Her name still clings to the “Hill of Ainé” (Knockainey), near Loch Gur, in Munster
- Date of account
- Published 1911
- Source
- Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race
- Reference
- Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race · selected passage 30
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-24
Record summary
Her name still clings to the “Hill of Ainé” (Knockainey), near Loch Gur, in Munster
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyHer name still clings to the “Hill of Ainé” (Knockainey), near Loch Gur, in Munster. All the Danaan deities in the popular imagination were earth-gods, _dei terreni_, associated with ideas of fertility and increase. Ainé is not heard much of in the bardic literature, but she is very prominent in the folk-lore of the neighbourhood. At the bidding of her son, Earl Gerald, she planted all Knockainey with pease in a single night. She was, and perhaps still is, worshipped on Midsummer Eve by the peasantry, who carried torches of hay and straw, tied on poles and lighted, round her hill at night. Afterwards they dispersed themselves among their cultivated fields and pastures, waving the torches over the crops and the cattle to bring luck and increase for the following year. On one night, as told by Mr. D. Fitzgerald,(101) who has collected the local traditions about her, the ceremony was omitted owing to the death of one of the neighbours.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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