1.
Goddess
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A goddess is a female deity in polytheistic religions. Goddesses most often have characteristics that are apotheosize in their pure form. However, in some cases goddesses may embody neutral forms personifying both male and female characteristics, or they may even exhibit traits that are associated with the male gender. In some faiths, a female figure holds a central place in religious prayer. For example, Shaktism, the worship of the force that animates the world, is one of the three major sects of Hinduism. Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honour multiple goddesses and gods and these deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities. The reconstructionists, like their ancient forebears, honour the deities particular to their country of origin, the noun goddess is a secondary formation, combining the Germanic god with the Latinate -ess suffix. It first appeared in Middle English, from about 1350, the English word follows the linguistic precedent of a number of languages—including Egyptian, Classical Greek, and several Semitic languages—that add a feminine ending to the languages word for god. Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth, a 1988 interview with Bill Moyers, links the image of the Earth or Mother Goddess to symbols of fertility and reproduction. For example, Campbell states that, There have been systems of religion where the mother is the prime parent, and in Egypt you have the Mother Heavens, the Goddess Nut, who is represented as the whole heavenly sphere. Joseph Campbell, Well that was associated primarily with agriculture and the agricultural societies and it has to do with the earth. The human woman gives birth just as the earth gives birth to the plants. so woman magic, and the personification of the energy that gives birth to forms and nourishes forms is properly female. It is in the world of ancient Mesopotamia, the Egyptian Nile. Campbell also argues that the image of the Virgin Mary was derived from the image of Isis and her child Horus, other Mesopotamian goddesses include Ninhursag, Ninlil, Antu, Gaga Goddesses of the Canaanite religion, Baalat Gebal, Astarte, Anat. Cybele, Her Hittite name was Kubaba, but her name changed to Cybele in Phrygian and Roman culture and her effect can be also seen on Artemis as the Lady of Ephesus. Hebat, Mother Goddess of the Hittite pantheon and wife of the sky god. She was the origin of the Hurrian cult, arinniti, Hittite Goddess of the sun. She became patron of the Hittite Empire and monarchy, leto, A mother Goddess figure in Lykia
2.
Fairy
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A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. According to Thomas Keightley, the word derives from the Latin fata. Other forms are the Italian fata, and the Provençal fada, in old French romance, fee was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs. Faierie became fairy, but with that now almost exclusively referring to one of the legendary people. The word fairy was used to represent an illusion, or enchantment, to the word faie was added the suffix -erie, used to express either a place where something is found or a trade or typical activity engaged in. In later usage it applied to any kind of quality or activity associated with a particular type of person. In the sense land where fairies dwell, the distinctive and archaic spellings Faery, the latinate fay is not to be confused with the unrelated fey, meaning fated to die. Various folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by such as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk. Sometimes the term fairy is used to any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes, at other times. Fairies have their origin in the conflation of Celtic traditions in the Middle French medieval romances. Fairie was in origin used adjectivally, meaning enchanted, but was used as a name for enchanted creatures from as early as the Late Middle English period. In English literature of the Elizabethan era, elves became conflated with the fairies of Romance culture, the Victorian and Edwardian eras saw an increase in interest in fairies. The Celtic Revival viewed them as part of Irelands cultural heritage, carole Silvers and others suggest that the fascination of English antiquarians arose from a reaction to greater industrialization, and loss of folkways. Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers, even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant. Some fairies though normally quite small were able to dilate their figures to imitate humans, on Orkney they were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in armour. Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are rare in the folklore, even very small fairies flew with magic. Nowadays, fairies are depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings. In some folklore, fairies have green eyes, some depictions of fairies either have them wearing some sort of footwear and other depictions of fairies are always barefoot
3.
Munster
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Munster is one of the provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a king of over-kings Irish, following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties, Munster has no official function for local government purposes. For the purposes of the ISO, the province is listed as one of the provincial sub-divisions of the State, geographically, Munster covers a total area of 24,675 km2 and has a population of 1,246,088 with the most populated city being Cork. Other significant urban centres in the province include Limerick and Waterford, in the early centuries AD, Munster was the domain of the Iverni peoples and the Clanna Dedad familial line, led by Cú Roí and to whom the king Conaire Mór also belonged. In the 5th century, Saint Patrick spent several years in the area and founded Christian churches, during the Early Middle Ages, most of the area was part of the Kingdom of Munster, ruled by the Eóganachta dynasty. Prior to this, the area was ruled by the Dáirine and Corcu Loígde overlords from the early 7th century onwards, later rulers from the Eóganachta who would dominate a greater part of Ireland were Cathal mac Finguine and Feidlimid mac Cremthanin. Notable regional kingdoms and lordships of Early Medieval Munster were Iarmuman, Osraige, Uí Liatháin, Uí Fidgenti, Éile, Múscraige, Ciarraige Luachra, Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscinn, around this period Ossory broke away from Munster. The 10th century saw the rise of the Dalcassian clan, who had earlier annexed Thomond and their leaders were the ancestors of the OBrien dynasty and spawned Brian Boru, perhaps the most noted High King of Ireland, and several of whose descendants were also High Kings. By 1118 Munster had fractured into the Kingdom of Thomond under the OBriens, the Kingdom of Desmond under the MacCarthy dynasty, the three crowns of the flag of Munster represent these three late kingdoms. The OBrien of Thomond and MacCarthy of Desmond surrendered and regranted sovereignty to the Tudors in 1543 and 1565, the impactful Desmond Rebellions, led by the FitzGeralds, soon followed. By the mid-19th century much of the area was hit hard in the Great Famine, the province was affected by events in the Irish War of Independence in the early 20th century, and there was a brief Munster Republic during the Irish Civil War. The Irish leaders Michael Collins and earlier Daniel OConnell came from families of the old Gaelic Munster gentry, noted for its traditions in Irish folk music, and with many ancient castles and monasteries in the province, Munster is a tourist destination. During the fifth century, St. Patrick spent seven years founding churches and ordaining priests in Munster, but a fifth century bishop named Ailbe is the patron saint of Munster. In Irish mythology, a number of goddesses are associated with the province including Anann, Áine, Grian, Clíodhna, Aimend, Mór Muman, Bébinn, Aibell. Each is historically associated with certain septs of the nobility, the druid-god of Munster is Mug Ruith. The province has long had trading and cultural links with continental Europe, the tribe of Corcu Loígde had a trading fleet active along the French Atlantic coast, as far south as Gascony, importing wine to Munster. The Eóganachta had ecclesiastical ties with Germany, which show in the architecture of their capital at the Rock of Cashel
4.
Killarney
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Killarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. Its natural heritage, history and location on the Ring of Kerry make Killarney a popular tourist destination, Killarney won the Best Kept Town award in 2007, in a cross-border competition jointly organised by the Department of the Environment and the Northern Ireland Amenity Council. In 2011, it was named Irelands tidiest town and the cleanest town in the country by Irish Business Against Litter, Killarney has featured prominently in early Irish history, with religious settlements playing an important part of its recorded history. Its first significantly historical settlement was the monastery on nearby Innisfallen Island founded in 640 by St. Finian the Leper, Innisfallen or Inishfallen is an island in Lough Leane, one of the three Lakes of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. It is home to the ruins of Innisfallen Abbey, one of the most impressive archaeological remains dating from the early Christian period found in the Killarney National Park, the monastery was founded in 640 by St. Finian the Leper, and was occupied for approximately 850 years. Over a period of about 300 of these, the monks wrote the Annals of Innisfallen, the monks were dispossessed of the abbey on 18 August 1594, by Elizabeth I. The location of the monastery on the island is thought to have given rise to the name Lough Leane, according to tradition the Irish High King Brian Boru received his education at Innisfallen under Maelsuthain OCarroll. Maelsuthain has been credited as the originator of the Annals. It is possible for tourists to visit the island during the summer months, Aghadoe, the local townland which overlooks present day Killarney, may have begun as a pagan religious site. The site has also associated with the 5th century missionary St. Abban. According to legend, St. Finian founded a monastery at Aghadoe in the 6th or 7th century, the first written record of a monastery dates from 939 AD in the Annals of Innisfallen where the Aghadoe monastery is referred to as the Old Abbey. Following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169, the Normans built Parkavonear Castle, the castle was perhaps intended as an early warning outpost due to its views of the entire Killarney valley and lakes region. Ross Castle was built on the shore in the late 15th century by local ruling clan the ODonoghues Mor. Ownership of the castle changed hands during the Desmond Rebellions of the 1580s to the Mac Carty Mor, Muckross Abbey was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary for the Observantine Franciscans by Donal McCarthy Mor. The abbey was burned down by Cromwellian forces under General Ludlow in 1654, Killarney was heavily involved in the Irish War of Independence. The town, and indeed the county, had strong republican ties. The Great Southern Hotel, was for a while taken over by the British, One notable event during the war was the Headford Ambush when the IRA attacked a railway train a few miles from town. A day after the Ballyseedy Massacre, five Republican prisoners were murdered in Killarney in retaliation, killarneys tourism history goes back at least to the mid 18th century, when Thomas, fourth Viscount Kenmare, began to attract visitors and new residents to the town
5.
County Kerry
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County Kerry is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county, Kerry County Council is the local authority for the county and Tralee serves as the county town. The population of the county was 147,554 in 2016, Kerry is the fifth-largest of the 32 counties of Ireland by area and the 15th-largest by population. It is the second-largest of Munsters six counties by area, uniquely, it is bordered by only two other counties, County Limerick to the east and County Cork to the south-east. The diocesan see is Killarney, which is one of Irelands most famous tourist destinations, the Lakes of Killarney, an area of outstanding natural beauty are located in Killarney National Park. The tip of the Dingle Peninsula is the most westerly point of Ireland, there are nine historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, the county is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north by the River Shannon. Just off the coast are a number of islands, including the Blasket Islands, Valentia Island, skellig Michael is a World Heritage Site, famous for the medieval monastery clinging to the islands cliffs. The county contains the extreme west point of Ireland, Dunmore Head on the Dingle Peninsula, or including islands, Tearaght Island, the most westerly inhabited area of Ireland is Dún Chaoin, on the Dingle Peninsula. The River Feale, the River Laune and the Roughty River flow through Kerry, the North Atlantic Current, part of the Gulf Stream, flows north past Kerry and the west coast of Ireland, resulting in milder temperatures than would otherwise be expected at the 52 North latitude. This means that plants such as the strawberry tree and tree ferns, not normally found in northern Europe. Because of the area and the prevailing southwesterly winds, Kerry is among the regions with the highest rainfall in Ireland. Owing to its location, there has been a reporting station on Valentia for many centuries. The Irish record for rainfall in one day is 243.5 mm, in 1986 the remnants of Hurricane Charley crossed over Kerry as an extratropical storm causing extensive rainfall, flooding and damage. Kerry means the people of Ciar which was the name of the tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich, in Old Irish Ciar meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective describing a dark complexion
6.
Irish mythology
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The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity. However, much of it was preserved in medieval Irish literature and this literature represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. There are also a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit any of the cycles. Additionally, there are a number of recorded folk tales that, while not strictly mythological. Despite the dates of these sources, most of the material they contain predates their composition, the earliest of the prose can be dated on linguistic grounds to the 8th century, and some of the verse may be as old as the 6th century. The first of these part of the earliest known version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge and is housed in Trinity College. The other three are in the Royal Academy, when using these sources, it is, as always, important to question the impact of the circumstances in which they were produced. There was also a tendency to rework Irish genealogies to fit into the known schema of Greek or Biblical genealogy and it was once unquestioned that medieval Irish literature preserved truly ancient traditions in a form virtually unchanged through centuries of oral tradition back to the ancient Celts of Europe. A consensus has emerged which encourages the critical reading of the material, the Mythological Cycle, comprising stories of the former gods and origins of the Irish, is the least well preserved of the four cycles. The most important sources are the Metrical Dindshenchas or Lore of Places, Other manuscripts preserve such mythological tales as The Dream of Aengus, The Wooing Of Étain and Cath Maige Tuireadh, The Battle of Magh Tuireadh. One of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, Lebor Gabála Érenn is a pseudo-history of Ireland, tracing the ancestry of the Irish back to before Noah. They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye, Balor was eventually slain by Lug Lámfada at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. With the arrival of the Gaels, the Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the people of later myth. The Metrical Dindshenchas is the great work of early Ireland. It includes a lot of important information on Mythological Cycle figures and stories, including the Battle of Tailtiu, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated by the Milesians. It is important to note that by the Middle Ages the Tuatha Dé Danann were not viewed so much as gods as the shape-shifting magician population of an earlier Golden Age Ireland. Texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuireadh present them as kings and heroes of the distant past, however, there is considerable evidence, both in the texts and from the wider Celtic world, that they were once considered deities. Even after they are displaced as the rulers of Ireland, characters such as Lug, a poem in the Book of Leinster lists many of the Tuatha Dé, but ends Although enumerates them, he does not worship them
7.
Paps of Anu
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The Paps of Anu are a pair of breast shaped mountains near Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. The eastern summit is 694 metres high and the top is 690 metres high. The mountains are named after Anu, believed to have been an ancient mother goddess, cormacs Glossary describes Anu or Danu as the mother of the gods of Ireland. On each summit is a cairn, which may be miniature passage graves or house burial cists. The cairn on the eastern Pap is slightly larger, with a height of 4 metres and they have been described as stone nipples on the great breasts of the mother goddess. A line of stones, known as Na Fiacla, connects the two tops and is believed to have been a processional route. Archeologist Frank Coyne suggested that the mountains were seen as sacred, to the ancients, the mountains reinforced the idea that the Earth was a motherly body. There is a stream running between the mountains, one half flows north into a small lake called Lough Nageeha and the other half flows south into the Clydagh River. To the northeast of the peaks is an ancient circular stone enclosure called Cahercrovdarrig or The City, the Paps can be clearly seen from Cahercrovdarrig and it appears that the two sites are linked. It contains a ruined megalithic tomb, an ogham stone, an earthen mound, a holy well. When the water table is enough, the water noisily bubbles up from its depths. It is believed that the site is named after the goddess Crobh Dearg and was used for Beltane rituals. Over time, the site and the festivities became somewhat Christianized, a yearly May Day festival was held there up until World War II. According to local folklorist Dan Cronin, the festival involved music, dancing, drinking, people would circle the well and the other features of the site while reciting prayers. They would also walk their cattle around the well as a purification ritual, in 1925 the festivities were augmented…for the first time in modern memory, with the inclusion of a Mass. In his sermon, the priest commented that The pagan danger is now past, paganism is dead, or rather all the best elements in it have been absorbed into Christianity. After World War II, all that remained of the event were the penitential rites, observed by the visitor on any day of the year. A statue of Mary has been erected at the site, in 1983 a local affiliate of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the Irish cultural organization, working with the parish priest, reintroduced music and dance to the May Day festival at Cahercrovdarrig
8.
Boann
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Boann or Boand is the Irish goddess of the River Boyne, a river in Leinster, Ireland. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn she was the daughter of Delbáeth, son of Elada and her husband is variously Nechtan, Elcmar or Nuada Airgetlám. Her lover is her uncle, the Dagda, by whom she had her son, in order to hide their affair, the Dagda made the sun stand still for nine months, therefore, Aengus was conceived, gestated and born in one day. As told in the Dindsenchas, Boann created the Boyne, though forbidden to by her husband, Nechtan, Boann approached the magical Well of Segais, which was surrounded by hazels. Hazelnuts were known to fall into the Well, where they were eaten by the speckled salmon, Boann challenged the power of the well by walking around it widdershins, this caused the waters to surge up violently and rush down to the sea, creating the Boyne. In this catastrophe, she was swept along in the waters, and lost an arm, leg and eye. The poem equates her with famous rivers in other countries, including the River Severn, Tiber, Jordan River, Tigris and she also appears in Táin Bó Fraích as the maternal aunt and protector of the mortal Fráech. Her name is interpreted as white cow in the dinsenchas, ptolemys 2nd century Geography shows that in antiquity the rivers name was Bubindas, which may derive from Proto-Celtic *Bou-vindā, white cow. Modern-day commentators and modern paganism sometimes identify Boann with the goddess Brigid or believe Boann to be Brigids mother, however there are no Celtic sources that describe her as such
9.
Anu
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Anu is the earliest attested Sky Father deity. He was believed to have the power to judge those who had committed crimes and his attribute was the Royal Tiara. His attendant and vizier was the god Ilabrat, Anu existed in Sumerian cosmogony as a dome that covered the flat earth, Outside of this dome was the primordial body of water known as Nammu. In Sumerian, the designation An was used interchangeably with the heavens so that in cases it is doubtful whether, under the term. Hittite cuneiform as adapted from the Old Assyrian kept the an value, the earliest texts make no reference to Ans origins. Later he is regarded as the son of Anšar and Kišar, as in the first millennium creation epic Enūma eliš, An/Anu frequently receives the epithet father of the gods, and many deities are described as his children in one context or another. Inscriptions from third-millennium Lagaš name An as the father of Gatumdug, Baba, An/Anu is also the head of the Annunaki, and created the demons Lamaštu, Asag and the Sebettu. In the epic Erra and Išum, Anu gives the Sebettu to Erra as weapons with which to humans when their noise becomes irritating to him. When Enlil rose to equal or surpass An in authority, the functions of the two came to some extent to overlap. An was also equated with Amurru, and, in Seleucid Uruk, with Enmešara. There is direct evidence from Nippur that their patron god Enlil was once regarded as the head of the Sumerian pantheon. In the astral theology of Babylonia and Assyria, Anu, Enlil and his name becomes little more than a synonym for the heavens in general and even his title as king or father of the gods has little of the personal element in it. A consort Antum is assigned to him, on the theory that every deity must have a female associate. But Anu spent so much time on the ground protecting the Sumerians he left her in Heaven and then met Innin and she was later known as Ishtar. Anu resided in her temple the most, and rarely went back up to Heaven and he is also included in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and is a major character in the clay tablets. Dingir Hurrian mythology Khumban Mesopotamian mythology El Jordan, Michael, encyclopedia of Gods, Over 2,500 Deities of the World. New York, Facts on File, Inc, kramer, Samuel N. Sumerian Mythology, a Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B. C. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press,1998 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Anu
10.
Lugh
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Lugh or Lug is an important god of Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior hero. He is associated with skill, crafts and the arts as well as with oaths, truth and he is sometimes interpreted as a sun god, a storm god or a sky god. Lugh is also associated with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh. Lugh is known by the epithets Lámfada, possibly for his skill with a spear or sling, Ildánach, Samildánach, Lonnbéimnech, Macnia, as to ancestry, Lugh is given the matriname mac Ethlenn or mac Ethnenn and the patriname mac Cein. He is the grandson of the Fomorian, Balor, whom Lugh kills in the Battle of Mag Tuired. His foster-father is the sea god Manannán, Lughs son is the hero Cú Chulainn, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lugh. He wields a fiery spear, a sling stone. He also owns a boat named Scuabtuinne, a horse named Enbarr. He is a reflex of the pan-Celtic god Lugus, and his Welsh counterpart is Lleu Llaw Gyffes, Lughs father is Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and his mother is Ethniu, daughter of Balor, of the Fomorians. In Cath Maige Tuired their union is a dynastic marriage following an alliance between the Tuatha Dé and the Fomorians, in the Lebor Gabála Érenn Cian gives the boy to Tailtiu, queen of the Fir Bolg, in fosterage. In the Dindsenchas Lugh, the foster-son of Tailtiu, is described as the son of the Dumb Champion, a folktale told to John ODonovan by Shane ODugan of Tory Island in 1835 recounts the birth of a grandson of Balor who grows up to kill his grandfather. In this tale, Balor hears a prophecy that he will be killed by his own grandson. To prevent this he imprisons his daughter in the Tór Mór of Tory Island, cared for by twelve women. On the mainland, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh owns a cow who gives such abundant milk that everyone, including Balor. While the cow is in the care of Mac Cinnfhaelaidhs brother Mac Samthainn, Balor appears in the form of a little red-haired boy and tricks him into giving him the cow. Looking for revenge, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh calls on a leanan sídhe called Biróg, who transports him by magic to the top of Balors tower, in time she gives birth to triplets, which Balor gathers up in a sheet and sends to be drowned in a whirlpool. The messenger drowns two of the babies, but unwittingly drops one child into the harbour, where he is rescued by Biróg and she takes him to his father, who gives him to his brother, Gavida the smith, in fosterage
