Last king of the Fir Bolg; in legend, the builder of Dún Aonghusa on Inishmore. Not connected with Aonghus of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
A form of Étaín.
Princess, changed by malice into a crane and accidentally killed by Manannán Mac Lir.
Daughter of Cormac Mac Airt.
Sister of Aobh and Aoife.
Scottish princess and wife of Friguan; the Grianán of Aileach was said to be built in her name .
Brother of Eochaidh Aireamh, the high king who was the husband of Étaín.
King of Connacht; husband of Maeve.
King of Munster; rapist of Áine.
Goddess of the sun, brightness, fertility; tutelary goddess of Knockainey.
Mother of the Children of Lir.
One of the children of Lir; changed into a swan by Aoife.
Woman of the Sídh, associated with County Clare.
Daughter of Bodhbh; enchantress; second wife of Lir and stepmother to his children.
One of the Tuatha Dé Danann, God of youth and love; Lord of Brú na Bóinne.
High king; son of Conn; husband of Dealbhchaem.
War-goddess; one of the three battle furies – often appeared as a crow.
God of the Fir Bolg; killed by his grandson Lugh at the Second Battle of Moytura.
One of the three sister goddesses of sovereignty of Ireland.
Red Branch warrior; betrayer of the Sons of Usna.
Woman of the Sídh, sent into exile to Ireland; wife of Conn of the Hundred Battles.
Woman of the Sídh who rescued Lugh from his grandfather.
See Sadhbh.
Daughter of Iuchar; wife of Cú Roí; lover of Cú Chulainn.
Mother of the seer Fintan; one of the first women to come to Ireland.
Tutelary god of Slievenamon; father of Aoife.
Goddess of the Boyne and of cattle; mother of Aonghus by the Daghdha.
Deity associated with lightning; the Fir Bolg are his people. There are other interpretations of the word Bolg.
Hound of Fionn; child of his sister when she took the form of a hound.
Half-Fomorian, half of the race of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Bres was elected their king after Nuadhu lost his arm but soon became a tyrant. He was eventually defeated by the troops of the Tuatha Dé Danann at the Second Battle of Moytura.
Warrior, known as ‘Poisoned Tongue’, he caused dissension wherever he went.
Goddess of smithwork, poetry and healing; later, the saint born in Louth and founder of the monastery at Kildare; celebrated at Imbolc on 1 February, the beginning of spring.
One of the first people to come to Ireland, companion of Cessair.
Woman of the Sídh; wife of Aonghus
See Hag of Béara.
King of Ireland, son of Cormac Mac Airt.
Saint who cursed Muircheartach Mac Erca.
One of the three Hags of Keshcorann.
One of the Fianna – its greatest runner.
Druid and seer of the court of King Conchobhar Mac Nessa.
Renowned Connacht warrior sent by King Cairbre against the Fir Bolg.
Wife of Balor and mother of Ethlinn.
Mistress of Cormac Mac Airt.
The first person to land in Ireland – she and all her people, except for Fintan, were killed in a great flood.
Lover of Ethlinn, father of Lugh.
Famous harper who fell in love with one of the daughters of Bodhbh.
Woman of the Sídh, lover of Aonghus Óg, associated with west Cork.
Fionn’s musician.
Seventh-century monk and saint.
Sixth-century Donegal saint and monk; founder of the great monastery at Iona.
High King of Ireland; son of Mes Buachalla and a bird-spirit; grandson of Étaín.
One the three great champions of the Red Branch warriors.
Warrior sent by King Cairbre against the Fir Bolg.
Son of the last king of the Fir Bolg, killed by Cú Chulainn.
Warrior of the Fianna and brother of Goll Mac Morna.
King of Ulster during the period of the Táin and the Red Branch; killer of the Sons of Usna.
One of the Children of Lir, changed into a swan by Aoife.
Conn Cét Chathach; high king; husband of Bécuma.
Son of Conn of the Thousand Battles, Connla was enticed away to the Land of Youth by a woman of the Sídh.
Harper and poet of Tuatha Dé Danann.
High king of Ireland; great law-giver; travelled to the realm of Manannán at Bealtaine, or May Eve.
Musician associated with Slievenamon.
Red Branch warriors – soldiers of Conchobhar Mac Neasa, they were based at Emhain Macha.
Woman of the Sídh and lover of Art, son of Conn.
King who reputedly reigned for only one year (74AD) and is said to be buried on Howth Head.
A druid and magician of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Great hero of Ulster and of the Red Branch.
Great magician; killed by Cú Chulainn.
One of the three Hags of Keshcorann.
Host of the house in the Wicklow mountains where Conaire met his death.
The Great God; mated with Bóinn and the Morrigan; builder of Aileach; Keeper of the Cauldron of Plenty.
Farmer of Cooley; owner of the Donn of Cooley.
Great goddess; mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Princess, rescued and married to Art.
Legendary king who was the son of Ogma.
Lover of Naoise.
Healer of the Tuatha Dé Danann who restored the wounded at the battle of Moytura.
One of the Fianna; lover of Gráinne.
Lord of Death; places of residence included Knock Fierna, off Béara, the southwest coast of Kerry, and Doonbeg in Clare.
The great Brown Bull; cause of the Táin Bó Cuailnge.
Wife of Muircheartach Mac Erca.
Sky god associated with horses; one of Áine’s husbands.
Lover of Eochaidh Mac Maireadha, with whom she fled to the place where Lough Neagh later formed.
Virgin saint, sister of St Mel and associated with Ardagh.
One of the three sovereign sister goddesses of the land of Ireland.
Wife of Conn of the Thousand Battles.
Wife of Cormac Mac Airt.
One of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the foster-father of Aonghus Óg.
Horse god, husband of Áine.
High king of Ireland; husband of the first Étaín.
Lover of Eibhliu, with whom he fled to the place where Lough Neagh later formed.
God and father of the goddess Áine, killed by the druid Fearcheas.
Fifth-century king, baptised by St Patrick.
Warrior of the Red Branch and slayer of Naoise.
Wife of Suibhne.
(1) Wife of Midhir, then through various transformations, wife of Eochaidh Aireamh; (2) Her daughter, daughter and wife of Eochaidh Aireamh; (3) Mes Buachalla, the cowherd’s fosterling – daughter and granddaughter of Eochaidh.
Father of Étaín in her mortal form and king of Echrad.
King of the Munster Sídh.
Daughter of Balor and Ceithlenn; mother of Lugh.
Woman of the Sídh, she was the wife of Manannán and the lover of Cú Chulainn.
Milesian princess associated with the Glen Fas area of Kerry.
The Dark Man, the magician who enchanted Fionn’s wife, Sadhbh.
Leinster druid, he was the killer of Eogabel, the father of the goddess Áine.
Prophetess who foretold the slaughter of the Táin Bó Cuailgne.
Cú Roí’s harper.
Brother of the goddess Áine.
Connacht champion; foster-brother of Cú Chulainn.
Ulster warrior, originally king of Ulster; went into exile in Connacht after Conchobhar tricked him into betraying Deirdre and the Sons of Usna; Maeve’s lover.
One of the Children of Lir.
Seventh-century saint, credited with founding Inisfallen Abbey in Killarney.
The White-Horn – Ailill’s great bull.
The oldest man – the seer who lived from the time of the first invasion of Ireland.
In Connacht folklore – the king of the fairies who has his home at Knockma.
Champion, hunter, hero; leader of the Fianna hunting troop.
Daughter of Maeve; promised to the Connacht champions as a reward for fighting Cú Chulainn.
One of the Children of Lir, changed into a swan by Aoife.
Descendants of the Nemedians, they were defeated by the Tuatha Dé Danann at the First Battle of Moytura but later returned to Ireland when they held fortresses on the western shoreline; they were finally defeated by King Cairbre.
Guardian of wild creatures, particularly deer; sometimes said to be the wife of Fergus Mac Róich and the mother of Lí Ban.
One of the three sister goddesses of sovereignty of Ireland.
Race of malevolent beings who oppressed the Tuatha Dé Danann until eventually defeated by them at the Second Battle of Moytura.
Mythical warrior and husband of the Hag of Béara.
Legendary builder of the Grianán of Aileach.
First wife of Midhir; enchantress who transformed Étaín.
Mythical smith said to live on the Béara peninsula.
God of smithcraft – he forged magical weapons for the Tuatha Dé Danann at the second battle of Moytura.
One of the Fianna; killed by Fionn.
Daughter of Cormac Mac Airt; wife of Diarmuid and later of Fionn.
In Irish, the Cailleach Bhéarra; appears in various forms throughout Ireland; often associated with harvest time and with creating physical features in the landscape.
Mythological bird to whom the seer Fintan told his story.
British sea-pirate whose warriors killed Conaire, son of Étaín.
One of the three Hags of Keshcorann.
King of the Isle of Man; father of Bláthnaid.
Druidic sorcerer, father of Fintan.
Cú Chulainn’s charioteer.
Son of Niall of the Nine Hostages and high king, converted to Christianity by St Patrick after many years of of opposition to the saint.
Female satirist and poet; nurse of Deirdre.
Princess transformed into a mermaid after the flooding of Lough Neagh .
One of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he lived at his sídh in Armagh; he was the father of children changed into swans by the enchantress Aoife.
Friend and helper of Suibhne .
Magical three-armed smith; lived in Keshcorann caves.
Enchantress who, out of jealousy, turned Aife into a crane.
The many-skilled god, adept at all crafts and skills of battle; god of light and sun, celebrated at Lughnasa, the time of harvest; killer of his grandfather, Balor, at the Battle of Moytura, and later king over all the Tuatha Dé Danann.
One of the Tuatha Dé Danann; master-healer.
Messenger of Maeve of Connacht.
Goddess of pastures, horses, fertility, kingship and, in one form, of battle; often known as Macha the Red.
Queen of Connacht; main instigator of the Táin Bó Cuailgne.
King of Munster and father of Eochaidh; Eochaidh fled with his wife.
Deity of the oceans, and the magical otherworld, the Many-Coloured Land; in his human form, said to be buried in Lough Corrib.
Fifth-century saint and bishop, associated with Ardagh.
The third Étaín, mother of King Conaire.
One of the Tuatha Dé Danann; lover of Étaín and dweller in Brí Léith.
Leader of the last invasion of Ireland, when the Milesians defeated the Tuatha Dé Danann and sent them into the hollow hills.
Last invaders of Ireland; the tribe who defeated the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Princess who went mad when her father was killed; was restored by the power of music; the Slieve Mish mountains in Kerry are called after her.
Hermit on Inis Glora who buried the Children of Lir.
Saint and hermit; lover of nature and protector of Suibhne in his last days.
Son of Manannán Mac Lir and famous shape-shifter and magician.
Moling’s cowherd; killer of Suibhne.
Father of Dealbhchaem, killed by Art.
War goddess, one of the triple battle furies; said to come from the cave of Owneygat at Cruachan at Samhain, the feast of the dead at the beginning of November.
High king of Ireland in the sixth century; loved by Sín who also killed him.
Wife of Moling’s cowherd, Mongán.
Eldest of the Sons of Usna; lover of Deirdre; killed by Conchobhar.
Leader of the Nemedians; one of the husbands of Macha .
The people of Nemed, the third tribe to invade Ireland; defeated by the Fomorion giants but the remnants of the tribe escaped and fled to the northern islands and to Greece.
Hero of the court of Maeve, who visited the Otherworld and married a woman of the Sídh.
Princess of the Otherworld; lover of Oisín.
God of the Tuatha Dé Danann; gave up kingship after he lost his arm at the First Battle of Moytura; known as Nuadhu of the Silver Arm.
One of the Tuatha Dé Danann; credited with giving his name to ogham script, the most ancient form of writing in Ireland.
Son of Fionn and Sadhbh; lover of Niamh; returned to Ireland after 300 years in the Land of Youth and met St Patrick.
Son of Oisín; traditionally said to have been killed at the Battle of Gabhra, the Fianna’s last and major defeat.
Leader of the second invasion of Ireland; his people lived in Ireland until destroyed in a great plague.
Patron saint of Ireland, credited with introducing Christianity to the country in the fifth century AD.
See Craobh Rua.
Seventh-century king who slew his own son in a jealous rage.
Warrior sent by King Cairbre against the Fir Bolg.
Woman of the Sídh, wife of Fionn; mother of Oisín.
Fionn’s hound.
Mythical queen of the Milesians.
Daughter of Fionn and wife of Goll Mac Morna.
Otherwordly, ever-young being with magical powers; mainly the later transformation of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
The mounds where the Sídh lived.
King, father of Sín, killed by Muircheartach Mac Erca .
Enchantress; lover and murderer of Muircheartach Mac Erca.
King of Dál Riada in Ulster; went mad at the Battle of Moira and spent the rest of his life in the trees until killed by a jealous cowherd.
Foster-mother of Lugh, who instigated the Tailtiu games in her honour.
Retainer and spy of Conchobhar Mac Neasa.
Otherworld conquerors of Ireland; defeated the Fir Bolg and the Fomorians and ruled Ireland until they themselves were defeated by the Milesians; took refuge in the world of hollow mounds and in magical islands far out to sea, but often used their otherworldly powers to help or hinder mortals; later became known as the Sídh.
Mythological figure associated with Áine and commemorated on Knockainey Hill.
Mythical figure associated with Lough Corrib, the killer of Manannán Mac Lir.
The eldest of these three, Naoise, was the lover of Deirdre; the three brothers fled to Scotland with her until tricked into returning to Ireland where they were killed by Conchobar Mac Neasa.