The Lost Mother of Ireland

By CALEB O’CONNOR

As Duhallow residents, we’re very familiar with the iconic Paps on the horizon. Their full name, the Paps of Anu, tells its own story. Across belief systems, there are consistent figures and the Mother is an easy one to identify, from the Christian virgin mother Mary to the Greek Gaia to the Hindu Parvati, mother figures hold a special place and usually, the same space. They are the bringers of fertility, nature, and nurture, who are as strong as they are beautiful and kind. Anu is no different.

With all that said, there is not much to know about her. Even her name can be a point of contention, existing as Anu, Danu, and even Dana.

Many stories, while inspirational and lovely, tend to be a fiction added to the mythos by those who worship her now, but in truth, with the loss of our ancient practices, we lost these stories too.

So what do we know? She is the most ancient of the celtic gods and is heralded as being closely tied to fertility as mentioned, but also with poetry, art, knowledge, and wisdom. The Tuatha Dé Dannan followed her teachings and accepted her embrace. She nurtured and strengthened them and this knowledge and even magic brought the Tuatha Dé Dannan back to Ireland as a mist. Yes. As a mist.

Ireland’s landscape is magical, enrapturing, and inspires story and fantasy far beyond what we are sure we know. Is this Anu’s presence? Her influence? Do her teachings continue through us as some innate knowledge? While there’s little for us to know, we are not utterly without resources. Lora O’Brien of the Ogham Academy has a video on Anu, her naming, and her identity as the triple goddess. It is sad to see her stories lost to time, but perhaps as we share what we do know, we can find their source, and uncover our buried knowledge.