An Chraobh Airgid

God or goddess

Ériu

Ériu · modern Éire

The woman whose name became Ireland’s.

Open it on the full site There every name opens, and a web shows who is kin to whom.

One of the three queens of the Tuatha Dé, with Banba and Fódla, and the wife of Mac Gréine, one of the sons of Cermait. In Lebor Gabála Érenn she meets the sons of Míl at Uisneach as they come to take the land, welcomes them, and foretells that the island will be theirs. When Donn answers that they will owe her no thanks for it, she tells him that he will not live to enjoy it. She asks that the island bear her name, and Amairgen promises that it will be its chief name. It is: Éire.

Kin and bonds

In the tales

  • The Coming of the Tuatha Dé Danann They burned their ships on the shore, and for three days a druid’s mist hid them. Then they sent word to the people who held Ireland: half the land, or a battle.
  • The Song of Amairgen A poet sets his right foot on Ireland and sings that he is the wind on the sea. Three queens of the old gods meet him, and each asks for the island’s name.

See also

  • Amairgen The poet of the sons of Míl.
  • Banba The first of the three queens who asked that Ireland bear her name.
  • Fódla The second of the three queens who asked that Ireland bear her name.
  • The sons of Míl The last invaders in the Book of Invasions: the Gaels.
  • Uisneach The Hill of Uisneach. The navel of Ireland, where the five fifths meet.

Sources

Medieval manuscript. Written down by Irish scholars between the eighth and seventeenth centuries.

Each tale above lists the sources it is retold from. Every source the site draws on is listed on the full site.