Irish Filidh Proving Project - Introduction
Channel: Siobhan anEinigh
Date: 2020-04-08

The introductory video to a (very) long term project to trace the path of an Irish Filidh bard by showcasing memorized pieces.  

In early Irish culture, the Filidh served as the keeper of knowledge - stories and songs, yes, but also history, law, the natural sciences, etc.  One very important aspect of their training was memorization.   For example, to reach the highest rank of Filidh, the Ollamh (master), a person had to prove memorization of at LEAST 350 pieces.  

Thanks to fragments of the Brehon laws, and commentary on fragments we no longer have, we have a general idea of the number of pieces a Filidh needed to have memorized at each rank.  We do not have much beyond those numbers though. 

This project is my persona meeting this memorization challenge, with pieces of our modern medieval world as well as the world of history.  Join me as I truly prove myself a Filidh of the SCA. 

A brief overview of the years of study needed, the rank during that year, and the pieces a Filidh had to prove memorized to graduate to the next year of training.  Note - some ranks take multiple years.

Year 1 -  Rank: Oblaire - 20 total pieces needed to graduate
Year 2 - Rank: Fochloc - 30 total pieces needed to graduate
Year 3 - Rank: Macfuirmid - 40 total pieces needed to graduate
Year 4 - Rank: Dos - 50 total pieces needed to graduate
Year 5 - Rank: Cano - 60 pieces needed to graduate
Year 6 - Rank: Cano - 80 pieces needed to graduate
Year 7 - Rank: Cano - 115* pieces needed to graduate
Year 8 - Rank: Cli - 150* pieces needed to graduate
Year 9 - Rank: Cli - 175 pieces needed to graduate
Year 10 - Rank: Cli - 235 pieces needed to graduate
Year 11 - Rank: Anruth - 300 pieces needed to graduate
Year 12 - Rank: Anruth - 350 pieces needed to graduate
And FINALLY - Ollamh!!