Daughter of the Druid Mog Ruith
Tlachtga was the daughter of Mog Ruith, the most powerful druid in Irish myth, and she inherited everything he knew. While travelling with her father in the east, she was violated by three foreign sorcerers, and the three sons she carried as a result of that attack killed her when they were born — on the hill that now bears her name.
The Hill of Tlachtga, today called the Hill of Ward near Athboy in County Meath, was consecrated by her death. Every Samhain, a great fire was lit on that hill — the fire from which all Ireland’s fires were said to be lit for the coming year. Samhain is the darkest night of the year, when the boundary between the living world and what lies beyond it is thinnest. That night is founded in Tlachtga’s death.
Just as Lughnasadh — the harvest festival — is founded in Tailtiu‘s death from clearing the land, Samhain at the Hill of Ward is founded in Tlachtga’s death from what was done to her. Both the most abundant festival and the most dangerous one are made sacred by women who died.
She also possessed the Roth Rámach — the roaring wheel — a druidic instrument of enormous destructive power that she inherited from her father. It was one of the most feared objects in the Irish magical world.
The Hill of Ward has been archaeologically confirmed as a significant ritual site. Samhain fire ceremonies have been revived there in recent decades.
Key facts about Tlachtga
- Names: Tlachtga; the Hill of Tlachtga (Hill of Ward, Co. Meath) bears her name
- Rules over: The Samhain fire-festival; magical power; the year’s dark turning
- Weapons: Roth Rámach (“roaring wheel” — druidic instrument of destruction)
- Animals: Not recorded
- Other Symbols: Samhain fire; the Hill of Ward
- Parents: Mog Ruith (father, the great druid)
- Siblings: Not recorded
- Spouse: Not recorded
- Children: Doirb, Cumma, Muach (three sons by three sorcerers; their birth killed her)
- Greek equivalent: Iphigenia (the woman whose death consecrates a sacred site)
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