Sunday 19 October 2014

MÓRRIGAN / MÓR-RÍOGHAIN






1 She offers a gateway into darkness and the entrance to her cave,
Uaigh na gCat, Owenygat, in Co. Roscommon.

Owenygat : photo © www.rathcroghan.ie

2 Two mounds near Brú na Bóinne known collectively in mythology as Mur na Morrigna,
‘The Wall of the Mór-Ríoghain or Great Queen’ and later as Da Cich na Mórrigna,
'Two Paps of the Mórrigan'.
One text names these mounds individually as cirr & cuirrel,  comb and brush of
the Dagdha’s wife. Today they are referred to as satellite mounds K and L, passage graves
which contain decorated stones. 
Below them stands the stone known as the Lia Fáil on the Hill of  Tara, Co. Meath
where the Mórrigan resided for a time.
The stone now commemorates the graves of the Croppy Boys of 1798.



Paps of Anu, Co. Kerry.

3 Da Chích Anann, the Paps of the Goddess Anu, who was associated with the Mórrigan.
Between the mountains lie Gleannfreagham, 'The Glen of the Ravens'.

4 Below the Paps is Gort-na-Morrigna, Mórrigan’s field, Co. Louth, which in Irish mythology
was the gift given to the Mórrigan by her husband, the Dagdha.

Drombeg: photo © Megalithic Ireland.com
5 Several fulacht or ancient cooking places within the landscape are known as Fulacht na Morrigna,
Mórrigans' hearth. When the Goddess resided at Tara her cooking spit was famous for its' size
and ability to hold and cook three sorts of food at one time.



6 Within the hearth sits a cauldron from the Late Bronze Age found in a bog in Castlederg,
Co. Tyrone and believed to have been made for ritual purposes.
The bronze cauldron is on display in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.

Bronze cauldron: © 100objects.ie
7 Within the rising steam curls a wolf, a raven & an eel each of which the Mórrigan,
as shape-shifter, transformed into.





8 The final element of the painting shows the River Barrow.
The Goddess is associated with Samhain and with various rivers also appearing in mythology as
the 'Washer at the Ford', an aspect of the Mórrigan who prophecies the death of warriors in
forthcoming battle by standing in a stream washing their bloody armour.

We are also told that The Mórrigan had a son, Mechi, who had three hearts each containing
the shapes of three serpents within them.
Mac Cecht killed Mechi so that the serpents would not grow to consume or blight the island.
He removed the hearts, burnt them and threw the ashes into a river which boiled up.
The 'boiling'  river, the berba, is thought to be the River Barrow, one of the three sister rivers.

The model for the painting was Carmel Ní Dhuibheanaigh.


Carmel

Please also visit:
http://www.rathcroghan.ie
http://www.voicesfromthedawn.com/drombeg-stone-circle/
http://storyarchaeology.com

If anyone is interested in cards or posters of the Mórrigan please email me at -
morrigan@mac.com 






2 comments:

  1. Amazing! Jane's work is so filled with meaning, symbols and spirit. So much to see and think about. ...beautifully done work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Gwen - glad you like her.

    ReplyDelete

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