Daily Life
Day to day living for the Dáiraide is pretty normal. We eat, sleep, work, etc. just like everyone else. We wear normal clothes, drive cars, watch tv. Indeed, to the outside observer there would be very little to set us apart from any other family. The only thing that anyone would immediately find different would be our mealtime prayers, which are made to our gods and ancestors.

Our lifestyle is tribally oriented. In simplest terms, this can be thought of as a large, close-knit family, but deeper. Much of our individual identity is tied to our family identity. There are some differences between the way we conduct family affairs and the way typical American families operate. We share resources wherever possible rather than every member expected to provide completely for themselves. Almost to the point of gossip, anything of importance is soon known by all family members rather than keeping things as close to the vest as possible. We do not push our children out the door at adulthood with some sense of reclaimed freedom. We consider caring for aging parents ourselves to be a sacred obligation rather than a burden to be placed in a nursing home and forgotten. We embrace family-centric parenting practices like breastfeeding, family bedding, homeschooling, etc. Every member of the family is expected to be a functional part of the household rather than placing the burdens of keeping house on just one or two. We deliberately are a one income household in order to have a parent stay home to raise the children, and encourage our children to do the same with their families. To us, raising your children yourself is far more beneficial than the "American Dream" that two incomes allows.

Money and Shared Resources
It is worth going into more detail on this. One thing that we do that outsiders tend to think is somewhat bizarre in the practice of money render. This can be thought of as a sort of tithe that is used for the benefit of the group as a whole. Most Sinnsreachd tuatha have some variation of this, here's how it works for us: All members set aside 10% of their earned income. For children younger than 14, the whole 10% goes to their personal savings. Also, since our younger children have little in the way of earned income their 10% also comes out of gifts. For members 14 and older, 5% goes to the tuath treasury and 5% goes to their personal savings. The ultimate goal in this is to encourage personal savings to cover emergencies so that the treasury can be dedicated primarily to purchasing shared resources such as land, vehicles, equipment, etc.

Living all in one house as we are now, sharing is pretty much a given, but there are many things planned for the future when our children have households of their own. We will have communally owned land someday and are hoping to have most of our households together on or at least near this land. Also, we are hoping to have communally owned euipment such as specialty vehicles (pickup, passenger van, panel truck, etc.), tools, lawn mowers, tractors, etc. There are some shared projects planned like a central building for gatherings, workshop, library, etc. On a smaller scale, items that are no longer needed would be offered to the members, or sold with procedes to go to the treasury, before they are thrown away or donated to outside charities. The general idea is that there is no need for different households to spend money buying things that can be shared more efficiently. For instance, does every family have to buy that new DVD? It would be better to buy it together and then pass it around, or better yet to have everyone over to watch it together. The same philosophy can apply to everything from power tools to toys. The money saved by sharing resources can be used for the further benefit of families and tuath. With this in mind, and an eye to the future, we have now established the Dáiraide library so that our members will have access to books and other resources that they might not afford otherwise.

Rank, Caste, etc.
Sinnsreachd tuatha typically organize themselves along some variation of the rank and caste structure as defined in the Fenechas (aka "Brehon" laws). For us this is pretty organic and simple because we are currently one family, albeit a large one. I am the head of our dearbhfine and am primarily in charge of organizational and administrative matters. My wife is equal in status to me and is primarily in charge of family and household matters. Functionally, there is a good deal of overlap. Our children that are 14 and older are no longer considered just children and are included in some decision making and are generally held to a higher standard than the younger children. The younger children are generally ranked according to age and given rights and responsibilities based on that.

We have recently established a comhairle, or council, to help decide specific tribal issues (dispursement of the Treasury for instance). This currently consists of all members high enough in rank to contribute a render to the Treasury. Votes are weighted according to rank. Myself and my wife each have one vote; our two eldest children, who have not yet achieved full status, each get a half vote. As taoiseach (chieftain), I have the authority to decide against the council. [A note on this. We believe that a tribe is best served by only having one leader; therefore, the leader has the authority to decide against the wishes of their people. However, a wise leader listens to and understands their people and would only go against them in matters of dire importance.] In the future, as we grow, the comhairle will be made up of certain top positions and the head of each household.

Politics and Dealings with the Host Nation
While we for the most part integrate well with and follow the laws of our host nations, we consider ourselves separate from that society in many ways. Indeed we often look at the host society with varying degrees of bafflement, amusement and disdain. Where we hold honor and personal integrity among our highest ideals, the host society often scoffs at these values. Instead, more often it is greed and individual acheivement at any cost that seem to be held highest. Understandably, this fundamental difference in worldview and values causes most of the friction between our society and theirs.

Our view of ourselves and our culture as being separate from the host society has been frequently misunderstood. We see ourselves as being separate, but we do not wish to isolate ourselves from them. We are different. We see ourselves as being with them, but not really of them, if that makes sense. If our dream is realized and Sinnsreachd continues to grow in size and resources then we may even see Sinnsreachd societies emerge. However, even then there will be interaction between us and those outside of our culture. Isolationism is disfunctional. Separation is a natural part of having a solid identity.

Politically we tend toward Libertarian, preferring that the government stay out of personal and family dealings. Although, when we vote it is based on issues rather than a particular political party. Within Sinnsreachd, most political parties and philosophies are represented. It is often a source of argument even among our own people, but it does not prevent us from being together as Sinsearaithe.

Self-Sufficiency, Preparedness and Self-Defense
We consider increased self-sufficiency to be a necessary goal for our family and the whole of our people. Truly, we are the only ones with our best interests at heart. The less we have to rely on the host society for necessary goods and services, the less we are subject to their inefficiencies and ineptitudes. An extension of this focus is disaster preparedness.

Many of our people are actively involved in disaster planning and preparedness. Consequently, we draw criticism from some people as "survival nuts". Our reasons for this are purely practical, though. First and foremost it is just a good idea. Bad things happen and the more that you can provide for yourself the better. Look at the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita for an excellent example of why everyone should prepare for disaster. Closer to home and just as important is the current state of Sinnsreachd. While we are growing rapidly, we are currently a small people. As such we are vulnerable. Until we have sufficient numbers, we have to be mindful of how a widespread disaster, terrorist attack, economic crisis, etc. could effectively wipe us out. So, it is in the interest of the ultimate survival of our people and culture that we adopt a doctrine of planning and preparedness. Hope for the best; plan for the worst. Stocking extra food and other supplies is also a natural extension of one of our people's highest ideals: hospitality. By having extra one is easily able to see to the needs of others whether during a disaster or just visiting relatives.

Another area where we draw fire is our tendency toward martial interests, careers and pastimes. Part of this is an extension of the preparedness mindset. It is simple: if you stockpile goods in the event of disaster, unprepared people will want what you have. If you are not willing to protect what you have, then you will soon be releived of all your careful preparations. It is also true that our people are decended from warriors and so the blood of the warrior still runs hot in our veins. As a modern extension of this, many Sinsearaithe are involved in law enforcement, military, private security, etc. Dearbhfine Dáiraide currently has no active warriors; however, we own and are well versed in the use of firearms and are actively training in martial arts (Iwama Aikido).