Celtic Legends
How to mark Samhain: a seasonal guide
Samhain, kept honestly: what the medieval Irish sources actually say, how Halloween braided in, what modern paganism added — and how to…
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Category: <span>Celtic Legends</span>
Celtic Legends
The Children of Lir (Oidheadh Chloinne Lir)
Fionnuala and her brothers, swans for 900 years: Ireland's tenderest sorrow-tale. It stars the Tuatha Dé, but the text is Early Modern…
Celtic Legends
Oisín and Tír na nÓg: the Land of Youth
Niamh, the white horse over the sea, and the three hundred years: the great Irish Otherworld tale. The version everyone knows is…
Celtic Legends
Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool): the hero of the Fenian Cycle
Leader of the Fianna and hero of the Irish Fenian Cycle: the boy who tasted the Salmon of Knowledge. The Giant's Causeway…
Celtic Legends
Manannán mac Lir: the sea-god of Ireland and the Isle of Man
The sea-god of the Irish and the Manx: the rider who sees a flowering plain where we see waves, husband of Fand,…
Celtic Legends
The Tuatha Dé Danann
The old gods of Ireland — the pantheon of Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuired — who won Ireland in two…
Celtic Legends
Fairy forts (ráth and lios): the taboo that re-routed a road
Irish fairy forts (ráth, lios) are early-medieval ringforts held to be homes of the good people — and the taboo against disturbing…
Celtic Legends
Lugh
Lugh Lámhfhada, the all-skilled god (samildánach) who slays Balor in Cath Maige Tuired and fathers Cú Chulainn — with the ‘sun god’…
Celtic Legends
Brigid
Brigid the goddess — daughter of the Dagda, patron of poetry, healing and the forge (Sanas Cormaic, c.900) — and Saint Brigid…
Celtic Legends
The Dagda
The ‘Good God’ of the Tuatha Dé Danann — chieftain, druid and giant — with his club, cauldron of plenty and harp…