Monashee Mountains Trivia
You may wonder where did our name Monashee Lodge come from:
Monashee Mountains are a 400-km-long range of varied origin in southern BC. To the West they merge with the Okanagan and Shuswap highlands; their eastern boundary is the S-flowing COLUMBIA RIVER. The highest point in the range is 3375 m. The name, meaning peaceful mountain, was given by Donald McIntyre, a Highlander believed to be from Wales was credited with naming the mountains 1881. According to an Okanagan Historical Society account,(Ok. 6:156-157).
McIntyre staked the Monashee Mines claim, but they add that there was a somewhat similar name which could have represented the basis for the name. A mountain called Monadhliath, in Inverness-shire, translated means "grey or light blue mountain or moor."
When McIntyre named the mountain there was an almost fanatical movement to restore the historical accuracy to what was left of the old Celtic culture, particularly in the New World. McIntyre was an intellectual, a trained surveyor who may have been more aware of language and translation accuracies than he’s given credit for.
Translation based on the phonetic or actual spelling of Monashee
“Mona” is translated as a place. The Isle of Mona is the original name of the Isle of Anglesey off the coast of Wales.
In the context of this geography, “shee” would be the pronunciation of sidhe who were said to inhabit the Isle of Mona.
So, the Mona Sidhe which would be directly pronounced Monashee, would accurately describe these inhabitants of this island.
Mona was an ancient Druid stronghold which was destroyed by the Roman General Suetonius Paulinus around 65 CE.
Donald McIntyre’s naming of the Monashee appears to be based entirely on historical speculation which provides ample room for examining an alternative translation that might have some real logic associated with it.
To read more about The Story of Mona and the Sidhe, please click the following link
Don Elzer (June 1, 2012)
http://monasheealmanac.homestead.com/2-LegendsandLandscapes/3-TheMonashee-1.html
