ale
The standard word for an ‘alcoholic drink made by fermenting malt’ in Anglo-Saxon England was ealu, source of modern English ale (bėor, modern English beer, existed, but was not in common use). Then ...
Altrom Tige Dá Medar
[Ir., The Nurture of the Houses of the Two Milk Vessels].A late Middle Irish narrative of the Mythological Cycle included in the 15th-century Book of Fermoy. Scholarly attention in the story has ...
Balor
The chief of the Fomorians of Gaelic mythology. One of his eyes had the power of destroying whatever it looked on. The eye was put out and Balor himself slain ...
blacksmith
See GOIBNIU, smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann; Gofannon, the smith of early Welsh narrative. See also SMITH.
Bres
[Ir., shapely, beautiful (?); fight, uproar, din (?)].Name borne by several mythological and legendary figures (sometimes by more than one in the same narrative). the best known of which is Bres the ...
Bríg,
[Ir., high, noble, power (?)].A daughter of the Dagda whose son Rúadán is killed by Goibniu. In her grief she gives the first mourning chant or keen [Ir. caoineadh] in Ireland.
Brigit
[Ir., the exalted one].Pre-Christian Irish goddess of fire, smithing, fertility, cattle, crops, and poetry. She was the daughter of the Dagda and according to later tradition, the wife of Senchán ...
craftsman
In the Celtic countries the concept of craftsman [Ir. ceardaí, saor; W crefftwr] would include artisan, carpenter, potter, or wright, but does not always include smith [Ir. gabha; W gof]. The ...
Credne
[Ir., craftsman, artisan].A divine artificer of the Tuatha Dé Danann, usually working in bronze but also in brass and gold. Together with Goibniu, the smith, and Luchta, the wright or carpenter, he ...
Gaiblín
Possible owner of Glas Ghaibhleann, the magical cow; lived in Co. Cavan. He may be a folk derivative of Goibniu, the ancient craft-god.
Glas Ghaibhleann
[Ir. glas, green, greenish blue; of Gaiblín (?), of Goibniu (?)].Celebrated, magical cow, white with green spots, whose inexhaustible supply of milk signalled prosperity. The original owner is a ...
Glwyddyn Saer
Shadowy Welsh figure, probably counterpart of the Irish craft-god Goibniu. See also GOFANNON; GOBBÁN SAOR.
Gofannon
[W gof, gofan, smith].Welsh divine smith, one of the children of Dôn and a British counterpart to the Irish Goibniu; he is best remembered as the uncle who kills his nephew Dylan. Culhwch's third ...
Irish mythology
In the popular imagination Ireland is often represented as a land of legends and myths, where fairies and leprechauns and old gods still make their presence felt, and where storytellers ...
Luchta
Carpenter or wright [Ir. sóer], god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, one of the three gods of craft [trí dée dána] of early Ireland, along with Credne and Goibniu. Luchta was thought adept at making shields ...
Lug Lámfhota
[OIr. lug, light, brightness; lámhfhada, long-armed, long-handed].May also bear the patronymics mac Céin, mac Ethlenn, Maicnia, and the epithets Samildánach and lldánach. Celebrated chief of the ...
Mullaghmast
[Ir. mullach, a hilltop; maisten, of Maiste].Hill (563 feet) 1 mile W of Ballitore, Co. Kildare, rich in mythological and archaeological associations. In nearby Glenn Treithim [OIr. Treichim], the ...
Néit
Shadowy early Irish god of war, often grouped with the Fomorians. He is usually portrayed as having two wives or consorts, Badb and Nemain. This does not make him an adulterer; rather, he may be ...
Nuadu Airgetlám
[of the silver hand/arm]. King of the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann who leads his people into Ireland but is later disqualified from kingship because of the ‘blemish’ of his severed arm. Dispute over the ...
