Boann orBoand is theIrish goddess of theRiver Boyne (Bóinn), an important river in Ireland's historical province ofMeath. According to theLebor Gabála Érenn andTáin Bó Fraích she was the sister ofBefind[1] and daughter of Delbáeth, son ofElada, of theTuatha Dé Danann.[2] Her husband is variouslyNechtan orElcmar. With her loverthe Dagda, she is the mother ofAengus.
Her name is interpreted as "white cow" (Irish:bó fhionn;Old Irish:bó find) in thedinsenchas, where she is also called "White Boand".[3][4]Ptolemy's 2nd centuryGeography shows that in antiquity the river's name wasBouvinda [Βουουίνδα],[5][6] which may derive fromProto-Celtic*Bou-vindā, "white cow".[7] An alternate version of her name is given asSegais, hence Well of Segais.[8] We are also told that Eithne was the wife of Elcmar and that another name for Eithne was Boand.[9]
In the tale ofAengus's birth, Boann lives atBrú na Bóinne with her husbandElcmar. She has an affair withthe Dagda, who impregnates her after sending Elcmar away on a one-day errand. To hide the pregnancy from Elcmar, the Dagda casts a spell on him, making "the sun stand still" so he will not notice the passing of time. Meanwhile, nine months pass and Boann gives birth to Aengus.[10][11] TheDindsenchas explains the name Aengus as meaning "one desire", because the Dagda had been Boann's one true desire.[12] It has been suggested that this tale represents thewinter solstice illumination ofNewgrange at Brú na Bóinne, during which the sunbeam (the Dagda) enters the inner chamber (the womb of Boann) when thesun's path stands still. The wordsolstice (Irishgrianstad) means sun-standstill. The conception of Aengus may represent the 'rebirth' of the sun at the winter solstice.[11][13]
As told in theDindsenchas,[14] Boann created the Boyne. Though forbidden to by her husband, Nechtan, Boann approached the magicalWell of Segais (also known as the Connla's Well), which was surrounded, according to the legend, by nine magichazel-trees.[15]Hazelnuts were known to fall into the Well, where they were eaten by the speckledsalmon (who, along with hazelnuts, also embody and representwisdom inIrish mythology). Boann challenged the power of the well by walking around ittuathal; this caused the waters to surge up violently and rush down to the sea, creating the Boyne. In this catastrophe, she was swept along in the rushing waters, and lost an arm, leg and eye, and ultimately her life, in the flood. The poem equates her with famous rivers in other countries, including theRiver Severn,Tiber,Jordan River,Tigris andEuphrates. Additionally, it mentions alternate names for various parts of the Boyne, including River of Segais, the Arm and Leg of Nuada's wife, the Great Silver Yoke, White Marrow of Fedlimid, the River of the White Hazel, Banna, Roof of the Ocean, Lunnand, and Torrand.[16]
In a variant of the same story as told in the Dindsenchas, Boand tried to hide her infidelity with theDagda by washing herself in Nechtan's well, but when she approaches it, it overcomes her, and she drowns.[17]
She had a lapdog, Dabilla, which was swept out to sea. Torn into pieces by the water, the two halves became the rocks known asCnoc Dabilla, or Hill of Dabilla.[18][19]
She also appears inTáin Bó Fraích as the maternal aunt and protector of the mortalFráech.[20] In that story, Fráech's people tell him to go visit his mother's sister Boand to receive the raiment of theSídhe. Boand then gives Fráech fifty intricately worked mantles and tunics with animal details, fifty jeweled spears that lit the night like the sun, fifty dark horses with gold bells, fifty swords with golden hilts, seven hounds in silver chains, seven trumpeters, three jesters, and three harpists, which Fráech uses to dazzleMedb andAilill.[21]
According to the story "Cormac's Adventure in the Land of Promise", there is a well inTír na nÓg surrounded by nine purple hazel trees. Called the Well of Knowledge, it yields five streams thatManannán mac Lir later explains are the five senses from which knowledge is apprehended. The hazels, which drop nuts into a pool of five salmon, are called the hazels ofBuan.[22] The combination of the well, hazels, salmon and the name Buan (meaning "enduring" or "persevering") likely points to a common origin with the story of Boand and theWell of Segais.[23][24]
Another tale relates the fate of the only son of "White Buan," here identified as a male. Buan's son is named as Baile, loved by both men and women, who falls in love with Ailinn, daughter of Lugaid, son of Fergus of the Sea. The two lovers arrange a tryst, but before they can meet, Baile rests his chariot and releases his horses to graze. There he is intercepted by an unnamed character (likelyManannán in his trickster guise), described as a horrible apparition, approaching fitfully with the speed of a hawk or the wind from the green sea. When Baile asks the trickster from whence he comes and the reason for his haste, the trickster lies and tells Baile that he brings news of the death of Ailinn, who was killed by the warriors of Leinster and that she and her lover will only be reunited in death. With that news Baile drops dead on the spot, and a yew grows on his grave with the form of Baile's head at its top. The trickster moves on to intercept Ailinn, whom he tells of the death of Baile. With that news, Ailinn drops dead on the spot, and an apple tree grows on her grave with the form of her head at its top. The two trees are eventually cut down, turned into tablets, and inscribed with poems. On Halloween there was a poet's competition in Cormac's court, and the two tablets were brought together. When they met, they sprang together and intertwined as woodbine around a branch.[25]
Another Buan, named the wife of the one-armed KingMesgegra of Leinster, dies of grief afterConall Cernach beheads her husband. A hazel tree then grows through her grave.[26]
Modern-day commentators andModern Paganism sometimes identify Boann with the goddessBrigid or believe Boann to be Brigid's mother;[27] however there are noCeltic sources that describe her as such. It is also speculated by some modern writers that, as the more well-known goddess, and later saint, the legends of numerous "minor" goddesses with similar associations may have over time been incorporated into the symbology, worship and tales of Brigid.[28]
