Cult of Gods

Celtic (Irish)

Ireland, as recorded in medieval texts.

These gods were written down by Christian monks, some centuries after belief had ended, and often euhemerised: the Tuatha Dé Danann became a race of ancient kings and then fairy folk. 'Celtic' also covers Gaul, Britain and Wales, whose records differ greatly; this section covers Irish tradition only, because the sources are fullest.

Folio 309r of the Book of Kells (Trinity College Dublin), c. 800.
Folio 309r of the Book of Kells (Trinity College Dublin), c. 800.

Family graph

Parent lines run downward, partners are joined by a thicker line. Select a deity to trace its ancestry.

Choose a deity to see where it comes from. Dashed lines are links the sources describe that are not parent and child.

DanuLirManannán mac LirThe DagdaThe MorríganBoannNuadaBalorOgmaDian CéchtBrigidAengus ÓgEthniuCianLugh

The deities

Danumother of the gods (by name)The Dagdaabundance, druidry, kingshipBoannthe river BoyneAengus Óglove, youth, poetryBrigidpoetry, healing, smithcraftThe Morríganwar, fate, sovereigntyNuadakingshipBalorFomorian kingEthniuBalor's daughterCianfather of LughLughskill in all arts, kingship, the sun (in later readings)Manannán mac Lirthe sea, the otherworldLirthe seaOgmaeloquence, strength, oghamDian Céchthealing

Today

Irish Celtic religion ended with Christianisation in the 5th-7th centuries. Today modern Druidry and Celtic Pagan groups draw on these stories; they are modern reconstructions rather than continuous tradition, and some Irish people regard the old beings as part of folklore (the Aos Sí).

More traditions

Odin rides to Hel, W. G. Collingwood, after the Poetic Edda.NorsePapyrus of Ani, British Museum (New Kingdom), a Book of the Dead.EgyptianA chaos monster and a sun god, drawn by L. Gruner for A. H. Layard's Monuments of Nineveh.MesopotamianVishvarupa Vishnu, Kashmir or Himachal, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art collection.Hindu

Sources used