Donn

Bull Rock, off the southwest coast of Ireland, is often identified with Teach Duinn (the House of Donn)

In Irish mythology, Donn ("the dark one", from Proto-Celtic: *Dhuosnos)[1][2] is an ancestor of the Gaels and is believed to have been a god of the dead.[2][3][4] Donn is said to dwell in Tech Duinn (the "house of Donn" or "house of the dark one"),[5] where the souls of the dead gather.[6] He may have originally been an aspect of the Dagda. Folklore about Donn survived into the modern era in parts of Ireland, in which he is said to be a phantom horseman riding a white horse.

  1. ^ Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (1999). The Sacred Isle: Belief and religion in pre-Christian Ireland. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 27, 58.
  2. ^ a b Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (1991). Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 165–166, 154.
  3. ^ Monaghan, Patricia (2004). The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing. p. 135.
  4. ^ Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 601, 1133.
  5. ^ Müller-Lisowski, Käte (1948). "Contribution to a Study in Irish Folklore: Traditions about Donn". Béaloideas. 18 (1/2): 142–199. JSTOR 20722853.
  6. ^ Freitag, Barbara (2013). Hy Brasil: The metamorphosis of an island. Rodopi. pp. 98–99, 101.