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Ban Sidhes
of
Anceint Ireland
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The following goddess names were the only ones ever found written in ogham:Ana
Atar
Athe
Era
Glas
The Three Sisters were always linked to iron wells, forges, smelthing, red-hot embers, which gives them a Bronze Age association. While there has been found two different groups, the most common group is:
Latieran
Inghean
BuiLasair
Another grouping is:
Laisse
Boga
Colman
which are the three names given for Comgall's daughters.
This page is dedicated to The Three Sisters of Ireland whose brother was the Sun God. This is a work in progress, which means, it will be continually added to. Therefore, you are invited to bookmark this page, bearing in mind, that you must remain an active member with FFN to receive the passwords, which change every season.
Celtic Goddess Pantheon
A major theme connected to the goddesses of the Celtic Pantheon is the association to a particular body of water--suaully a river, but at times a spring, a lake, a well, or the ocean. The Divine Ancestress of the Celtic Boii tribe was known as Boann, and linked with the River Boyne in Ireland. Sequana, a goddess of France, became linked with the River Shannon of Ireland. There is some speculation that Dana might have been linked with the River Don in Russia, and that the Russian goddess, Don, was also linked to a river n ame in Celtic Scotland.
Linking their goddesses with various bodies of water in turn appears to have linked the Celtic reverence for the goddess as The Great Mare, for the white breakers of the ocean were described in irish legend as the white mane of the Morrigu's head. If we ponder how the sea and horse draw a parallel in the Celt's mind, we may see a connection in the double use of the word mare. It means sea in Latin and Russian, an dis the root of the English word marine. At the same time it was used to designate a female horse. Both meanings of mare may have been derived from the same initial Indo-European source word, possibly the Sanskrit mah meaning mighty. This word may also be the foundation of the goddess names: Morrigan and Morgan and Morrigu--the roots gan, gin, and gen meaning birth, as in genesis and begin. This interesting connection between the two words may suggest that the origin of the Pantheon was not in Ireland itself, but came from across the sea, and that the symbol of the first god may very well have been that of a horse.
An aspect of the Irish goddesses worth noting is their wonderful and magical ability to shapechange, not only as animalbs but also alternating between an ugly hag-state and that of a beautiful, alluring woman. The Morrigu becomes an eel, a wolf, a heifer, a raven, and several diverse images of mortal women. Macha and the Cailleach Bera take the form of horses, and the Badb takes the form of Royston crows, alternating between a hag-state and that of a young woman. In addition to these powers, there is the martial prowess of Celtic goddesses who often act as ambassadors in battles and rivalries between the Celtic tribes, sitting in on peace councils when disputes were discussed. There is the less documented image of the goddess among the Celts as the figure of the Goddess of Victory, as well as the mother of some of the gods, such as Tailltiu, the step-mother of Lugh, and the goddesses of healing, poetry, and fate.
On the following list of names I have placed a ** before the names of the 15 most important irish goddesses.
A
Achall - the Hill of Achall near Tara was memorialized after her when she died of sorrow upon the death of her brother in battle.
Actan - mother of Cormac mac Art, who at birth was separated from her, found and suckled by a wolf. Although the child grew up wild, he was healthy. The hunter, Luinge Fer Tri happened upon the child and returned him to Achtan. Together the mother and child climbed the wild Irish mountains and reached the seat of Irish sovereignty, the Hill of Tara, where Cormac took his father's place as king. Actan settled down with Luinge.
Adsullata - A Continental Celtic goddess of spring: may be equated with Sul, the sun goddess of another pantheon.
Aeife - literally means "reflection" and is pronounced "eye-fy". She was recorded among the goddesses as one of the governmental and/or martial leaders and soldiers. She was also among the instructors of Cu Chulainn, whom he married for a year and who bore him a son.
Aeife was one of three foster-daughters of Bodb the Red (Aebh, Aeife and Aibhe), the children of Ailioll of Erin. The great sea-god, Lir came to visit Bodb the Red after is first wife died and Bodb offered him one of his three foster-daughters. Lir chose Aebh for his wife claiming, "She is the eldest,, so she must be the noblest of them." They were married, Aebh bore four children to Lir, the eldest was a daughter called Finola, a son Aed and two twin boys called Fiachra and Conn, but in giving birth to the twins, Aebh died.
Again, Bodb the Red offered Lir another of his foster-daughters. Lir chose the second, Aeife. Aeife was associated with swans and as legend goes, changed Aebh's four children into swans for 300 years and they dwelled at Lough Darvra. It was not long after this incident that gods and mortals ceased to associate. As Aeife's punishment she was aked to tell her father Bodh what shape of all others, on the earth, or above the earth, or beneath the earth, she most abhorred, and into which she most dreaded to be transformed. Aeife was obliged to answer that she most feared to become a demon of the air. So Bodb the Red struck her with his wand, and she fled from them a shrieking demon.
There are many versions of the tale entitled The Children of Lir. Some have been convoluted with christian idealism and interpretation. In other Irish versions, Lir became angry with Aeife for sending his children away from him and had her cursed by his druid into the shape of a crane. She was killed and her skin became the famous faery treasure known as the Crane Bag.
Aeval - a faery queen of southwestern Munster. In her district a debate was launched on whether the men were satisfying the women's sexual needs. In a midnight court, Aeval heard both sides and then decreed the men wrong and sentenced them to overcome their prudishness and accede to the women's needs.
Aibheaog - in the County of Donegal, she was worshiped at Tober Breda. The well's waters were held to be an effective remedy against toothache, so long as the petitioner left a little white stone beside the well as a substitute for the sore tooth (the original tooth faery). It is believed that she was also an ancient fire goddess.
Aige - in Irish legend she was turned into a fawn and wandered across the island until she died by plunging into a bay, which today bears her name.
Ain - A twin sister of Iaine. She was the mythical reason for women's high status in ancient Ireland. When the two sisters married their two brothers, the men invented war so that each could claim as large a share of the island as possible. As a result of the conflict the rights of women, single or married, were spelled out carefully in the Brehon Laws. The laws were singularly comprehensive in assuring women’s property rights and freedom.
Aine [ohn-ya] - This is the Bright Faery goddess to whom the mountain Knock Aine on the shores of Lough Gur is dedicated, and she is one of the great goddesses of ancient Ireland who has survived in modern times as the queen of the fairies of south Munster. The reference made to her brightness may indicate that she was originally a sun-goddess.
She is the daughter of Tuatha king, Egogabal, and a shapeshifter, her alternate forms are that of a swan and Lair Derg (Red Mare).
Aine is recognized as a moon-goddess, and patroness of crops and cattle. She is attributed to giving the meadodwsweet its scent. Her name derives from the same root as Adeh, "fire," and therefore she could be identified with Brigid..
The Midsummer festivals were once celebrated in honor of her before they were transferred to St. John’s Day. On this night, farmers carried torches of straw in procession around Knock Aine and waved the over the cattle and the fields for protection and fruitfulness.
Her energy is most effective during the "Time of the Big Sun," which is from Beltaine to Samhain.
Knock Aine and Knock Fennine on the shores of Lough Gur were dedicated Aine and her sister Fenne. Aine is known to take form of a swan, as illustrated in the tale below.
One day, as Aine was sitting on the shore of Lough Gur combing her long golden hair, Gerold, the Earl of Desmond, saw her and fell in love with her. He gained control over her by seizing her cloak, and made her his bride. Their child was Earl Fitzgerald, and the geasa imposed upon his father was that he must never express any surprise at anything his son might do.
One night, however, showing off his skill to some maidens, he jumped into a bottle and out again, and his father could not restrain a cry of surprise. Fitzgerald at once left the castle and was seen swimming across the lough in the form of a wild goose towards Garrod Island, under which his enchanted castle was said to lie. At the same time, Aine disappeared as a swan.
Aine has the quality of transformation. Whether that transformation be in regard to altered states of consciousness (such as traveling into the Otherworld) or the ability to change things in the physical (such as your job or hair style), she emphasizes the use of intuition. Her symbols are those of the element of air, the swan, and red mare. The air is connected to the east and spring, as well as the quality of clear thinking. The swan is the symbol of life energy. The Bird-Goddess is often the guardian of the family and Clan, overseeing the continuity of life energy, the well-being and health of the family, and the increase of food supply. Swans are seen to glide between the worlds. The Faery also look upon the swan as bringing luck and wealth..
The mare is a symbol of strength and endurance, as well as regeneration and fertility. The Mare-Goddess represents personal power, both in physical and spiritual domains. In druidic rites the horse will often carry the rider into other dimensions.
Airmed [er-ma] - A Tuatha De Danann who had great magickal powers, particularly in the cunning arts of herblore. She knew the uses of every plant, the knowledge gained after the death of her brother Miach, from whose grave sprang innumerable plants. These were all the herbs of the world, and as Airmed tended her brother's grave, the plants instructed her in their use. Thus we have a Tuatha who works with the Devas and is the birther of the art of herbcraft.
Airmed has the quality of healing and earth-magic. Whether one works with the plants of their own garden or store-bough and packaged hersb, the Devas of the plant kingdom are her allies. Her symbols are earth, flower, herb, the circle, and the hummingbird. Through the touch of a plant she can create or restore life. Earth is in the north and is connected to the qualities of strength and solidness. Herbs and flowers renew themselves every years as does the earth, as does the circle in its never ending cycle. Healing is also an act of renewal. The circle teachse the continuum of life. The song of the hummingbird awakens the medicine flowers and their essences, and teaches you to perceive the presence of joy and beauty and love in your life.
Alt - these three letters in Irish placenames [Altane, Athgaine] indicate an association with the goddess.
Almha, or Almu [al-va] - Although nothing remains of her myth, she is connected to the Tuatha De Danann. A hill in southern Ireland was named for her.
An, Ann, Aine, Anu - sun cult connection. Placenames: Rathboyne, Altane, Rantaghstown, Cortown. The cult of Aine celebrated July 25 and September 9 as their holy days. Anu is derived from Danann-Anand-Morrigu. At Castle Kieran, Anu's holy day was celebrated on July 26, while Latieran (one of the Three Sisters) was July 27. Ana represents the "sky" and in written form was a hieroglyph representing a Star.
Andarta, or Andrasta - The goddess of Victory invoked by the Celtic Queen Boadicea.
Anu, or Anann - One of the Deae Matronae [the Mothers] of Ireland, and a goddess of Fertility, Prosperity and Abundance. Two neighboring hills in Kerry are called the Paps of Anu. She is perhaps a local goddess and may be connected with Black Annis of the Dane Hills in Leicestershire, and it is possible that Dana and Anu are the same. Anann is worshipped in Munster as a goddess of Plenty. There are hints that she was also a Fate goddess.
Aoibhinn - Queen of the Faery of North Munster.
Arden - a cow goddess. One of the four daughters of Flidais known as the Cattle of Flidais. She is an archaic member of the Tuatha De Danann mentioned in the Lebor Gaballa Erenn, Section VII. p123.
Aynia - A Faery Queen of Ulster. Ban-Chuideachaidh Moire - The midwife to the Virgin Mary, and a title given to St. Brigid.
B
**Badb [bav] or Badnbn- The primary Celtic war-goddess, who is triple aspect, containing the goddesses Neman, Macha, under the title "Morrigu" or Great Queen, who often takes the form of a Royston or hooded crow. The narrative of The Battle of Moytura in The Book of Leinster, gives one of the most vivid descriptions of the activities of Badb and her attendant spirits.
There arose a wild, impetuous, precipitate, mad, inexorable, furious, dark, lacerating, merciliess, combative, contentious badb, which was shrieking and fluttering over their heads. And there arose also the satyrs, and sprites, and maniacs of the valleys, and witches and goblins and owls, and destroying demons of the air, and firmament, and the demoniac phantom host shouted about him [Cu Chulainn], for the Tuatha De Danann were wont to impart their valour to him, in order that he might be more feared, more dreaded, more terrible, in every battle and battlepfield, in every combat and conflict, into which he went; and they were inciting and sustaining valour and battle with them.
The Battles of Moytura seem in most ways to be nothing more than the traditional record of a long warfare to determine the future spiritual control of Ireland carried on between two diametrically opposed orders of invisible beings, the Tuatha De Danann, representing the gods of light an good, and the Fomorians, representing the gods of darkness and evil.
It is also written in the Book of Leinster that after the second of these battles “The Morrigu, daughter of Ernmas, proceeded to proclaim that battle the mighty victory which had taken place, to the royal heights of Ireland and to its Faery host and its chief waters and its river mouths.”
Here we see the Tuatha De Danann with their war-goddesses fighting their own battles in which human beings play no part. For good had prevailed over evil, and it was settled that all Ireland should forever afterwards be sacred country ruled over by the People of God Dana and the Sons of Mil jointly.
However , the course of victory was altered when “the Badb went up onto the summits of all the high mountains of Ireland, and proclaimed the victory” All the lesser gods who had not been in the battle came round heard the news. And Badb sang a song which began:
Peace mounts to the heavens,
The heavens descent to earth,
Earth lies under the heavens
Everyone is strong…
Then she added a prophesy in which she foretold the approaching end of the divine age, and the beginning of a new one in which summers would be flowerless and cows milkless and women shameless and men strengthless, in which there would be trees without fruit, and seas without fish, when warriors would betray one another and men would be thieves and there would be no more virtue left in the world.
The Irish war-goddess, Badb, considered of old to be one of the Tuatha De Danann, has survived to our own day in the fairy-lore of the chief Celtic countries. In Ireland, the survival is best seen in the popular and still almost general belief among the peasantry that the Sidhe often exercise their magical powers under the form of Royston crows; for this reason these birds are always greatly dreaded and avoided.
Badb, or Badhbh, originally signified “rage, fury or violence” and ultimately implied a witch or cunning woman, Faery or goddess. There is also a definite relationship between the Badb and the Bean Si, as both wear the emblem of the crow and both announce death.
**Banba or Banbha (bawn-vah) – One of the three queens of the Tuatha De Danann, and one of the three daughters of Dagda, who asked the Milesian to call Ireland after them. She is also the wife of Mac Cuill, Son of the Hazel, “whose god was the sea.”
According to one myth, se was the first goddess who found Ireland before the Flood; according to another, she came over with Cesara. She told Amergin: “I am older and Noe’ on a peak of a mountain was I in the Flood.” Her name drives from banva, sow, or piglet.
Ban-Chuideachaidh Moire - The midwife to the Virgin Mary, and a title given to St. Brigid.
Banfathi [bahn-fy] - The goddess who often accompanied troops into battle, and was relied upon for advise and strategy. She based her advise upon listening to the sounds of the streams, and studying the eddies and currents of the waters.
Ban Naomha, or Banna Naomha - A fish goddess of Kil-na-Greina, the Well of the Sun, in County Cork. The well was a place of prophecy and wisdom and only those with the second-sight could see Ban Naohma after performing a magickal ritual which consisted taking three drinks and laying a stone the size of a dove’s egg in the altar with each circle.
**Bean Sidhe (ban- shee) — Which means Fairy Woman, or Woman of Peace. By one source, it is believed that this is a euphemism for any female spirit but usually representing the old toutal goddess, or goddess of the land and river of a particular region. However, more traditionally presented, the Bean Si is the messenger of death, or crone aspect of the Triple Goddess. She is often depicted as having long streaming hair and gray cloak over a green dress. Her eyes are fiery red with continual weeping, and when she is a messenger of death utters forth the “Ulululu,” cry of death. Irish peasantry speak of this goddess as:
Sometimes the Bean Si assumes the form of some sweet singing virgin of the family who died young, and has been given the mission by the invisible powers to become the harbinger of coming doom to her mortal kindred. Or she may be seen at night as a shrouded woman crouched beneath the trees, lamenting with veiled face; or flying past in the moonlight, crying bitterly and the cry of this sprit is mournful beyond all other sounds on Earth, and betokens certain death to some member of the family whenever it is heard in the silence of the night.
The Bean Si could be as benevolent as the sacred women who used to sing the dying gently to sleep. When the Bean Si loves those she calls, the song is a low, soft chant giving notice, indeed, of the proximity of death, but with a tenderness of tone that reassures the one destined to die and comforts the survivors—rather a welcome than a warning.
In the Highlands of Scotland she is also called the Bean-Niche, or the Little-Washer-By-The Ford, because she is seen by the side of a burn or river washing the blood stained clothes of those about to die. She is small and generally dressed in green, and has red webbed feet. She portends evil, but if anyone sees her before she sees them and gets between her and the water, she will grant them three wishes. She will answer three questions, but she asks three questions again, which must be answered truly. Anyone bold enough to seize one of her hanging breast and suck it may claim that they are her foster-child and she will be favourable towards them.
The Banshee (as is commonly spelled) is also considered a death spirit who wails only for members of old families. When several keen together it foretells the death of someone very great or holy.
Be Chuille - a cow goddess. One of the four daughters of Flidais known as the Cattle of Flidais. She is an archaic member of the Tuatha De Danann mentioned in the Lebor Gaballa Erenn, Section VII. p123.
Becuna Cneisgel - A goddess of fertility.
Be Thete - a cow goddess. One of the four daughters of Flidais known as the Cattle of Flidais. She is an archaic member of the Tuatha De Danann mentioned in the Lebor Gaballa Erenn, Section VII. p123.
Biddy Mannion - A midwife chosen by the Faerys of Inishar, a tiny island off the Irish coast. She was reputed for healing and brought many Faery babies back to life when they died at birth.
Birren - wife of Bith and mother of Cesara.
Black Annis - A cannibal hag with a blue face and iron claws supposed to live in a cave in the Dane Hills in Leicestershire. There was a great oak at the mouth of the cave in which she was said to hide and leap out, catch and devour stray children and lambs. The cave, which was called Black Annis Bower Close, was supposed to have been dug out of the rock with her own nails.
Originally on May Day, and later on Easter Monday, it was the custom to hold a drag hunt from Annis’ Bower to the Mayor of Leicester’s house. The bait dragged was a dead cat drenched in aniseed. Black Annis was associated with a monstrous cat. This custom died out at the end of the 18th century.
Black Annis and Gentle Annie are supposed to derive from Anu, or Dana [see Lesson Three]. However, the Leicester Chronicle of 1842 mentions a tomb in Swithland Church to Agnes Scott, an anchoress, and suggests that she was the original of Black Annis, and yet up until the December of 1941, Black Annis was reportedly still alive and lived in the Dane Hills.
Black Virgin, The - The Goddess worshipped by the Dryadesses of Sena on the Isle D’e Sein. One of their major religious sites later became the Chartres Cathedral.
Blathnat [blah-na] - Daughter of Midir, King of the Gaelic Underworld. She helped Cu Chulainn steal herfather’s magick cauldron.
Bo - may very well be one of th older names for the goddess in Ireland, as well as the original name for Aine. She is also a cow goddess; her sister is Find, another cow goddess.
Boadicea, or Boudiga [bow-di-cea, or buh-di-gah] - Queen of the Iceni tribe, who personally led a rebellion against the Romans in 61 A.D. Boudgia occurs as a name of a goddess meaning Victory.
Boann, Boinn -- or the White Cow Goddess - is another persona of the mother goddess assocaited with the Hill of Tara. Boinn was wife to the Tuatha De Danann king at Tara, Nuadhu.
She also lived with the father-god Dagda and bore him Onghus, the love god, who played the magic harp of the Dagda. Boinn was symbolised by the cow, an animal associated with abundance.
Thus it is not surprising to find other sites on Tara bearing mysterious bovine names like the Well of the White Cow (now known as St. Patrick's Well), the Well of the Calf and a now invisible earthworks named the Mound of the Cow.
The eleventh-century toporgraphic guide, Dindshenchas Erenn, gives the location of this last mound as "west of the Mound of the Hostages" and it was still very much in evidence when the historian George Petrie worte about Tara in 1839.
Another name for the mound was Glas Teamhrach, which could connect it to the enchanted cow, Glas, who belonged to the smith god Goibnui and had a never-ending supply of milk. She walked all over Ireland in a day's grazing and gave milk to every one that came to her and there was no one hungry or sorrowful in Ireland in those days
The River Boyne derives its name from the White Cow Goddess, Boinn. Her funcundity and generosity were celebrated at the fertility festivals of Imbolg and La Baal Tinne. For a lunar pathworking CLICK HERE.
Other Irish cow goddesses are: Fe and Men, the two royal oxen, from whom Femen is named after; the Cattle of Flidais: Arden, Be Chuille, Danand and Be Thete; Bo and Find.
Boand [bo-unn] - The Divine Ancestress of the Celtic Boii tribe. Her name literally means “white crow”, and she was linked with the River Boyne in Ireland as the Boyne's source, which is said to be a pool where the Salmon of Knowledge fed on nuts dropping from the nine Hazel trees surrounding it. Her son was Aengus Mac’Og (Mac’Og means Son of the Virgin - in the old sense of one who is an independent goddess in her own right, and not a mere consort). Her mating with Dagda was on November 1.
Bo Find - is another name for the white cow of Erin who gave birth to magical twin calves, one male and one female, from them descended all the cattle of Ireland. Some legends say that Bo Find was originally a woman who could not regain her human form unless she slept for centuries on the summits of Erin's three highest mountains and was awoken by an Irish high king. It is mot probable that Bo Find is also an ancient fertility goddess and a compilation of other goddesses.
Bo-ro or-rua - goddess of war [Borora river].
**Breo-saighit [bree-o-say-it] - The flame of Ireland, fiery arrow, was this goddess who latter became known as Brigid, the perfect example of the survival of an early goddess into Christian times. She is a goddess of fire and the hearth, a goddess of poetry worshipped by the poets a goddess of healing a goddess of the martial arts a patron of warfare or briga, and a goddess of smith-work. Her holy day is sunrise at Imbolg (2 February) when her first solar ray shoots across the sky and kisses the land awake after the long winter..
Breo-saighit has the qualities of inspiration and clarity. Her symbols are that of fire and the hearth. Fire is the element that cannot be controlled by humankind. It is also the vital heat of the body and thelightest of the elements, for it rises on the air. Fire is associated with life and the birth-giving aspects of nature. The human spirit is considered fire, and when we are birthed into this world, the fire of Spirit awakens within. The hearth is a symbol for the womb. As in a hearth, the womb bakes the fetus into shape as the hearth does the dough into bread. Hearth and fire are symbols of transformation of the physical. Through her flame of inspriation one may gain the clarity required to begin developing a new physical reality.
Bri - a beautiful faery queen of Ireland.
Brigid - an ancient epithet used by the Celtic tribes for the Goddess. In Ireland, however, Brigid is the daughter of the In Dagda Mor and mother of Tuatha De Danann gods and goddesses of Ireland. Because Brigid held such a strong presence in Ireland during early Christian times, she was made into a Saint. For the story of this CLICK HERE.
Brigid was also connected to Tara as that of earth-mother goddess. Later, after she was Chistianized into St. Brigid, a medieval convent was dedicated to her just across the fields to the west of Rath Maeve in the townland of Odder. The convent was a very powerful force in the area from the twelfth century until its dissolution by King Henry VIII in 1539. Naturally, Brigid would have been acknowledged at Tara during the Imbolg festival as the oral tradition in the tenth century was the daughter of the father-god, Dagda, and had powers over the gift of poetry, of healing and the firest of metalworkers (Glossry of King Cormac) and this was her holy day.
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Click here for the Fellowship of Brigid.
The Irish goddess Brigid seems to have been so much beloved that the Early Church could not bring itself to cut her off from the people, and she became St. Bridget of Ireland.
She was a daughter of the Dagda and was married to Bress the son of the Fomorian king as an alliance, Brigid and Bress had a son Ruadan who was killed in battle and his mother Brigid mourned for him inventing the Irish keening. Her ancient song was:
Brigid, excellent woman, sudden flame,
May the bright fiery sun take us to the lasting kingdom.
One side of her face was ugly but the other side was comely. Her powers are celebrated with the ritual of Imbolc on February 2 (one of the Four Great Festivals to be discussed in a later lesson) Brides Day when this chant is sung:
Today is the day of Bride;
The serpent shall come from the hole.
As a goddess of poetry poets worshiped her for her sway was very great and very noble. As a goddess of smiths work it was she who first made the whistle of calling one to another through the night.
Brigid was born exactly at sunrise and a great tower of flame reached from the top of her small head all the way into the heavens thus signalling the birth of a holy babe and her breath gave new life to the dead. It was this very same fire that was tended by the Daughters of the Flame, the nine who are Ingheau Anndagha those who lived inside the fence of Brigid’s shrine and could be looked upon by no man to insure that the purity and sanctity of the fire would be protected.
Daring attempts were made to change the Tuatha De Danann from Pagan gods into Christian Saints but these were by no means so profitable as the policy pursued towards the more human-seeming heroes. However, as mentioned above the one success was that of Brigid, the goddess of fire and the hearth. Today she is famous as Saint Brigid or Bride. Most popular of all the Irish saints she can still be easily recognized as the daughter of the Dagda. Her christian attributes, almost all connected with fire attest her Pagan origin.
Her sacred shrine in Kildare was active into the eighteenth-century. Originally, the undying flame was attended by nineteen virgins but later was cared for by Catholic sisters.
Nineteen was her sacred number, representing the nineteen year cycle of the Celtic Great Year – the number of years it takes (18.61 years) for the new moon to coincide with the winter solstice. It was believed that on the twentieth day of each cycle St. Bridget miraculously tended the fire herself.
The flame was extinguished once n the thirteenth century but was relighted and burned with undying glow until the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII. It was believed that this sacred fire might not be breathed on by the impure breath, just as the priestesses could not be looked upon by the impure. Sr. Mary Minchin, a Bridgedian at Kildare, relit the sacred fire on Feb. 2, 1995 and has kept it burning since. FFN is caretakers of this holy flame, when Kisma received from Mary while visiting Solas Bhride the same year, a few months after the flame was relit.
The lark is sacred to St. Bridget because its song woke her every morning before divinity, when she had service for the women who were converts. The influence of St. Bridget remains a permanent power in Ireland even to this day and she is much feared by the enemy of souls and the ill-doer. She ordained bishops and was head and chief of all the sacred virgins. She also held equal rank with the Archbishop; if he had an Episcopal chair, so St. Bridget had a virginal chair (Cathedra Puellaris), and was pre-eminent above all the abbesses of Ireland for sanctity and power.
Brigid was also a teacher of the martial arts and a patron of warfare or briga. Her soldiers were brigands or as Christians called them, outlaws.
Brigid, the Gaelic Minerva is also found in Britain as Brigantia tutelary goddess of the Brigantes, a Northern tribe, and in eastern France as Brigindo, to whom Iccavos, son of Oppianos, made a dedicatory offering, of which there is still record.
The name Biddy was commonly used when referring to St. Bridget. In Kerry, on the south-western coast, when a girl impersonated the Saint (or a group carrying her effigy) and went begging from house to house, they sang:
Something for poor Biddy!
Her clothes are torn.
Her shoes are worn
Something for poor Biddy!
When the group was comprised of only young men dressing in women’s attire, they were called “Biddy boys.” Giving money and food to the Biddy callers was thought to bring a good harvest. The rivers Brent and Braint may be named after her.
Bronach [bro-naw] - A Hag of western Ireland, especially in the rocky northern Burren near the Cliffs of Moher. One of the highest of these cliffs is Hag’s Head, or Ceann Cailighe. Another of her titles, Caileach Cinn Boirne, means “the Hag of Black Head,” another of the Moher Cliffs.
Buana [boo-awna] - Which means Good Mother. The Irish goddess as a cow, similar to the Egyptian Hathor or Cow-Eyed Hera of the Greek pantheon. She is a milk-giving Mother who represents wealth or plenty. Her name may stem from Ana.
Buannan [boo-awn-in] - Means The Lasting One. A warrior goddess, who was one of the Amazon instructors of Cu Chulainn.
Bui or Boithin - goddess of generosity; an original sun goddess who matches a male god of agriculture [Boithin]. Rathboyne, Altane, Rantaghstown and Cortown are a few of the places in Ireland that are assocaited with Bui. As one of the Three Sisters, Bui is recorded as Inghean Bui or Bhuidhe. Inghean Bui is connected with Tara. Her festival falls on Febuary or March 17/21 and May 3, all of which are now festivals of Mary. Her brother was John or St. John of Mushera. In his older persona, he is "Belper" or Lord of Fire, whose festival was called Beltaine. Other associations: Beauparc, Beau = Bui, parc = furze or gorse, Crom Dubh = Bui-Dubh. Legend around Navan connects Bui and Ailill; Navan was the site of a medieval cult of Mary Magdalen. Bui and Allen (another spelling of Ailill, are also connected to Randalstown. In Navan there is found Molly wee Well, which is considered to be a well of Bui's. Bui was married to Nuadu.
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Caer - She was a swan-maiden who every year, when summer was over, went with her companions to a lake called Dragon-Mouth, and there all of them became swans. She was also the Dream-Maiden that appeared every night, for a year, in the dreams of Angus, son of Dagda. When Angus found her, he proclaimed his passion and his name to her, and she promised to be his bride, if he too would become a swan. He agreed, and with a word she changed him into swan-shape, and thus they flew side-by-side to Angus’ Sidh, where they retook the human form, and lived as changeable immortals.
**Caillech Bhearra [kow-lock var-a] or Cally Berry - goddess connected with Maher's Well, somethimes known as the White Lady at Maher's Well, located in Athgaine. The Caillech caused Oisins death. The Caillech translates to "good weather" in ancient irish. In Allenstown there is mention of an obscure goddess named Killenagollach = Kill-ina-Caillech.
Cailleach Bearra, the Hag Goddess whose name is linked to 'Boi' meaning 'cow' is connected to the Munster Province, specially County Cork.. She has a strong presence in the west and in contrast to the dark Donn, she evokes light. She is the goddess of sovereignty, creator of land and responsible for making many of the rocks and islands off south west Ireland and Scotlan. As protector of animals, she has keen eyesight so she can see her cattle at a great distance. In Connacht and the North Midlands she is associated with harvest.
A very ancient Hag-aspect of the goddess who was known by many names throughout the Celtic countries. In the Irish Triads, the Cailleach is considered one of the three great ages:
The age of the yew tree, the age of the eagle, the age of the Hag of Beare.
Although reference is made to her beauty she was also described as having an eye in the middle of a blue black face, red teeth, and matted hair. She controlled the seasons and the weather.
Cailleach Bera, or Beara is almost identical with the Cailleach Bheur (cal yach vare) of the Highlands except that she is not so closely connected with the winter, nor with the wild beasts. She is a great mountain builder, and like many other gigantic Hags she carried loads of stone in her apron and dropped them when the spring broke to make dams, or mountains such as Loughcrew, where the stone seat is found.
The Cailleach Bheur of the Scottish Highlands is a blue faced Hag who personified winter and is one of the clearest cases of the supernatural creature who was once a primitive goddess, possibly among the ancient Fomorians before the Celts. She has various facets of her character in which there is a striking resemblance to the primitive form of the Greek goddess Artemis. At first sight she seems the personification of winter. She is called the daughter of Grainne or the Winter Sun.
There were two suns in the old Celtic calendar, the Big Sun which shines from La Baal Tinne, or Beltane (May Day) to Samhain ( Hallowe’en) and the Little Sun which shines from Samhain to Beltane eve.
The Cailleach was reborn each Samhain and went about smiting the earth to blight growth and calling down the snow. On Beltane eve she threw her staff under a holly tree or a gorse bush—both are her plants – and turned into a grey stone, therefore making lonely standing stones sacred to her.
In some tales she does not turn to stone but rather appears to the house where the fianna lay and begs for a place to warm herself at the fire. Gionn and Oisin refuse her but Diarmaid pleaded that she might be allowed to warm herself a by the fire and when she crept into his bed he did not repulse her only put a fold of the blanket between them. After a while he gave a “start of surprise” for she had changed into the most beautiful of woman that man ever saw. So, it would see that the Cailleach represented a goddess of both winter and summer.
She is also the guardian spirit of a number of animals. The deer have the first claim to her. They are her cattle; she herds and milks them and often gives them protection against hunters. Swine, wild goats wild cattle and wolves were also her creatures. In another aspect she is a fishing goddess as well as the guardian of wells and streams. She also turns up in Manx-Gaelic as Caillagh ny Groamagh.
Hags are often linked to the Sheela-na-Gig.
Cailleach Bera has the qualities of builder, doer, and renewal. She also contains the qualities of gentleness and peace; they can be found as we understand the environment in which she dwells, usually that of lonely places, away from the villages and Clans.
Her symbols are water, deer, cattle, swine, goats, and the wolf. She rules the water, the emotions, the intuition, and feelings, and illustrates the duality of water -- stagnant and flowing -- through her ability to dam-up a stream when she drops the rocks from her apron to build a mountain in much the same way one might resolve hurtful weeping to find inner strength, or to dismantle the dam to allow the water flow in much the same way one might allow themselves to feel the emotion that is moving within them.
Deer are symbols of gentleness, the tender relationship that would exist between a mother and a child. Cattle are connected with the more earthy aspect of this goddess in her fertility aspects, as well as in the nurturing ability to fee offspring and others with her milk. Swine represent both life and death; the fertility aspect of the fast-growing rounded body, as well as the dark aspect of nature that does not tolerate weakness or incompetence just as the sow will eat any of her young that are flawed. Pig was also considered the Feast of the Gods and was served at the ritual table. The goat is the symbol of warmth, for the skin was valued for clothing. Finally, the wolf is the symbol of the pathfinder, the teacher.
Canola - The music created by the wind blowing through the rotted sinews clinging to the skeleton of a whale inspired Canola to recreate the magical and beautiful sound, and so she created the first harp. She was a goddess of music.
Caolainn - The ruler of a healing well in County Roscommon devoted to Brigid. Another form of the Cailleach.
Carman - A Wexford goddess, whence Gaelic name of Wexford, Loch Garman (Loch gCarman). May have a Phoenician or Greek connection; one source says three men from Athens, with their mother, came to Wexford Bay to settle, and that Greek merchants traded at the Fair of Carman Festival - August 1.
Carravogue - Another name for the Hag of winter. One legend has it that this woman, after eating berries on the way to church, became a monstrous snake. St. Patrick was called upon to throw holy water at her, and she dissolved into lakes from which she will someday rise again. The legend clearly shows the Christianization of Ireland over the banishment of the Faery-Faith. Other names associated with this same myth are - Gabhog and Gheareagain; all three, however, are connected to the Cailleach Bera.
Cebhfhionn [y-von] - A goddess of inspiration who stood next to the Well of Knowledge constantly filling a vessel with its water and pouring it out without letting wisdom-seeking humans taste it.
Ceithlenn - The Crooked Tooth; Wife of Balor, the old god who appears in legend as the King of the Fomorians.
Cesara, or Cessiar - In the Mythological Cycle, Cesara was considered the first true occupier of Ireland. I provide her in this list because she is acknowledged as being one of the ‘mothers of the various nations of the world,” and because of this she may bridge the gap between Pagan Ireland, Celtic Ireland, and Christian Ireland. She is considered to be daughter of Bith, who is the son of Noah. Cesara and her husband, Fintaan, were sent with Bith and his wife, Birren, by Noah “to the western edge of the world” forty days before the Flood, to escape it. Cesara was in charge of the expedition. One account says she rejected Noah’s god and took her own with them. Accompanying them were fifty (or 150) women who were originally the “mothers of the various nations of the world.” Cesara appears to be a goddess of pre-Celtic days of another pantheon. For more information on her tie to the Munster Province and the Kerry County, Click here.
Click here for Faery Wicca Tarot Oracle.
Click here for the Myth of Cessair.
Cessair has the quality of the pathfinder. She is the sojourner, who is not afraid to journey into unknown territory and face possible hostile forces. The ability to bridge gaps and unite people is her gift. Her symbol is the great above, the Heavenily Realm, from out of nowhere she arrived, and into nowhere she disappeared.
Cetnenn - A great warrior in Irish legend; however, little is written about her.
Cliodna of the Fair Hair - The tributary Queen of Munster, who rules from a sidh near Mallow in County Cork; goddess of great beauty.
Coventina - Mother of Covens; the goddess who was patron of healing wells and springs.
Cred, or Creide - The Faery queen of the Paps of Anu. Her palace, heavily guarded, kept mankind from entering. Cred swore never to sleep with a man until she found one who could create the most magnificent poem for her. A bard named Coll came to her and sang his poem, which contained one line that convinced her to marry him. The line was:
Wounded men spouting heavy blood
would sleep to the music of fairy birds
singing above the bright leaves of her bower.
Crobh Dearg - Which means red claw, was an ancient goddess who was said to be the sister of Latiaran.
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**Dana (dawn-ah) - Evidence of this ancient Celtic god is found in the Lebor Gabala Erenn (The Book of Takings), dated at about 10th century. Dana is mentioned as the mother of the three Irish gods, Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba. It is important to note that a Donann is also listed and may very well be another variation of Dana, in which case Donann is the daughter of Dalbaeth, also known as Tuirell Bicreo. However, over the years, scholars have recorded that Dana was the "mother" of the Tuatha De Danann (Tribe of Dana), an error that has caused some difficulties in the attempt to clarify what her role truly was. As there are no existing myths for Dana, other than the obscure mention in the LGE, it is most difficult to come to any official standing on who Dana really was.
The name DAna means wisdom or teacher, as in the English word don, or giving, as int he root of the word donate. The following is part of her legend found in the LGE:
In the twilight of the day whose light lingered longer than any other, there were prayers for abundance on La Baal Tinne's eve, the holiest of Dana's holy days. Worshippers carrying windblown torches of blazing bundled straw tied upon long branches made their way up the mountainsides, blessing the new cattle and the newly planted seed, explaining that they were commemorating the very day that the children of Mother Dana had first set foot upon the soil of Erin.
Today, the Irish people through their veneration for St. Brigid, render homage to the divine mother of the people who bear her name Dana, who are the ever-living invisible Faery-People of modern Ireland. For when the Sons of Mil, the ancestors of the irish people, came to Ireland they found the Tuatha De DAnann in full possession of the country. The Tuatha then retired before the invaders without, however, giving up their sacred island. Assuming invisibility, with the power of at any time reappearing in a human-like form before the children of the Sons of Mil, the People of the Goddess Dana became and are the Faery-Folk, the Sidhe of the Irish mythology and romance.
Therefore, Ireland contains two races, a visible race, which we call the Celts, and an invisible race, which we call the Sidhe, or Faery. Between these two races there is constant intercourse even now, for Irish seers say that they can behold the majestic, beautiful Sidhe, and according to them, the Sidhe are a race quite distinct from our own, just as living and possibly more powerful. The recorded mytholgy and literature of ancient Ireland have very faitfully for the most part preserved clear pictures of the TDD and their Goddess DAna so that disregarding some Christian influence in the texts of certain manuscripts, much rationalization, and a good deal of poetical coloring and romantic imagination in the pictures, we can easily describe the People of Goddess DAna as they appeared in ancient days, when they were more frequently seen by mortals.
Dana is recorded as being the Mother of the DAnannas. Her name has been associated with the Danube (Donau and Dunava in areas of estern Europe). There is some speculation that in Proto-Celtic periods the name "Danu" had been linked with the River Don in Russia. Don is the Welsh goddess who is equivalent to the Irish Dana and it seems likely that she was an immigrant from Ireland, for the Children of Don correspond quite closely in character and fucntions to the Children of Dana. Don is also connected with the River Don in Scotland. There is a possible link between the name Dana and Danu, and the name Dione, as a goddess name in Greece, and the goddess Diana known by the Romans, but this author has not found sufficient evidence to support these claims. Click for an Oracle of Dana.
Danand - a cow goddess. One of the four daughters of Flidais known as the Cattle of Flidais. She is an archaic member of the Tuatha De Danann mentioned in the Lebor Gaballa Erenn, Section VII. p123.
**Dechtire - Queen of the swans and mother of Cu Chulainn who was the reincarnation of Lugh. She was the daughter of Maga the daughter of Angus, and was half-sister to King Conchubar.
Dechtire, on the point of being married to an Ulster Chieftain named Sualtam, was sitting at the wedding feast when a may-fly flew into her cup of wine and was unwittingly swallowed by her. That same afternoon she fell into a deep sleep and in he dream the sun-god Lugh appeared to her and told her that it was he whom she had swallowed and bore within her.
He ordered her and her fifty attendant maidens to come with him at once, and he put upon them the shapes of birds, so that they were not seen to go. Nothing was heard of them again. But one day, months later, a flock of beautiful swans appeared at Emain Macha and Conchubar drew out his warriors in their chariots to hunt them.
They followed the birds until nightfall when they found themselves at the Brugh on the Boyne, where the great gods had their homes. As they looked everywhere for shelter, they suddenly saw a splendid palace.
A tall and handsome man, richly dressed, welcomed them and led them in,. Within the hall were a beautiful and noble0-faced woman and fifty maidens, and on the tables were the richest meats and wines, and everything fit for the needs of the warriors.
So they rested there the night, and during the night they heard the cry of a new born child. The next morning the man told them who he was, and that the woman was Conchobar’s half-sister Dechtire, and he ordered them to take the child and bring it up among the warriors of Ulster.
So they brought the child back, together with his mother and the maidens, and Dechtire married Sualtam.
**Deirdre - The most beautiful woman in the world, who bore the curse that only sorrow would come of her beauty. Upon hearing the prophecy at her birth, the warriors of northern Ireland demanded her death. But the Ulster king, Conchobar, pitied her, and sent her into exile in the distant reaches of Ireland.
She lived happily in exile, and grew more beautiful each day. Then one day, she saw blood on the snowy ground with a raven nearby. She swore ten to marry a young man whose hair was black, whose skin was white as snow, and whose lips were red as blood. She fell into a depressions until her nurse Lavercam told her of a young man named, Naoise who lived with his brothers nearby. Deirdre begged her nurse to arrange a secret meeting so she could see the man of her dreams, and when the meeting took place, Deirdre placed a geasa on Naoise to free her from her woodland exile.
Deirdre’s beauty gained the attention of the king, who laid plans to steal her from Naoise. So the loves fled from Ireland across the ocean to Alba where they lived a rugged but happy life, until rumour reached them that Conchobar would welcome them back in Ireland. But the rumour had been deliberately planted; the king, angry at having his captive sprung from his grasp, wanted her back.
Deirdre knew that should they return to Ireland, tragedy would befall them and begged Naoise not to return. Naoise, being a proud and loyal man to his king, overruled his lover and the party sailed back to Ireland. On the voyage home, Deirdre continued to have gloomy portents, although her lover and his brothers continued to ignore her warnings.
Her premonitions proved correct, and through treachery, Naoise and his brothers were murdered by the warriors of Conchobar. Deirdre was taken captive, and seeing that she had only one choice, threw herself from the kings speeding chariot in which she was being transported to the king, and smashed her head against a tree, splattering her blood and brains across the Irish soil.
For The Story of Deirdre, Click here.
Delbchaen - Daughter of Morgan, who lived on an island somewhere in the sea. Art, the son of Conn, was bound by a geasa to procure marriage with her.
A Swan maiden, who fell in love with Cu Chulainn, and was wounded by him.
Dil - A cattle-goddess of ancient Irela Derbforgaille [der-va-la] -nd.
Domnu -Goddess of the Fir Domnann; the goddess brought in with the wave of the Firbolg invasion.
Dornoll [doorr-nuhl] - Literally means Big fist. A warrior goddess who was among the Amazon instructors of Cu Chulainn, and whose sexual advances he refused.
Druantia - A fir-tree goddess. Dubh Lacha - A sea-goddess.
sad
Obsolete
gods
are
kept
in the
background
but
their
names
live on!
The
original
form
of the
Irish
Goddess
may
have
been
connected
to
water
[Cora}
from
an
earlier
water
bird!
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