he sheer volume of information in books and web sites concerning Ireland is overwhelming, highly contradictory and confusing. One source will tell you one thing and the next quite the opposite. For example, the arrival of the Celts in Ireland is attributed to dates from the 13th century BC to the 7th century AD. Some sources describe the Irish people as a brilliant, cultured and advanced society from the early Bronze Age onward. Others state that it took St. Patrick and his minions to bring education (and Christianity) to the backward and illiterate Irish heathen in the 5th century AD. What is the truth, and why the difference?        First of all, the facts are that any author's product is either fiction or non-fiction. The problem is some authors don't seem to know the difference. Fiction, we all understand, is the fanciful result of imagination. Non-fiction is a horse of different colors. Generally, non-fiction is based on observed phenomena, empirical evidence, other authors works or theory. Now according to my Webster's; theory is based on either fact, hypothetical fact or assumption. Which makes the point that just because it's in print, it isn't necessarily so.        Whether book or Web page, most of the works written on Irish Lore, Mythology and History are theory, often based on assumption and poor research. Very little, except some work among the academic disciplines, is based on fact, empirical or otherwise. In addition, there are a lot of theories, and creative fiction under the guise of non-fiction in the books that are heralded to reveal the ancient wisdom of our forebears.        Over the past quarter of a century, we have developed our approach to research, which relies heavily on academic sources. Further we generally limit ourselves to Irish sources. We critically review each source for both content and intent. First and foremost, we must consider the author? What is his or her ethnic background? Is the author a knowledgeable insider, or an outsider looking down on an assumed inferior people? What is the author's religious background? Is he or she a devout believer in a competing religion? What is the author's purpose of writing? Is he or she conscientiously attempting to share new-found truth or intent on acquiring self gratification, fame and fortune?        We very carefully select our sources and focus our research on Ireland. Significant differences existed between the three Celtic branches. We do not take clues from continental or Brythonic Celts and try to make the Irish fit the mold. Archeological finds at Halstadt and Carnac are interesting, but they hold little relation to the Irish. This is a major error by many writers who have leaped onto the "Celtic" bandwagon. Thus, we study Ireland and the Irish.        We believe that to understand the Spirituality of any people, you must understand their culture. To that end we study law, history and art. We seek to understand the people, their social structure, their mores and daily lives. Paramount to all, we seek to understand the language, for language is the window to the soul of a people.        Finally, unlike some, we like to challenge our readers. When we have put together a bit of information, we append our bibliography in order to encourage those readers to find their own truth.