Irish History
And
The Fighting Irish

( Celtic And Irish Mythology )

Celtic

mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism ( the belief or worship of multiple deities such as

Gods and Goddesesses ) apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. Among Celtic peoples in close contact with Ancient Rome, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians, their mythology did not survive the Roman Empire, their subsequent conversion to Christianity, and the loss of their Celtic languages. Ironically, it is mostly through contemporary Roman and Christian sources that their mythology has been preserved. The Celtic peoples who maintained either their political or linguistic identities ( such as the Gaels and Brythonic tribes of the BritishIsles)
left vestigial remnants of their forebears mythologies, put into written form during the Middle Ages.

Though the Celtic world at its apex covered much of western and central Europe, it was not politically unified nor was there any substantial central source of cultural influence or homogeneity; as a result there was a great deal of variation in local pracrices of Celtic religion. Inscriptions to more than 300 deities, often equated with their Roman counterparts, have survived, but of these most appear to have been ' genii locorum ' local or tribal gods, and few were widely worshipped. However, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it is possibly to discern commonalities which hint at a more unified pantheon than is often given credit.

The names and functions of these ancient Gods can be deduced from their names, the location of their inscriptions, their iconography, the Roman Gods they are equated with, and similar figures from later bodies of Celtic mythology. Celtic mythology is found in a number of distinct, if related, subgroups, largely corresponding to the branches of the Celtic languages:

Ancient Celtic religion ( known primarily through archaeological sources rather than through written mythology; cf. Ancient Gaulish and British deities )
Mythology in Goidelic languages, represented chiefly by Scottish mythology and Irish mythology
* Mythological Cycle
* Ulster Cycle
* Fenian Cycle
* Historical Cycle
Mythological in Brythonic languages, represented chiefly by Welsh mythology ( cf. also Breton mythology and folklore )

Because of the scarcity of surviving materials bearing written Gaulish, it is surmised that the pagan Celts were not widely literate - although a written form of Gaulish using the Greek, Latin and North Italic alphabets was used. Caesar attests to the literacy of the Gauls, but also wrote that their priests, the druids, were forbidden to use writing to record certain verses of religious significance, while also noting that the Helvetii had a written census.
Rome introduced a more widespread habit of public inscriptions , and broke the power of the druids in the areas it conquered; in fact, most inscriptions to deities discovered in Gaul, Britain and other formerly Celtic speaking areas post-date the Roman conquest. And although early Gaels in Ireland and parts of modern Wales used Ogham script to record short inscriptions ( largely personal names ) more sophisticated literacy was not introduced to Celtic areas that had not been conquered by Rome until the advent of Christianity; indeed many Gaelic myths were first recorded by Christian monks, albeit without most of their original relogious meanings.

The oldest body of myths is found in early medieval manuscripts from Ireland. These were written by Christians, so the formerly devine nature of the characters is obscured. The basic myth appears to be a war between two apparently divine races, the ' Tuatha De Danann ' and the ' Fomorians ' which forms the basis for the text ' Cath Maige Tuireadh ' ( the Battle of Mag Tuireadh ) as well as portions of the history focused ' Lebor Gabala Erenn '
( The Book of Invasions ) The Tuatha De represent the functions of human society such as kingship, crafts and war, while the Fomorians represent chaos and wild nature.

The supreme God of the Irish pantheon appears to have been the Dagda. The name means the ' Good God ' not good in a moral sense, but good at everything, or all poerful. The Dagda is a father - figure, a protector of the tribe and the basic Celtic God of whom other male Celtic deities were variants. Celtic Gods were largely unspecialised entities, and perhaps more like a clan rather than as a formal pantheon. Irish tales depict the Dagda as a figure of power, armed with a spear and associated with a couldron. In Gaul, it is speculated that the Dagda is associated with Sucellos, the striker, equipped with a hammer and cup.

  The Dagda was seen as a father-figure.

The Morrigan was a tripartite battle goddess of the ancient Irish Celts. Collectively she was known as the Morrigan but her divisions were also referred to as Nemhain, Macha and Badb ( among other less common names ) with each representing different aspeccts of combat. She is most commonly known for her involvement in the Tain Bo Cuailnge ( The Battle of Mag Tuired ) where she also plays the role of a poet, magician and sovereignty figure, and gives the victory to the Tuatha De Danann. She was most often represented as a cow or raven but could take many different forms, including a cow, wolf or eel. The Morrigan can be compared to other Indo-European goddesses of death such as Kali in the Hindu pantheon and the Valkyries in Norse Mythology.

The Morrigan