Tuatha Dé Danann

Here a cairn commemorates the cult of the goddess Aine, of the god-race of the Tuatha de Danann.

But the Old Irish literature of invaders from the east was well aware that the Celts had been preceded by a group that they called the Tuatha De Danann.

It is true that Cuchulinn seems to stand in a special relation to the Tuatha De Danann leader, the god Lug, but in primitive societies there is always a tendency to ascribe a divine parentage to men who stand out pre-eminently in prowess beyond their fellows.

Dr. O'Donovan, in writing of these Tuatha de Danann, says: "From the many monuments ascribed to this colony by tradition and in ancient Irish historical tales, it is quite evident that they were a real people, and from their having been considered gods and magicians by the Gaedhil or Scoti who subdued them, it may be inferred that they were skilled in arts which the latter did not understand."

Their name appears to identify them with the Tuatha de Danann whose necromantic power is celebrated in Irish tales, and of whom, according to O'Curry, one class of fairies are the representatives.