IRISH CALENDAR Meaning and
Definition
-
The Irish calendar refers to the traditional system of time measurement and organizing dates used in Ireland prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752. It was primarily based on the ancient Celtic lunar calendar, which took into account the cycles of the moon to determine the duration of a month or year.
The Irish calendar consisted of twelve lunar months, each of which began on or near the new moon. These months were divided into two halves known as "light half" and "dark half," with the light half starting at the new moon and the dark half beginning at the full moon.
In this system, a lunar month typically consisted of 29 or 30 days, resulting in a year of 354 or 355 days. To realign with the solar year, an additional month known as "Samhain" would be inserted every two or three years, extending the year to 383 or 384 days.
The Irish calendar also had a unique way of organizing weekdays called "fast days." These were based on a five-day cycle known as a "month-gen," which operated separately from the lunar months. Each month-gen had a fixed sequence of five weekdays, with the first day of the lunar month coinciding with the start of a new month-gen.
While the Irish calendar served as the primary means of timekeeping in Ireland for centuries, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar gradually replaced its usage. Nevertheless, remnants of this traditional calendar system can still be found in various cultural practices and folklore in Ireland today.
