Dagda

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or Eochaid Ollathair

In Irish mythology, a leader of the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann and father of the three Brigits and of Maponos.

His name means “good god,” referring to his many powers rather than to his moral character. The Dagda had an enormous appetite for food and sex and may have been associated with fertility. He possessed a cauldron that was never empty and a club that could kill men and restore them to life.

More on "Dagda" from Britannica Concise:

Maponos - In Celtic religion, a god similar to Apollo who is often associated with healing.

Brigit - In Celtic religion, the goddess of poetry, crafts, prophecy, and divination.

More on "Dagda" from the 32 Volume Encyclopædia Britannica:

Dagda - in Celtic religion, one of the leaders of a mythological Irish people, the Tuatha De Danann ("People of the Goddess Danu"). The Dagda was credited with many powers and possessed a caldron that was never empty, fruit trees that were never barren, and two pigs-one live and the other perpetually roasting. He also had a huge club that had the power both to kill men and to restore them to life. With ...

Sucellus - powerful and widely worshiped Celtic god; his iconographic symbols were usually his mallet and libation saucer, indicative of his powers of protection and provision. His Irish equivalent seems to have been the Dagda. Sucellus was possibly one of the Gaulish gods who were equated by Julius Caesar with the Roman god Dis Pater, from whom, according to Caesar, all the Gauls believed themselves to be ...

Brigit - in Celtic religion, ancient goddess of the poetic arts, crafts, prophecy, and divination; she was the equivalent of the Roman goddess Minerva (Greek Athena). In Ireland this Brigit was one of three goddesses of the same name, daughters of the Dagda, the great god of that country. Her two sisters were connected with healing and with the craft of the smith. Brigit was worshipped by the semi-sacred ...

Celtic religion - One notable feature of Celtic sculpture is the frequent conjunction of male deity and female consort, such as "Mercury" and Rosmerta, or Sucellos and Nantosvelta. Essentially these reflect the coupling of the protecting god of tribe or nation with the mother-goddess who ensured the fertility of the land. It is in fact impossible to distinguish clearly between the individual goddesses and these ...

Celtic religion - The locus classicus for the Celtic gods of Gaul is the passage in Caesar's Commentarii de bello Gallico (52-51 BC; The Gallic War) in which he names five of them together with their functions. Mercury was the most honoured of all the gods and many images of him were to be found. Mercury was regarded as the inventor of all the arts, the patron of travelers and of merchants, and the most powerful ...

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