TNDL: THE CORONATION STONE - Jeremiah in Ireland

JEREMIAH IN IRELAND -- FACT OR FABRICATION?
According to Herbert Armstrong in the book "The United States and Britain in Prophecy," the prophet Jeremiah (in the company of his scribe Baruch) took King Zedekiah's daughter to Ireland where she founded a line of Davidic kings that has continued on down to this day. What corroborating evidence can be found in the Irish annals to back up this assertion? What FACTS can be gleaned from the ancient sources to show this compelling story to be true? Shocking as it may sound, there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER in either the Irish or the Scottish annals -- not even a TRACE of Jeremiah, Tea-Tephi and the ever-faithful Baruch! The TRUTH is, if Jeremiah ever brought Zedekiah's daughter to Ireland, it went TOTALLY UNNOTICED in the ancient Irish annals.

By John D. Keyser It makes fascinating reading!
As related by Herbert W. Armstrong in the booklet "The United states and Britain in Prophecy", the story of Jeremiah's journey to Ireland with a daughter of King Zedekiah of Judah comes to life under the author's pen: "The real ancient history of Ireland is very extensive, though colored with some legend. But with the facts of biblical history and prophecy in mind, one can easily sift out the legend from the true history in studying ancient Irish annals. Throwing out that which is obviously legendary, we glean from various histories of Ireland the following: Long prior to 700 B.C. a strong colony called "Tuatha de Danaan" (tribe of Dan) arrived in ships, drove out other tribes, and settled there. Later, in the days of David, a colony of the line of Zarah arrived in Ireland from the Near East.

"Then, in 569 B.C. (date of Jeremiah's transplanting), an elderly, white-haired patriarch, sometimes referred to as a "saint," came to Ireland. With him was the princess daughter of an eastern king and a companion called "Simon Brach," spelled in different histories as Breck, Berech, Brach, or Berach. The princess had a Hebrew name Tephi -- a pet name -- her full name being TEA-TEPHI.
"Modern literature of those who recognize our national identity has confused this Tea-Tephi, a daughter of Zedekiah, with an earlier Tea, a daughter of Ith, who lived in the days of David.

"This royal party included the son of the king of Ireland who had been in Jerusalem at the time of the siege. There he had become acquainted with Tea-Tephi. He married her shortly after 585 -- when the city fell. Their young son, now about 12 years of age, accompanied them to Ireland. Besides the royal family, Jeremiah brought with them some remarkable things, including a harp, AN ARK, and a wonderful STONE CALLED "LIA-FAIL," or "STONE OF DESTINY."

"....many kings in the history of Ireland, Scotland, and England have been coronated over this stone -- including the present queen. The stone rests today in Westminster Abbey in London, and the coronation chair is built over and around it. A sign beside it labels it "Jacob's pillar-stone" (Gen. 28:18).
"The royal husband of the Hebrew princess Tea was given the TITLE HERREMON upon ascending the throne of his father. This Herremon has usually been confused with a much earlier Gede the Herremon in David's day -- who married his uncle Ith's daughter Tea. The son of this later king Herremon and Hebrew princess continued on the throne of Ireland and THIS SAME DYNASTY CONTINUED UNBROKEN through all the kings of Ireland; was OVERTURNED and transplanted again in Scotland; again OVERTURNED and moved to London, England, where this same dynasty continues today in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II....

"In view of the linking together of biblical history, prophecy, and Irish history, can anyone deny that this Hebrew princess was the daughter of King Zedekiah of Judah and therefore heir to the throne of David? That King Herremon was a descendant of Zarah, here married to the daughter of Pharez, healing the ancient breach? That when the throne of David was first overturned by Jeremiah, it was REPLANTED in Ireland, later overturned a second time and replanted in Scotland, overturned a third time and planted in London? When Christ returns to earth to sit on that throne, He shall take over a LIVE, EXISTING throne, not a nonexistent one (Luke 1:32)." -- 1980, Worldwide Church of God. Pp. 99-102.

No References! In preparation for the writing of this article, and several others on the royal house of Britain, I searched out and read literally DOZENS of books written by British-Israelites in order to more accurately understand the BASIS for the Jeremiah/Tea-Tephi legend so eloquently penned by Herbert Armstrong. I also consulted primary and secondary sources on the Irish and Scottish annals.

To my surprise, I found that the British-Israelite books all REPEAT the same Tea-Tephi story (with slight variations), each aggressively claiming that the story is found in the ancient annals. In my research I have NOT FOUND a single British-Israelite book that actually gives a REFERENCE to WHERE in the Irish and Scottish annals the supporting material may be found! Armstrong's booklet does not -- nor does Joseph Allen's earlier book on the subject.

As also discovered by Greg Doudna (former Ambassador College student, now with the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University), "they all seem to draw from previous British-Israel writings. They speak so confidently it sounds like there must be something in the annals to which they refer. The NAMES mentioned in the Tea-Tephi legend appear in the annals, true enough, but I have discovered they are TOTALLY DIFFERENT PERSONS IN THE ANNALS than the British-Israel legend makes them out to be. The annals simply don't say what the British-Israel literature, or the Worldwide Church of God, SAY they say. It is a LEGEND that someone somewhere within British-Israel circles began, stated it as fact, and it has been repeated as fact within British-Israel circles ever since, down to the present day in which the Worldwide Church of God repeats it to millions. It may make an interesting story, but IT IS COMPLETELY FABRICATED." ("Afterword on British-Israelism", p. 121).

I have to ECHO Greg Doudna in his discoveries: There is absolutely NO FOUNDATION in the Irish and Scottish annals for the story of Jeremiah and Tea-Tephi! NONE of the dozens of British-Israelite books I have read give quotations from the annals themselves, or cite chapter and verse in the annals. They simply ASSERT, in a convincing style, that these things are so. Frankly, I was not aware how BASELESS these assertions were until I researched all the literature for myself. Who Was Ollam Fodla?

The key figure in Armstrong's story is, of course, Jeremiah the prophet. According to Worldwide Church of God historian Herman L. Hoeh, Jeremiah the prophet was known in Ireland by the name "Ollam Fodhla." (See "Compendium of World History", vol. I, p. 432). In Armstrong's booklet a similar connection is made; and British-Israelite theorists also claim this as fact. E. Raymond Capt in his book "Jacob's Pillar" makes the SAME assertion: "Many of the ancient Irish records, when making reference to an 'eastern king's daughter,' also mention an old man; 'a patriarch, a saint, a prophet,' called 'OLLAM FODHLA' ....Tradition asserts that Ollam Fodhla was none other than JEREMIAH, the prophet..." (Artisan Sales, Thousand Oaks, CA. 1977. P. 31).

Let me state here and now that I have found NO SUCH TRADITION in the Irish annals!

To further solidify this identification of Jeremiah with the Irish Ollam Fodhla, E. Raymond Capt makes the following statement:

SOME authorities on Irish history have cited the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters (edited from MSS. in the Library of the Royal Academy and of Trinity College, Dublin translated by John O'Donovan, M.T.I.A.) as A LINK BETWEEN IRELAND AND JEREMIAH: "Ollam Fola (Foldha) is celebrated in ANCIENT HISTORY as a sage and legislator, eminent for learning, wisdom and excellent institutions, and his historic fame has been recognized by placing his medallion in 'basso relievo' with those of Moses and other great legislators in the interior of the dome of the Four Courts of Dublin....(Ibid., p. 41).

Excuse me -- did I miss something here? I might be as blind as a bat in a London fog but I saw no link between Ireland and Jeremiah in this passage! If that's all they can base their identification of Jeremiah on, then their whole theory is extremely tenuous!

Greg Doudna noticed the same paucity of evidence:
"What the originators of the...legend did was simply combine famous, known figures in the annals, many centuries apart, and splice them together in a TOTALLY IMAGINARY RECONSTRUCTION.

"For example, who is Olam Fodla? In British-Israel theory, and stated in the USBP, he is JEREMIAH, the aged prophet. In fact, Olam Fodla appears in the Irish legends as one of the greatest NATIVE MILESIAN KINGS. Unlike the British-Israel books I examined, I will now actually QUOTE something from the annals. A poem quoted in one of the annals called the Book of Leinster, and identified by one of Ireland's early authorities on the annals, Eugene O'Curry, as written around the time of the birth of Christ and of a very high degree of authority, has this to say of Olam Fodla, whom the WCG book, UNCRITICALLY REPEATING BRITISH-ISRAEL LEGEND, says was "Jeremiah." Does this read like a description of the biblical Jeremiah?

'Ollam Fodhla, of furious valour,
Who founded the Court of Ollamh,
Was the first heroic KING
That instituted the Feast of Teamain [Tara].
FORTY sweet musical YEARS
He held the high sovereignty of Erinn [Ireland];
And it was from him, with noble pride,
The Ultonians took their name.
Six kings of valiant career
OF OLLAMH'S RACE reigned over Errin;
For two hundred and ten full years,
No other person came between them...'

"The ancient poem continues with an account of Ollam's six reigning descendants. OLLAM WAS NOT JEREMIAH. The annals say Ollam FOUNDED A COLLEGE and was an enlightened ruler, known as "Doctor of Wisdom." This is said of the famous KING Ollam Fodla. The name "Ollam" thereafter meant a wise man. THE BRITISH-ISRAELITES ARBITRARILY SAID OLLAM FODLA WAS JEREMIAH, even though the ANNALS say he was a NATIVE MILESIAN KING. THE JEREMIAH IDENTIFICATION IS A COMPLETE FABRICATION.

"Dr. Herman Hoeh, the leading historian of British-Israelism in the Worldwide Church of God, was aware of the KING named Ollam Fodla. In the Irish kings list in his Compendium of World History, an Ollam Fodla is dated 714-674 B.C., with the appended comment, "Not the later prophet Ollamh Fodhla"....In fact, THERE IS NO "SECOND," LATER OLLAM FODLA IN THE IRISH ANNALS who may be identified with JEREMIAH. There is only the ONE famous King Ollam Fodla." -- "Afterword on British-Israelism", pp. 121-123.

One of the leading authorities on Irish history -- O'Flaherty's "Ogygia" -- makes PLAIN that Ollamh Fodhla was NOT the same person as Jeremiah: "Ollamfodla, of the HOUSE OF HIR [IR -- a son of Gathelus], the SON of king Fiach, slew Faldergod in the battle of Temor [Tara], and ascended the throne. He had FOUR SONS, viz. Finnacta, Slanoll, Ged, and Carbry, the progenitor of the Rudicians; from his name Ollamh, the name of ULSTER is said to be derived. He first instituted the assemblies of Temor [Tara], which were held every three years for enacting and executing laws. Three days before, and so many after the FESTIVAL, WHICH WE CALL SAMHUIN [ALL-HALLOWS DAY -- pagan Irish festival]...these solemn assemblies were celebrated with great pomp and ceremony....

"He, being a man of great literary knowledge, is called Ollam-fodla, i.e. through Ireland which is called Fodla in our language, he was a great professor of learning...which he deservedly obtained on account of his extensive learning. He erected Mur-Ollamhan, i.e. the wall of the learned, at Tara. You may call it a college...an academy, or a lyceum...." (Vol. II, translated by James Hely. W. M'Kenzie, Dublin. 1793. Pp. 70-71).

When Did Fodhla Reign?

The epoch of Ollam Fodhla, as we shall see, is FAR TOO EARLY to be associated with Jeremiah. Francis Plowden notes that "the grand epoch of political eminence in the early history of Ireland is the reign of their great and favorite monarch OLLAM-FODLAH, who reigned, according to Keating, ABOUT 950 YEARS BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA." ("An Historical Review of the State of Ireland", vol. I. William F. M'Laughlin, Philadelphia. 1805. P. 13).

Seumas MacManus places the time of Ollam Fodhla's reign a little later, but still too early for Jeremiah! "All the stories say that the greatest king of those faraway times was the TWENTY-FIRST MILESIAN KING, known as Ollam Fodla (Ollav Fola) who blessed Ireland in a reign of forty years, some SEVEN OR EIGHT CENTURIES BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA." ("The Story of the Irish Race". The Devin-Adair Co. N.Y. 1949. P. 15).

Even Herman Hoeh, in his Irish chronology, places Ollam Fodhla's reign as 714 to 674 B.C. -- once again too early for Jeremiah. He gets around this, as we have seen, by stating that this is "not the later prophet Ollamh Fodhla"! However, there was ONLY ONE Ollam Fodhla in all of Irish history!

There is, basically, TWO MAIN CHRONOLOGIES of the Irish kings in the annals of Ireland. Roderic O'Flaherty's chronology in his Ogygia, places the arrival of the Milesians under Heremon in approximately the year 1,000 B.C.; while "The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland", compiled by the Four Masters, places the invasion of Ireland at a time shortly after the Exodus (ca. 1434 B.C.). When you carefully study the history of the Milesians, it soon becomes evident that "The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland" contain the CORRECT chronology of the Irish kings.

With this in mind, a remarkable coincidence becomes apparent in the Irish king-list! The regnal years of Ollamh Fodhla fall at the SAME TIME as the reign of King David of Israel -- a year or two differential between the two reigns if the chronology of Ussher is compared with that of "The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland"! How much of a "coincidence" this discovery really is will be examined shortly.

More Than One Tomb?

British-Israelites have pointed to two possible burial places for Jeremiah in Ireland to justify their claims of the prophet's presence in this land. But are they burial places of Jeremiah? According to E. Raymond Capt: "The burial place of OLLAM FODHLA (Jeremiah) is claimed as being in TWO DIFFERENT PLACES. One is a tomb hewn out of rock in a cemetery on Devenish Island, in Lough Erne. It has been known from time immemorial as "Jeremiah's Tomb." The other, and best authenticated is located in Schiabhla-Cailliche, near Oldcastle, County Meath, in Ireland, not far from Tara. A huge cairn of stones marks the spot, and a large carved stone is still pointed out as Jeremiah's judicial seat." ("Jacob's Pillar", pp. 39-40).

In all books on the antiquities of Ireland, these two locations are known as possible tombs of OLLAM FODHLA -- not Jeremiah! The British-Israelites (including Capt) ASSUME these tombs to be those of Jeremiah because they ASSUME Jeremiah went to Ireland, a supposition that is supported by absolutely NO historical proof whatsoever!

Astonishing New Evidence: Did King David Visit Ireland?

On the Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland can be found an area, three miles north of Tara Hill, called "Dowd's Town" -literally "DAVID'S TOWN" -- THE SETTLEMENT OF DAVID! Is it just possible that King David of Israel visited Ireland and brought the country under his sway? Herman L. Hoeh thinks so: "Perhaps the enigmatic 29th chapter of Isaiah will take on new meaning in answer to this question:

'Ah, ARIEL, ARIEL, THE CITY
WHERE DAVID ENCAMPED!
Add ye year to year,
Let the FEASTS come round!
Then will I distress ARIEL,

And there shall be mourning and moaning...' (Jewish translation)

"That this prophecy refers to the House of Israel is made plain from the context. The climax of the prophecy is the time of divine intervention in all human affairs. But why should the "CITY WHERE DAVID ENCAMPED" symbolize the center of government of the House of Israel today? It is not a fitting expression for Jerusalem and Mt. Zion, for David DID MORE than encamp there. He dwelt and ruled there! Notice further the name ARIEL. Here is a CITY WITH THE NAME ARIEL. It symbolizes the same people as does Mt. Zion in prophecy, but it is NOT Mt. Zion. It is only a place WHERE DAVID ENCAMPED.

"Cities in early times often changed names, or were given names, due to FAMOUS MEN WHO RESTORED OR REBUILT THE SITES, or to men who established the priority of their names in a genealogical line. Take for example the change of the name of Aegialea to Sicyon in Greece....Was there at Tara a FAMOUS KING with the name of ARIEL whose blood line rules today in the British Royal Family? Indeed there was. Of four sons of Gede the Heremon, only the line of IRIAL (Irish for Ariel) continued to rule from Tara. His name was as RARE in Irish history as the name David was in Jewish history!

"These scant evidences of history are more than mere coincidence. NO OTHER PLACE ON EARTH bears the names of Eber, of Dan, of David, of Ariel." -- "Compendium of World History", Vol. I., Ambassador College, Pasadena, CA. 1962. Pp. 426-427.

Irial Faidh was the sixth Milesian king of Ireland, ruling from 1414 B.C. to 1404 B.C. The annals point out that he was a great warrior who fought four major battles during his ten years on the throne. He was the first of the Irish kings to FORTIFY AND BUILD EMBANKMENTS around the city of Tara, and to clear the plains and build forts throughout the land. This Irial was none other than the ARIEL of Isaiah 29; and Tara was named after him for a period of time.

Both Ollamh Fodhla and King David reigned for FORTY YEARS; and of ALL the Milesian kings from Heremon down to Queen Elizabeth II only FOUR in 3,500 years had reigns of 40 years in length. BOTH kings were noted warriors; BOTH kings were poets and sages; and BOTH kings died natural deaths at home. Of ALL the Milesian kings from Heremon to Ederscel (time of Christ) ONLY EIGHT died a natural death; and of these FOUR DIED AT TARA (i.e. AT HOME). Most of the others died in battle. King David faithfully kept God's annual festivals; and the Irish annals show that King Ollamh Fodhla faithfully kept a seven-day feast in the fall of the year -- the FEAST OF TABERNACLES!

O'Flaherty records in his work that "from his name OLLAMH, the name of ULSTER [northern province of Ireland] is said to be derived." (P. 70). This is very significant! The flag of Northern Ireland (Ulster) has a white background with a red cross. In the center is a SIX-POINTED STAR, and in the center of this white star is "the BLOOD-RED RIGHT HAND OF ULSTER." Immediately above this six-pointed "STAR OF DAVID" is the royal crown.

Why does Northern Ireland or Ulster have the STAR OF DAVID on its flag (symbolic of David and the Pharez line of Judah) AND the Red Hand (symbolic of the Zarah line of Judah)? Because the Red Hand represents the line of Zarah which has ruled Ireland from the time Heremon established himself in the land (1434 B.C.); and the star of David indicates the presence of David in Ireland some 400 years later! It does NOT, however, necessarily indicate a healing of the breach that occurred in Genesis 38:27-30!

"Why," some say, "should this strange story of the scarlet thread be recorded in Bible history unless this BREACH was to be healed between the sons or their descendants at some future date?" True -- but it never occurred during the lifetime of Pharez and Zarah. How, then, (or when) was this breach healed?
The British-Israelites and a number of churches believe the breach was healed when the prophet Jeremiah supposedly traveled to Ireland with a daughter of King Zedekiah (of the line of Pharez). This daughter, so they claim, married Heremon the son of Gathelus (of the line of Zarah), thus healing the breach. Unfortunately, as we have seen, this never occurred! Jeremiah NEVER set foot in Ireland with Zedekiah's daughter. Instead, the breach was healed at a much later date in the person of King Arthur -- who himself was a type of Christ! Send for our article "Joseph of Arimathea and David's Throne in Britain" for the exciting details!

The Arrival of Lia-Fail Another so-called "link" between Jeremiah and Ireland was investigated by Doudna. Notice:

"I finally was able to find a reference in a British-Israel book identifying WHERE in the Irish annals the Tea-Tephi/JEREMIAH story is supposed to be found. The reference is cited as from the Chronicles of Eri (at Trinity College, Dublin), II, 3 (p. 89). The relevant passage comes in a narrative account of the legendary wanderings, thefts, and counter-thefts of the Lia-fail stone (which had a mystique surrounding it -- whoever possessed it would rule). The passage reads: 'For being but few to journey on the land, they would move on the face of the waters in search of their brethren, led by TWO OF THE RACE, to the extremity of the world of land to the sun's going, as they had heard. And they were driven from their course. The vessel was borne to this land [Ullad] and here was broken, but all the men came safe with Lia Fail.' Then on page 90, 'Chiefs of Iber, Gaal of Sciot, look on this stone...Be thus: guard well this blessed gift; and in what land this messenger shall stay, a chief of Iber shall bear sway.'
"British-Israelites ARBITRARILY say, WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE BEYOND THEIR SAY-SO, that the "two of the race" are Jeremiah and Baruch. "To the sun's going" means they came from the east, which means they came from Palestine. "A Chief of Iber" means a Hebrew Prince.

"This is, apparently, the TRUE BASIS claimed in the annals for the story of Jeremiah/Zedekiah's daughter's transfer (combined, of course, with separate accounts drawn from elsewhere of the great KING Ollam Fodla, the king Simeon Brach, Princess Tea, and Queen Tephi of Spain, all separated widely in time). This is the "TRUNK OF THE TREE" (even though the dating of this incident involving anonymous personages is MANY HUNDREDS OF YEARS EARLIER THAN WHEN JEREMIAH LIVED). Are there ancient records or legends of any people on earth -- in most of which references can be found somewhere to "two people traveling" and "west" and names with syllables in them -- from which the same kind or genre of conclusions could not be generated?" -- "Afterword on British-Israelism", note 25, p. 138.

A good question indeed -- I have never found so much based on so little by so many! The idea that the Stone of Destiny, or Jacob's Pillar-stone, was also taken by Jeremiah to Ireland does NOT stand up to the records of history. The Irish and Scottish annals show that this famous stone was taken to Spain by GATHELUS, the son of Calcol, and then to Ireland (after his death) by his wife SCOTA and son Heremon. Heremon was the first Irish-Milesian king to be crowned upon it in their new land.

Notice: "In the capital of the Scottish kingdom [Scone] was a venerable fragment of rock, to which, at least as early as the fourteenth century, the following legend was attached: The STONY PILLOW on which Jacob slept at Bethel was by his countrymen transported to EGYPT. Thither came GATHELUS, son of Cecrops [Calcol], King of Athens, and married Scota, daughter of Pharaoh. He and his Egyptian wife, alarmed at the fame of MOSES, fled WITH THE STONE to Sicily or to SPAIN. From Brigantia, in Spain, it was carried off by...the favorite son of Milo the Scot [Gathelus], to Ireland...On the sacred Hill of Tara it became 'Lia Fail,' the 'Stone of Destiny.' On it the Kings of Ireland were placed." ("Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey", by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. John Murray, London. 1876. P. 57).

The Scottish historian Hector Boece recorded the same events in his book "Chroniklis of the Scots" (1531): "GATHELUS, a Greek, the son of...the Athenian Cecrops...went to Egypt AT THE TIME OF THE EXODUS, where he married Scota, the daughter of Pharao, and after the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, fled with her...till he arrived in PORTUGAL, where he landed, and founded a kingdom at Brigantium, now COMPOSTELLA. Here he reigned in the marble chair, which was the 'lapis fatalis cathedrae instar,' or FATAL STONE like a chair....a descendant of Gathelus [actually his son Heremon] brought the chair [and stone] from Spain TO IRELAND, and was crowned in it as King of Ireland."

These are just two of NUMEROUS references in the annals regarding the arrival of the Stone of Destiny in Ireland. NOWHERE is there any mention of Jeremiah in connection with the stone. The stone arrived in Ireland ALMOST 1,000 YEARS before the time of Jeremiah! Once again, this is just another flight of fancy by Herbert Armstrong with absolutely NO CORROBORATING PROOF in the history of Ireland. Jeremiah's trip to Ireland is pure fabrication -- NOT fact!

Two Tea-Tephis?

The same thing happened with the Tea-Tephi story in Armstrong's book and British-Israelite literature: The originators simply combined famous, known figures in the Irish annals -- figures that were many centuries apart -- and spliced them together in a totally IMAGINARY RECONSTRUCTION.

Let Greg Doudna explain:

"Likewise, there is no second Tea-Tephi. TEA appears in the annals as the wife of one of the original Milesian brothers, Heremon. British-Israel theory said this was Zedekiah's daughter. But this doesn't fit chronologically, since this Tea would be dated at either 1,000 B.C. or 1,500 B.C. (depending on which of TWO CHRONOLOGIES in the annals is preferred). But Zedekiah's daughter and Jeremiah lived in the mid-500's B.C. The USBP therefore says there was a "SECOND" Tea-Tephi in the mid-500's B.C. who was Zedekiah's daughter. As Hoeh said,...The Annals of the Four Masters reads: "TEA, the daughter of LUGAIDH, SON OF ITHA, who Eremhon married IN SPAIN." This Tea is an altogether different person from the Tea who came more than four centuries later to the Irish Isles. The British Israel World Federation...is unwilling to believe the history of Ireland as it is plainly recorded. The Tea who married Ghede the Heremon was a daughter of Lughaidh, the son of Ith, uncle of Miledh [Milesius]....These events occurred in David's reign, not Zedekiah's.

"But the "SECOND" TEA-TEPHI proposed by Hoeh and in the USBP book is a SHEER FABRICATION, since THERE IS NO "SECOND" TEA-TEPHI IN THE IRISH ANNALS which, after all, are supposed to be our sources.

"Admittedly, a problem occurs EITHER WAY Tea Tephi is interpreted. The problem with the British-Israel Tea Tephi being the daughter of Jewish king Zedekiah is:
a) she is the COUSIN of Milesian founding king HEREMON,
b) her father is said to have been LUGAIDH, A MILESIAN, NOT ZEDEKIAH, A JUDEAN,
c) she comes from SPAIN, not Palestine, and, finally,
d) she is about FIVE HUNDRED YEARS TOO EARLY.

"The problem with the WCG's "SECOND" Tea-Tephi in the time of Jeremiah is,
a) primarily, that SHE DOESN'T EXIST. "The "second" Tea Tephi, like a "second" Ollam Fodla, HAS BEEN COMPLETELY INVENTED." -- "Afterword on British-Israelism", pp. 123-124.

Not only that, but there NEVER was a Tea-Tephi to start with! The original wife of the Heremon in question was named, simply, "TEA," NOT "Tea-Tephi." Doudna notes that a much earlier "Tephi" does appear in the Irish annals; however, she was the daughter of a LEADER OF A CELTIC SETTLEMENT IN SPAIN. She evidently married a British king by the name of Canthon and had absolutely nothing to do with the Irish royal line.

"How the "Tea-Tephi" name came about is recorded by Doudna: "In 1861, a British-Israel expositor named F. R. A. Glover COMBINED 'Tea' and 'Tephi' into ONE PERSON, in the first book to promote the 'Tea-Tephi' theory. Glover is the inventor of the story of 'Tea-Tephi' and Jeremiah, et al. Glover's slipshod scholarship was adopted by other British-Israelites, including C.A.L. Totten's first five volumes of Our Race (1890-92), followed by W. M. H. Milner, The Royal House of Britain an Enduring Dynasty (1902), J. H. Allen (1902), and of course, Herbert W. Armstrong, whose book circulates to the whole world by the millions today. [It has now been dropped by the Worldwide Church of God]. The story of Glover's origination of 'Tea-Tephi,' with documentation, is told in Filmer, Nithsdale, Price, and Stough, 'Tea-Tephi or Scota,' The Message, Issue 5 (London: Covenant Publishing Co., [1982?])." (Ibid., note 22, p. 138).

In a rather bizarre twist of circumstances, Doudna wrote to the Worldwide Church of God in 1987 for further information about the Tea-Tephi/Jeremiah story:

"I also asked WHERE in the [Irish] annals the story of Tea-Tephi and Jeremiah was found. To that, I received this response: "You also asked for information regarding Princess Tea-Tephi. This information is available in booklet form from: The Covenant Publishing Co., Ltd., 6 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E6JP, United Kingdom." "I wrote the Covenant Publishing Co., and, TO MY ASTONISHMENT, received back a letter dated March 11, 1988, from the Secretary, Richard Hall, with an enclosure giving a policy statement from six years earlier REFUTING BEYOND ANY DOUBT THAT THERE EVEN WAS A TEA-TEPHI. (As explained in an earlier note, there was a Tea, and there was an earlier Tephi, which had been WRONGLY COMBINED INTO ONE PERSON in 1861 by Rev. F.R.A. Glover, but there is NO "Tea-Tephi" in the annals at all.)

"In other words, not only is the WCG UNABLE to quote from the annals themselves to support assertions in the USBP, but the SOURCE to which a questioner is referred mails back evidence COMPLETELY BLOWING THE THEORY OUT OF THE WATER.

"(The Covenant Publishing Co. believes the connection of the Irish royalty to David happened instead through a "SCOTA," wife of Miled. This is not an improvement to the theory, however. "Scota" appears in the annals as A DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH, NOT ZEDEKIAH or any other Jewish king. Also, SHE IS AT LEAST 500 OR 1200 YEARS TOO EARLY, according to Irish chronology. Hence, Scota WAS NOT a means of transfer of the Davidic line to Ireland. See MacManus, Story of the Irish Race, p. 8.)" -- (Ibid., note 35, p. 140).

In an extract from the booklet "Co-Incidences? Pointers to Our Herita