List of Celtic deities


The Celtic deities are known from a variety of sources such as written Celtic mythology, ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, religious objects, as well as place and personal names.
Celtic deities can belong to two categories: general deities and local deities. "General deities" were known by the Celts throughout large regions, and are the gods and goddesses called upon for protection, healing, luck, and honour. The "local deities" that embodied Celtic nature worship were the spirits of a particular feature of the landscape, such as mountains, trees, or rivers, and thus were generally only known by the locals in the surrounding areas.
After Celtic lands became Christianised, there were attempts by Christian writers to euhemerize or even demonize most of the pre-Christian deities, while a few others became Saints in the church. The Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology, who were commonly interpreted as divinities or deified ancestors, were downgraded in Christian writings to, at best "fallen angels", or mere mortals, or even portrayed as demons.

Gaelic deities and characters

Note: Alternative names are shown in brackets.

Male


  • Abarta
  • Abcán
  • Abhean
  • Aed
  • Aengus
  • Ailill
  • Aillen
  • Amergin Glúingel
  • Aí
  • Balor
  • Bith - father of Cessair
  • Bodb Dearg
  • Bres
  • Brian, Iuchar & Iucharba
  • Builg - a god of the Fir Bholg
  • Cermait
  • Cian
  • Cichol
  • Conand
  • Corb
  • Creidhne
  • Crom Cruach
  • The Dagda
  • Dian Cecht
  • Donn
  • Ecne
  • Elatha
  • Goibniu
  • Labraid
  • Lén
  • Lir
  • Luchtaine - a carpenter god
  • Lugh
  • Mac Cuill
  • Mac Cecht
  • Mac Gréine
  • Manannán mac Lir
  • Miach
  • Midir
  • Mug Ruith
  • Neit, Irish god of war, husband of Nemain and/or Badb
  • Nuada
  • Ogma
  • Seonaidh
  • Tethra
  • Tuirenn

Female


  • Achall - daughter of Cairbre Nia Fer
  • Achtland - Queen who crossed over to síde and became immortal to marry a Tuatha Dé Danann as she was never satisfied with mortal men
  • Aibell - the guardian spirit of the Dál gCais
  • Aimend - the daughter of Óengus Bolg
  • Aífe - character from the Ulster Cycle, mother of Connla
  • Áine - goddess of summer, wealth and sovereignty
  • Airmed - goddess of healing and herbalism
  • Anu - goddess of the earth and fertility
  • Banba, Ériu & Fódla - tutelary triumvirate of goddesses, sisters, eponymous for Ireland
  • Bec - a goddess associated with a magical well
  • Bébinn - goddess associated with birth or an underworld goddess in both Irish and Welsh mythology
  • Bé Chuille - a good sorceress
  • Bláthnat - a character in early Irish literature, a king's daughter, wife of the warrior Cú Roí and the lover of his rival Cú Chulainn
  • Bodhmall - druidess, sister of Fionn mac Cumhaill's father, one of Fionn's childhood caretakers
  • Boann - goddess of the river Boyne
  • Brigid - goddess of poetry, healing, smithcraft and the springtime. She also has two sisters with the same name, forming a triad of goddesses
  • Caillech - a divine hag, a creator deity, a weather deity, and an ancestor deity, also known as "Queen of Winter" in Scotland
  • Canola - the mythical inventor of the harp, an Irish goddess of music, inspiration and dreams
  • Carman - a warrior and sorceress from Athens
  • Cessair - a character from the Lebor Gabála Érenn, the leader of the first inhabitants of Ireland
  • Cethlenn - prophetess, the wife of Balor of the Fomorians
  • Clídna - a Queen of the Banshees, sometimes a goddess of love and beauty, and the patron of County Cork
  • Clothru - daughter of Eochu Feidlech, mother and aunt of Lugaid, grandmother, grand-aunt and mother of Lugaid's son Crimthann Nia Náir
  • Danand - daughter of Delbáeth, mother of Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba
  • Dechtere - the sister of Conchobar mac Nessa, mother of Cú Chulainn
  • Deirdre - the foremost tragic heroine in Irish legend and probably its best-known figure in modern times
  • Ernmas - an Irish mother goddess, mother to the eponymous Ériu, Banba, and Fódla, and the war goddesses Badb, Macha, and the Mórrígan among others
  • Étaín - the heroine of Tochmarc Étaíne
  • Ethniu - the daughter of the Fomorian leader Balor and the mother of Lugh
  • Fand - an otherworldly woman, once appearing in the form of a sea bird, wife of Manannán
  • Finnabair - a daughter of King Ailill and Queen Medb, of extraordinary beauty which causes hundreds of deaths in battle
  • Finnguala - daughter of Lir of the Tuatha Dé Danann, cursed by her stepmother to be a swan for 900 years until saved by the marriage of Lairgren
  • Flidais - a goddess of cattle and fertility, wife of High King Adamair
  • Fuamnach - Midir's first wife and a witch of the Tuatha Dé Danann, foster child of the wizard druid Bresal Etarlám
  • Gráinne - daughter of Cormac mac Airt, fiancee of Fionn mac Cumhaill, subsequently fiancee of Fionn's warrior Diarmuid Ua Duibhne
  • Grian - a pre-Christian goddess associated with County Limerick and Cnoc Greine, located seven miles from Knockainy; her name simply means "sun"
  • Lí Ban - otherworldly woman, sister of Fand, also appearing as a sea bird once, daughter of Áed Abrat
  • Macha - a sovereignty goddess associated with the province of Ulster, particularly with the sites of Navan Fort and Armagh, one of the three sisters "the three Morrígna." She is associated with the land, fertility, sovereignty, war and horses.
  • Medb - Queen of Connacht, strong-willed, ambitious, cunning and promiscuous, an archetypal warrior queen, believed to be a manifestation of the sovereignty goddess
  • Mess Buachalla - mother of the High King Conaire Mór
  • Mongfind - a goddess the pagan Irish worshipped on Samhain, wife of High King Eochaid Mugmedón and mother of his eldest three sons, sister of Crimthann mac Fidaig
  • The Morrígan, Badb & Nemain, also known as "The Thee Morrígna", are sister goddesses of sovereignty and war. They may foretell and grant death, doom or victory in battle. Sometimes the Morrígan is the name of all three combined into one goddess. Can manifest as a crow, three crows, a cow, wolf or eel.
  • Mór Muman - an euhemerised mother goddess and sovereignty goddess of the province, particularly of the Eóganachta, a queen of Munster and daughter of king Áed Bennán
  • Muirenn Muncháem - mother of Fionn mac Cumhaill
  • Niamh - an otherworldly woman who carried away Oisín to live with her in her domain of Tír na nÓg, the Land of Youth for 300 years
  • Plor na mBan - the beautiful daughter of Oisín and Niamh
  • Sadhbh - the mother of Oisín by Fionn mac Cumhail, living before and after her togetherness with Fionn cursed as a doe
  • Tailtiu - the daughter of the king of Spain and the wife of Eochaid mac Eirc, foster mother of Lugh
  • Tlachtga - daughter of the arch-druid Mug Ruith, powerful druidess
  • Uirne - sister of Muirenn

Gaulish and Brythonic deities

The Gaulish Celts inhabited the region corresponding to modern-day France, Switzerland, southern and western Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern Italy. The Brythonic Celts, or Britons, inhabited most of the island of Great Britain and later migrated to Brittany.

Male


  • Abandinus - local god in Cambridgeshire
  • Abellio - a god possibly connected with apple trees
  • Aereda - a Gallic serpent god
  • Alaunus - a god of healing and prophecy.
  • Alisanos - a mountain god
  • Alus - an agricultural god
  • Ambisagrus, a god of thunder and lightning, Ancestor God, Sky God, God of Wind, Rain & Hail
  • Andeis - a Gallic god of the Pyrenees
  • Ankou - a god of death
  • Apollo Cunomaglus - a hunter god
  • Apollo Grannus - a healing god
  • Arixus - a Gallic god of the Pyrenees
  • Arpeninus - a Gallic god of the Pyrenees
  • Artahe - a Gallic protector god associated with bears
  • Atepomarus - a Gallic horse god
  • Bedaius - a sea god
  • Belatucadros - a god of war
  • Belenus - a god of healing.
  • Bergimus - god of heights and mountains
  • Borvo - god of minerals and healing
  • Brasennus - a god for whom an inscription in the house of vilicus of Trumplini is dedicated
  • Caletos - a god of the herd
  • Caturix - war god of the Helvetii people
  • Cernunnos - god of animals and the underworld.
  • Cissonius - a god of trade
  • Mars Cnabetius - a god of war
  • Condatis - a god of the confluences of rivers
  • Cuslanus - a god associated with Jupiter
  • Deus Latis - a Brythonic god whose role is unknown
  • Deus Ducavavius - god of the rivers
  • Deus Orevaius - a little known god to whom an inscription at Cemenelum was dedicated
  • Dorminus - a god of hot springs
  • Intarabus - a god of the Treveri people
  • Erditse - minor deity known by only one inscription
  • Esus the God of vegetation
  • Glanis - a local god associated with a healing spring
  • Gobannus - a smith god
  • Ialonus - a god of meadows
  • Ihamnagalla Sqnnagalla - a god for whom an inscription was dedicated by Gaius Octavian Capiton
  • Jupiter Felvennis - a god of the sky
  • Leno - patron god of Lérins
  • Leucetios - a god of thunder
  • Maponos - a god of youth
  • Matunus - a bear god
  • Moccus - protector of boars and pigs
  • Moritasgus - a healer god
  • Mullo - associated with Apollo
  • Nemausus - a god worshipped at Nîmes
  • Niskus - a sea god
  • Nodens - a god of healing, the sea, hunting and dogs
  • Ogmios - god of eloquence
  • Paronnus - a god for whom a votive offering at Brixia was dedicated
  • Rudiobus - war god
  • Smertrios - a god of war
  • Sucellus - a god of agriculture and wine
  • Taranis - a god of thunder
  • Toutatis - a tribal protector god
  • Tridamos - bovine triplication and abundance
  • Ucuetis - blacksmith god
  • Vasio - possibly patron god of Vaison-la-Romaine
  • Vellaunus - possibly an ancestral god of death and the Underworld
  • Vernostonus - a Brythonic god, possibly a warrior or funerary god
  • Vindonnus - an epithet for Belenus
  • Vinotonus - His name may mean "God of the Vines"
  • Viridios - possibly a god of plants
  • Virotutis - epithet of Apollo
  • Visucius - Gallo-Roman god of trade
  • Vitucadrus - a god brilliant in energy
  • Vosegus - a god of the Vosges Mountains

Female


  • Acionna - a river goddess
  • Adsullata - goddess of the River Savubalabada
  • Aericula - a mother goddess
  • Aeron - goddess of war and slaughter, tutelary river spirit in Wales
  • Alantedoba - an agricultural goddess
  • Ancamna - goddess of the Moselle River
  • Ancasta - goddess of the River Itchen
  • Andarta - a goddess of war
  • Andraste - goddess of victory
  • Annea Clivana - a protective goddess associated with spirits
  • Arduinna - goddess of the Ardennes Forest
  • Arnemetia - a water goddess
  • Artio - goddess of the bear
  • Axona - goddess of the river Aisne
  • Baeserta - a goddess of the Pyrenees
  • Belisama - a goddess of lakes and rivers, fire, crafts and light
  • Bergusia - goddess of prosperity
  • Bormana - goddess of minerals and spring water
  • Bricta - a Gaulish water goddess, consort of Luxovius
  • Cailleach - the Scottish hag; creator, destroyer, and oldest ancestor
  • Carlin - another name for the Cailleach or hag
  • Carpundia - a river goddess
  • Cathubodua - a goddess of war
  • Caticatona - a water goddess
  • Clota - matron goddess of the River Clyde
  • Clutoida - a river goddess
  • Coinchend - a female warrior from the Otherworld
  • Coventina - goddess of wells and springs
  • Damara - a fertility goddess
  • Damona - consort of Apollo Borvo and of Apollo Moritasgus, a goddess of healing, fertility, and incubation
  • Dea Latis - a goddess of bogs and pools
  • Dea Matrona - "divine mother goddess" and goddess of the River Marne in Gaul
  • Dea Sequana - goddess of the River Seine
  • Deae Vediantiae - mother goddesses
  • Dervonnae - mother goddesses
  • Dibǒnā - a fountain goddess
  • Divona - a Gallic goddess of a sacred spring used by the city of Burdigala as a water source
  • Dominae - mother goddesses
  • Epona - fertility goddess, protector of horses
  • Erecura - earth goddess
  • Feminae - mother goddesses
  • Gobróig - goddesses of wells and springs
  • Habetrot - a Brythonic folkloric figure of spinning and healing, later euhemerized
  • Henwen - a sow goddess
  • Erecura - a goddess of death and fertility
  • Histria - a Gallic goddess of land
  • Icaunus - a goddess of a river
  • Icovellauna - goddess of a sacred spring
  • Imona - a well goddess
  • Inciona - a goddess of the Treveran people
  • Lerina - a patron goddess of Lérins
  • Litavis - an earth goddess
  • Maiabus - a Gallic goddess with a role similar to Maia
  • Matronae Dervonnae - mother goddesses
  • Matronae Vediantiae - mother goddesses
  • Maximia - fountain goddess
  • Melusine - an otherwoldly figure associated with mermaid lore
  • Nantosuelta - goddess of nature, the earth, fire, and fertility in Gaul
  • Natae - goddesses whose roles are unknown
  • Niskai - water sprites
  • Ricagambeda - her name may mean "furrow"
  • Ritona - a goddess of the Treveri people
  • Rosmerta - goddess of fertility and abundance
  • Sabrina - goddess of the River Severn
  • Seixomniai Leuciticai - a Celtic goddess, equated with Diana
  • Senua - an older Brythonic goddess of sacred springs
  • Sequana - goddess of the River Seine
  • Sueta - a goddess of hot springs
  • Suleviae - a triune version of Sulis
  • Sulis - goddess of the healing waters at Bath, England
  • Tamesis - goddess of the River Thames
  • Veica Noriceia - a war goddess
  • Verbeia - goddess of the River Wharfe
  • Vesunna - a goddess who gave her name to the town Vesona, now in France
  • Vibes - a goddess attested in Noricum

Welsh deities and characters

The Welsh are the Britons that inhabit modern-day Wales. After the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain, many Brythonic territories came under Anglo-Saxon influence; in Wales, however, Brythonic Celtic religion was largely retained. Many Welsh myths were later Christianized so it is sometimes difficult to determine if their characters were originally gods, mortals, or historical figures.

Male


  • Afallach - descendant of Beli Mawr and father of Mabon ap Modron
  • Amaethon - god of agriculture
  • Arawn - king of the otherworld realm of Annwn
  • Avalloc
  • Beli Mawr - ancestor deity
  • Bladud
  • Bendigeidfran - giant and king of Britain
  • Cilydd
  • Culhwch
  • Dylan Ail Don
  • Efnysien
  • Euroswydd
  • Gilfaethwy
  • Gofannon - a smith god
  • Gwern
  • Gwydion - magician, trickster, and hero in Welsh mythology
  • Gwyddno Garanhir
  • Gwyn ap Nudd
  • Hafgan
  • Lludd Llaw Eraint
  • Llŷr
  • Mabon - literary figure
  • Mallolwch
  • Manawydan
  • Nisien
  • Pryderi
  • Pwyll
  • Taliesin
  • Urien
  • Ysbaddaden

Female


  • Agrona - goddess of the rivery Ayr, and of war and slaughter
  • Arianrhod - Goddess of the moon and stars
  • Blodeuwedd - goddess of spring
  • Branwen - goddess of love and beauty
  • Ceridwen - a figure of rebirth and transformation
  • Cigfa - wife of Pryderi
  • Creiddylad - goddess of flowers and love
  • Creirwy - one of the three most beautiful maids in Britain, daughter of Ceridwen
  • Dôn
  • Gwenhwyfar - Arthurian figure
  • Modron, Welsh mythological figure, possible derivation of Dea Matrona
  • Nimue
  • Olwen
  • Rhiannon

    Celtiberian, Gallaecian and Lusitanian deities

The Celtiberians were the ancient peoples who inhabited modern-day Portugal and Spain. Some believe the Lusitani and Vettones were culturally Celtic. Nevertheless, they were at least Celtic-influenced.

Male


  • Aernus
  • Aernvs
  • Aetio
  • Araco
  • Ares Lusitani
  • Bandua
  • Bormanicus
  • Brigo
  • Cariocecus
  • Carneo
  • Cernunnos - god of fertility, life, animals, and the underworld.
  • Cohue
  • Cosus
  • Crouga
  • Deo Domino Endovellico
  • Deo Durbedico
  • Deo Nemedeco
  • Deo Paramaeco
  • Deo Turiaco
  • Endovelicus
  • Enobolico
  • Erriapus
  • Issibaeo
  • Kuanikio
  • Lugus
  • Mermandiceo
  • Picio
  • Reue
  • Salama
  • Sucellus
  • Tabaliaenus
  • Tabudico
  • Tongoenabiagus
  • Turiacus
  • Vorteaeceo
  • Visucius

Female


  • Asidiae
  • Ataegina
  • Besenclā - a community and house protector
  • Broeneiae
  • Coruae
  • Cosuneae
  • Crougeae
  • Deae sanctae
  • Deiba
  • Epane
  • Erbina - a goddess of wild animals, hunting, and domestic security
  • Ermae
  • Flauiae Conimbriga
  • Ilurbeda
  • Lacipaea
  • Laneana - a goddess of springs and floods
  • Losa
  • Luna Augusta
  • Mirobleo
  • Munidis
  • Nabia - versatile goddess
  • Nymphis
  • Ocrimirae
  • Reva - personification of water flows
  • Toga
  • Trebaruna
  • Trebopala
  • Tutelae

Germanian and Pannonian Celtic deities

was a geographical region covering north-central Europe. Pannonia was a region in central Europe.

Male


Female


  • Apadeva - a water goddess
  • Cissonia - a goddess of trade
  • Nehalennia - a goddess of seafarers
  • Vesunna

Illyrian and Moesian Celtic deities

is a region in the western part of the Balkan peninsula.

Male


  • Andinus
  • Boria - a god of the North Wind
  • Jupiter Arubianus
  • Melesocus

Female


  • Eia - a healing goddess, later assimilated to Bona Dea
  • Trita - goddess of health
  • Venus Ansotica

Pictish deities

The Picts were ancient peoples living in Scotland.

Female


  • Cuachag
  • Deva
  • * Duibhe
  • Éiteag - a sprite
  • Gamhnach
  • Tava - river goddess

Galatian deities

The Galatians were the ancient peoples who inhabited north-central Anatolia.

Male


  • Souolibrogenos
  • Telesphorus
  • Zeus Tavianos

Works cited

  • Editor,
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  • Rankin, David. Celts and the classical world. london: Routledge..
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