The Celtic Connection

As we approach St. Patrick's Day, Mozzie is brewing a special batch of green-tinted honey mead to celebrate the occasion. I'm sure Neal will want to pick up several bottles for himself, Henry, and Angela. Neal's Irish heritage is original to the Caffrey Conversation AU. Despite his given and surname both being Irish in origin, the TV series never developed the thread. Penna began the process in our stories. She provided Neal with a grandfather, Edmund Caffrey, whose grandparents came from Ireland. Edmund was quite proud of his Irish roots and was fond of adding an Irish accent to his reminiscences. Penna also endowed the Caffreys with distant relatives who settled in Appalachia from Ireland and are now itinerant folk musicians and instrument makers. In Caffrey Flashback, Edmund told Neal that according to stories that had been passed down in the family, the Caffreys were descended from ancient rulers of Ireland.

Warning for minor spoilers to Crossed Lines

I elaborated on the concept in some of my stories. Neal participated in a Celtic fusion band his first year of grad school. When Edmund visited Neal and Henry in Raphael's Dragon, he described how Neal's mother, Meredith, enjoyed old Irish folk tales and legends as a child. She'd wanted to use the Irish spelling for Neal's name—Niall—but her husband hadn't gone along with it. Niall in Gaelic has several possible meanings: passionate, clouds, or champion. Any one of them is a fitting reference to Neal. Clouds are particularly appropriate. "Caffrey in the clouds" is an expression Penna and I've both used to describe him. It's based on a line Peter used in the pilot episode, "cappuccino in the clouds." In The Queen's Jewels, Neal creates a tag for himself to use in the Columbia tunnels which is a stylized cloud.

The Irish thread is first woven into Crossed Lines when Maia is revealed to be originally from Ireland. Her Irish past is still largely unknown but will eventually impact other characters in the series. Maia is not the only supernatural being with Celtic roots. According to Supernatural lore, before Crowley became a demon he was a 17th-century tailor named Fergus MacLeod from Canisbay, Scotland. His meatsuit Hagen respected Neal as a fellow art thief and forger. Crowley might view Neal as distant kin. The surname of Caffrey is a modern rendering of the Irish-Gaelic clan Gafraidh, also known as Mac Gafraidh.

There is a historical basis to blend a little Irish magic into Electra's life history. The ancient Greeks traded with the Celts and there are records of Celts visiting Greece. Greek geographers in the fifth century BC described Ireland, giving it the name of Hibernia. The Romans were also quite familiar with Ireland and at one point seriously considered invading it. In ancient Irish legends, the Greeks established settlements in Ireland. Dean and Sam can confirm that those old tales often contain lore that is relevant to what happens today.

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