Editing The Dagda

{{Short description|God in Irish mythology}}
{{Redirect|Dagda}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Irish
| name = The Dagda
| image = 
| member_of = the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]]
| god_of = Chief/leader of the Gods.
| abode = [[Brú na Bóinne]]
| battles = [[Magh Tuiredh]]
| weapons = {{hlist | [[Club (weapon)|Club]]| [[Mace (bludgeon)|Mace]]}}
| artefacts = {{hlist|Staff| [[Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann|Cauldron]]| [[Uaithne|Harp]]}}
| parents = {{hlist | [[Elatha]]| [[Danu (Irish goddess)|Danu]]}}
| siblings = [[Ogma]]
| consorts = {{hlist | [[Morrigan]] || [[Boand]]}}
| children = {{hlist | [[Aed (god)|Aed]]| [[Aengus]]| [[Bodb Derg]]| [[Cermait]]| [[Midir]]| [[Brigit]]}}
}}
{{Special characters}}

'''The Dagda''' ({{langx|sga|In Dagda}} {{IPA|sga|ˈdaɣða|}}, {{langx|ga|An Daghdha}}) is considered the great god of [[Irish mythology]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Cotterell |first=Arthur |title=The Encyclopedia of Mythology |publisher=Hermes House |year=2006 |isbn=978-0681375819 |pages=106, 121 |language=en}}</ref> He is the chief god of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], with the Dagda portrayed as a father-figure, king, and [[druid]].<ref name=koch>Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia''. ABC-CLIO, 2006. pp. 553–54 {{ISBN?}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Philip |author-link=Philip Wilkinson (author) |title=The Mythology Book |last2=Carroll |first2=Georgie |last3=Faulkner |first3=Mark |last4=Field |first4=Jacob F. |author-link4=Jacob F. Field |last5=Haywood |first5=John |last6=Kerrigan |first6=Michael |last7=Philip |first7=Neil |last8=Pumphrey |first8=Nicholaus |last9=Tocino-Smith |first9=Juliette |publisher=[[DK (publisher)|DK]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4654-7337-0 |edition=First American |location=New York |pages=164 |language=en}}</ref> He is associated with [[List of fertility deities|fertility]], [[List of agricultural gods|agriculture]], manliness and strength, as well as magic, druidry and wisdom.<ref name=koch/><ref name="jones">[http://www.maryjones.us/jce/dagda.html "An Dagda"]. ''Mary Jones's Celtic Encyclopedia''.  {{ISBN?}}</ref><ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Ó hÓgáin |first=Dáithí |author-link=Dáithí Ó hÓgáin |entry=Daghdha |title=Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition |publisher=Prentice Hall Press |date=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qUgUAQAAIAAJ&q=Tuatha+river|pages=145–147 |isbn=<!--0132759594, -->9780132759595}}</ref><ref name=monaghan113>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Monaghan  |first=Patricia |author-link=Patricia Monaghan |entry=Dagda |title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore |publisher=Infobase Publishing |date=2014 |orig-date=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nd9R6GQBB_0C&pg=PA113 |pages=113–114|isbn=<!--438110375, -->9781438110370}}</ref> He can control life and death (cf. his staff, below), {{citation needed span|[[weather god|the weather]] and crops, as well as time and the seasons.|date=June 2024}}

He is often described as a large bearded man or giant<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha"/> wearing a hooded cloak.<ref name="ward">Ward, Alan (2011). ''The Myths of the Gods: Structures in Irish Mythology''. pp. 9–10  {{ISBN?}}</ref> He owns a magic staff ({{lang|sga|lorc}}) of dual nature: it kills with one end and brings to life with the other.<ref name="dagdas_staff-ed-bergin"/>  He also owns a cauldron (the ''[[coire ansic]]'') which never runs empty, and a magic harp (''[[Uaithne]]'', though this may be the name of the harper), which will not play unless called by its two bynames, and the harp can fly itself to the Dagda when thus beckoned. He is said to dwell in [[Newgrange|Brú na Bóinne]] (Newgrange). Other places associated with or named after him include [[Hill of Uisneach|Uisneach]], [[Grianan of Aileach]], [[Lough Neagh]] and [[Knock Iveagh]]. The Dagda is said to be the husband of [[the Morrígan]] and lover of [[Boann]].<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha" /> His children include [[Aengus]], [[Brigit]], [[Bodb Derg]], [[Cermait]], [[Aed (god)|Aed]], and [[Midir]].<ref name=koch/>

The Dagda's name is thought to mean "the good god" or "the great god". His other names include ''Eochu'' or ''Eochaid Ollathair'' ("horseman, great father"), and ''Ruad Rofhessa'' ("mighty one/lord of great knowledge"). There are indications ''[[Dáire]]'' was another name for him.<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha"/> The death and ancestral god [[Donn]] may originally have been a form of the Dagda,<ref name="Donn">{{harvnb|Ó hÓgáin|1991}}, s.v. "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=qUgUAQAAIAAJ&q=Donn |2=Donn}}", pp. 165–66</ref> and he also has similarities with the later harvest figure [[Crom Dubh]].<ref name="Crom">MacNeill, Máire. ''The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest''. Oxford University Press, 1962. p. 416 {{ISBN?}}</ref> Several tribal groupings saw the Dagda as an ancestor and were named after him, such as the [[Iveagh|Uí Echach]] and the [[Dáirine]].

The Dagda has been likened to the Germanic god [[Odin]], the Gaulish god [[Sucellos]],<ref name=koch/> and the Roman god [[Dīs Pater]].<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha"/>

== Name ==
=== Etymology ===
The Old Irish name ''Dagda'' is generally believed to stem from {{langx|cel-x-proto|Dago-dēwos}}, meaning "the good god" or "the great god".<ref name="mallory&adams1997"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|publisher=Errance|year=2003|isbn=978-2877723695|page=134|author-link=Xavier Delamarre}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last1=Martin|first1=Scott A. |author-link=<!--Scott A. Martin--> |date=April 2012|title=The Names of the Dagda|hdl=2027.42/138966 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/138966|access-date=1 March 2023}}</ref>

===Epithets===
The Dagda has several other names or epithets which reflect aspects of his character.<ref>{{harvnb|Ó hÓgáin|1991}}, s.v. "{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=qUgUAQAAIAAJ&q=Daghdha+aspects |2=Gods}}", p. 245</ref> 
* ''Eochu'' or ''Eochaid Ollathair'' ("horseman, great father" or "horseman, all-father")<ref>Koch, pp. 553, 1632</ref> 
* ''Ruad Rofhessa'' ("mighty one/lord of great knowledge")<ref name=monaghan113/><ref>Maier, Bernhard. ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture''. Boydell & Brewer, 1997. p. 90</ref> 
* ''[[Dáire]]'' ("the fertile one")<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha"/> 
* ''Aed'' ("the fiery one")<ref>[[Peter Berresford Ellis|Berresford Ellis, Peter]]. ''The Druids''. W.B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994. p. 123</ref><ref>Smyth, Daragh. ''A Guide to Irish Mythology''. Irish Academic Press, 1996. p. 15</ref> 
* ''Fer Benn'' ("horned man" or "man of the peak")
* ''Cera'' (possibly "creator"),<ref>Monaghan, p. 83</ref> 
* ''Cerrce'' (possibly "striker")<ref name=jones/> 
* ''Easal''<ref>Monaghan, p. 144</ref>
* ''Eogabal''<ref name="ward"/>

The name Eochu is a diminutive form of Eochaid, which also has spelling variants of Eochaidh and Echuid.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Brien |first1=Kathleen M |title=Index of Names in Irish Annals: Eochaid, Echuid / Eochaidh |url=http://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Eochaid.shtml |website=Index of Names in Irish Annals |access-date=30 November 2019}}</ref> The death and ancestral god [[Donn]] may originally have been a form of the Dagda, who is sometimes called Dagda Donn.<ref name="Donn"/>

==Description==
The Dagda was one of the kings of the Tuatha De Danann. The [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] are the race of supernatural beings who conquered the [[Fomorians]], who inhabited Ireland previously, prior to the coming of the [[Milesians (Irish)|Milesians]]. The [[Mórrígan]] is described as his wife, his daughter was [[Brigit]],<ref name=Moytura>{{cite web |last1=Stokes |first1=Whitley |title=The Second Battle of Moytura |url=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300011/ |website=Corpus of Electronic Texts |publisher=University College, Cork |access-date=3 August 2019}}</ref> and his lover was [[Boann]], after whom the River Boyne is named, though she was married to [[Elcmar]] and with whom he had the god Aengus. Prior to the battle with the [[Fomorians]], he coupled with the goddess of war, the [[Mórrígan]], on [[Samhain]].<ref name="CMT">''[[Cath Maige Tuireadh]]''. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/cmt/cmteng.htm Trans. Elizabeth A. Gray].</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dagda|title=Dagda &#124; Celtic deity}}</ref> (Cf. {{section link||Family}}).

Of Dagda it is stated "He was a beautiful god of the heathens, for the Tuatha Dé Danann worshipped him: for he was an earth-god to them because of the greatness of his magical power", in the [[Middle Irish|Middle Irish language]] ''Coir Anmann'' (The Fitness of Names) says:<ref name="CA">''[[Coir Anmann]]''. [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/fitness_of_names.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202314/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/fitness_of_names.html|date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

Tales depict the Dagda as a figure of immense power. He is said to own a magic staff, club or mace which could kill nine men with one blow; but with the handle he could return the slain to life. He owned a magic harp.

===Dagda's staff===
In the tract found in the [[Yellow Book of Lecan]], there were three items the Dagda named together, his staff ({{lang|sga|lorc}}), there was the shirt (''{{linktext|léine}}'') of protection from sickness, and the cloak ({{lang|sga|lumman}}) of shape-shifting and color-change.{{efn|Old Irish spellings normalized from redaction which reads "{{lang|sga|Lene}} [[Tironian et|⁊]] {{lang|sga|lorc ⁊ lumann}}".}} The "great staff" ({{lang|sga|lorg mór}}) had a smooth end which brought the dead back to life (he resuscitated his son Cermait Milbél with the smooth end), but the staff's rough end caused instant death.<ref name="dagdas_staff-ed-bergin"/><ref name="west2008"/>

The staff/club is also described in the [[Ulster Cycle]] narrative, ''[[Mesca Ulad]]'',<ref name="west2008"/> where it was called the "terrible iron staff" ({{lang|sga|lorg aduathmar iarnaidi}}).<ref name="mesca_ulad-ed&tr-henessey"/><ref>{{harvnb|Ó hÓgáin|1999|p=62}} renders as "a dreadful iron club".</ref>
<!--(Also, cf. "mace of wrath" below).-->

===Cauldron===
The Cauldron of the Dagda is one of the [[Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann]],<ref name="four_jewels-ed&tr-hull"/> of which it was said "an assembly used not to go unsatisfied from it".{{Refn|{{harvnb|Ó hÓgáin|1999|p=62}}, citing Hull ed. tr. "Four Jewels", but his quote is Ó hÓgáin's own translation, as it differs in wording from Hull's "Never went an assembly of guests away unsatisfied from the caldron of the Dagda".<ref name="four_jewels-ed&tr-hull"/>}}

The cauldron "signified plenty and generousity".{{sfn|Ó hÓgáin|1999|p=189}} Hence, his magic cauldron was otherwise known as the ''coire ansic'' ("the un-dry cauldron").{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

===Dagda's harp===
{{main|Uaithne}}
After [[Uaithne|Úaithne]], the Dagda's harper was abducted by the [[Fomorians]], the Dagda went to the enemy's hall and retrieved his magic [[harp]], which had two names, according to the text of the ''[[Cath Maige Tuired]]'' ("Second Battle of Moytura").<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-gray1982">{{citation|editor-last=Gray |editor-first=Elizabeth A. |editor-link=<!--Elizabeth A. Gray--> |editor-mask=Gray, Elizabeth A. ed. tr. |others=Proof corrections by Benjamin Hazard |title=Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired |publisher=CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts|year=2003 |orig-year=1982 |url=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G300010/ |at={{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G300010/text164.html|2=§163}}–{{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G300010/text165.html|2=§164}}, p. 70}}; {{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/ |2=English translation}}: {{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/text165.html|2=§163}}–{{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/text166.html|2=§164}}, p. 71</ref> And when the Dagda called upon his harp by its two names: "Come Daur Dá Bláo / Come Cóir Cetharchair /
Come summer, come winter.." the harp leapt off the wall and came to him. The harp was forbidden by the Dagda from issuing any sound, unless thus called upon by the names,<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-gray1982"/> which translate to "Oak of Two Meadows"<ref name="CMT-notes-gray1982">{{cite book|editor-last=Gray |editor-first=Elizabeth A. |editor-link=<!--Elizabeth A. Gray--> |editor-mask=Gray, Elizabeth A. ed. tr. |title=Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired |publisher=Irish Texts Society |year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjzYAAAAMAAJ&q=Oak|at=notes to §163, p. 113}}</ref> and "the Four Angled Music";<ref name="CMT-tr-stokes1891"/> {{citation needed span|Hence, harp was a richly ornamented magic harp made of [[oak]] which, when the Dagda played it, put the seasons in their correct order;|date=June 2024}}<!--.--> The Dagda had the skill to play the "Three Strains" (joy, sorrow, sleep) which he used to immobilize the Fomorians and escape.<ref name="CMT-notes-gray1982"/>

===Other possessions===
He possessed two pigs, one of which was always growing whilst the other was always roasting, and ever-laden fruit trees. He is also described as being the owner of a black-maned heifer that was given to him for his labours prior to the Second Battle of Moytura. When the heifer calls her calf, all the cattle of Ireland taken by the Fomorians as tribute graze.<ref name="CMT-tr-stokes1891">{{cite web |last1=Stokes |first1=Whitley |title=The Second Battle of Moytura |url=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300011.html |website=Corpus of Electronic Texts |publisher=University College, Cork, Ireland |access-date=13 December 2021}}</ref>

==Family==
The Dagda is said to be husband of [[the Morrígan]], who is called his "envious wife".<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha"/><ref>[https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T106500D/text049.html ''The Metrical Dindsenchas''] "Odras" Poem 49</ref> His children include [[Aengus]], [[Cermait]], and [[Aed (god)|Aed]] (often called the three sons of the Dagda), [[Brigit]] and [[Bodb Derg]].<ref name=koch/> He is said to have two brothers, [[Nuada Airgetlám|Nuada]] and [[Ogma]], but this may be an instance of the tendency to [[Triple deity|triplicate deities]].<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha"/> Elsewhere the Dagda is linked exclusively with Ogma, and the two are called "the two brothers."<ref name=Moytura /> In the Dindsenchas, the Dagda is given a daughter named Ainge, for whom he makes a twig basket or tub that always leaks when the tide is in and never leaks when it is going out.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.ucd.ie/tlh/trans/ws.rc.15.001.t.text.html| title = ''Dindsenchas'' "Fid n-Gaible"}}</ref> The Dagda's father is named Elatha son of Delbeath.<ref name="dolmens">{{cite book |last1=Borlase |first1=William Copeland |title=The Dolmens of Ireland |date=1897 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |location=Indiana University |page=349 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wvJMAAAAMAAJ&q=scal+balb&pg=PA802 |access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref> Englec, the daughter of Elcmar, is named as a consort of the Dagda and the mother of his "swift son".<ref name="banshenchas">{{cite web |title=Banshenchus: The Lore of Women |url=http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/banshenchus.html |website=Celtic Literature Collective |publisher=Mary Jones |access-date=2 December 2019}}</ref> Echtgi the loathesome is another daughter of the Dagda's named in the [[Banshenchas]].<ref name=banshenchas />

== Mythology ==
[[File:Newgrange, Ireland 001.jpg|thumb|The rising Sun illuminates the inner chamber of [[Newgrange]] only at the [[winter solstice]].]]
Before the Second Battle of [[Mag Tuired]] the Dagda builds a fortress for [[Bres]] called Dún Brese and is also forced by the [[Fomorians|Fomorian]] kings [[Elatha]], Indech, and [[Tethra]] to build [[ringforts|raths]].<ref name=Moytura /> In the lead up to the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, when Lugh asks Dagda what power he will wield over the Fomorian host, he responds that he "will take the side of the men of Erin both in mutual smiting and destruction and wizardry. Their bones under my club will be as many as hailstones under feet of herds of horses".<ref name=Moytura />

The Dagda has an affair with [[Boann]], the goddess of the River Boyne. She lives at [[Newgrange|Brú na Bóinne]] with her husband [[Elcmar]]. The Dagda impregnates her after sending Elcmar away on a one-day errand. To hide the pregnancy from Elcmar, the Dagda casts a spell on him, making "the sun stand still" so he will not notice the passing of time. Meanwhile, Boann gives birth to [[Aengus]], who is also known as Maccán Óg ('the young son'). Eventually, Aengus learns that the Dagda is his true father and asks him for a portion of land. In some versions of the tale, the Dagda helps Aengus take ownership of the Brú from Elcmar. Aengus asks and is given the Brú for ''láa ocus aidche''; because in Old Irish this could mean either "a day and a night" or "day and night", Aengus claims it forever. Other versions have Aengus taking over the Brú from the Dagda himself by using the same trick.<ref>Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p.39</ref><ref name="Hensey">Hensey, Robert. Re-discovering the winter solstice alignment at Newgrange, in ''The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology''. Oxford University Press, 2017. pp.11–13</ref>

It has been suggested that this tale represents the [[winter solstice]] illumination of Newgrange at Brú na Bóinne, during which the sunbeam (the Dagda) enters the inner chamber (the womb of Boann) when the [[Sun path|sun's path]] stands still. The word ''solstice'' (Irish ''grianstad'') means sun-standstill. The conception of Aengus may represent the 'rebirth' of the sun at the winter solstice, him taking over the Brú from an older god representing the growing sun taking over from the waning sun.<ref>Anthony Murphy and Richard Moore. "Chapter 8, Newgrange: Womb of the Moon", ''Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers''. Liffey Press, 2008. pp.160–172</ref><ref name="Hensey"/>

The ''[[Tochmarc Étaíne]]'', tells the story of how Bóand conceives Aengus by the Dagda.<ref name="TE">''[[Tochmarc Étaíne]]''. [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T300012/index.html Corpus of Electronic Texts]</ref> In the Aislinge Oengusso or Dream of Aengus the Dagda and Boand help Aengus to find a mysterious woman who he has fallen in love with in his dreams.

In a poem about [[Conaille Muirtheimne|Mag Muirthemne]], the Dagda banishes an octopus with his "mace of wrath" using the following words: "Turn thy hollow head! Turn thy ravening body! Turn thy resorbent forehead! Avaunt! Begone!", the sea receded with the creature and the plain of Mag Muirthemne was left behind.<ref name="ucc.ie">[https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T106500D/text099.html The Metrical Dindshenchas poem on Mag Muirthemne]. [[Corpus of Electronic Texts]].</ref>

In the ''Dindsenchas'' the Dagda is described as swift with a poison draught and as a justly dealing lord. He is also called a King of Erin with hosts of hostages, a noble, slender prince, and the father of Cermait, Aengus, and Aed.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T106500D/text022.html| title = ''The Metrical Dindsenchas'' poem 22 "Ailech I"}}</ref>

He is credited with a seventy- or eighty-year reign (depending on source) over the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], before dying at Brú na Bóinne, finally succumbing to a wound inflicted by [[Cethlenn]] during the battle of Mag Tuired.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macalister |first=Robert Alexander Stewart |url=http://archive.org/details/leborgablare04macauoft |title=Lebor gabála Érenn : The book of the taking of Ireland |date=1938–1956 |publisher=Dublin : Published for the Irish texts Society by the Educational Company of Ireland |others=Kelly – University of Toronto |pages=314, 124–125 (Cetlenn); ¶366, pp. 184–185; Poem LV, str. 32 on p. 237}}</ref>

==Parallels==
The Dagda has similarities with the later harvest figure [[Crom Dubh]].<ref name="Crom"/> He also has similarities with the Gaulish god [[Sucellos]], who is depicted with a hammer and a pot,<ref name=koch/> and the Roman god [[Dīs Pater]].<ref name="ohogain1991-daghdha"/>

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="dagdas_staff-ed-bergin">{{cite book|last=Bergin |first=Osborn |author-link=Osborn Bergin |author-mask=Bergin, Osborn, ed., tr. |chapter=How the Dagda Got his Magic Staff |title=Medieval Studies in Memory of [[Gertrude Schoepperle|Gertrude Schoepperle Loomis]] |place=<!--Paris & -->New York |publisher=<!--Librarie Honoré Champion & -->Columbia University Press |year=1927 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYE5AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA399 |pages=399–406}} Transcribed [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/dagda.html here]@Celtic Literature Collective.</ref>

<ref name="four_jewels-ed&tr-hull">{{cite journal|last=Hull |first=Vernam |author-link=<!--Vernam Hull--> |author-mask=Hull, Vernam, ed., tr. |title=The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann |journal=Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie |volume=18 |year=1930 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AsM54bxSlKUC&pg=RA2-PA84 |pages=83–85<!--73–89-->|doi=10.1515/zcph.1930.18.1.73 }}</ref>

<ref name="mallory&adams1997">{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Mallory |first1=James P. |author1-link=James P. Mallory |last2=Adams |first2=Douglas |author-link2=Douglas Q. Adams |entry=God |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |year=1997 |entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA231 |page=231 |isbn=<!--1884964982, -->9781884964985}}</ref>

<ref name="mesca_ulad-ed&tr-henessey">{{cite book|last=Hennessy |first=William M. |author-link=<!--William M. Hennessy--> |author-mask=Hennessy, William M., ed., tr. |title=Mesca Ulad: Or, the Intoxication of the Ultonians |place=Dublin |publisher=Royal Irish Academy |year=1889 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fn2zpO_rFN0C&pg=PA32 |pages=32–33}}</ref>

<ref name="west2008">{{cite book|last=West |first=M. L. |author-link=Martin Litchfield West |title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth |place= |publisher=OUP Oxford |year=2008  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yhdREAAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 |page=150 |isbn=<!--0191565407, -->9780191565403}} citing ''Mesca Ulad'' 623–638 and the Osborn ed. tract.</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last=Ó hÓgáin |first=Dáithí |author-link=Dáithí Ó hÓgáin |title=The Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |year=1999 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wYAnySDa0O0C&pg=PA62 |page=|isbn=<!--0851157475, -->9780851157474}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sayers |first=William |title=''Cerrce'', an Archaic Epithet of the Dagda, Cernnunos, and Conall Cernach |journal=The Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=16 |year=1988 |pages=341–64 }}
* {{cite book |last=Daimler |first=Morgan |title=The Dagda: Meeting The Good God Of Ireland |year=2018 |publisher=Moon Books |isbn=978-1785356407}}
* {{cite book |last=O'Sullivan |first=Jon, editor |title=Harp, Club, and Cauldron – A Harvest of Knowledge: A curated anthology of scholarship, lore, and creative writings on the Dagda in Irish tradition |year=2018|publisher=Eel and Otter Press |isbn=978-1722813208}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Dagda/ World History Encyclopedia – The Dagda]
* * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnMnYPqAFsM&list=PL1CnKX8wN09VmQXpc0w0LE54pHzO26qwS&index=4 Mythical Ireland – Live Irish Myths Episode 4: The Dagda Leader of the Tuatha de Danaan]

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Lugh|Lug]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title  = [[List of High Kings of Ireland|High King of Ireland]]|years  = [[Annals of the Four Masters|AFM]] 1830–1750 BC<br />[[Seathrún Céitinn|FFE]] 1407–1337 BC}} 
{{s-aft|after  = [[Delbáeth]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Irish mythology (mythological)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dagda, The}}
[[Category:Agricultural gods]]
[[Category:Fertility gods]]
[[Category:Irish gods]]
[[Category:Knowledge gods]]
[[Category:Legendary High Kings of Ireland]]
[[Category:Magic gods]]
[[Category:Names of God in Irish mythology]]
[[Category:Time and fate gods]]
[[Category:Tuatha Dé Danann]]
[[Category:Death gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Wisdom gods]]
[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]
[[Category:Earth gods]]
[[Category:Food deities]]
[[Category:Food gods]]