pastebin - Balancer - post number 1573837

Michael Joseph McGrath

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show details 20:45 (3 hours ago)

       

       

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Certainly, James. There is in fact no rivalry with Con Connor, there never was. Con Connor and I have never met or even spoken to one another on the telephone. Con was never in my circle, though he did have some previous meeting or whatever with Melvyn Lloyd, Gina McGarry & Co , who are mostly good English/American people living in Ireland, Melvyn being a gentleman I admire. Then again, Melvyn is not one of my Druids and we have little to do with one another these days, we go our own way, and in any case I am far too busy, flat out !

 

As far as anyone can make out, Gina McGarry might have left Irish Druidry, Gina is totally inactive, though she still remains Archdruid of Tara, until, I suppose, somebody comes along and questions that. I don't intend to.

 

Basically I am left Irish Druidry and wish them all well, Con Connor included. I am sure that Con will agree that he is far wiser now than he was three years ago, we all live and learn, that's the way we gain in wisdom.

 

Certainly there is little or no public activity in Irish Druidry right now, so maybe Con is the man to provide that activity ? Druidry is paradoxical like that , nothing is as it seems, great friends on the surface may not in reality think much of one anotheras Druids, sworn enemies on the surface may in fact quietly acknowledge each others' greatness but never dare publicly admit it.

 

But I am an honest, straightforward , even blunt, person, straightforward, upfront. If Con can tackle his own shortcomings ( he knows them better than anybody ! ), he may well emerge as the leading organiser of Druidry in Ireland. He displays great energy, enthusiasm, initiative in particular, and he cannot, nobody could have, emerged from the last three years without a massive gain in experience. But it is up to Con to win people over to his side, that goes without saying about anybody who puts themselves forward to lead Druidry in Ireland into the future. I too have learned a lot from the past three years, gained a lot in insight, got to know many of the 'new druids' here who have come along from stables such as the Farrar stable ( like Gina McGarry), the Olivia Robertson ( Freemason) stable ( such as Melvyn Lloyd) - such are 'new' compared to us old Druids around me who re-emerged back in 1993 in Ireland.

 

I think you will agree that I am indeed the ' eminent grise' of Irish Druidry, and as such I shall think long and hard before I ever give my 'blessing' to anybody ever again. Con Connor came in with the 2003 influx, which was mainly centred around the Irish midlands, Tara etc., in 2003 - Ten Years After.

 

They had a lot of meetings together in an umbrella group set up mainly at the instigation of Janet Farrar ( for whom, I admit, I still have no time, never had ! ), and from what I gather Con Connor broke loose from them and went out on his own. We True Druids of Ireland, now in retirement, are quite content to sit back and  let them all, Con included,  without interference, and see, mainly out of curiosity, who will win ?

 

Do I have any regrets about the last three years? Yes, of course,  we all lost our heads and in one way or another we let Druidry down in Ireland. Hopefully that will never happen again. All this said, I shall never be active  in the organisation or administration of Druidry in Ireland again, and certainly not on anybody's behalf.  You may spot me taking photos of Druids, Ceremonies etc., yes you will - but that will be all.

 

Thanks for finding ' The Real Michael McGrath ' - and do be careful, James, before you commit yourself to any of the personalities or parties involved in Druidry/Paganism or even Wicca in Ireland. I think matters will take a good five years to heal, but I wish everybody the best in doing their best for Druidry in Ireland - Con Connor included !

 

Re a.r.d., I am left that too - mainly because I couldn't stand a sharp sneery guy there, Dan Felber wgo goes under Willows, and his sidekick an obnoxious Anzac who calls himself ' Noinden' , it sickened me continuously to have anything to do with those smart-asses, sorry about that !

 

I look forward to seeing you sometime.

 

Cheers,

Michael.

 

 

 

 

2009/7/28 James O'Donnell <james.wigneck@gmail.com>

 

 

    Hello Michael,

 

    You don't know me but I know you - having become interested in the world of Druids and Irish Mythology in the past few weeks, I've spent a large amount of time reading your innumerable contributions to the alt.religion.druid, and have become intrigued by your persona and intellect, not to mention your (what seems to be) fierce rivalry with one Connors. I was wondering would you be open to corresponding with me, answering some of my questions on the nature of spirituality and life in general? Would greatly appreciate it, as I'm still finding my way at the moment.

 

    All the best,

    Jams