High King. Right now I wish to talk about legitimacy and the key pillar of supporting such a claim.

It is no historical secret that the celts, especially in Ireland have always been a fervently religious people. This is true both in Pagan times as it is
now in Christian Ireland. Even in today's world where the Religious establishment has been rocked by abuse cases, poor catechises of its members, corruption of its highest officials, the fact remains that Ireland is still a religious country. In the face of falling mass attendence, priesthood recruitments et al, the idea of a secular country is still an Idea most Irishman either passively dismiss with half hearted words like ''well its a nice idea'' or flat out refuse to acknowledge it as a legitimate concept. During the Christmas season this is especially evident that even with the typical modern decorations you will usually find Christian symbolism in the forms of traditional image of Christmas, especially nativity scenes, strewn absolutely everywhere. This is a country that tacitly allows preachers to give sermons and speeches on the steps of its government buildings and courthouses whether its officially against the law or not, whose government invested radio station talk hosts openly discuss theology on national radio with guests and each other, whose constitution STILL favours a quasi state religion even given all the recent troubles and promises of republicanism and constitutional betrayals said government has performed only recently. Make no mistake, the power of the Catholic Church in Ireland is still amazingly strong amongst its lapsed Catholic population for all the liberal pollution both have undergone. If there's anything the Irish are guilty of giving lip service to, its the ideas of secularism and egalitarianism.

With that said the Church is extremely important yet in the face of an Irish Restoration, it is also the single most unpredictable factor.

What I mean is this, the chance of the restoration of the High Kingdom of Ireland rests solely on a more socially and religiously conservative Ireland and the only really reliable way to guarantee that is for the Church to shake itself out of this 40 year heretical liberal reverie its been stuck in. I made a previous post on my support for the Irish Inquisition and further Inquisitions into the lives of religious and clergy, both high and low elsewhere in the world, because I fundamentally believe such investigations are needed for the Church to clean up its act, regain its moral authority in the eyes of the people, and start preaching good sense to the masses. For if it doesnt and the restoration begins, all it will take is a few liberal bishops and priests to stand against it and preach against it to awaken the dormant nationalism in the Irish working classes (which we saw in Dublin a few years back) in the favour of republicanism and the counter revolutionary movement in Ireland will be set back another century.

It all really boils down to how well the Papacy, the Curia and the magisterium clean house within the Church, something which neither the Irish people nor its government can ever have control of, (nor should they), making the Church's role ultimately necessary in legitimising an Irish monarchy and, unfortunately, the most unpredictable, as a secular monarchy is both nonsensical and unwanted in the Irish case to begin with.

Other posts in the Restoration Series
I) Rex Hibernie. Imperator Scotturum.
II) -
III) The Church and the Role of Religion in an Irish Monarchy
- Supplementary post: Divine Supremecy and Tolerance: The Neccessity of State Religion and toleration of Heretics
IV) The Legislative Process in an Irish Monarchy
- Supplementary Post: Monarchist Economics and Dynamic Politics
- The Role of Chieftans and other Lords
V) The High Coronation, the true All Ireland Final
- The Role of the Council of Chieftans, Dynastic succession issues and legitimacy
- The Role of the Church
- The Role of the Monarch and the Royal Family
- Lords, Statesman and Farmers
- Final comments on the Coronation
VI) And all the world is a stage... Foreign Relations and the Role of a Monarchical Ireland in Europe and Elsewhere.

6 comments:

  1. I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to.

    God Bless You :-)

    ~Ron

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  2. The only hope for this to become reality is for the Irish clans to first inaugurate their own chiefs under their own clan authority; starting with the major hereditary rulers of Laigin, Desmumu, Thomumu, Osraige, Ulaid, Mide, Northern Ui Neill, Connacht, Briefne, and Airgialla. Clan Societies, Y-DNA testing, and impeccable genealogy would be required. Once established as active chiefs of the name, each chief would need to work to gain visibility amongst his clan. Support of the Church would be invaluable in this respect; but for Ireland, the only realistic pathway to lasting island-wide peace is the re-establishing of Orthodox Christianity which once flourished in its Irish form and produced Ireland's golden age of religious culture before the arrival of the papal led Gregorian Reforms which irrevocably altered Irish Christianity and ended its golden age. Orthodoxy (Orthodox Catholicism), as the original Christian Faith, is the panacea so necessary to heal the rifts between Protestants, and Roman Catholics; as well as restoring the ancient brotherhood once shared between Orthodox Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England. (The current British Queen, you may recall, is married to a Greek, and the British family was/is also closely related to the Russian Imperial throne and the canonized saints who were martyred in the Bolshevik Revolution. HRH Charles is known to have Orthodox leanings, and this religious unity would be the only realistic glue which could seriously unite Irishmen under their own native monarchies, and their British neighbors. Neither Roman Catholicism, nor Anglicanism has well-served the Irish or English; nor has Knoxian Calvinsim served the Scots. But once all (including the Welsh) were flourishing and Orthodox before the mid-to-late 12th century. The Patriarch of Russia could potentially play a key role in this respect.

    But what to do with Clan Monarchies within a Republic? A new Constitution would be in order, making Ireland a Constitutional Monarchy composed of cooperating chiefs. The Irish are seeing their own Republic being usurped by bankers and dirty politicians. Ireland is loosing sovereignty to EU deal-makers and American philanthropists. The people will soon come to realize that native monarchies offer a more stable pathway to direct Irish interests. Ireland might have a Parliament of kings; chiefs of their name, each representing their clan. City mayors would join them, as elected locally.

    The advantage here would be the elimination of electing the sleaziest or most funded man to camp in office, in favor of producing life-long chiefs who are the embodiment of their own people. It would be more Irish than Republicanism. The Irish are still keenly aware of their own clan histories, and are still quite fond of them despite the obstacles of impracticability. But these could be surmounted if the Irish truly wanted it.

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    1. My apologies for tardiness in getting back to you, for your comment is worthy of response.

      Sadly it is late and I can only summarize:
      -Regarding the royal clans as of the flight of the earls, many of the noble clans do have legitimate heirs, one such Prince is a missionary priest in Africa last I checked. After leaving for Europe many of the surviving chieftans adopted primogeniture following the fashion of the boles of Europe, so the question of descent for a lot of the noble chieftans is thankfully without question. Though their are still some empty chiefdoms.

      -Sadly i cannot agree that establishing orthodoxy of the Eastern varient would resurrect the faith in Ireland on its own, that is not to say the few eastern rites (Catholic and Orthodox) present in Ireland do not flourish. Back in the times of the Celtic Rite and the scandals and controversies surrounding the Synod of Whitby, the Celtic Rite was, ultimately, not deemed heretical nor actively destroyed, but rather as a result of the Synod, absorbed into the larger Latin Rite of Christianity. Yes it is sad that the unique form fo the Celtic Rite in its entirety disapeared but it did have lasting impact on the Catholic Church's Latin Rite that far outstretched its time on this Earth (which is saying something for a rite that was not directly founded and claims an Apostle of Christ as its spiritual father and ancestor) specifically in the Church's penitential Rites which were altered forever as a result of the merger and even the incorporation of Irish Brehon Law into the Canon Law of the Church. A resurrection fo the Celtic Rite might be a beautiful thing, but in real terms, in this day and age to advocate it would be to invite innovation and innovators and those who would seek to further promote schism within the Church under the guise of genuine orthodoxy. Ireland already has massive problems with corrupt clerics and liberal priests who damage the flock who need to be crushed rather than inviting the temptation of an even more Nationalist form of Christianity.

      -I have a lot of concerns regarding the Orthodox Church, now more so than ever since for the past ten years both Rome and Constantinople keep placing hints that a reunion is close but neither ever seems to commit too far. Although my concerns have nothing to do with doctrine but rather disagreements between the ecumenical patriarchate and that of Moscow which has been advocating Russikya aggressively.

      -This Monarchy cannot be redeemed, it has already killed itself in spirit and will soon do so in law. We cannot trust a smooth transition to a Monarchy under this current Republic, which I am said to say. Mostly because, as you say, it has already been usurped, by cowardly west britons, American Oligarchs, Bankers and the EU. The Republic cannot be saved while any of these retain power over it. The ties have to be cut before the idea can even be entertained and currently there is no way for little Ireland to do that.

      -What you say about the Irish memory for clan membership is quite true precisely because it developed in a Christian context, crystalising and transforming it into something good and beautiful, though Gaelic civilization is all but destroyed (indeed there is nothing left save the language), it had its last great hurrah in the good Christian clansmen of the Highlanders who through bravery and Christian manfulness nearly broke the heretical British and put a Catholic friendly monarch on the throne during the Jacobite wars.

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  3. I am an O'Regan living in America. Sadly, I cannot be in the Homeland I miss so dearly. However, I am glad to see other monarchists in the world as I thought that I was amongst a dead group. I did have a quick question. As an Irish American, I realize that I am not completely Irish as I have lost not only ties to the Fatherland, but also it's language. Besides this, I believe that our family had a very strong claim. Pointing to the guidelines laid out in your previous article Hibernie Rex. Our family is a devout member of the Holy Church, we are descended from Brian Boru, we proudly have no English ties, and have Irish ancestors who only got to America in the 1890's. I am more than willing to move to Ireland, it is in fact my hope and wish. Being this as it is, what would you say of my family's claim. Just a little curious and fully support your ideas for Ireland. May God bless you and your endeavors.

    - Padraig O'Regan

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    1. While I've certainly had my sympathies to ethnonationalist arguments, I admit I am far softer on the Irish diaspora than some of my contemporaries. yes you're still Irish, sure, you've lost much if not most of your cultural roots, but the blood is there if nothing else, and your Catholicism helps a great deal. Of course there are always the jokes about the American who is 1/18th Irish on his mother's grandfather's cousin's stepsister's side, but pragmatism has its place and I'm willing to claim the diaspora as my own if there's enough to claim.

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  4. Hey Servant, wanted to check back in on you and your wonderful blog after a few years. Still as amazing as ever. I wanted to discuss a question with you and pick your mind on the subject. The question is, how and when would a revolution for a monarchist Ireland be properly set? In other words, how would it effectively happen and when would be a good time? Sincerely your truest supporter,

    Pádriag O'Regan, Second of his name and Claimant of the Throne of Ireland.

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