Saint Declan, and Earc and Dubhthach, are The Dagda. A greatly loved Gaelic God, he's a patron of magic, paternity, fertility, life & death, seasons, airs & wind, and the sky itself. Whoa.

A god deeply meshed in the hinted-at Gaelic cosmogony, The Dagda as "Dáire" seems to arrange or kindle the coalescing Cosmic Person deity, Lugaid. Perhaps for this and other reasons, all three Saints share a mytheme of being the first supporter and sponsor of Patrick ("Saint Lugh") in their reluctant assemblies.

Today's issue is (belatedly) for "Saint Declan", but must include other names, too: Earc, Dubhthach, Fergus, and Eochaid.

I lack wordcount here, but I believe that Oghma's likely role as the God of Bardcraft was transferred to The Dagda, so that it's the latter who expresses godly musical power. "Fergus" of the Fianna is a Bard, and various Saints are associated with Bards and Poets. I suspect The Dagda had an underlying Triplicity, of which Oghma was part.

Eithne, or Boann, or Fidelm, is goddess of Rivers, Wisdom, Prophesy, Motherhood, and perhaps Genderqueerness! With hints of a cosmogonic role, and several distinct husbands and lovers, she's omnipresent and subtle. She appears with various names and faces - but her myths tie her to famous and beloved goddesses of Greece and India.

There is a lot that I couldn't explore in this issue. Such as, the deep connections, internationally, as a forerunner and patron of the Fionn-types - even being in some way a key part of the Fionn-types. The Welsh parallels including Cerridwen, and other saintly parallels including Noyala of Brittany. Her connections to Ness, Findchoem, perhaps Dechtire, etc. The concepts that might underpin her destruction of Nechtan's well. But, room doesn't allow for it: I'll have to find another time for all that.

The Mother of Divinities

The most immediate lens to "see" Eithne through is as a "Mother Goddess". The most famous Eithne is she who's otherwise known as "Boann" - the mother of Lugh Lámhfhada with Cían mac Cáinte, and later the mother of Aengus Mac Óg with An Dagda.

Suibhne is Lailoken, Silenus - the wild mad-man sage, probably continuous with the God of the Wild Marches, Cian/Caoimh, Gwydion, Myrddin, or Pan. He seems to represent the "madness" of wild things, the quality that separates man from beast.

Today's issue revisits a character I discussed back in Cían AKA Caoimh/ín's issue, in March: Suibhne. In that issue I speculated that the character of Cían and Suibhne might be continuous, and said I'd return to it on the feast of a suitable Saint Suibhne (June 21st is the feast of "Suibhne the Sage of Armagh").

Well, things are a little clearer, by now. I think I can back up that supposition and claim more confidently that Suibhne indeed is a form of Cían. I'll also be looking at Lailoken, the parallel character in British tradition, and sharing my reasons for seeing these as parallel traditions rather than a case of direct borrowing.

Don't expect great editing for this issue, because I wore myself out on the mess of the prior three issues!

Saint Nectan of Hartland is Nechtan, husband of Boann. Like her, he's a god of Wisdom..but with a different philosophy on Wisdom. Seemingly preferring knowledge to be cloistered and limited to the élite, Nechtan may be a God of Academies, or Mystery traditions.

Today's God-saint is as close as I've yet gotten to a Saint of Nuada himself. It's popular to posit that Nechtan is the same as Nuada; I think it's a little more complex. Nechtan looks like he exists at an area of intersection between the King archetypes, the Fionn-types, the Water-gods, the Fire-gods, and the Gods of Death. It's not as easy as just equating him to Nuada.

Foremost, though, Nechtan is husband to his wife: Boann - in many respects he's an expression of her, in fact. But, for an issue on Boann, you'll be waiting til Jul.5!

NB! In today's other issue, on Moling, I failed to include contextual links. I've amended the online version. Sorry!

Saint Moling is the Peaceable Divine Twin, better known as Aengus mac Óg. God of youth, peace, and love; a trickster and counseller. He's fast and sneaky yet has surprising parallels to fellow Youth-Divinity, Cúchulainn.

This is the first of two issues today; the issue for Nechtan will be out later. Also, when I published this issue, I had forgotten to go back over it and provide links to other resources that I mentioned. For the sake of the archive, I'm editing it to add links. Where required for clarity, I've added some text also - where there is new material, I'll use a sword symbol "†" to mark them, in case readers of the email newsletter want to do a quick search over the page and see what's new.

In the issue on Cellach and Muiredach, I introduced my model for the Divine Twins: that they are usually distinct from one another. One, a conflict-averse trickster; the other an enthusiastic warrior. I've foreshadowed Saint Moling as a fantastic example of the Peaceable Twin. Indeed, he's the Saintly form of Aengus mac Óg.

Noteworthy Differences from Taliesin's Map

Colm Cille is the Summer-King, an emanation of the Creator-Deity reflecting the growth and increase of Summertime. Usually presenting as a beloved King, he is born mid-winter and dies with the peak of Summer.

Today's issue concerns one of the most well-known saints in Ireland. In many ways, he closely resembles Patrick (who is principally Lugaid, Lugh), as a widely-roving, strongly Solar-aspected hero. In other ways, he's clearly distinct. Colm Cille, and the many Colmáns and Cainneachs and Mocholmócs and so on, are expressions of an archetype that's actually two steps down from Lugaid / Patrick: that of Cormac, or Conchobar, or Cairbre, the Summer King.

Though, as will become clear, there is a lot of trait-slippage between the Cosmic-Person, the Demiurge, and the lower emanations of the Demiurge such as Cormac/Colm/Cairbre. These archetypes represent continuations of the same Cosmos-Creating essence of increase and generativity. They are distinct, but linearly related.

No space for a "Patterns" this issue, either! Also, sorry it's a day and a half later than scheduled. Life happens.

St.Conall is Conall Cernach, perhaps a "Summertime" face of the Fionn-type god. Often accompanying the Divine Twin, Conalls can be less 'protagonist', but also exhibit distinctive traits rarely found in other Fionn-types.

This issue is later than promised, because I suffered a sudden and unexpected laptop-failure.. make time for a backup, today!

I've yet to write about a saint literally named Fionn, Fionntan, and Fionnbharr, but I'll get to that. I've already introduced one Fionn-saint with the "Ber" prefix, and he won't be the last.

But today is about "Conall" and "Cernach", and the surprising variation in forms of the two names, including British saints. Of course, I'll be doing some coverage of Conall Cernach himself, hero of the Ulster Cycle, foster-brother of Cúchulainn.

St. Brendan/Bréanainn is Midir, the Moon-Immortality God, the God of the Grail. He represents the regeneration of lives, souls, and nature, and the immortality of the divine and those who make union with it.

This God is complex and messy - there's no room for a "Patterns" section in this issue. There's barely room for Bréanainn himself! You will be left with questions and loose ends. Ask away on the Fediverse, if you like - I have lots to add. No further ado: on to "Bréanainn", god of the Moon and Immortality.

Background: The God of Immortality

Fans of Greek Mythology may wonder where the Celtic Dionysus is. Dionysus is mysterious, charismatic - a cryptically horned deity of intoxication, death, rebirth, and mysterious salvation. He was born late, but he seems to be the very sacred drink of the gods? What's going on with his mysterious link with Hades, his standoffish links to Apollo? How could he esoterically also be Zeus? Pick a lane!

Saints Inghean Bhuidhe and Cróbh Dearg are local expressions of the Mórrígan in Munster, and their relationships reveal much about how the Mórrígan is understood alongside other Irish Gods and Goddesses of the Seasons, Food, and Relationships.

Today's saints are probably the same original personage, merely originally known by different names before diverging. "Inghean Bhuidhe" is associated with Dromtarriff & Cill Inghean Bhuidhe, and "Cróbh Dearg" with Cathair Cróbh Dearg at the "Paps of Anu". As we'll see, these two "Saints" are connected to other saints and to various mythological characters in ways that rather clearly paint them as aspects of the Mórrígan.

In this issue, I'll introduce them, make their case as Mórrígna, and then wade into the weeds about what their overlaps with Mórrígna and other goddesses can tell us about the Mórrígan, her possible surprising roles as "Summer Queen" and "Archetypical Wife", and her celebration at Bealtaine.

Both of these saints have associations with the time of Bealtaine, and so too do several of the other sacred sites of the Mórríogan - and for this reason in the Patterns section I'll be giving some more speculative thoughts on the festival and its continental links.

Cellach and Muiredach are our first "Divine Twins", presenting an uncommonly clear dichotomy of the "Peaceable" and "Martial" aspects of this complex, important deity-type.

Finally, I get to introduce one of my favourite deities - the Divine Twin. I have a lot of Opinions™ on the Divine Twin; I argue this Deity Type encompasses not only the likes of Aengus, Pryderi/Peredur, Odysseus & Diomedes, and Freyr (as Taliesin's Map models them), but also Greek Ares, Gawain, Irish Cúchulainn, 80% of Hindu Vishnu, and 50% of Norse Loki. He's also the god of Epic: The Musical. This will only be the first issue on the subject; I intend to make these identifications and relationships clear with time.

Fortunately for everyone concerned: Cellach of Killala's "Life" is hands-down the most readable Saint's Life I know of. It's a narrative tale - a bit waffley, but very readable. I recommend it. The only trouble is the missing ending..

This story is officially only about one Saint: Cellach of Killala. His non-clerical brother Muiredach just happens to have half the story. Though, there is also a saint Muiredach of Killala (ostensibly not the same guy, mmhmm), so clearly this location is associated with both Twins.

Ruadán is the Irish Prometheus - but with a twist. The god of the lost golden-age of ignorance and effortless plenty, the well-meaning god whose fault it is that mankind now toils.

This issue will cover an internationally mysterious deity, whose alignment with regard to the other gods seems quite variable, and whose moral alignment (whether a beneficient trickster-protector (Mesopotamian Enki), or a primordial trouble-maker (Greek Prometheus)) is likewise very divisive.

I can say with reasonable confidence that Ruadán is the Irish Prometheus because of two key myths, and because of the involvement of a king representing the Irish "Adam" in one of them. But the way one of these myths plays out looks very different from the international parallels - it seems that maybe the Irish Prometheus Ruadán was an ambivalent god - perhaps at once friend and foe to the first humans.

Some Prelude, Cancelling Sts. Ibar & Carthach

Brychan of Wales is the Creator Deity - father to multitudes of gods, including higher & lower Gwynn-type God-Saints. He aligns with Irish Bile or Tadhg, or Hindu Brahma.

Today is another issue that's getting significant re-writes mid-draft, as I discover new details. It started out as an issue on Brychan as a Welsh parallel to Breoghan - but the more I looked at it, the more it appeared that I was mistaken, and that Brychan is closer to a Welsh Bile/Tadhg/Cíar - the "Demiurge" creator I covered in a previous issue. However, due to differences in how the Welsh euhemerised their Gods as Saints, this one is allowed to have somewhere between 10 and 63 children with various wives, while our Cíaráns are celibate..

Nevertheless, I think the nomenclature is still a bit murky, and I've decided to include some of my previous draft on Breoghan and "Monism" as today's "Patterns" section. Enjoy!

If you enjoy this or find it interesting, do me a favour: share it with someone(s) else who might like it, too.

The several Sts. Crónán, AKA Mochua, are Dian Cécht, god of healing. Saviour against plagues and injury, patron of the "Plain of Herbs", slayer of serpents, and god of the Healing Well.

This issue started out more apologetic - I wasn't 100% on whether I was correct to interpret Crónán as Dian Cécht, because I only had one "key" detail to connect the two, and it had been undermined somewhat by subsequent work. Thankfully, I made another discovery during the drafting, which makes me once again confident of the identification.

Don't expect bombastic "Divine Healer" vibes from this Saint, over and above the background-noise of "Saint". Sadly, whatever might have been present that we don't already know about Dian Cécht's healing prowess is just.. washed out by the genre. However, there are still a few tidbits to be found that might be interesting toward how we understand this God.

So, let's see what we've got.

St. Patrick (the character) is Lugh.. but today we'll explore how he's also Lugaid: the related cosmic "book-end" character who prefigures the ages and arrives again later to close them out.

It's been a month for the peri-Cosmic Gods: Cíarán the Demiurge, his very close affiliate Cían/Caoimhín the God of the Wild Marches, and a lot of allusions to the character that precedes it all: Lugaid, the Cosmic Person.

Saint Patrick mostly appears as Lugh, the late-arriving "perfect king" who brings victory and law and outdoor parties. I mean, of course he's Lugh: Lugh was the "saviour" of Irish myth, the perfect figure for a Patron Saint. But Lugh-type gods seems to represent the in-world incarnation of a cosmic personage, and this seems to figure in some of Patrick's mythos, too.

There aren't many obvious Myths where Patrick fulfils this Cosmic role, but I believe they're nonetheless there. As Patrick appears a lot, I would like this aspect to be understood. Don't worry, Patrick-As-Lugh will also get attention in his various cameos, and particularly at Lughnasa, the festival named for Lugh but celebrated for Patrick - funny that.

St. Mochoemóc, or "Caoimhín", is Cían, the god of the wild fringes, patron of travellers and hermits, protector of herds. Existing on a spectrum from the civil, sessile Cíarán to the wild madness of Suibhne Geilt, Caomhán regulates the marches of law and nature.

In the previous issue, I explored Cíarán and observed how there's a striking similarity in birth myth, narrative trope, and social interaction between his group and characters named Coemgen / Caomhán / Caoimhín - the "Cíans". We'll see some more of that, today. But as then, I will contend that these saints are not the same, though they may be aspects of one another.

This issue will also concern the other main Cían saint, Coemgen of Glendalough. I just can't help it, Cían's a cool god and deserves the attention. Also, Mochoemóg by himself is easily confused with Cíarán, so I felt he needed some reinforcement.

Today's "Patterns" deals with some of the oddities of Saintly Genealogy and how I navigate them.

The Saints Cíarán represent the Irish Bíle or Cernunnos, the Creator-Deity or "Demiurge" who establishes nature and provides its generative power. Today we look at "old" Cíarán of Saighir.

I've mentioned Cíarán before - at least one of them, anyway. The two Cíaráns are similar in theme and share a great deal - it's my view that they correspond to the same underlying deity, and I'll treat them as such. But more than that, they have an intriguing continuity with several other gods.

Because Cíarán's primary theological role seems to correspond to the Hindu Prajapati, or the Greek Phanes/Protogonon, I call him a "Creator Deity" or a "Demiurge". But don't let that suggest that he fades into obscurity afterwards; like the Hindu god "Brahma" (approximately the later form of Prajapati), Cíarán takes an ongoing role in temporal and even political affairs among the latter-day gods and even humanity.

Today's "Patterns" concerns the concept of the Demiurge. It's going to be a month for Creation-Mythos.

Berach of Cluan Coirpthe is our first proper "Fionn" saint. Associating with wild foods, stags, martial conflict, poets, and scholars, he nevertheless serves and protects "society".

Berach is one of a number of saints having a name like "Berach", "Barra", "Berachán", who may all reflect an underlying identity, and may literally have come from the same original character. Some of these, such as Fionn Barra of Cork, are even more clearly Fionn-types than Berach, as we'll see in later issues.

The "Ber/Bar" Fionn-type saints contrast with the fiercer, less benevolent Féichín/Fiach saints, who are certainly otherwise part of the Fionn-spectrum. But the Fionn-type is broader than merely being dangerous and fierce; he's also benevolent in his way, sometimes a trickster, sometimes a wanderer. He's a god who patrols the fringes of society, protecting from otherworld threats. These things, Berach shows much more clearly than Féichín or other "Ravens".

Today's "Patterns" is about 'background Áeds' - the recurring trope of having many secondary characters named Áed (fire) turn up in Hagiographies and other Irish Mythologies.

Gobnait of Baile Mhuirne seems a rather clear hypostasis of the Goddess Brighid, appearing in her fiery aspect. She exhibits especially strong associations with Beekeeping, Boundaries, and Curing Disease.

As one of a variable triad of Brighid-like saint-goddesses in the South of Ireland, she also offers a useful view over some recurring tropes of this, and perhaps other, Goddesses (or "Saints"). Their feast days also seem to mark out seasonal transition-points for Spring, Summer, and Autumn. But why not Winter? Spoiler: I can only speculate.

This week's "Patterns" section will deal with Saints and Animals.

The Female Smith

Mél of Ardagh may be one face of Midir, Moon-Immortality God of Brí Leith (Ardagh Hill), son of the Dagda, fosterer of his brother Aengus, and close associate of Brighid. His feast day is 6th February.

I mentioned in the previous issue that Midir, the Irish "Moon-Immortality" god, has several saintly faces - suggesting a god who was important and much-beloved. But, he was downplayed in the sanctioned Mythology, except for his famous love-story with Étaín.

But how can I be sure that Mél of Brí Leith is Midir? Actually, compared to his other saint identities, Brendan and Mobhí, it's a far less certain thing. Indeed, the more I look at him, the more I think he's another heretofore-unknown deity - perhaps a "Fomorian Forerunner" to Midir. But let's get into it and present the case, because I think Mél, if he's part of Midir's identity or retinue, provides a lot of interesting colour.

This week's "Patterns" section is about Euhemerism and Hypostases - essential jargon for comparative mythology.

Brigit, more authentically Brighid, is a Celtic Triple Goddess associated with Fire, Dawn, and Poetry. Among other things, she's also the Celtic Artemis, which I'll explore today.

There is still a widespread attitude that there is a kernel of "Christian authenticity" to Brigit, that she's not "all Goddess". A lot of this is down to the strong personality of austerity and kindness to the poor and to downtrodden people; traits romantically associated with Christianity.

It's my contention that this is an authentic aspect of the Triple Goddess Brighid, and that the best way to understand this is to compare to the Goddesses Artemis and Diana, respectively of Greece and Rome.

Some people won't like this, because it means a beloved heroic woman was not a historically real person; I get that, I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me, in exchange for some documentation around probably Ireland's most feminist deity.