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.

The Seasonal Sisters

Munster has two trios of god-saint sisters, sharing one member. One of these trios is "Lassair, Inghean Bhuidhe, and Latiaran". The other trio is "Gobnait, Cróbh Dearg, and Latiaran".

Since the widespread collection of saint-folklore by the NFC, and especially since their treatment in Máire MacNéill's work, "The Festival of Lughnasa", it's been widely assumed that these trios are referring to the same three individuals:

• Latiaran is the same in either case, and is celebrated around Lughnasa.
• Inghean Bhuidhe and Cróbh Dearg are both celebrated on or near Bealtaine.
• Gobnait is celebrated near, possibly on, Imbolc (1). Lassair's feast day is now unknown but widely assumed to match Gobnait.

Gobnait, at least, is obviously a local epithet of Brighid. It should be clear to readers by now, that I indeed consider Lassair to be a name of the female Fire-Goddess, counterpart to Lasrén ~AKA Áed ~AKA Manannán. And that this is one of Spring-Goddess Brighid's aspects.

So that gives us two Brighids at Spring, Latiaran at Lughnasa, and Inghean Bhuidhe & Cróbh Dearg as the Bealtaine God-Saints. Now, let's narrow down who our Summer-Gods could be.. Brighid and the Cailleach are taken by Spring and Winter, respectively. The harvest is probably the Earth-Goddesses: Éiriú/Tailtiú et al. That leaves two closely related archetypical groups: the Freshwater-Wisdom-Mother Goddesses (Eithne/Boann/Fidelm/Findchoem/Ness), and the Ocean-War-Cosmic-Mother Goddesses: broadly, The Mórrígna.

Spoiler; it's the latter.

Those Red Claws

Cróbh Dearg is quite obvious. Her name means "Red Talon/Paw", and she's found at a site (the Paps of Anu) associated with the Mórrígan in the Leabhar Gabhála:

“The Morrigu, daughter of Delbaeth, was mother of the other sons of Delbaeth [..] it is from her [..] name ‘Danann’ the Paps of Ana in Luachair are called, as well as the Tuatha De Danann”

Note also how Morrigu is consort to Delbáeth (AKA the cosmogonical form of Lugaid), but is later consort to An Dagda - though An Dagda contains multitudes, so this might not be a conflict (2).

Cróbh Dearg is associated with "Cathair Cróbh Dearg", a rath upon the slopes of the Paps. The Cathair also appears in the Battle of Fionntraigh ("Ventry") cycle of the Fianna, where Cael Ó'Nemhnain woos Credhe of the Yellow Hair who lives there (cf. Ó'Grady, p.22; Ó Curry, p163) - this is certainly the Cathair, as indicated in the foregoing and by (Armao, 2017). Note the way that Credhe marries Cael, but loses him and must find his body in a battlefield - we'll return to that.

The stand-out role of Cróbh Dearg is as protector of cattle; traditionally, cattle were driven into her fort on the eve of Bealtaine, and festivities were held there (Cronin, 2001: 38-40; NFC 947p1:122; NFCS 453:278; NFCS 0451:335). Quartering of cattle in raths at Bealtaine also happened elsewhere (Wood-Martin, 1897:165).

There's also a folktale about how she dealt with a cattle-thief who stole her bull, which is basically identical to one of Gobnait's. Stories drift liberally between these sisters, but my guess is that it originally belonged to Cróbh.

The Yellow Haired Daughter

"Inghean" means Daughter, "Buí/Buidhe" means "Yellow" or "Victory". Gaelic colour-names nearly always refer to hair colour. So, Inghean Bhuidhe means Yellow-Haired Daughter, or Daughter of Victory. I think it means both: poets love puns, and both meanings are apt.

Inghean Bhuidhe has only fragmentary folktales of her own. She has firm associations with Drumtarriff, where a lively festival fair used to be held at a holy well in her honour, and also at "Cill Inghine Baoith" in Co.Clare.

Besides having noteworthy yellow hair like Credhe, at least one attestation from the NFC identifies her with Saint Íta, another Mórrígan-Saint, on account of her yellow hair:

His [Saint Berihart's] sister Ita or Ingin Buidhe (from her Golden Hair) had a cell or nunnery at Kileedy or Kilmeady, Co.Limerick. [..] Ita is probably confounded with St. Ita the foster-mother of St.Brendan, but can hardly be the same person, as St.Brendan died in A.D. 577 and St. Colman [Brother of Berihart/Íta/Buidhe] died in 650. Ingin Buidhe is also supposed to have lived at Drumtarrife.

(From NFC 972:43, my annotations in square brackets)

That's incredible, to me. We've got a conjunction of traits linking Íta, Inghean Bhuidhe, and Credhe (AKA Cróbh). And, remember Credhe having to find Cael on the battlefield? Íta has a very similar proxied myth involving Nessa's husband - I mentioned this in Mochoemóg's issue, and noted an English semi-legendary queen "Edith" with the same myth.

Any other Yellow-Haired maybe-Mórrígna? Well, we get a colourful description of Medb in battle against Cethern, as he recounts:

"There came to me there a woman, tall, beautiful, pale and long-faced. She had flowing, golden-yellow hair. She wore a crimson, hooded cloak with a golden brooch over her breast. [..] She gave me that wound [..]"

I contend that Medb is indeed an incarnation of the Mórrígan, married in this case to Aillil, and lover to Fergus (An Dagda), but nonetheless kinda obsessed with Warrior-Twin Cúchulainn in her own way, like so many other Mórrígna of the Ulster Cycle. Note colours: Yellow, Gold, and Crimson.

Even More About Seasons

The sisters often have a pair of saint-brothers: Berihart, joined by either Colmán or John.

"Berihart" - Ber/Bar again, same prefix as Berach & Fionn-Barra. My cursory research suggests Berihart, too, is a Fionn-type, the King of Winter. The Colmáns, meanwhile (of whom, Colmcille), seem to be the Summer-King archetypes: more fruitful, peaceable, yet perhaps less wise. Plausibly, Colmán's alternate name "John" also represents Summer: "Saint John's Eve" is the Christianised Midsummer.

So, the boys for the two halves of the year, and the girls for three of the four seasons.. what about Winter? We already knew that, of course, it's the Cailleach. But why isn't she mentioned? And is she a form of one of the three sisters? Maybe all, maybe none! I think that all of the Goddess-Archetypes have a "Cailleach" face or form, and I also think that the Cailleach is fully her own deity.

Brighid-the-cailleach is the Cailleach in Spring, the old year contending against the new Spring goddess. Mórrígan-the-cailleach is Badb herself in the Dá Derga's Hostel; or "Buí" - as with Inghean Bhuidhe; or the disguised Mórrígna who trick Cúchulainn. Éiriú-the-cailleach is the Sovereignty Hag who tests Monarchs.

But the Cailleach is also simply the Cailleach, enacting mythic roles that are all her own. All the goddesses share deep overlaps and yet remain themselves.

Or.. Goddesses of the Grain?

Alternatively: there are only three Seasonal Goddesses, because there are only three phases to the Corn/Grain: planting, maturing, ripening. Whereupon, it is harvested; and the last sheaf, in much of the Celtic and Germanic lands, had an association with the "spirit of the Corn" and were braided beautifully and kept to be ploughed back into the land in Spring. In Ireland, this last-sheaf was called The Cailleach - completing the set of goddesses.

Traditionally, Bealtaine is the day when your grain should have been planted. In other words, Imbolc begins the planting season. Lughnasa is the beginning of the harvest season. Bealtaine, then, is the season of maturation. So, the Goddesses can be read as stages of the Corn Goddess, and the "missing" stage is the overwintering, dormant Corn Dolly, the Cailleach.

This lens on the Mórrígan has another point of support, because I suggested in Íta's issue how Macha's mythos has its mirror in Demeter - the Greek Mother-Goddess of Grain (3).

I'm not suggesting the Goddesses were just Grain-Spirits. But, among other crucial divine and cosmic roles, it seems they may have been symbolic of this critical cycle, also.

Mary, Queen of the May

When Christianising gods, basically every female god becomes a Mary. It's well-documented, for example, how the cultus of Artemis of Ephesius was supplanted by Mary's. Some even speculate that this is literally the origin of Mary; I'm not sure. There are actually a bunch of Maries in the Bible, and the two best-known are Mary-Mother-Of-Jesus and Mary-The-Apostle.

The former Mary, though, became associated in Europe with May, and with the Blossom of May. A song I grew up hearing was "Bring Flowers of the Rarest", which is all about crowning Mary the queen of May.

I don't have a thesis for you on this, but I note the traditional associations of Irish May tradition with a Queen/Mother goddess, and May-blossom (Hawthorn) and flowers generally, and I look suspiciously over at Mary. It seems to me that an association of Midsummer with female deities representing vegetation, protection, and marriage was a fairly commonplace indigenous idea, and that the Christians simply syncretised this onto one of the Marys.

Queen of the Boundary

Any god or goddess of this time of year might be expected to associate with the Hawthorn. But in Ireland the association does seem strongest with the Mórrígan-saints.

Hawthorns are the sacred trees of Inghean Bhuidhe's well (NFC 947:120; 947:132) and Íta's "Slánán" Well. Íta has a folk-tale of planting a thorn-tree (probably Whitethorn) (NFCS 497:051). In fact, I would interpret Íta's Hawthorn as being perhaps the first Hawthorn - it has the format of such myths.

Whitethorns are famous "boundary" trees. They represent boundary-marking and protection; consider the "Fairy Tree" association of Whitethorn. Consider also how Whitethorn is tied into the same Bealtaine traditions that exhibit anxiety about malicious magic, and encourage paranoid inhospitability.

This isn't just Celtic - Cardea is a Roman goddess of limneal spaces, and is associated with Whitethorn and its use to protect households. Walpurgisnacht is associated with protection from Witches - sprigs of protective trees including Whitethorn over doors may be an original tradition. There's a whole theme in Europe at this time about boundaries, malefactors, protection, etc., and in many places you'll find the Whitethorn figuring.

Bealtaine custom in Ireland figures another boundary-plant: the Stinging Nettle. It's traditional to eat several portions of Nettle in May. In some places, it was also traditional on May day for young people to chase and sting others with Nettles. I find this curiously in-line with the use of Whitethorn: plants that could hurt people, that were associated with the boundaries of the otherworld, were brought near and used to bless and protect.

The Polyandrous Queen

Mórrígan herself had several lovers and pursued Cúchulainn also. Medb is famously polyandrous. But if she's the Queen of May, her loves are steeped in conflict.

In Welsh myth, we find a famous myth where the lady Creiddylad is warred-over by Gwyn ap Nudd (cognate with Fionn) and Gwythyr on Calen Mai - May Day. In fact, every May Day. This myth is interpreted as a change-of-seasons myth, with the Winter ("Holly") King battling the Summer ("Oak") King.

The closest Irish example of this with a date attached is the Deaths of Connall Cernach (~= Gwyn/Fionn) and Aillel mac Máta: Medb incites Conall to slay Aillil on May 1st, but Connall flees and is killed on May 7th. I think the Battle of Gabhra, fought between Fionn's Fianna and Cairbre's army over Cairbre's daughter Sgiam Sholais, is a parallel myth. Cairbre dies, but the Fianna decline after. (4)

I identified these based on a pattern of Taliesin's Map concerning his proposed "Cernunnos" seasonal myth, when I noted that the "Lomna's Head" story matches perfectly the pattern he identified in "Fionn and the Man in the Tree" - a woman incites jealousy in Fionn towards a possible "Summer King" named Coirpre (Cairbre) and Fionn slays him. TM's model proposes that the Winter King then self-exiles, returning in Samhain. (5).

It seems to me that Cairbres are in the same group as saints "Colmán". Given this, recall the two brothers of our trio: Berihert (Winter?), and John/Colmán (Summer?).

May is associated with sacred marriage and ritual coronation of the "Queen of May", but it can also be tied to bloody conflict. But, see the Patterns section at the end for my thoughts on that conjunction.

As speculated above, maybe it also esoterically marks her transition from the girl Brighid to the woman Mórrígan - from the Maiden to the Consort (but maybe not yet the Mother).

The Bereaved, the Jealous

Crédhe is bereaved of her husband Cael, and Íta and Crédhe seem to have a mytheme of finding a dead beloved man on a battlefield. Íta is AKA Deirdre - Deirdre of the Sorrows is bereft of her beloved, Naoise. Is "separation from a lover" a Mórrígan trope? I think so: and I suspect Clíodna, Aífe, and Aoibhe (same root/meaning as Aífe) may also be names of this archetype.

Clíodna is separated from her lover Ciabhan (Caoimhán?) by her abduction or death. Aífes are separated from their Warrior-twin lover/husband, as in the previous issue (though Aífes marry Fionn-types too, with more success?). Clíodna and Aífe both magically transfigure others out of jealousy for the affections of their beloved - Clíodna transmutes Aoibhell over Caoimh, Aífe transmutes Aoibh's children over Ler. Aoife (=Aífe), daughter of Delbaeth (same dad as Mórrígan..) is herself transmuted by Iuchra over Ilbhreac (6).

To these, maybe Cessair, whose grief at losing her lover Fintan coincides with the Deluge (Ocean-creating myth?). Or Delgnat ("Thorn"?), who rebukes her husband for killing her lover?

I suggested previously that the Divine Twins are "Everyone's Brother/Son", filling all the corresponding mythic roles. I think a similar thing may be true of this summer aspect of the Mórrígan: desired for her sexuality, celebrated in marriage, feared for her jealousy, pitied in her abandonment or widowhood, etc. - it's as if she's "Everyone's Wife" (from an Iron-Age point of view..).

Wrap-Up

We've got a lot of names in this issue: Crédhe, Cróbh, Inghean Bhuidhe, Íta, perhaps Sgiamh, Aoibh[e/ll], Aífe, and of course Meḋḃ. Read below for an exploration of Gaulish goddess Belisama, too. There seems to be a vowel-pattern for many of them: Íta/Ída/Aoibhe/Aífe/Clídna/Iuchra or a hypothetical feminised "B[ií]le": an "ee/í" sound, one or two consonant sounds, and an "eh/ah/ǝ" sound. In this light, even "Bhuidhe" fits, the "dhe" implying separate pronunciation of a schwa "ǝ" at the end. In English orthography it might render as "vwee-eh". "Sgiamh" half-fits; it looks like a diphthong "i[aǝ]", lacking an internal consonant. Deirdre in modern Irish matches, though I can't speak to Old Irish.

For places where Bealtaine was especially celebrated, plausibly in her honour, there is Cruachan, Dromtarriff, Cill Inghine Baoith, Cathair Cróbh Dearg, and possibly Árd Macha. As explored below, it's possible that the Bealtaine fair of Uisnech may have also involved her worship, given the tentative logical chain of Uisnech → Bíle → Belenos → Belisama → Minerva → Mórrígan.

Mórrígan is known to be associated with Corvids and Cattle. Cróbh Dearg seems to point to both. But if Aífe/Aoibh/Clidna are included, we can consider Cats and Cranes as animal-forms of this Goddess, albeit unhappy ones.

Plants related to this Goddess and her festival tradition include Whitethorn, and probably also Nettles. Any white or yellow flowers, Primroses in particular, are celebrated at this time and used for protective strewing and decoration of May Bushes. There is a wildflower called "Cróbh Dearg" in Irish: Bloody Cranes-Bill.

There are musical associations, too! Carmina Gadelica pts. 73-76 concern May-day, and "Samhradh Samhradh" was traditionally sung on this day. In Christianised tradition, May Day is associated with the Marian song "Bring Flowers of the Rarest".

Footnotes

1. I forgot to say in Gobnait's issue, but her feast is 11 days after Imbolc-Eve: exactly the offset expected by the switch to the Gregorian calendar.
2. Every pantheon has their favourite god, who accretes myth-overlaps and even absorbs other characters, e.g. Zeus, Óðinn. Among the Tuatha Dé, it's The Dagda. His narrative role is mostly "Wind-God/Thunderer" (like Thor), but he's also the Sky Father, has many Divine Bard roles. But there are lots of hints painting him as a lower emanation of Delbaeth, too.. He has a number of alter-egos, chiefly "Fergus" (similarities have been noted before, but Taliesin's Map did a great video cinching it). Of course, he has several saints, too..
3. Macha is the "Earthiest" of the Mórrígna by far. I lean more and more toward viewing her as having one foot in both camps; the Mórrígna (Aerial, subtly Oceanic) and the Earth goddesses (Tailtiú, Éiriú, Banba, Fódla). Meanwhile, her Welsh counterpart Rhiannon looks more like a combination of Étaín (Brighid?) and the Earth Goddesses!
4. I don't think Aillil and Cairbre are the same, but "Aillil" seems to attach to characters (perhaps Divine Twins) when they become a sort of "Usurper" god, and their role can then overlap with King-archetypes.
5. The Fianna, for whom the "Winter King" Fionn was the patron god, were a seasonal band, also. They quartered in towns during the Winter, while in Summer they returned to the wilds to live off their own skill. In some traditions, Fianna stories were only told in Winter; Bealtaine put an end to them!
6. This Aoife's skin becomes a magic Crane-Bag whose contents are available according to the tides; another esoteric link between the Mórrígan and the (Cosmic?) Ocean.

Bibliography

• Ó Grady, Standish Hayes (1999) The Colloquy with the Ancients. cf. p.22 for "Credhe of the Yellow Hair" on this version
• NFCS 451:161 (1937), Eugene Ó Curry, Gortnagane, Co.Kerry
• Armao, Frédéric (2017) "Cathair Crobh Dearg: From Ancient Beliefs to the Rounds 2017". Estudios Irlandeses, Issue 12.2, pp.8-31. AEDEI (Spanish Association for Irish Studies). Available here.
• Cronin, Dan (2001). In the Shadow of the Paps. Killarney: Crede, Sliabh Luachra Heritage Group, 2001. pp.38-40.
• Wood-Martin, W.G. (1897) Traces of the Elder Faiths: Fairy and Marriage Lore. Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Series II, Vol.3, No.3 (April), pp.162-167. Accessed at JSTOR.
• NFC 947p1:116-127; Ned Buckley, Knocknagree, Co.Cork. Collected 1943. Not yet online at Dúchas..
• NFCS 453:277-278; Con Walshe (76), Reanasup, Co.Kerry. Collector: Nellie Walshe, Reanasup, Co.Kerry.
• NFCS 0451:335-336; Bean Uí Mhuimhneacháin (78), Gniomh-go-Leith, Ráth-Mhór, Co. Cíarraídhe. Collector: Mícheál Ó Dálaigh (14), (Same addr).

Coming Up

• 16th May: Brendan, or Midir, the Moon-Immortality God
• 22nd May: Conall Caol, another epithet of the Fionn-type
• 9th June: Colmcille, Irish Brahma, "Oak King" of Cosmic Summer
• 17th June: Double Issue: Moling Luachra - Saint-form of Aengus mac Óg; and Nectan of Hartland - Boann's husband Nechtan, God of the Well of Wisdom

Patterns in Celtic Comparativism, #15: Bealtaine? Bél-teine? Festival of The Mórrígan?

In the preceding, I've been talking about a pair of Munster Mórrígna who are celebrated at Bealtaine (one of them at a site quite clearly associated with the Mórrígan), but the connection is older and more widespread.

The fair of Cruachan, a site associated mythologically with the Mórrígan and queen Meḋḃ, was held at Bealtaine, and at least some speculation holds that Ard Macha's fair (sorry for the JSTOR link..) was likewise a Bealtaine fair.

Another Bealtaine fair is that of Uisnech - the heart of the world, the probable site of Creation (and therefore, the creator themselves). There are dodgy medieval attestations that Bealtaine was named for "Bel/Bél", but we don't actually have any gods named Bel.. so it could just be Christian speculation. On the other hand, there's also independent speculation that the wider Celtic deity "Belenos" might be connected to Bile ("Sacred Tree").. and we have good cause to think Bile's a reflex of our Creator-deity. One of Ireland's five principal legendary Bilí (sacred trees, singular 'Bile') was associated with Uisneach, and one of the main Saints-Of-Bile, Cíarán, is situated very close by. So, maybe this connection to Belenus has something?

Belenos is speculated to have been consort to Belisama, a goddess that the contemporary Romans interpreted as Minerva (~Athena) - In Irish myth, that's the Mórrígan. So the plausible parallel of Belisama was celebrated at Bealtaine, and possibly so was that of Belenos: Bile at Uisnech.

So far: Bealtaine → Uisnech → Bíle → Belenos → Belisama → Minerva → Mórrígan → Bealtaine.

But were Belenos/Belisama celebrated on the continent at Bealtaine? I dunno! There's a hint that Belenos wasn't only Bealtaine (if at all): there are two Saints Bili in Brittany, and their martyr-deaths (e.g. violent) are both celebrated around the Summer Solstice. I'm no linguist, but the name "Bili" seems plausibly close to "Bile" to me, particularly as the "e" in Bile is nearly a shwa - a nonspecific vowel-sound.

It's oft noted that traditions seem to flow easily between May-Day and Midsummer, and it seems to me that there was disagreement about when to put certain events. It would seem logical to celebrate the onset of Summer's foliage and growth (the Goddess' marriage to the Summer King?) at the start of Summer, and the point where Summer begins to decline (perhaps with the death of the Summer King) at the Solstice. But the two Celtic myths with calendar days that match the Summer King's death-myth are at Summer's beginning, while the Bilis both die at Midsummer!

Summary: there's European agreement on celebrating May Day and Midsummer ("Saint John's Eve"), the Goddess definitely figures in the former, and the God sometimes in the latter, but there's disagreement on mythically what exactly happens when. Sounds like religion, all right.