Celtic fairy traditions
Dana
Evans-Wentz calls the divine people the People of the Goddess Dana. He treats her as a foundational figure whose presence survives indirectly in the name and religious memory of the group. His account links Dana with Brigit and argues for continuity between pagan devotion and the saint’s cult. That identification belongs to his comparative interpretation and is not presented here as an uncontested genealogy.
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In the sources
Principal account
ReportedEvans-Wentz calls the divine people the People of the Goddess Dana. He treats her as a foundational figure whose presence survives indirectly in the name and religious memory of the group.
Further detail
ReportedHis account links Dana with Brigit and argues for continuity between pagan devotion and the saint’s cult. That identification belongs to his comparative interpretation and is not presented here as an uncontested genealogy.
Context & interpretation
Evans-Wentz combines named informants, manuscript narratives, and his own psychical theory in a 1911 survey. This entry preserves those distinctions: collected belief and literary tradition do not establish the physical existence of an Otherworld.
Original passages
Source 1
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
of the ancient mythology of Ireland. The Goddess Dana, called in the genitive Danand, in middle Irish times was named Brigit.^ And thisOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 315
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0315
- Original scan leaf
- 316
- Recorded leaf number
- 316
- Current Reader position
- 311
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
In modern Irish tradition, ' the People of the Sidhe,' or simply the Sidhe, refer to the beings themselves rather than to theirOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 322
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0322
- Original scan leaf
- 323
- Recorded leaf number
- 323
- Current Reader position
- 318
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Dagda
Divine king who assigns the Sidhe palaces and negotiates with conquerors.
Shared source pageSaint Brigit
Christian saint interpreted as an inheritor of older Irish devotion.
Shared source pageTuatha Dé Danann
The divine people who continue within Ireland’s fairy hills.
Same subject and traditionAengus Óg
The youthful god associated with the enchanted palace of the Boyne.