Celtic / Irish

Celtic mythology survives primarily through medieval Irish and Welsh manuscripts preserving much older oral traditions. The Irish mythological cycles — the Mythological Cycle of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Ulster Cycle of Cú Chulainn, the Fenian Cycle of Fionn mac Cumhaill, and the Cycles of the Kings — describe a world where the boundary between the mortal realm and the Otherworld (Tír na nÓg) is permeable, especially at liminal times like Samhain. The landscape of Ireland and Britain is densely mythologized: passage tombs older than the pyramids are attributed to the Tuatha Dé Danann, holy wells mark encounters with the divine, and stone circles encode astronomical knowledge. The Celtic tradition influenced Arthurian legend, Halloween, and the broader European fairy tradition.