Tuatha Dé Danann
The Tuatha Dé Danann — the people of the goddess Danu — are the gods of the pre-Christian Irish. The words below name them, their places, and their objects.
29 entries.
| Irish | Ogham | How to say it | English | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aengus | ᚛ᚐᚓᚅᚌᚒᚄ᚜ | AYN-guss | aengus | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Aengus Óg, god of love and youth. Son of the Dagda. His palace is the Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange). |
| Aided Chlann Tuireann | ᚛ᚐᚔᚇᚓᚇ ᚉᚆᚂᚐᚅᚅ ᚈᚒᚔᚏᚓᚐᚅᚅ᚜ | EYE-jud klun TIR-un | death of the children of tuireann | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Aided Chlann Tuireann. The Sons of Tuireann killed Lugh’s father; Lugh sets them an impossible quest for the Three Sorrows of Storytelling. |
| Airmid | ᚛ᚐᚔᚏᚋᚔᚇ᚜ | AR-mid | airmid | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Airmid — daughter of Dian Cécht, sister of Miach. Goddess of healing herbs. When her brother was killed, the herbs that grew from his grave revealed all medicine; her father scattered them so no one would know all cures. |
| An Bhóinn | ᚛ᚐᚅ ᚁᚆᚑᚔᚅᚅ᚜ | un VOH-in | the boyne | CELT — Lebor Gabála | The river Boyne. Named for the goddess Bóand. Newgrange sits on its banks. |
| An Mhór-Ríoghan | ᚛ᚐᚅ ᚋᚆᚑᚏᚏᚔᚑᚌᚆᚐᚅ᚜ | un VOR REE-uh-gun | the morrigan | CELT — Lebor Gabála | The Morrigan — phantom queen, goddess of war and battle-fate. Appears as a raven over the battlefield. Triple goddess (with Badb and Macha). |
| Badb | ᚛ᚁᚐᚇᚁ᚜ | byve | badb | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Badb — battle-crow goddess. Sister of the Morrigan. |
| Bríd | ᚛ᚁᚏᚔᚇ᚜ | breed | bridget | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Brigid. Goddess of poetry, smithcraft, and healing in pre-Christian Ireland; also the Christian saint whose feast (1 February) marks the spring festival of Imbolc. |
| Bóand | ᚛ᚁᚑᚐᚅᚇ᚜ | BOH-und | bóand | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Bóand — goddess of the river Boyne, which carries her name. Wife of Nechtan; lover of the Dagda. |
| Clann Lir | ᚛ᚉᚂᚐᚅᚅ ᚂᚔᚏ᚜ | klun LEER | children of lir | CELT — Lebor Gabála | The Children of Lir. Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra, and Conn — Lir’s four children, transformed into swans by their stepmother Aoife for 900 years. One of the Three Sorrows. |
| Claíomh Solais | ᚛ᚉᚂᚐᚔᚑᚋᚆ ᚄᚑᚂᚐᚔᚄ᚜ | KLEEV SUH-lish | sword of light | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Claíomh Solais — Sword of Light. One of the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann; brought from the city Findias. |
| Coire Daghdha | ᚛ᚉᚑᚔᚏᚓ ᚇᚐᚌᚆᚇᚆᚐ᚜ | KIR-uh DOY-uh | cauldron of the dagda | CELT — Lebor Gabála | The Dagda’s cauldron — never emptied. One of the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann. |
| Dagda | ᚛ᚇᚐᚌᚇᚐ᚜ | DAG-duh | dagda | CELT — Lebor Gabála | The Good God. Father-god of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Owner of the cauldron that never empties, the club that kills and revives, the harp that orders the seasons. |
| Dian Cécht | ᚛ᚇᚔᚐᚅ ᚉᚓᚉᚆᚈ᚜ | DEE-un kayt | dian cécht | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Dian Cécht — physician of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Made Nuada’s silver arm. Killed his own son Miach for outdoing him in healing. |
| Fand | ᚛ᚃᚐᚅᚇ᚜ | fond | fand | CELT — TáinCELT — Lebor Gabála | Fand — wife of Manannán, briefly the lover of Cú Chulainn before being magically separated from him. |
| Fionnuala | ᚛ᚃᚔᚑᚅᚅᚒᚐᚂᚐ᚜ | FIN-OO-uh-luh | fionnuala | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Fionnuala (Fionnghuala — ‘fair shoulder’) — eldest of the Children of Lir. Modern girls’ name. |
| Goibhniu | ᚛ᚌᚑᚔᚁᚆᚅᚔᚒ᚜ | GIV-nyoo | goibhniu | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Goibhniu — smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann. His weapons never missed; his ale conferred immortality. |
| Lia Fáil | ᚛ᚂᚔᚐ ᚃᚐᚔᚂ᚜ | LEE-uh fawl | stone of destiny | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Lia Fáil — the Stone of Destiny on the Hill of Tara. Cried out under the rightful High King. |
| Lir | ᚛ᚂᚔᚏ᚜ | leer | lir | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Lir — sea-god, father of Manannán. The Children of Lir (Clann Lir) were turned into swans by their stepmother for 900 years. |
| Lugh | ᚛ᚂᚒᚌᚆ᚜ | loo | lugh | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Lugh of the Long Arm. King of the Tuatha Dé Danann; god of skill, oaths, and harvest. The August festival Lughnasa is named for him. |
| Macha | ᚛ᚋᚐᚉᚆᚐ᚜ | MAH-khuh | macha | CELT — TáinCELT — Lebor Gabála | Macha — horse-goddess. Cursed the men of Ulster with labour-pains in their hour of need (the source of Cú Chulainn’s solo defence in the Táin). |
| Manannán | ᚛ᚋᚐᚅᚐᚅᚅᚐᚅ᚜ | MAN-uh-nawn | manannán | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Manannán mac Lir. Sea-god, ferryman to the otherworld, lord of Tír na nÓg. |
| Manannán mac Lir | ᚛ᚋᚐᚅᚐᚅᚅᚐᚅ ᚋᚐᚉ ᚂᚔᚏ᚜ | MAN-uh-nawn muk LEER | manannán mac lir | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Manannán mac Lir — son of Lir. Sea-god, ferryman to the otherworld, lord of Tír na nÓg. Owner of the Wave Sweeper boat that travels without sails. |
| Miach | ᚛ᚋᚔᚐᚉᚆ᚜ | MEE-ukh | miach | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Miach — son of Dian Cécht, surpassed his father in healing by regrowing Nuada’s flesh-and-blood arm; killed by his jealous father. |
| Niamh Chinn Óir | ᚛ᚅᚔᚐᚋᚆ ᚉᚆᚔᚅᚅ ᚑᚔᚏ᚜ | NEE-uv khin OR | niamh of the golden hair | CELT — AcallamCELT — Lebor Gabála | Niamh of the Golden Hair. Daughter of Manannán; took Oisín to Tír na nÓg for three centuries. |
| Nuada | ᚛ᚅᚒᚐᚇᚐ᚜ | NOO-uh-duh | nuada | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Nuada Airgetlám — Nuada of the Silver Arm. King of the Tuatha Dé Danann. |
| Ogma | ᚛ᚑᚌᚋᚐ᚜ | UG-muh | ogma | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Ogma — god of eloquence and writing. Said to have invented the Ogham script (named for him). Tuatha Dé Danann. |
| Tochmarc Étaíne | ᚛ᚈᚑᚉᚆᚋᚐᚏᚉ ᚓᚈᚐᚔᚅᚓ᚜ | TUKH-mark AY-deen-uh | wooing of étaín | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Tochmarc Étaíne — The Wooing of Étaín. Étaín is reborn many times across the stories; one of the most beautiful Old Irish tales. |
| Tuireann | ᚛ᚈᚒᚔᚏᚓᚐᚅᚅ᚜ | TIR-un | tuireann | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Tuireann. Father of three sons whose tragic quest (Aided Chlann Tuireann) is one of the Three Sorrows of Storytelling. |
| Étaín | ᚛ᚓᚈᚐᚔᚅ᚜ | AY-deen | étaín | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Étaín — beautiful otherworldly woman of Tochmarc Étaíne (The Wooing of Étaín). Reborn many times after a witch turned her into a fly. |