The Dagda

[1] He is the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, with the Dagda portrayed as a father-figure, king, and druid.

[7] He owns a magic staff (lorc) of dual nature: it kills with one end and brings to life with the other.

Other places associated with or named after him include Uisneach, Grianan of Aileach, Lough Neagh and Knock Iveagh.

[5] The death and ancestral god Donn may originally have been a form of the Dagda,[9] and he also has similarities with the later harvest figure Crom Dubh.

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.

The Mórrígan is described as his wife, his daughter was Brigit,[22] 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.

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 language Coir Anmann (The Fitness of Names) says:[25] 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.

In the tract found in the Yellow Book of Lecan, there were three items the Dagda named together, his staff (lorc), there was the shirt (léine) of protection from sickness, and the cloak (lumman of shape-shifting and color-change.

[8][26] The staff/club is also described in the Ulster Cycle narrative, Mesca Ulad,[26] where it was called the "terrible iron staff" (lorg aduathmar iarnaidi).

[5][35] His children include Aengus, Cermait, and Aed (often called the three sons of the Dagda), Brigit and Bodb Derg.

[37] Englec, the daughter of Elcmar, is named as a consort of the Dagda and the mother of his "swift son".

[22] 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.

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.

[39][40] 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's path stands still.

In a poem about Mag Muirthemne, the Dagda banishes an octopus with his "mace of wrath" using the following words: "Turn thy hollow head!