Not All Adoptee Voices Matter and Here’s Why.

November is National Adoption Month. The month I and literally thousands, or is it millions?, of adoptees ramble on about achieving adoptee rights and necessary adoption reform because yet again not enough politicians want to listen and next to no change has been made in societies to make adoption less corrupt, less dangerous, and less manipulative. For me, at least, December is in some capacity an almost welcome break. Any adoptee knows, any activist knows, it’s tiresome work, but November is a month we simply cannot shut up. December is a month for me to think about the month I was born in, to two greedy, narcissistic, likely psychopathic twatwaffle without a conscience nor a soul, but how much I’ve gained how good triumphs over evil if you will and the fact with all the problems, discrimination and corruption in adoption it did save me from having to live with batshit, crazy, evil people and how I fortunately found some beautiful extended cousins, a close cousin; daughter of my aunt, and two lovely paternal aunts who, mind you, are definitely not batshit crazy and evil. This does not mean though that I condone how adoption is done, but I’ve spoken about necessary changes many, many times.

So, after waffling on as I usually do, because I do talk too much, I want to say what needs to be said. It’s another elephant in the room and I feel like other adoptees notice it but don’t have the audacity to say it aloud. Not all adoptee voices matter!

No, they don’t and you can argue all you want to be politically correct or not want to create anymore drama and infighting in the adoptee community or adoption triad, whatever you want to call it, but deep inside you know it to be true.

Why is this? Or you might be even saying that’s your opinion Megan, I don’t agree, every adoptee voice matters. This is because you have an assumption that fellow adoptees believe, act, think, and respond close to the parameters of how you think, act, feel, do, believe, etc. That some things you might not agree upon, but that overall most things you do. The problem here is you haven’t met the adoptees so casted into the dark. It’s like physically they are here but emotionally and mentally they are aimlessly floating in the dark with no attachment to their physical body. They act like robots to please their adopters a lot, lot more than the typical trauma associated with adoptees even neonatal trauma which societies prefer to ignore. The sad part is these adoptees, adoptees whose voices don’t matter, are so damn deeply embedded in the fog they don’t even realize their experiencing trauma or they are trying to supress it because it feels more comfortable for themselves to be in the fog because they can’t see what lies beyond the fog. I’ll explain what I mean by that after my three examples.

1. Adoptee type 1 whose voice doesn’t matter. The adoptee who has zero acceptance of their identity and chooses to completely take on the identity given of them by his or her adopters to an extreme point. So, are you saying every adoptee who chooses to keep their adoptive name, which is like 99.9% of adoptees, shouldn’t speak? No. I’m talking about the adoptees who want to pretend they’re an entirely different race. Yes, this does happen. There are adoptees who are victims of cultural and racial genocide because being people of colour, raised in White homes, and in White communities they have had their ethnic and racial heritages completely destroyed. Ethnic heritage destroyed of White adoptees happens too but adoptees denying their actual racial background is a whole ‘nother level. There are adoptees, and I’ve read their comments online, who have stated “I was born in Korea to biological Korean parents, but because I was adopted by my White parents I am now German and Irish just like them.” This is why it needs to be imperative that racial and cultural preservation is preserved amongst adoptees regardless of our age. People can endure a trauma they don’t even know their experiencing and that ignorance will spread like a wildfire. Imagine this Korean born woman doing a mentoring workshop with little Korean adoptee children and telling them not only not to embrace their Koreanness but to convince them that they now are only the ethnicities and races of their adoptive parents. Yikes! There is nothing wrong with embracing the cultures of your adoptive family. I encourage people to learn different languages, cuisines, customs, and traditions of different cultures but never at the expense of losing one’s own.

2. Adoptee type 2 whose voice doesn’t matter. The condescending, sorry you feel that way, I don’t see adoption like that type of adoptee. Us in the adoptee community know what I mean by this. The type of adoptee that when you tell your story, your own personal story they respond with “I’m sorry you feel that way” and you have to look at them like, bitch, pardon me? I just told you my adopter father nearly murdered me and went to prison for 20 years for it or excuse me I found out I was adopted when I was 18, was lied to and told my mom was 14 and poor when she was actually a married Jewish woman who was drugged and her baby, me, stolen and yet these adoptees respond with the most outrageous comments such as, “sorry, but not all adoptions are like that. Mine was perfect.” If people are that flippant over someone else’s trauma then they are not helping the cause at all. It astonishes me these types of adoptees even exist and even after being educated on how freaking bad things are they still promote adoption as being an absolutely perfect entity and a completely flawed system that “saves every baby from abortion.” As mentioned in an article from years ago, adoption does nothing to prevent abortion. The truth with these adoptees is that they are too frightened to look at their own stories. The “adoption saved me from abortion, my birthmom made an amazing choice of love, I’m hapy and so should you be” is a facade (accent mark unde the c) because deep down we educated adoptees know these adoptees just can’t handle the truth. They don’t want to search because they are afraid their adoptive parents will abandon them like their biological parents did, they are afraid of displeasing their adoptive parents, their afraid of being rejected, their afraid to learn they were kidnapped or given away after so much exploitation, pressure, and deceit, they don’t feel comfortable being amongst people of their own heritage, they don’t even want to know their true heritage or associate with their race, if another race, because it reminds them that they have a position of “other”.

3. Adoptee type 3 whose voice doesn’t matter. The adoptee who denies they’re adopted. It’s an adoptee’s perogative to tell to whom they want that they are adopted. This can’t be done when the adoptee doesn’t look like their adoptive family, but in those cases it’s the adoptee perogative to decide whether or not they want to answer someone’s question or statement of, “oh you’re adopted. How lovely. My __________ fill in the blank is also adopted from ____________ fill in the blank country.” There’s nothing wrong with people trying to be nice, but this doesn’t give them a free invite to play 20 questions. Sadly, there are adoptees who deny to everyone, perhaps even to themselves that they are adopted. When someone mentions they are adopted they become angry.

I came across a woman a couple nights ago online who was unbelievably damaging to changing societies behaviour to adoptees and reforming adoption that it almost made me wonder if she were an actual adoptee or a troll. She is from Russia, but this doesn’t matter at all because we see problems with adoption and with adoptees the world over. She discovered a few years at the age of 32 that she’s adopted. She said she pretends she doesn’t know she’s adopted in order to make her adopter feel comfortable. To deny someone’s story and truth just so you feel more comfortable is cruel, bad parenting, damaging, and selfish. She acted like because she doesn’t have any genetic disorders it’s no big deal that other adoptees don’t have biological medical information. She was condescending and flippant to adoptees who have or are dealing with trauma for whatever reason that is connected to adoption, and that whatever reason is their own damn business. No, this wasn’t me misterpreting or taking it out of context. I’ll copy and paste it here.

“Biological parenting does not matter. It’s not a big effort to have sex, get pregnant and pop a human into the world. But it is all about raising a good human being, giving love and care, good life and hope. Real true parents are those who rased you, not those who produced.

-Most of biological parents were uncapable to be parents: drugs, poverty, mental illness, “too many children already but we will make more, who cares if be barely can provide for ourselves”.

-Only reason to be told about adoption-medical condition and total racial difference. It will save parents from wondering if you going to betrade them for biological parents in the future, regardless to the time and love they dedicated to you, will not affect your own curious mind and develope split personality.

-I’m a late term adoptee. I’m 32 and found out by accident decade ago. No. I’m not angry. Not all my life was fake. Vagina, that produced me is the only one point in my history that was untold, the rest of life was happy and very true. I still pretend to my family I do not know I’m adopted not to make my mom upset.

-Your biological parents rejected you. Move on. You have a real family now. You don’t need to dig info on your biological parents, send them greetings or stay in touch. 9 month in the womb is not a big dedication. Pay more attention to the family that is really yours.

-I do wonder if I have some genetic problems. So far so good.

-I don’t want to look for my birth parents. I’m not curious, I don’t feel abandoned (never had), never thought about it.

-I’m curious about my possible siblings thou. Would like to find out if I have any.

-Person who told me I were adopted also told me my birth name. And I like it better than my lifetime name, but I moved to the USA, and it would sound like Allah (non-muslim name in Russia). So I’m glad my mom changed it.”

So what’s wrong with this? Lying to your own child about them being adopted, pretending you don’t know, the lies that most biological parents have something seriously wrong with them like drug addiction is not true whatsoever whether it’s Russia or Canada or China or Japan or Italy or Greece or Australia or the US or, etc. Telling people what they should know about their own adoptions. Each adoptee should decide for themselves what and how much they want to know. That isn’t up for anyone else to decide as much as the governments like to think so. Too much has been taken from us adoptees without our permission. Knowledge stolen from us, birth certificates stolen from us, medical knowledge stolen from us, safe, biological family members stolen from us, in some cases our true race stolen from us. Many come to learn that are part Native American, part Jewish, or part Black but passed as White and were only told about their White race or lied to and told they are completely White. Claiming that your first mother and biological dad are not your real parents because they weren’t there is not true for those who wanted to be. The ignorance of this woman is not only astounding it is frankly extremely damaging. Nearly all want to raise their babies, keep their children, but don’t because they are told they aren’t good enough and adoption is the only true option for their child, which Saving Our Sisters will tell you is next to never the answer, and in those very rare times it is nearly always extended family is willing and able to pitch in and if not, then legal guardianship or kinship care can be sought. There are other things wrong with this, but you get the gist.

We needn’t agree on everything so long as we can agree on recognizing and helping adoptees with trauma, spreading the truth that it’s perfectly alright to be happy to be adopted but know others are not for whatever reason and that’s alright too, and that reformation in the multibillion dollar, racist, corrupt, loosely regulated, uncredentialed adoption industry especially with a focus on ending the high suicide rate amongst adoptees even higher amongst LGBT adoptees and adoptees of colour and ending human trafficking in adoption are necessary musts.

Closed Adoption is Abusive Cultural Genocide.

I spoke about this before, but hey my blog, I can speak about it as many times as I want. Out of family adoption is nearly always cultural genocide. I have a very good friend who is originally from the south Bronx. My goodness it’s so nice to have someone special in my life I can connect to in so many ways. He nor I are actually fans of the city, but anyway I was watching a documentary about a Puerto Rican street food vendour at I want to say 159 and Wales because my friend is Puerto Rican. The guy in the video definitely seems like a cool dude and he has a very giving heart; giving his food for free to children, the elderly, and the homeless. If you’re not familiar with the south Bronx it’s a poor area.

Though this man, and his ten children, might not have much they have not only each other, a steady stream of delicious Puerto Rican food, but also their culture. As they say, money can’t buy happiness. Surely, my distant cousin Princess Diana is probably one of the first people to come to mind for hundreds of millions. An abusive father to her mum, a string of nannies, no real attachment to her parents, and a marriage that failed because of infidelity. Although Prince Charles should’ve been allowed to marry the true love of his life from the getgo. I speak no ill of anybody. I’m simply stating facts.

Every single person deserves to know their ethnicity or ethnicities. Not their adoptive family’s, but their own.

Cultural genocide was practiced upon First Nations, Inuit, and Native American groups of North America with devastating, generational effects. This is why Native American, Inuit, and First Nations children must be adopted by at least one parent who is also Native/Inuit/First Nations, although not necessarily the exact same background.

Closed adoption is abuse. It’s abuse in many forms. One of those forms is through the practice of cultural genocide. I’ve spoken about this in my article called His Name is Jorge, but this time I’m doing it a little differently.

Adoption agencies lie. They lie and say an adoptee is one ethnicity when they’re not at all. For example, my friend is an adoptee and was told she’s half British. This means the ethnicity British not the nationality British. After doing an ancestral DNA test she discovered she is only 10% White and that 10% European ethnicity is Russian.

My own adoption agency, Catholic Family Center of Rochester, who has told numerous lies, and their “counsellor” who gaslighted me; proved by a friend of mine who is both an adoptive mum and a licensed therapist, refused to allow me and thousands of other closed adoptees to grow up knowing our heritages. When I was able to get my minimal information forms from the state of New York it said my biological paternal side was full Italian. This is simply not true. Although I look very Italian-American I am only a quarter Italian. Although I do have a German nose.

People might say, so what? There are children in this world dying of cancer. I don’t think responding with, “some people have it worse than you” is the appropriate answer to anything. People are well aware of this and it comes across as not sympathetic at all. Plus closed adoptees are denied biological family medical information.

Denying someone to know their cultural roots and to participate in it is punishing them for how they were conceived. When I watched that Puerto Rican man making great Puerto Rican food for his community on Youtube at 159 and Wales I could see the pride he had in his culture and his connection to his ethnic roots. There simply is no excuse for those roots to have been, and continue to be, severed by the multibillion dollar adoption industry. Catholic Family Center, Catholic Charities, Bethany Christian Services, the Catholic Church, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and numerous others owe adoptees a sincere apology.

Every person deserves to know who they are and be given the option to participate in clubs, parades, festivals, cooking classes, or what have you of their culture.  People, including some adoptees, need to stop finding the abnormal normal. What I mean by that is everyone needs to start addressing the cold, hard truth that removing a person from their biological family and from their culture and/or ethnicity is not the normal pattern for how a life should be and it will have consequences.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I was very fortunate in January 2017 to interview CEO and creator of Family Tree DNA Mr. Bennett Greenspan who created the first ever ancestral DNA testing site purposely for adoptees to make biological family connections, when safe and possible, and know our heritages.

Without a doubt, my high school years would’ve been easier had I known my heritages. In fact, my entire life for that matter would’ve been easier if I had known my heritages. Was there any reason to create a cultural genocide? No. Was there any reason to lie about our heritages? Yes, because adoption agencies want to cover up the lies they told, the coercion, the corruption, the forced kidnappings via fake adoptions, and give us adoptees false information so that it’s a lot harder to search because search leads to truth and search leads to exposing. Sure, people adopted or not discover all the time they’re part French, for example, and never knew it. The difference here is closed adoptees had known nothing until the creation of ancestral DNA testing by Bennett Greenspan.

Every adoptee and every child of an adoptee should really do themselves the favour and do a test to know their ethnicities. Not only to expose these adoption agencies for their lies, but also to have a better understanding of yourself. Even if you did receive information on your heritage still test because it could be inaccurate.

The History of France and French People.

It has been awhile since I started writing about my nine European heritages, some of them minute and some of them I have a lot of percentage of. Closed adoptees, like myself, are denied their heritage. It wasn’t until Bennett Greenspan, whom I interviewed in January 2017, created the very first ancestral DNA testing site that closed adoptees could find and know their heritages; Family Tree DNA. As I mentioned before, some non-adoptees might not know all of their heritage or have incorrect information. For example, my adoptive mum was told she was 100% Polish, she took the test and learnt she’s not. The difference here, besides the fact my great great grandmother told her they were part French which was true amongst other European nationalities, is that closed adoptees are denied knowing their heritages simply for being adopted. This is no different than a woman being denied the right to vote prior to 1919 in the United States or Asians being denied the right to immigrate to the United States during the Chinese Exclusion Act. Discrimination is discrimination. Sometimes, adoption agencies knew of a closed adoptee’s heritage and paired them with a family of the same heritage. Whilst this is great for preserving cultural heritage, and is mandatory for all Native Americans, the agencies do it thinking that the replacement means you can just as easily replace the family, which is impossible. No two Polish families, no two Greek families, no two Italian families, etc. are the same. Biological roots are connected through epigenetics, stories, roots, and yes, this matters. Nevertheless, for most closed adoptees (7 million in the US, 3 million in Canada and that’s a very conservative estimate) they do not know their heritages or have incorrect information either because the biological father was unknown, a biological parent was an adoptee themself, or most likely because the agency completely lied.

Without further ado….France.

Neaderthals lived in France from around 400,000 bc to 30,000 years ago. Although most White people (as in their descendants come from modern day Europe) today have Neanderthal DNA. The Carnac stones of France also date around 43,000 years ago. The Neaderthals did practice cannibalism.  The first recording of France is from the Iron Age starting about 800 bc, although is certainly wasn’t called France until over a millennia later. The Ice Age humans of France were called the Cro-Magnons. They lived in caves and hunted reindeer and mammoths, which required immense skill, agility, unbelievable strength, and bravery. They were artistic making cave paintings and figures carved from iron. The Neaderthals created the Venus figurines over thousands and thousands of years; little statues with exaggerated female anatomy. Neanderthal is a loose term. There were many, many tribes and cultures throughout Europe during the pre-written history that went on for hundreds of thousands of years with different languages, cultures, beliefs, practices. They battled with each other, invaded each other’s lands, and intermingled both in amicable trade and in making babies.

After the Iron Age, they continued to hunt for several centuries but around 6000 bc farming came to France. In 4,500 bc in came the Stone Age. The ancient people of France’s Stone Age had a sophisticated civilisation. In 2,000 bc bronze came to France. Both bronze and farming, although thousands of years apart in their invention, both came from the Middle East.

The ancient Romans referred to France as Gaul. Gaul had three primary ethno linguistic groups: the Aquitani, the Belgae, and the Gauls. The Gauls were the most populated and were Celtic. They spoke Gaulish. Nobody at this time spoke French or anything similar to it who was a native of Gaul. Over a long period in the 1st millenium bc the Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans established settlements. The Roman Republic annexed southern Gaul in the last 2nd century bc, and Julius Caesar, with his troops, conquered the remainder of Gaul in 58 to 51 bc. After that, a Gallo-Roman culture formed and Gaul integrated over time into the Roman Empire, which also means a change from one polytheistic religion to another; the much more well known belief of the Roman gods and goddesses such as Zeus, Hera, Herucles, and Hades.

In 600 bc the Greeks founded Massalia, making it France’s oldest city. Today, we know that city as Marseillas. At the same time, Celtic tribes penetrated eastern regions of France from the 5th to 3rd century bc.

Gaul was much bigger than modern day France and covered also Belgium, northwest Germany, and nothern Italy. The Greeks were in France long before the Romans and settled in Provence. The Greeks also founded Nikaia, what we now know as Nice. There were many wars and battles between the different ethnic groups. The tribes of Gaul were no match for the military technology of the Roman Empire and they were defeated in the third century bc. Hannibal Barca, a Carthaginian (modern day Tunisian) worked with Gauls to annex Provence in 122 bc, but later on Julius Caesar won it back. Vercingetorix got the Gauls to come together, but they were no match for Caesar. The Romans founded Lyon, Carbonne, and Grenoble with the famous Cicero being one of the men to form Grenoble.

Under Roman control, Gaul was sliced up and populations were displaced to prevent a revolt. Many were made slaves and forced to move out of Gaul. The biggest change was the language. Out went Gaulish, Aquitani, and Belgae, and in came Vulgar Latin, which was different from classical Latin which was for writing and reading. Emperors like Claudius were born in Gaul.

From the 200s through the 400s (we are now into AD) were multiple clashes with what the Romans referred to as the barbarians; various tribal groups from mainly modern day Germanic countries.

The Roman Empire fell in the late 400s, and in came the early medaieval period. At the end of Antiquity, Gaul was divided into many Germanic kingdoms and a Gallo-Roman kingdom called Syagrius. The Celtic Britons settled America, near modern day Brittany. Celtic culture and small, independent kingdoms thrived in Brittany.

The pagan Franks took over northern Gaul, and under Clovis I (all from modern day Germany) took over the kingdoms of northern and central Gaul. In 498 AD, Clovis I converted to Catholicism and France was given the title eldest daughter of the Church.

Over a period of a few hundred years the language changed to Romance languages which in France eventually became French, Catalan, and Occitan. Clovis I made Paris the capital. Clovis I through his four sons started the Merovingian dynasty, and land was divided up amongst the four sons and then continously to their male descendants. The last Merovingian king, Childeric III, was deposed in 751 and sent to a monastery by the manager of the household, Pepin the Short. Even long before this, the manager of mayor of the household, had a lot of power. Pepin founded the Carolingian  dynasty and his son, Charlemagne, is one of the most famous rulers of France. Charlemagne is stilled learnt about today and is referenced in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark. Charlemagne reunited the Frankish kingdoms. The Carolingian dynasty did not last long, ending with Charlemagne’s son Emperor Louis I. In 843, the kingdom was divided into three parts for Pepin’s three great grandsons. It’s important to remember a good chunk of this was in modern day Germany.

In 721, the Muslims were stopped in the Battle of Toulouse. The Muslims tried and failed again in 732. However, in 759 the Islamic Army from modern day north Africa was able to take Septimania, modern day northeast France. Charles Martel lead the Frankish troops in defeating the Muslim invaders.

During the 800s and 900s, Vikings from modern day Norway and Denmark invaded France repeatedly, thus greatly changing the culture as kings were constantly challenged by noblemen. This is how and why feudalism came about. Some of these noblemen got too big for their britches. For example, in 1066, the only time England has ever successfully been invaded, nobleman Guillaume the Conqueror put himself down as King of France, although Guillaume (William) did become the King of England.

During the 1100s the Crusades were fought in the Holy Land, modern day Israel and Palestine. The majority of Christian Crusaders were French. As they travelled across Europe, French became the main language amongst Crusaders and traders. In fact, most of the Knights Templar, the men legends were made of, were French. The French crusaders didn’t only fight against Muslims in the Holy Land, they also completely eradicated a small minority group of Christians called Cathars living in France who practiced a form of Christianity more ancient than Roman Catholicism. Only 10% of the Knights Templars were extremely skilled fighters. The other 90% were extremely well off bankers. It was all fun and games for the Knights Templar until 1307 when King Phillip IV thought they were too powerful and had them burnt at the stake.

During the 1300s royal rule became more assertive and very hierarchial. In 1328, King Charles IV (or Roi Charles IV) died without an heir. He only had one infant daughter. Salic Law, written into French law in the 500s, stated the crown could not pass to a woman nor could the line of kingship pass through a female line, so the crown was awarded to Philip of Valois, Charles IV’s cousin. During Philip’s reign, France reached its height of the medaieval power, but it entered into the Hundred Years War with England, and endured the horrible Bubonic Plague. The Hundred Years War was actually four separate wars with short and long periods of peace in between. The goal of that was was England felt they deserved to rule France. The Bubonic Plague, the second one (the first global spread of the awful bubonic plague was inthe 500s) started in Mongolia. It entered Europe by way of Italy because of sea faring explorers and traders. In the 1300s, 1/3rd of Europeans died from this ghastly disease. Although Poland was practically unscathed in comparison. My guess is because Poland had a large Jewish population. In France, 50% or 8.5 million people succumned to the black death. King Philip of Valois was extremely anti-Semitic, and expelled the Jews from France blaming the plague on them. The truth was the Jews just kept to better hygiene, and yes some Jews did die of the plague.

During the Hundred Years War, at the later end of it, who could arguably be France’s most famous person was born. Joan of Arc, or in French, Jeanne D’Arc was born in Orleans (accent on the e). Originally, her father wanted the infant Jeanne to be left out to die, as sons were more useful in those days. She was born 6 January 1412. France was in disarray during Jeanne’s childhood as the King Charles VI was severely mentally ill and so the king’s brother and cousin fought over who got to rule France and who got guardianship of the royal children. Jeanne was born to a middle class family, unlike most ancient and medaieval female saints who were born royal or to nobility. At 13 years old, Jeanne started to hear the voice of God and see visions of saints Catherine, Michael, and Margaret. Call it divine intervention, a brain disorder, or both. In 2016, two Italian neurologists concluded they believe the teenage girl suffered from a type of epilepsy that includes auditory and visual hallucinations. Her real name was Jehanne as this is how she signed it. At 13, she had visions that the saints told her to remove the English out of France and bring the dauphin to Reims for his coronation. At 16 she petitioned the garrison commander Robert de Baudricourt for an armed escort to take her to the French royal court in Chinon. He refused, but the following January Joan or Jeanne or Johanne or Jehanne came back. She even stated she would rather be home with her maman spinning wool, but God commands she go. Two men, Metz and Poulengy, said yes and so Johanne made a prediction about the Battle of Rouvray. She was spot on with her prediction. After that, Boudricourt changed his mind about her and her plans. She was taken to Chinon disguised as a man for precaution. The people gave her the men’s clothing so she would stay alive. She was 17. It was in her meeting with King Charles VII thats he asked to engage in combat and be in full armour. France at the time was in humiliating defeat, and had tried every logical possibility to make a comeback prior to a 17 year old girl with no training asking to go to war. The Dauphin ordered exams on her to make sure she wasn’t a witch. The French found her to be an amazing Christian. Johanne D’Arc was eventually kidnapped by the British and charged by both Brits and Burgundian clergy (Burgundy is a province in France). She was falsely accused of heresy for simply wearing men’s clothing, something she was ordered to do to stay alive. She was murdered via being burnt at the stake at 19 on May 30, 1431. Her executioner Geoffrey Therage (accent on the first e in Therage) stated he “greatly feared to be damned”. Her family petitioned Pope Callixtus III and in 1455 a retrial found her not guilty. She became a saint in 1901. Whilst she was an amazing and holy person, a French military leader, Gilles de Rais, who fought alongside Jeanne was a disgusting psychopathic child serial killer who murdered these children in horrifically ghastly ways I will not write here. He was hanged along with his involved cousin and servant. Most of his victims were peasant boys. Some of their murders were so despicable that the judges omitted the evidence from the books because it was too disgusting to write. You can look it up for yourself if you want, I am definitely not posting it here.

Next came better times under the French Renaissance. I didn’t say great, I said better. The French Renaissance saw enormous cultural expansion. French became the official language of France and the elites of Europe. France saw huge improvements in architecture, the arts, humanism, printing, the sciences, etiquette, and literature. It was not all roses and rainbows though. Most French were peasants. Many wars were fought with Italy, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire which wasn’t holy nor Roman. This was during the 1500s, 1600s, and most of the 1700s. In 1572, the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre murdered thousands of Huguenots; French Protestants by Catholics. The war between France and Spain lasted twenty-four years until 1659. Under Louis XIV feudal lords rebelled to rise to kingship as it meant total power. Those caught trying to despose of the king were pulled apart by horses. Louis XIV turned the feudal lords into courtiers so his power was unchallenged. In the 1600s, because of the king, France became the wealthiest and most populated European country, and education greatly rose.

Under the French Renaissance, France colonised countries around the world. This wasn’t necessarily always a good thing for the native people of those lands, but not all French explorers were terrible and over all they were much better than the Spaniards. Samuel de Champlain, Jean Nicolet, and Jacques Cartier were some of the explorers. French explorers were the first to settle an European ethnic town in Canada, modern day Quebec City.

In the late 1700s, Louis XVI supported the Americans separating from Great Britain. The French Navy was vital in giving the United States our independence. Meanwhile, during the 1700s French men were creating great scientific advances. In fact, the French have discovered things and not been given credit for it, same goes for women throughout history. Madame Curie is an exception. Seen as French, she was actually Polish married to a Frenchman. Some of the biggest scientific advances were in chemistry and maritime, which is how they came to have such a powerful Navy during the American Revolution.

After bringing America onto the map, the French spent the next 10 years (1789-1799) fighting to overthrow the monarchy and create a democratic France. July 14th is France’s independence day because it’s the day the Bastille in Paris was stormed. The Bastille was a prison, a somewhat lavish prison for the rich. The peasants and middle class had had enough. In the summer of 1789, the National Constituent Assembly abolished exclusive hunting rights and serfdom. In the fall of 1789, the Assembly sold all the property of the Roman Catholic Church, which owned the most land in France. The following summer they took away the Church’s power of controlling taxes. In 1792, they went to war with Austria and gave every Frenchmen the right to vote. One wonders why they didn’t do this 200 years earlier. In January 1793 the ex Roi Louis XVI was convicted and beheaded; October Marie Antoinette, originally from Austria, lost her head. Louis XVI had Polish ancestry as well as French. Marie and Louis were second cousins once removed. At his former majesty’s execution he stated he was innocent and forgave those who brought him to his death. He wanted to say more, but was cutt off (pun not intended) with a drum roll, and quickly beheaded. Some accounts say the blade didn’t cut through his neck the first time (he was fat). Before his death, he told a friend he must train himself not to cry. The executioner’s personal diary was interesting, and he felt there should be fewer executions. He also supported swift executions. Monsieur Guillotine (not the executioner), in fact, strongly opposed torturous executions, botched beheadings, and believed in ending capital punishment.

Following independence was the French civil war that cost maybe 450,000 lives.

I’m skipping Napoleon. He was from Corsica, he was full of himself, he was a dictator he was exiled, he died of stomach cancer. He made the dumb choice of going into freezing Russia. The Nazis a century later would make the same dumb choice, not that I’m complaining.

France was involved in both WWI and WWII against Germany. In WWII, France was overtaken by Nazi Germany as the French Army surrendered, but there were French civilians, including children, who resisted the Nazis to the point of being shot and killed.

France originally had francs as currency, but joined the EU early on and switched to euros. Many French hated and still hate the EU believing it destroys the individual cultures in Europe (an initial concern) or that the global economy is a bad idea.

The 60s in France saw a wave of secularism and sexual revolution. In the 1970s came a wave of hundreds of thousands of Muslim men with very high rates of being on the dole. France allows immigrants to maintain their cultures, traditions, and beliefs but since 2004 France has abolished religious symbols in public schools. France had let in many immigrants, and has the highest Muslim population in Europe. Most of these immigrants are nice, law abiding people but since the wave of immigration France has been subjected to many Islamic terrorism from the 1990s through the 21st century. The French have maintained a connection to travelling to Muslim countries as exotic travel such as Morocco and Iran. One hundred thousand ethnic French have converted to Islam, usually from Catholicism or atheism. Many French footballers are from immigrant Muslim families. Most French are Catholic, followed by atheist. France does not consider a baby born to two illegals or two non-French on holiday to be a French citizen.

France has some of the most amazing architecture, most notably the Notre Dame de Paris. France is also extremely well known for its fashion and cuisine.

All children in France are mandated to go to school. Homeschooling is illegal. They start at age 3. Children go to school on Saturday mornings, but they have off on Wednesdays. A typical French breakfast is very small usually a croissant with chocolate and a coffee. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. The French really range in their lifestyle, likes, dislikes, traditional foods, and more because of the geographic diversity of France and how big France is. Dialects also range. Unfortunately, many French people still smoke.

There is so much more to beautiful France. I hope you have enjoyed what you have read here.

Picture is of a town in the French Pyrenees. (accent on the second e).

 

 

The History of Sweden and the Swedish People.

Välkommen to the second article about my nine heritages. I am taking a break from adoption talk (in a way) to discuss the nine European countries where my ancestors come from, some a large percentage of my background and some small. In my previous heritage article, about Ireland and the history of the Irish people, I discussed how us closed adoptees are discriminated against by our adoption agencies, biological family members who got rid of us or pressured their daughters to get rid of us to keep a white picket fence image, and discrimination by state governments by not being allowed to know what our heritage(s) is/are. This is only the tip of the iceberg of discrimination closed adoptees endure. I also explained in the Irish article how this is not the same for those who grow up in their own biological family but don’t know their heritage or all of them (please read that article for explanation and interesting history on Ireland).

Having a connection to your people is important. Everyone, including closed adoptees, deserve to participate in activities, beliefs, traditions, artwork, recipes, dances, songs, and anything else related to the land of their ancestors or even biological relatives. For example, my lovely biological cousins Stefanie and Uwe are born and raised in Germany and have lived there their whole lives. (Which is yet another reason I need to stick to learning German). I’ll discuss Germany another time.

I only have a small amount of Swedish heritage. I wonder if I would’ve enjoyed Sweden more during the six times I visited Sweden in 2003 and 2004. Sweden was a country I didn’t feel too connected to when I visited, but I wonder if that would change if I returned knowing  now I have some Swedish heritage.

Well, how much do you know about Sweden?

Did you know the name Sweden came from the Dutch in the 17th century? The Dutch referred to Sweden as a great emerging power. Old English called Sweden Swëopëod (the p is not a p it’s the “th” letter still written in Icelandic) meaning “people of the Swedes”. In Old Norse Svípjód (the p is the “th” letter in Icelandic and the d actually has a hook on top and a slash through it, the other “th” letter still found today in the Icelandic alphabet). The Swedish name Sverige hails from the Svea and rike, first recorded in Beowulf.

Sweden was first inhabited around 12,000 bc by reindeer hunting hunter gatherers fishers. They occupied the most southern point of Sweden. These people were called the Bromme or Bromma tribe.

Sweden isn’t mentioned in writing until 981 AD by the Roman senator Tacitus. He mentions in 44 and 45 AD the Swedes had an amazing army and navy. Norse mythology states Swedish kings reach far back into bc. Old Swedish in early medaieval times/end of ancient times was written in runic script, also called futhark writing.

In the 500s AD, two tribe were living in Sweden, the Suetidi and the Swehans. It was recorded that they were very tall people, and were said to breed great horses. It’s said the Swedish king Adils (500s AD) had the best horses in Europe.

The Vikings of Sweden reigned from the 700s to the 1000s. The Swedish Vikings, along with the Gotlanders, travelled far to modern day Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, the Black Sea, Finland (next door), and even all the way to Iraq. The Vikings, as we already know were fierce warriors (and terrorists) and impressed the Byztantine emperor (modern day Turkey) Theophils so much he made them his personal bodyguards. These soldiers wore a ruby red earring in their left ear and sewed ornamental dragons into their chainmaille.

The Vikings settled many cities. In my last article, I mentioned how Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Wexford of Ireland were founded by the Vikings. In eastern Europe the Rus Vikings founded Kiev, Ukraine’s capital. The Vikings are also responsible for starting the czar dynasties of Russia. The name Russia comes from the Rus people and many White  Russians can trace roots to Sweden. Novgorod in Russia was also founded by the Rus Vikings. Described by the Iraqi Ahmad ibn Fadlan, the Rus were very tall and muscular and blonde. (I had read elswhere the Vikings were covered in tattoos and some were redheads). The women wore a box over each breast of iron, silver, copper, or gold which indicates her husband’s wealth. Each box has a ring from which depends a knife. The women wear neck rings of gold and silver. The most cherished jewellery for women were green glass beads.  The Slavic people of these lands became the Vikings’ slaves or were murdered.

Runestones in Sweden tell of the Vikings’ achievements in taking over others’ land. A runestone is a large stone that stands upright with runic inscription. They are often memorials to dead men who were heroic warriors. As Christianity entered Sweden, 70% of the runestones had explicitly Christian messages.

Nobody knows how Sweden came to be a kingdom. Eric the Victorious, born in or around 945 AD is said to be the first king of Sweden tying Sweden and Götaland together. Prior to his reign the two had been separate countries. Beowulf describes Sweden and Götaland going to war with each other three times in the 6th century, but whether these wars happened at all or how they happened is left up to legend. Parts of Sweden in the southwest at the time were owned by the Danes, and Swedes lived in what is now southwest Finland (Turku. Turku is still a Swedish speaking part of Finland. The Swedes ruled Finland from 1150 until 1809).

St. Angar of east Frankia is given credit with introducing Swedes to Christianity in 829 AD but paganism wasn’t completely replaced until the 1100s. In 1050 AD Sweden was listed as a Christian nation. After being Christianized, the Swedes from 1150-1293, according to legend, went to Finland to attack the Finnish, Tavastian, and Karelian pagans (who practiced a different paganism than what the Swedes’ ancestors had practiced).  King Eric IX was killed in Finland. The Swedes created settlements in southwest Finland and had lots of babies, greatly increasing their numbers. Eventually, Sweden ruled Finland for 700 years.

Besides the provinces of Halland, Scania, and Blekinge which were under Danish control and a part of Denmark, Sweden never had feudalism. The Swedish farmers were largely a free class. Slavery was next to never after Sweden was Christianized. In fact, King Magnus IV in 1335 abolished slavery and serfdom. Sweden was a poor country, even though its empire was expanding. Although King Magnus IV ruled over Sweden , Norway, and Iceland starting at age 17, and sent sailors as far away as Greenland, and he did expand his kingdom, he was seen as a weak king and hated by Norwegians. His enemies would make up lies that he was homosexual, which in the 1300s was seen as the worst thing ever, but historians say there isn’t any real proof. Nevertheless, the rumour caused him serious harm.

In the 14th century Sweden’s population, like much of Europe (but oddly not Poland) was decimated by the Bubonic Plague. It was so bad Sweden didn’t replace their population number from the year 1348 until the start of the 19th century!

1/3rd of Swedes died from 1349 to 1351! Yet, the 1300s were not all bad. Life did still go on. Swedish cities did gain greater rights thanks to German merchants. Quite often it happened that boys would come to be king as boys, so Swedish parliament chose 3 powerful families to act on the royal child’s behalf. It is also important to look up the Kalmar Union, but I’m not writing it here as its quite complex. In 1520, Denmark tried to overtake Sweden. King Christian II of Denmark had Swedish nobles executed. Around 100 were executed who were tricked into attending a banquet. Bishops were executed too. The bishops were beheaded The others were hanged or beheaded. The chief executioner Jörgen Homuth states 82, not 100, men were executed. The women were taken as prisoners back to Denmark. Some of these women, like Christina Gyllensteierna became powerful and highly intelligent women that negotiated with King Gustav. King Gustav became king of Sweden in 1523. Swedes consider their independence day to be June 6, 1523. King Gustav I’s reign was considered to be the golden era as Gustav got rid of the greedy Hanseatic League.

By the 1600s, Sweden became a powerhouse and overtook parts of Poland, Lithuania, and Russia in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). King Gustav II almost became the Holy Roman Emperor but was shot and stabbed to death on the 6th or 16th of November 1632 a little after 1pm with his final being an execution style bullet to the temple. Next came King Charles X who expanded Sweden farther. Charles X lived to only 37. Gustav II only had one daughter another family’s son was put into rule. 1696 was a bad year though where 10% of Swedes starved to death because of a famine. For the later half of the 17th century Sweden was in constant warfare. Charles II had one of the best arsenals in the world, and a large army and fleet, but it was no match for Sweden’s biggest nemesis, Russia. In 1700 to 1702 though the Russian army was pitiful. Sweden could’ve easily went in and took over Russia, but Charles II for some reason or other, decided to be nice and wait until Russia rebuild to give them a fighting chance so instead he defeated and killed the Polish King August II overtaking part of Poland (and the Swedish army was only half the size of the Polish army).

On August 30, 1721 Sweden’s vast empire came to an end. The Treaty of Nystad gave Estonia, part of Lithuania, and parts of Finland to Russia in exchange for 2 million silver coins. Russia returned most of Finland back to Swedish hands.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden allied with France. This ended in an 1814 ceasefire with Norway until 1905.

By the late 1800s, Sweden was poor again. Between 1750 and 1850, the population doubled, but famine was a problem. Many starved in northern Sweden in 1866-1868. To prevent rebellion, a mass amont of Swedes left for America. From 1850 to 1910, 1 million Swedes came to the USA mainly to the Midwest. Some did go to Canada. Swedish farmers always had freedom and a voice, and so they used it to better their lives creating the Agrarian Party. They also introduced the potato to Sweden which boosted economy. From 1870 to 1914, Sweden joined the Industrial Revolution. People became involved in socialist unions in the start of the 20th century, but Sweden avoided becoming communist as parliamentary was reinstated and the country was then democratised.

During WWI, Sweden was neutral although they did aid Germany. Sweden remained neutral in WWII, but honestly they weren’t. They supplied Germany and were heavily under German influence. However, Sweden did rescue Jews and support Norwegian resistance. They also supported Finland’s independence from Russia. At the end of WWII, Sweden served as a haven for Jewish refugees. Post WWII, Sweden chose to stay out of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, but did supply Europe to rebuild itself.

In the 1970s, Sweden was hard hit by the oil embargoes. In the 1980s, its industralisation had a facelift moving into the future.

In 1995, Sweden joined the EU but has decided to keep their own currency the kroner. Swedes have been active in the UN in warzones.

Since the later part of the 21st century 20% of Swedish citizens do not have Swedish heritage. What has been an extremely safe country since post WWII has seen a rapid increase in violent crime since the immigration influx. In 2015, thousands weekly poured into Sweden. Swedes demanded improved immigration standards. Immigrants are now having more babies than Swedish women. There are now no-go sections of Sweden because of hand grenades, rapes, and gang warfare. Of course, most of Sweden is still very safe but it is still such a shame. United Nations’ statistics prove this uptick in violent crime. According to the New York Times, this violence (sexual assaults, gang warfare) is not happening from the recent immigrants that just came to Sweden from Syria within the past few years, but from past immigrants who are now second generation (probably grieving their mothers who risked their lives to bring their children to a better land and then wonder why their sons grew up to be such shitheads). This also doesn’t mean ethnic Swedes don’t commit crimes. Of course there are Swedish criminals, but Sweden’s open immigration policy did make it a safe haven for criminals to come in. (I also think about the women from these countries. In their home countries they get no voice and no help if abused or killed, but in Sweden they have a voice). Nevertheless, Swedish politicians have done a good job of currently fucking over Sweden.

Sweden has 25 provinces:

Swedish	Latin
Ångermanland	Angermannia
Blekinge	Blechingia
Bohuslän	Bahusia
Dalarna	Dalecarlia
Dalsland	Dalia
Gotland	Gotlandia
Gästrikland	Gestricia
Halland	Hallandia
Hälsingland	Helsingia
Härjedalen	Herdalia
Jämtland	Jemtia
Lappland	Lapponia Suecana
Medelpad	Medelpadia
Norrbotten	Norbothnia
Närke	Nericia
Öland	Olandia
Östergötland	Ostrogothia
Skåne	Scania
Småland	Smolandia
Södermanland	Sudermannia
Uppland	Uplandia
Värmland	Wermlandia
Västmanland	Westmannia
Västerbotten	Westrobothnia
Västergötland	Westrog

 

Swedish culture has been influenced heavily by Protestant Christianity. Semla is a delicious dessert that is a bun with almond paste and whipped cream topped with powdered sugar served with warm milk. Semla is served on shrove Tuesday. This is the last dessert until Lent is over.

Do you enjoy waffles? The Swedes found a way to make them religiously affliated. March 25th (which is actually today) Swedes celebrate the Blessed Mary learning she will be the Mother of God by eating waffles. How did this come to be? Simply a Swedish play on words.

Sweden has given the world many good things in the form of entertainment and use from ABBA to Skype to Lasse Hallström to great Swedish mysteries.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of Swedish culture, history, and its people.

Oh, and fika because coffee makes the world go round.

 

 

 

 

The History of Ireland and the Irish People.

In the next nine articles, we’ll be stepping away from adoption and looking at the nine European countries where my roots come from. Some of them with a good percentage, others with just a teensy amount. How is this connected to adoption?

Until the creation of Family Tree DNA, by CEO Bennett Greenspan, who I interviewed in January 2017,  closed adoptees were denied our heritage. We could not know if we are German or Irish or Choctaw, etc. State governments, adoption agencies, and biological family who didn’t care about their family member’s rights but only wanted to see them gone to keep up the white picket fence image, discriminated and discriminate adoptees in a multitude of ways, this being one of them.

Exploring my roots, which I can now trace back thousands of years, has left me feeling proud of my ancestors, and others I am connected to through heritage. To have something in common when it comes to religion, folklore, traditions, beliefs, land, etc. This is something non-adoptees take for granted. Of course, there are always late discovery adoptees; older people who learn late in life they were adopted in which case their actual heritage or heritages can likely change.

But what about people not adopted who don’t know their heritage? Here is the difference. Prior to the creation of Family Tree DNA, in which Bennett created this with adoptees primarily in mind, non-adoptees who didn’t know their heritage could ask around. If their own parents didn’t know there was at least a guess. If their parents had no clue, they could ask extended family members. Of course, having no clue is actually a sign they might have been or might be adoptees. There was a time when telling people you were adopted or your child was adopted was seen as bad. Now, this isn’t necessarily meaning someone whose parent says they have no clue is adopted.

Take my adoptive Mom for example. She always thought she was 100% Polish. When she was a little girl, her grandma told her that they were not 100% Polish but everyone just laughed at her. My Mom tested and found out she is not 100% Polish, although she has a lot of Polish in her.

Closed adoptees are not able to ask around. This is why ancestral testing is so important, and because it’s the links back to our people, our lands, and our families.

So, without further ado The History of Ireland and the Irish People.

Up until about 10,000 bc most of Ireland was covered in ice. Sea levels were lower and Ireland, along with Great Britain, was connected to continental Europe. By 16,000 bc the sea levels rose and Ireland separated from Britain. The earliest humans arrived to Ireland 10,500 bc and communities formed as early as 8000 bc. They lived as hunter gatherers for four thousand years. About 4,000 bc cattle and sheep started to be domesticated, grains grown, and large timber buildings and stone monuments built. The first farm in Ireland (or Great Britain) dates from 4350 bc in County Kerry. In Tyrawley it’s believed the oldest extensive field system in the world exists.

The Bronze Age vastly changed people’s lives and started around 2500 bc. The wheel, harnessing oxen, weaving textiles, skillfull metalworking, brooches and torcs were invented. By the late Bronze Age the pre-Irish traded through the seas with tribes in Britain, western France, Spain, and Portugal (using modern names).

How Celtic Ireland was started is debated. We do know it emerged in the Iron Age. One theory says the Celts invaded Ireland four separate times. The Priteni, the Belgae, the Laighin, and the Gaels, the four tribes being from modern Britain and France. The second, newer theory back by archaelogists, is that Celtic languages and culture arrived in Ireland because of cultural diffusion. Historical linguists disagree. In 2012, a study of Irish men’s Y chromosome was done finding out 84% of Irish men have the R1b chromosome which dates back to 2500 bc in Iberia.

The Roman Empire, the mightiest empire of the ancient world, was never able to take over Ireland. The Romans referred to Ireland as Scotia. Ptolemy, the great geographer and mathematician, said sixteen nations inhabited Ireland in 100 AD.

From 100 AD to 600 AD these kingdoms went to war with each other. In the beginning of the 7th century a high king of Ireland emerged. People considered this high king to be a living god. The first high king in legend is said to be Sláine mac Dela (mac meaning “son of”). High kings ruled Ireland until 1198 AD. The most famous of these high kings is Brian Boru who ruled 1002-1014 AD. In the early medaieval times, a high king had to look perfect, so when Congal Cáech was supposedly blinded by bees he had to step down. Truthfully, high kings likely started in the 600s AD, but legend says they did in ancient times long before the Roman empire. Each region had a king that took orders from the high king who ruled from the Hill of Tara.

The brehons acted as lawyers enforcing the Behon laws. The Brehon laws, although adapted over time, kept the Irish in line until the late 1600s. Canon law made some definite changes as Christianity permeated Ireland. The Brehon law showed an Irish caste system. A lot was about property law, rights, and duties. Brehon law stated women were equal to men, and women could be brehon lawyers. Still, the Irish were patriarchal. In 697, a Christian law tried to raise the status of Irish women. Either way, Irish women overall had it a lot better than women in continental Europe at the time. Marriage laws were incredibly complicated. Divorce laws stated one could divorce if impotent, her husband was homosexual, or if her husband hit her and left a mark. Unfortunately, under westerm Catholic church law women were banned from giving testimony.

In 431 AD, Bishop Palladius entered Ireland to Christianize it before Saint Patrick. Patrick arrived in 432 AD. Saint Patrick was born in northwest England. As a teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. In his twenties, after walking hundreds of miles, he stowed away on a boat and went back to England. He returned, an older man, when he became a bishop to Christianize the Irish. The Druid religion collapsed because of them although not everyone at the time became Christian and many were burnt alive for not converting, not by Palladius or Patrick, but in centuries after. Christianity brought Ireland a demand for sculptures, metalworking, and manuscript illuminations none more famous in the world than the Book of Kells which can be viewed today in Trinity College Dublin’s Old Library.

In the 9th century, the gruesome Vikings invaded Ireland, raiding towns and monasteries killing everyone in sight. Warfare was going on between the Irish during Viking invasions as well. However, it is the Vikings that established: Dublin, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, and Cork.

On May 1, 1169 Welsh and Norman troops landed in modern day Wexford County led by the famous archer Richard de Clare of Kent, England. In 1171, King Henry II of France, with blood ties to England, arrived in Ireland to see how well the “taking over Ireland” was going. In 1175 Irish kings were pushed to accept Henry as their own overlord in the Treaty of Windsor which was supported by the Church’s 1155 Papal Bull Laudabiliter issued by Pope Adrian IV for Henry to take over Ireland so that Ireland’s financial and administration would be integrated into the Roman Church. The bull could be a forgery though.

Slowly through the late 1100s and through the 1200s the Brehonic laws died out and the fuedal system came about. Ireland had a Parliament by 1297.

Irish elites and Norman elites married, but the Norman settlements in Ireland dwindled because of the Bubonic Plague. The Irish parliament wanted to preserve Irish blood and so in 1367 they passed the Statues of Kilkenney which demanded English subjects speak only English and follow English laws and customs. The success paid off and eventually (although with some Norman influence) Irish culture and language grew.

In 1542 the misogynstic, head chopping wives, Henry VIII, called himself King of Ireland and the Tudors took over most of Ireland. By the beginning of the 1600s England ruled Ireland completely as Irish earls fled to mainland Europe and the Irish lost Tyrone’s Rebellion. Occurring during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, she sent more troops into Ireland to crush the rebellion (18,000 men) than into any other battle or war in her times. During this time, the English and Scottish took over farmlands in southern, central, and especially northern Ireland (modern day North Ireland), but not so much western and eastern Ireland. One could call this time Irish genocide as 20,000 Irish soldiers died on the battlefield protecting their beloved Ireland and 200,000 Irish (many women and children). Another 50,000 were sent to be indentured servants in the West Indies. The Catholics (men) were deprieved of equal rights and could no longer sit in Parliament. In 1740, a famine hit that starved 1/8th the population. Charities and the wealthy did what they could to help as many as possible. In 1782, Ireland won back her legislative independence. In 1803, Robert Emmott tried and failed to rebel against England and make Ireland entirely free. He was only 25 when he was captured. Emmett’s attorney was bought, but McNally’s assistant Peter Burrows refused to be bought and tried his best to defend Emmett. Emmett’s speech before his sentence is one of the most famous. On September 20, 1803 he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. He is hailed a hero with a stamp made of him in 1953.

Ireland was passed over by the Industrial Revolution because it didn’t have iron and coal, and because England saw Ireland as its agricultural capital. The Great Famine of 1845 to 1851, when potatoes were blighted, starved a million Irish and another two million left to Canada and the United States, although many never made the voyage across the Atlantic. For decades, civil unrest occurred across Irish. A fifth of Ireland either died or left between 1845 and 1851. The population continued to decline until 1961, with most going to the United States. It wasn’t until 2006, County Leitrim recorded a rise in population since 1841.

Irish nationalism, especially amongst the Catholics, increased in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although Daniel O’Connell couldn’t take his seat in Parliament because was Catholic, he won and eventually convinced the Prime Minister to repeal the discriminatory act towards Catholics. He went head to head with the lawyer William Saurin who discriminated Catholics, and who was the most influential man in Dublin administration 1810s and 1820s. John D’Esterre challenged O’Connell to a duel, and O’Connell killed him. O’Connell suffered likely PTSD from killing a man and leaving his wife and daughter impoverished. D’Esterre’s wife refused regular payments from O’Connell, but did accept her daughter to take them. He paid her 30 years until he died, and mentioned through his life how much that duel haunted him. Debate is up to how much he helped Catholics, and exactly how much discrimination was going on at the time. In fact, I’m not sure if O’Connell was responsible for getting Catholics back in Parliament, but I can say he did play a role.

In 1913, the Ulster Volunteers formed so that Catholics wouldn’t overtake Ireland (then a part of Great Britain). They were terrorists. In 1914 the Irish Volunteers, the Catholic posse formed.

Ireland went to war in WWI, although some Irish wanted to remain neutral. 1916, Easter week, Ireland rose up against British occupation with the National Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army fighting for Irish independence. The leaders were executed by firing squad (15) and hanging (1) May 3rd through May 12th, but their rebellion and execution set off a wave of Irish pride in the people. They were, in order of execution dates, Patrick Pearse age 36, the handsome Thomas MacDonagh age 38, Thomas Clarke age 58, who spent 15 years in English prisons, Joseph Plunkett age 28, William Pearse (Patrick’s brother) age 34, Edward Daly age 25, Michael O’Hanrahan age 39, John MacBride age 47, Éamonn Ceannt age 34, Michael Mallin age 41, Seán Heuston age 25, Con Colbert age 27, Colbert had a no fucks given look if the pic I found was taken when he was a prisoner and was glad to die for the cause, James Connolly age 47, and Seán Mac Diarmada age 33 and also handsome.

In 1919, the Irish gained their independence. The Dáil Éiran (Parliament) was set up in 1919. The Volunteers became the IRA and led a guerilla war in Northern Ireland until 1922. In 1921, it was decided North Ireland would remain part of the United Kingdom.

 

Through the 1920s and 1940s, the Irish government went through a series of changes. During WWII, Ireland remained neutral, but did offer assistance to the Allies. Still, around 50,000 Irish fought with the British troops. Post WWII, large amounts of Irish left again many for America.

Starting in 1987, Irish economy increased, and the 1990s were a great time. In 2000, Ireland was the 6th richest country. The fun ended 2008. In the early partof this century, the Irish started to leave the Catholic Church, and its numbers have gone down. In 2012, 14% of Irish were unemployed.

Ireland has 32 counties:

Antrim
Armagh
Carlow
Cavan
Clare
Cork
Derry
Donegal
Down
Dublin
Fermanagh
Galway
Kerry
Kildare
Kilkenny
Laois
Leitrim
Limerick
Longford
Louth
Mayo
Meath
Monaghan
Offaly
Roscommon
Sligo
Tipperary
Tyrone
Waterford
Westmeath
Wexford
Wicklow

Today, 80 million people around the world have Irish heritage. 36 million Americans are Irish American with more learning their Irish ancestry every day.

Ireland is very well known for its Irish step dancing, music, and legends. Nobody in the world has revolutionized Irish dancing more so than Michael Flatley who is Irish American (dual citizenship). Irish music has a lot of rhythm. It also has instruments that are native and special to Ireland such as the bouzouki and the bodhrán. Mischievous, downright naughty fairies, nasty little leprechaun who love gold, banshees, and Finn MacCool and the knowledgeable salmon, merrows and sherries are just some of the creatures out of Irish folklore.

Some famous Irish are: Enya, Colin Farrell, Gabriel Byrnes, and many more playwrights, poets and actors. The fighter Conor McGregor is also hugely popular in Ireland.

So much more can be said on modern Ireland. I hope you have enjoyed this journey on Irish history and her people.

Another Miracle Bestowed on Me: My Aunt.

If you haven’t had the chance yet, please read my article entitled “There are Angels Among Us”. Miracles are not something of the past. They are here and now. Miracles are not twisted truths, or interpretations of things we wish. If you are reading this and you are atheist, I ask you to please keep an open mind. God, the true Christian God, works miracles not just for a very select few, but for many.

My childhood was very screwed up due to being a closed adoptee. While closed adoption is not seen as abuse on the lawbooks, yet, it sure is in the hearts and minds of those who endure it. She chose a closed adoption, therefore she chose for me a life of extreme stress, emotional torment, medical endangerment from not having biological family medical history, and discrimination. Then again, I have a strong feeling she was duped into thinking closed was a good idea and now she’s too embarrassed to say she messed up. That is my guess.

At eighteen I started my search. Anyone who is a closed adoptee, especially before ancestry DNA testing became popular, knows the hundreds of months you spend trying to put the pieces together.

I don’t have written or video etc proof of the prayer leading to the miracle, so you will have to just believe me. All proof I can say is that yes my aunt does exist, and yes she acts like I exist, and I love her and she loves me. My proof is also in the fact that my story, how the miracle came to be, does not falter. So how did my aunt come into my life?

At the beginning of August, God told me when I was in prayer to pray when walking outside for five days in a row and not to miss a day. This included praying on the fifth day after a seven hour car ride home. I was told to pray in a certain language (not English), outside in a certain place, walking a certain amount. I was told a great miracle would come to me. So I performed the prayer from the first Monday of August 2017 to that Friday. Miracles don’t necessarily come fifteen seconds later. The following weekend I was driving home with my adoptive parents (who are strong advocates for adoptee rights) and we had an hour left in the car. I had been half dozing in the back on our three hour ride home from visiting friends through the pouring rain at night. We got to a spot and I offered to drive from there, an hour left to our home, but my mum said she’d keep driving because it was raining. So I decided to check my email on my phone. There was a message from someone from ancestry.com. So I checked it out and wrote her back. It was so nice to get such a lovely email, especially after a maternal great aunt (sister of biological grandfather) immediately blocked me on there with no explanation of why, but no explanation is needed. I already know the answer, they don’t know how to love. Oh what joy that original email gave me. The next day, the second Sunday of August 2017, it was confirmed that she is my natural paternal aunt.

The fact that I was told by God to pray and that something great would happen to me and for my paternal aunt to find me a week later is nothing short of a miracle, especially when you learn my aunt thought I had been aborted. She never knew I was alive. The nice thing to is my aunt will be in my life forever. I also have been blessed with meeting other paternal relatives and they have been most wonderful.  My aunt is like a lit candle in a dark room. What joy she has brought. I think God brought her into my life at the perfect time, God’s time.