ORIGIN: Celtic [Irish]
TYPE: Founding Goddess
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: From prehistoric times until after Christianization circa CE 400.
SYNONYMS: Anu; Don (Welsh)
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Various Sanctuaries
LITERARY SOURCES: Book of Invations; Cycles of Kings; History of Races, etc; Mabinogian (Welsh)
INFORMATION: Danu is the leader and progenitress of the Irish pantheon, the Tuatha de Danann. Otherwise she is a remote and barely defined figure. She equates closely with the Welsh goddess Don and may have been perceived originally as a fertility and vegetation spirit.