The Tory Island Angels

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Angels have been around for many thousands of years, but it's surprising how few have remained on earth. Many factors can cause such a departure, the most common being exhaustion (it's not easy to live longer than everyone else). Humanity has never accepted that which frightens it and two thousand years ago, angels could not conceal their wings.

There are few lines that trace all the way back to one angel and to the living people before it. Most angel lines integrated with humanity from the start, making it impossible to discover the origins. The 'purest' lines, these lines without human interference, exist only on the outskirts of society, in places still mostly untouched and moving at their own rates. One such line, that which inhabits Ireland, is directly traceable to the Fitzwilliam line today.

This particular line is so well preserved because the country itself is so well preserved. Romans never touched it, the English failed to oppress it, and there are thousands of years of history and prehistory, tradition and memory, all of which is still remembered and honored, not only by the country itself, but by other countries.

So it makes sense, then, that Ireland would have such an ancient being able to trace itself back to the beginning of it all.

1 The Family Histories
- 1.1 The Missing Family
2 The Rules
3 The Tree

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The Family Histories

Ireland doesn't have one single family of angels, but most have intermarried or bred at some point in time. Many don't know their full lineage. This particular line does.

Thousands and thousands of years ago, almost every island along the coast of Ireland had at least one small angel family. Originally, these angels lived on the mainland, but it became difficult to live among humans and they scattered for secluded areas. Islands made the best places to hide, as many were difficult to reach.

This particular line descended from a human living on the western coast. The family slowly grew and bred and branched off before rules were established that tightened the reproduction and secrecy. The first few generations inhabited just about every corner of Ireland and bred into other families. One such branch, near the very beginning of this line's history, moved to the Aran Islands. They are now so distantly related that they are considered a separate branch and no one knows much about them (but I do--they are less traditional and more scattered, but still very much into their own kind).

But the core of the angels in the most direct and ancient line were mainly divided between two locations, rather near one another. Achill Island, Co. Mayo, and Tory Island in the north, in Co. Donegal. The angels on Achill were a much smaller population, despite the fact that Achill itself is much larger than Tory; but Achill was far more hospitable and easier to reach, so seclusion was difficult.

The angels on Achill, however, spent more time on Tory. Families married (there is no legal marriage celebration, but for all intents and purposes, that's what would happen), people crossed over, and Achill's population all but disappeared. There are still a few left, but they keep to themselves.

Also worth noting is the fact that their surnames are usually fake, with only minor exceptions.

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The Missing Family

When the family on Tory grew too large to remain secretive, some of the branches began to split again. (A few angels had taken to living in the towns among humans, but they found very little approval from the rest of the family.) Éogan Ó Bia moved south, back to Achill Island, but his daughter Sinann decided to see the whole of the country, and formally married a Dubliner (a 'pure' angel but descendant of one of the most ancient severed branches, completely disconnected from the rest, possibly one of the Aran Island descendants but also possibly not). She had a good three hundred years on her new husband, but the two saw the world together for the latter part of the 20th century before Sinann became pregnant and wanted to return to Tory to raise the family. After three children, in 2004, they made the journey back.

None of them made it.

They had arranged to take a holiday around England once the girls were old enough to appreciate London. This was mostly because Sinann knew her family wouldn't like them traveling once they got home. One letter was sent explaining this last minute decision and that they would be arriving within a month. Then they crossed the sea to Scotland and hit every tourist destination--including Glen Coe. And that's when the family disappeared completely.

Something caught them, couldn't kill them. An ancient part of the landscape, a girl who realized what she had and pulled five unconscious bodies into her glen. At first they managed to escape, but she caught Dearbháil, who was only four, and ensnared the others easily when they came back for her. They were kept as fuel for someone who viewed them as nothing more than prey. They were too weak to escape and too weak to fight. After four years of no food, water, sleep or freedom, you would have been, too.

And they might have remained alone and forgotten had their inability to harness their magic not started messing with the atmosphere. By 2006 and into 2007, this anomaly had grown so forceful that supernatural creatures living near the village of Glencoe were unable to control their own powers, and supernatural creatures living thousands of miles away kept having outbursts of magic that weren't intended.

After one visit to Scotland in 2007, several supernatural individuals formed a plan but never hashed it out. No one understood what was causing this problem, but they knew where the source as and they knew there was something off about it. So, in 2008, the second and final journey was made and the family was rescued.

They were healed by Cecily and Aoife, but emotional scars won't be soon relieved. They stayed at Tory Island for a few days before Aoife helped escort them back to Dublin, where they are going to attend to their affairs and decide what to do next.

(See also, The Black Hole)

Taillte, Sinann's sister, had a bit more luck. She too moved away, to Scotland, to raise her family. Her daughter, Mór, moved back to Ireland and her son, Niall, ended up back in Co. Donegal, but not in the same location as the original family. His grandson, Finbar, moved to Co. Tipperary. It's unknown how much these descendants know of their family on the islands, but they don't retain the same rigid codes of living as the others do.

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The Rules

But the core family (those who stayed on Tory) remains the largest fountain of information because so many family members have come through and lived there. They are also the most secluded and have had no contact with humans, save for when Cecily Ó Móráin briefly visited her grandson, Charles Fitzwilliam, after the birth of Claire Fitzwilliam. She has not left her island since and lives alone in the original location with her aunt, Aoife. The locals on the island are protective of this secret, though they aren't aware what the secret actually is (they say fairy witch).

Isolation is difficult for an entire line of people anywhere in the world, and as such, this family has some unspoken rules directly pertaining to keeping the separation:

They are to never marry or associate with any human at any time. Should any one do so, they will be banished from the family and told never to speak of what they know.
No more than one or two children at one time and ideally, do not reproduce at all. They understand and forgive when children are born, but it is highly desired that one wait as long as one can.
Learn the language (that is, Irish), and do not write information down in any wider known languages (most of the extended branches speak English, but the ones who haven't left the islands tend not to know any/much at all).

The family also has more general rules.

Do not share the family information. They have worked and deserve what they know. Just because someone is an angel does not mean they have the right to be gifted.
Take care of the land and the earth.
Live as an angel, not as a human.
Document all that you know and learn and understand. Keep this information.

This family is very hard around the edges and extremely traditional. Ultimately, they're poor farmers.

They do not use the term angel and don't know it at all. There is no religion in the older branches, only in newer ones that have lived with humans. The term angel means nothing. They call their kind 'readers'. They have different terms for all the species.

(See also, Cecily's Journals)

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The Tree

Denotes a human.

Denotes our formerly trapped family.

It should be noted that the family doesn't use this method of dating. They have their own.

Human, name unknown, gender unknown - became angel c. 6600BCE

Original family unknown, deceased, did not become angels
Daughter (b. circa 5000BCE - crossed ?) (known to have lived in Céide Fields, Co. Mayo) = Brother
Son (b. circa 5000BCE - crossed ?) = Sister
- Son (b. circa 4983BCE - crossed ?)
- Daughter (b. circa 4983BCE - crossed ?) (twins?)
  - Daughter (b. circa 4100BCE - crossed ?) = First spouse unknown, human
    - Son (b. circa 4000BCE - crossed ?) = Mother
      - Daughter (b. circa 3400BCE - crossed ?) = Spouse unknown, angel (known to have inhabited Aran Islands, possibly still do, no record exists in the family, but Francis Ryan eventually descended from them, as well as William Butler)
        Son (b. circa 3000BCE - crossed ?)
        Son (b. circa 2998BCE - crossed ?)
        Son (b. circa 2990BCE - crossed ?)
        Son (b. circa 2987BCE - crossed ?)
        Daughter, unnamed (b. circa 2986BCE - crossed ?)
      - Daughter (b. circa 3380BCE - crossed 300) = Father
        Daughter (b. circa 3000BCE - crossed ?) = Spouse unknown, angel
        Son (b. circa 2300BCE - crossed ?) = Spouse unknown
        Daughter (b. circa 2300?BCE - crossed ?)
        Son (b. circa 2300?BCE - crossed ?) = Daughter
        Daughter (b. circa 2100BCE - crossed ?) = Father (known to have been the first to settle on Tory Island)
        Son (b. circa 1800BCE - crossed ?) = Mother
        Son (b. circa 1400BCE - crossed ?) = Niece, see below
        Daughter (b. circa 1200BCE - crossed ?) = Unnamed male, human
        Daughter (b. circa 1000BCE - crossed ?) = Uncle, angel
        Son (b. circa 300BCE - crossed ?) = Unnamed angel (something-great aunt) (b. circa 2986BCE - crossed c. 300CE)
        Auitoriga (b. circa 100CE - crossed 333CE) = Male angel (father) (b. circa 300BCE - crossed ?)
        Diarmait ? (b. circa 250 - crossed 545) = Temair ? (crossed 561)
        Eithne ? (b. circa 480 - crossed 594?)
        Rónán ? (b. circa 600 - crossed 1219) = Derbáil ? (crossed 1079)
        Ailill ? (b. circa 990 - crossed 1490) = Órnat ? (crossed 1448)
        Mícheál Ó Bia (b circa 1380 - crossed 1544) = Órnat ? (mother) (crossed 1448)
        Seáinín Ó Bia (b. 1453? - crossed 1697) = Granuaile ? (crossed 1704)
        Máirtín Sheáinín (b. 1600? - crossed 1768) = Bríd ? (crossed 1782)
        Nevan Dunne (b. 1699 - crossed 1792) = Clare Feely (crossed 1844)
        Findlay Dunne (b. 12 March 1763 - crossed ? 1897) = Maeve ? (crossed 1897)
        Afric Dunne (b. 23 Feb, 1790 - crossed 5 October 1903) = Tómas Ó Móráin (b. 9 Nov, 1756 - crossed 13 May, 1900)
        Cecily Ó Móráin (b. 1 June, 1810) - Francis Ryan (b. 28 August, 1858)
        Isibél Ó Móráin (b. 14 July, 1912 - cr. 23 Aug, 1983, r. 17 Jan, 2007) disowned = ***Randolf Fitzwilliam*** (b. 5 March, 1910 - d. 19 Aug, 1983)
        
        Aoife Dunne (b. 23 Feb, 1790)
        
        Éogan Ó Bia (b. 1481? - crossed 1703) = Deirdre ? (crossed 1697)
        Rionach Ó Bia (b. 1617 - crossed 1812) = Ite ? (crossed ?)
        Sinann Ó Bia (b. 1620 - ?) = William Butler (b. 1918 - ?)
        Gemma Butler (b. 1996 - ?)
        Geraldine Butler (b. 1996 - ?)
        Dearbháil Butler (b. 2000 - ?)
        
        Taillte Ó Bia (b. 1634 - crossed 1817) = Rionach Ó Bia (brother)
        Mór ? (b. 1690 - crossed 1786) = ? Ó Cosraigh (crossed 1810)
        Gormghlaith Ó Cosraigh (b. 1718 - crossed 1856) = Niall Ó Cosraigh (twin brother)
        Niall Ó Cosraigh (b. 1718 - crossed 1809) = Gormghlaith Ó Cosraigh (twin sister)
        Saoirse Ó Cosraigh (b. 1763 - crossed 1832) = Oscar ? (crossed 1852)
        Roisín ? (b. 1799 - crossed 1928)
        Finbar ? (b. 1823 - crossed 1949) = Setana ? (crossed ?)
        Creidhne ? (b. 19??) = Doirind Clannagh disowned
        Damhnait Clannagh disowned
        Tierney Clannagh disowned
        (adopted) ***Thierry Clannagh*** (b. 1983 - d. 2 November, 2002) disowned
        (adopted) Teahg Clannagh disowned
        
        Finnchad ? (b. circa 270CE - crossed 350CE?)