by Searles O'Dubhain

In the early years of alt.religion.druid, few questions generated more heat than that of "unbroken lineage" — whether any living person could claim an uninterrupted chain of Druidic transmission from antiquity. Searles O'Dubhain, the community's foremost scholar, addressed this directly in January 1996 and returned to it in October 2009. His position was careful and distinctive: he rejected personal lineage claims of his own while asserting that the lore itself had survived, in scattered form, through Irish and Welsh families, manuscript traditions, and the still-untranslated corpus of filidh poetry held in university archives.

The essay is a call to action as much as a statement of belief. The schools are gone. The books remain. The work — translation, recovery, study — awaits the hands of those willing to do it. Searles closes with a note of playful confidence: the souls of old Druids do not simply vanish. They return, and begin again.

First let me say that I do not claim to be from an unbroken tradition myself (though I would love to be a part of one). I definitely do think there is an unbroken chain of Druidic lore that has been passed down from ancient times (700–800 BCE or so) to the present. I do not think it has been done by large organizations. I think it has been done within families. I know it has been done in written form as well. I also most definitely do think that we can reconstruct a great deal of the ancient Druidic practice if we are willing to search and to work.

I personally know several individuals that have received Druidic information within their family traditions. So far, based on my investigations of these traditions, I have observed that such information is very diluted and degrades to the form of folklore and remedy most of the time. The exceptions are when individuals have written records, of which I am aware of one tradition. The major part of the lore of the Filidh of Ireland still awaits translation within the halls of the major universities of Ireland, Britain, Wales and the continent. There is more than enough information there to resurrect Draíocht and Filidecht. The transliteration and translation work awaits.

When one considers that the Irish Filidh were still in business until the 17th century in Ireland and longer still on the continent and in the New World, it is not hard to believe that valid information has survived the ravages of time and religious bigotry. The Welsh Bards were active well into the 15th and 16th centuries and have been very active since their revival of the 17th and 18th centuries. When the schools were destroyed, books were written to allow the information of the septs to be recorded and preserved. Our job today is to find and absorb this information. Right now it is in the hands of a few, some knowing but most unknowing.

Beyond that, Old Druids never fade away, they just die and get reborn! Then they have to go back to school (especially if the death eagle has stolen their memories!). So, look within — you might be heir to an epic or two.

Colophon

Originally posted by Searles O'Dubhain to alt.religion.druid on January 1, 1996, on the question of "unbroken Druid lines and traditions." Reposted by the author to alt.religion.druid on October 13, 2009, for renewed discussion. Searles prefaced the repost: "Even though I've changed some of my ideas over time, I think it is worthy of discussion here in this time and cyber place."

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID (2009 repost): 929fe372-21b2-4a9a-82aa-44d712c631a5@m11g2000yqf.googlegroups.com.

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