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Gods of the Celts
Here are just a few of my favourites.
Cernunnos.
In Celtic mythology Cernunnos is lord of the animals, he is usually depicted as wearing horns or antlers, sometimes decorated with a torc and has both human and animal ears. He is often shown sitting cross-legged position and accompanied by a stag or bull, and is frequently presented as holding a ram headed serpent. His associated with fertility abundance regeneration as well as hunting.
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 | DagdaDagda whose name means {The Good God}is a father God, and chief of the Tuatha De Danann and was the son of Eladu. He is often depicted as a very large man wearing a peasants garb, in particular a short tunic that reveals his buttocks. The Celts may have chosen to present him in this way to emphasize his sexuality and fertility, since his sexuality is demonstrated in some of the legends concerning him
For example, He is said to have mated with the Goddess Morrigan before the second battle of Mach Tuiredh as she stood with one foot on each bank of the river Unius and also with Boann in an illicit union that produced Oenghus.
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According to legend the Dagda always carried a gigantic club that had magical powers. One end of the club was destructive and was used to kill his enemies, but the other end had healing powers and could heal the wounded and even revive the dead.
As well as being associated with this magic club he also had a magic cauldron. This had an inexhaustible supply of food and no one went away from it feeling hungry, it to had healing powers and could restore the dead to life.
The Dagda is also said to be the owner of a magic harp that was stolen by Fomorii but was recovered.
Lugh
In Irish Celtic Mythology, Lugh is one of the more important of the Gods. He is associated with light and the sun and is also the God of arts and crafts, and Lughnasadh is named after him.
He is cognate to the British and Gaulish God Lugus and the Welsh God Lludd. There are various accounts about his origins, and he is said to have become ruler of the Gods after Nuada, king of the Tuatha De Danann having demonstrated many skills and earning the name Samildanach, meaning 'of many skills'. As king of the Tuatha De Danann, he led them into the second battle of Magh Tuiredh. In the battle he often took the form of someone with a single arm and a single eye. The Fomorii were defeated, and Lugh killed Balor in single combat with a sling.
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 | Manannan Mac LirIn Irish Celtic Mythology, Manannan Mac Lir was the son of Lir, like his father, he was a sea- God and is associated with sea journeys and the Otherworld. Traditionally he is supposed to have lived on the Isle Of Man of which he was the first King, although he is supposed to have lived in Tir Tairnigirib, the Otherworldly Land of Promise.
He is associated with the welsh deity Manawydan Fab Llyr. His wife was Fand. He is usually shown as wearing a green cloak, perhaps one that seemed to change colour when it caught the light. He had the ability to shape-change and is supposed to have used this skill to father mortal children.
Manannan Mac Lir was an important God, being able to, for example, create storms to wreck invading ships. He was also associated with trickery and sorcery, and is supposed to have given LUGH magical gifts to help Nuada and him fight the Fomorii.
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Oenghus or Aenghus.In Irish Celtic Mythology, Oenghus is the God of love. He is the son of the Dagda, his mother being Boann.
Because his mother conceived him in the course of an illicit affair, her pregnancy was concealed by the sun standing still for nine months. Oenghus was thus conceived and born on the same day.
Oghma or OgmaIn Irish Celtic Mythology, Oghma was the God of eloquence and literature. He was given the titles of Grianainech, referring to the fact that he had a sunny countenance and cermait, referring to the fact that he had a honeyed mouth.
In legend, the invention of Ogham the early Irish script, is ascribed to him. He was one of the Tuatha De Danann and under the rule of Bres he was humiliated by being made to collect firewood. Oghma captured Orna, the magic sword of Tethra. He is depicted as a warrior and a poet, and sometimes as a guide of the dead to the otherworld
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CianIn Irish Celtic Mythology, Cian was born the son of Dian Cecht, the God of medicine. He had a cow, which was stolen by Balor, and he went to retrieve it from the island of Tory. While he was there he found his way into the glass tower in which Balor had imprisoned his own daughter Ethlinn so that no man could get near her. He was trying to avert a prophecy that he, Balor would be killed by his own grandson. Cian is said to have seduced Ethlinn, who bore him a son called LUGH who did indeed kill Balor
Tuatha De DanannIn Irish Celtic Mythology, the Gods of pre-Christian Ireland were known as the Tuatha De Danann, which translates as people of the Goddess Danu. When the Tuatha De Danann arrived in Ireland, they fought two battles, the first against the previous invaders, the Fir Bholg and the second against the Fomorii. The Tuatha De Danann defeated the Fir Bholg at the first battle of Magh Tuiredh. The defeat meant that the Fir Bholg had to hand over the Kingship of Ireland to the Tuatha, but the king of the Tuatha, Nuada, lost an arm in the battle and was forced to abdicate. In his place, Bres was chosen to be leader and king, but his leadership was not a success and Nuada, having had an artificial silver arm fitted, was restored to the throne. Bres then defected to the Fomorii and raised an army against the Tuatha. LUGH became the leader of the Tuatha, Nuada having stepped down in his favour.
The second battle of Magh Tuiredh was then fought between the Tuatha under LUGH and the Fomorii under Bres. This battle was to be decided on the result of single combat between Lugh and the giant Balor.
Lugh won when he delivered a slingshot that went right through Balor's single eye and out of the back of his head to kill or injure some of the Fomorii followers.
The Tuatha were finally defeated by the invasionary force of the sons of Mil Espaine, and the Tuatha were given the underground part of Ireland for there realm.
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