Irish Mythology and Celtic Gods of History

County Longford — ancient Annaly (Anghaile) and Teffia (Tethbae) — is one of the few regions in Ireland where mythology, early dynastic legend, and feudal history all overlap.

TheTuath(a)Dé Danann (Irish:[t̪ˠuəhə dʲeː d̪ˠan̪ˠən̪ˠ], meaning "the folk of the goddessDanu"), also known by the earlier nameTuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"),^[1] are a supernatural race inIrish mythology. They are thought to represent the maindeities of pre-ChristianGaelic Ireland.^[1] The Tuatha Dé Danann constitute apantheon whose attributes appeared in a number of forms throughout theCeltic world.^[2] 

The Tuath Dé dwell in theOtherworld but interact with humans and the human world. They are associated with ancientpassage tombs, which were seen as portals to the Otherworld. Their traditional rivals are theFomorians (Fomoire),^[3] who seem to represent the harmful or destructive powers of nature,^[4][5] and who the Tuath Dé defeat in theBattle of Mag Tuired. Each member of the Tuath Dé has associations with a particular feature of life or nature.  

Much of Irish mythology was recorded by Christian monks, who modified it to an extent. They often depicted the Tuath Dé as kings, queens and heroes of the distant past who had supernatural powers.^[7] Other times they were explained as fallen angels who were neither good nor evil.^[8] However, some medieval writers acknowledged that they were gods. They also appear in tales set centuries apart, showing them to be immortal. Prominent members of the Tuath Dé includeThe Dagda, who seems to have been a chief god;The Morrígan;Lugh;Nuada;

History of the County of Longford by James P. Farrell was published in 1891 and tells the history of the county from ancient prehistoric times until the late 19th century.

James P. Farrell claims they were desdendants of the Milesian conquerors of Ireland who supposedly defeated the mythical Tuatha De Danaan hundreds of years before Christ. The Milesians are said to have come from Spain . Their ancestor was Ghaedhal or Gatelus a sixth generation descendant of Noah. Noah is said to have been a ninth generation descendent of Adam the first man. This reveals the common perception in the 19th century that the Earth was merely a few thousand years old.

County Longford — ancient Annaly (Anghaile) and Teffia (Tethbae) — is one of the few regions in Ireland where mythology, early dynastic legend, and feudal history all overlap. Let’s look at how this works from the pre-Christian cosmology forward into the later Gaelic kingdoms and Norman lordships.

🌄 I. Mythic Geography: Teffia (Tethbae) in the Mythological Cycle

1. Tethbae (Teffia) — the Land of the Goddess

• The name Tethbae (pronounced “Tev-a”) comes from an ancient division of Meath — “Tethbae Tuaisceart” (North Teffia) and “Tethbae Deiscirt” (South Teffia).

• According to the Dindshenchas (place-lore poems), Tethbae was named for the goddess Tethba, wife of Cairbre Nia Fer, a legendary High King of Tara who appears in the Táin Bó Cuailnge.

  “Tethba, wife of Cairbre, who died of grief by the royal hill — from her the fair land Tethbae was named.”

So, before it was a kingdom, Teffia was literally the “land of the goddess Tethba”, a feminine-sacral territory linked to sovereignty.

2. Associated Deities and Heroes

Teffia and its lakes, rivers, and borders occur repeatedly in early Irish myth:

These stories placed Longford/Teffia at the spiritual center of Ireland’s mythic kingship cults, connecting fertility, kingship, and divine sovereignty.

🏺 II. Transition to Historical Kingdoms

1. From Myth to Clan

When the early Christian annalists organised Ireland into dynastic territories, the mythic Teffia became the kingdom of the Tethbae, ruled by descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Later, the O’Farrells (Uí Fhearghail) ruled Annaly (Anghaile) — the southern part of old Teffia.
Thus the land of the goddess Tethba became the land of the O’Farrell kings.

2. Annaly as “Sacred Valley”

The word Anghaile / Annaly is sometimes glossed as “the plain of valor or holiness”.
Medieval poets described its rivers (Inny, Camlin, Shannon) as “the streams of the gods,” echoing the Dindshenchas tradition that every noble river had its tutelary deity.

🕍 III. Christian and Feudal Echoes

When Norman and later Tudor lords arrived:

• They built castles and abbeys (Liserdawle, Granard, Abbey Lara, Inchcleraun) often on pre-Christian sacred sites — typical of how Christian and feudal structures were superimposed on mythic topography.

• Inchcleraun, for example, became a monastic island but preserved its name from Cloithrinn, the druidess or prophetic woman slain by Furbaide in myth.

• The feudal lords of Delvin / Nugent who received royal patents over Annaly in 1541 and after were literally inheriting a landscape already layered with sovereignty mythology — the land once of goddesses and queens who conferred kingship.

Thus, their palatine liberty echoed the ancient sacral kingship of the Tethbae rulers.

⚔️ IV. Mythic–Feudal Continuity

The mythology was therefore politically useful: it linked every later holder of the land — Gaelic chief, Norman baron, or English palatine — to the ancient right of kingship by divine geography.

📜 V. Summary

1. County Longford = ancient Teffia / Annaly, heartland of early Irish myth.

2. Named for Tethba, a sovereignty goddess whose legend sanctified the territory.

3. Sites such as Lough Ree, Lough Gowna, Inchcleraun, and Granard Hill are directly tied to gods and heroes — Manannán, Medb, Sionann, Crom Cruach.

4. The later O’Farrell kingdom and the Delvin palatine honour inherited those same sacred landscapes, turning mythic kingship into juridical lordship.

5. Thus, Annaly/Teffia is one of the few Irish regions where the divine sovereignty of the Tuatha Dé Danann evolved seamlessly into the feudal sovereignty of the Counts Palatine of Annaly.

Cistercian Abbey at Abbeyshrule, Longford