The O'Donnell clan claims descendancy (like, dare I say, a significant part of the Irish population), from Niall of the Nine Hostages, legendary High King of Ireland. The O'Donnell clan ruled over the kingdom of Tyrconnell, in modern-day County Donegal, well into the modern age. However, after the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, fled Ireland together with Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, in the Flight of the Earls. [more inside]
posted by Skeptic on Oct 18, 2008 - 19 comments

For those of you who are celebrating Tartan Day on April 6, a little primer on tartans. Tartans began in Scotland as woven wool patterns used as district identifiers, created using locally popular patterns and, originally, different natural wool colors. The word tartan originally just meant the style of weaving -- take the yarn over two cross strands, then under two, then repeat. Eventually the meaning changed to what we now accept, the patterns of colors in the weave, also called the sett. [more inside]
posted by Shotgun Shakespeare on Apr 5, 2008 - 31 comments

Bin Laden in Sweden Check out his HIP posse
posted by samlam on Nov 28, 2004 - 15 comments

Police raid Verder dorm room, confiscate computer. Now this normally doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary... we always hear about this stuff, right? But check out the web page in question. I think this is being taken just a little too far. I used to be an avid StarCraft player too, and I've seen my fair share of clan pages that have a page like the one that got these guys in trouble. Guess we're still in post-Columbine overcarefulness mode...
posted by PWA_BadBoy on Feb 7, 2001 - 14 comments