Name:
Eochaid
Ollathair /'All Father' /The Dagda ('Good God')
Properties:
God of Magic, God of Time,
Protector of Crops
Title:
Ruadh Rofhessa (The Mighty Red One of Great Knowledge)
Province:
Míde
Associated
Sites: Uisnech (Tara), Brugh
na Boinne (Newgrange)
Grandfather:
Delbaeth mac Net
Great-Grandfather:
Net
Brother:
Ogma
Half-Brother:
Bres
Consorts: Boand
: Morrighan
: ? Ní Indech
(daughter of Indech)
Sons:
Aongas Mac Óg : Bodb
Dearg :
Cermat Coem (father
of Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht and Mac Gréine) :
Midhir
:
Finnbheara
: Diancecht
: Aed Minbhrec
Daughters:
Brigit
Ainge
Grandsons:
Mac
Cuill : Mac
Cecht : Mac
Gréine
Harp:
Uaithne (that could play three types of music)
Associated
Herbs, Trees and Fungi: Yew
The Dagda was the father God of the Celts they called him
the Good God because he protected their crops.
He was king of the Tuatha
Dé Danann and ruled over Uisnech in Co. Meath.
He had a cauldron called
the Undry which supplied unlimited food and was one of the magical items the
Tuatha brought with them when they first landed on Ireland. He also had
a living oak harp called Uaithne which caused the seasons to change in their
order and also played three types of music, the music of sorrow, the music of
joy and the music of dreaming.
He
was portrayed as wearing a brown low-necked tunic which just reached his hips
and a hooded cape that barely covered his shoulders. On his feet were
horse-hide boots. Behind him he pulled his eight pronged war club on a
wheel, one end of the club killed the living and the other end revived the
dead, and when it was dragged behind him it left a track as deep as the
boundary ditch between two provinces.
There are many humorous tales about him, about his
appetites both for food and sexual gratification. In these stories he
never seems to get enough of either!
Stories, Myths
and Legends associated with the Dagda: