Boann

Boann, also Bóann, is a figure in Irish mythology associated with the River Boyne. She is commonly described as the wife of the Dagda, the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the mother of Angus Óg (Aengus), the youthful god of love and poetry, though variations of her story exist in different sources.

Her name is linked to the river she personifies, with the form Bóinne used in reference to the landscape around the Boyne. In some texts the river’s name is explained as the place of Boann or as a reflection of the goddess herself.

A central narrative situates Boann at the Well of Segais, the source of all knowledge in the Otherworld. In several versions she attempts to approach or drink from the well, and the guardians or guardianship around it react to her intrusion. As the tale unfolds, the overflow of the waters she has touched or released is said to form the River Boyne. In some tellings, Boann’s encounter with the well is linked to her pregnancy with Angus Og, linking the creation of the river to her motherhood and to the broader cycle of fertility and life.

In the tradition, Boann’s figure is used to symbolize the river itself and embodies aspects such as fertility, lineage, and the liminal boundary between the mortal world and the Otherworld. Later interpretations in literature and modern adaptations often emphasize her as a river goddess and a matronly archetype within Irish myth.