Identifier: mythslegendscelt00roll (find matches)
Title: Myths and legends ; the Celtic race
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William), 1857-1920
Subjects: Celts Celts Celtic literature Legends, Celtic
Publisher: Boston : Nickerson
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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Sinend and Connla's Well

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Sinend and Connlas Well 128 SINEND AND THE WELL OF KNOWLEDGE meant by they^ for calling some of the girls she madethem look through a ring, when behold, the hillappeared crowded with people before invisible.* Here, observed Mr. Alfred Nutt, we have theantique ritual carried out on a spot hallowed toone ofthe antique powers, watched over and shared in bythose powers themselves. Nowhere save in Gaeldomcould be found such a pregnant illustration of theidentity of the fairy class with the venerable powersto ensure whose goodwill rites and sacrifices, originallyfierce and bloody, now a mere simulacrum of theirpristine form, have been performed for countless ages. ^ Sinend and the Well of Knowledge There is a singular myth which, while intended toaccount for the name of the river Shannon, expressesthe Celtic veneration for poetry and science, combinedwith the warning that they may not be approachedwithout danger. The goddess Sinend, it was said,daughter of Lodan son of Lir, went to a certai

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ng year. On one night, as toldby Mr. D. Fitzgerald,^ who has collected the local tradi-tions about her, the ceremony was omitted owing to thedeath of one of the neighbours. Yet the peasantry atnight saw the torches in greater number than evercircling the hill, and Ain6 herself in front, directing andordering the procession. On another St. Johns Night a number of girls hadstayed late on the Hill watching the cliars (torches) andjoining in the games. Suddenly Aine appeared amongthem, thanked them for the honour they had done her,but said she now wished them to go home, as they wantedthe hill to themselves. She let them understand whom she Loch Gur, and may be seen riding round its banks on his white steedonce every seven years. He was surnamed Gerald the Poet fromthe witty and ingenious * verses he composed in Gaelic. Wizardry,poetry, and science were all united in one conception in the mind ofthe ancient Irish. * Popular Tales of Ireland, by D. Fitzgerald, in RevueCeltique, vol. iv.128

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