Name:  Nechtán Mac Labraid

Properties:  God of Wells and Springs

Profession:  Cupbearer

Race:  Tuatha Dé Danann

Father:  Labraid

Wife: Boand

Associated Sites:  Source of the Boyne  Brugh na Boinne (Newgrange) Sidhe Nechtáin The Well of Segais

Associated Herbs,Trees & Fungi: Burdock :: Alder

Nechtán was one of the guardians of the sacred well of Segais under the sea in the sidhe of Nechtáin along with his brothers Flesc, Lám and Luam.  

None other than they were supposed to go to the well not even the high Gods.  However Nechtán's wife Boand decided that she would see if she could disobey the taboo surrounding the well.  

She was drowned because of her pride in one version of the tale, in another she lives but is crippled ever afterwards.  The River Boyne was named after her.

Stories, Myths and Legends associated with Nechtán:

How the Boyne was born

The Wooing of Etain

Dindsenchas - Boand

The Courting of Emer

The Story of the Tuatha De Danann

Death Tales of the Tuatha De Danann

top

© Shee-Eire: