Boann and the Boyne

In the ancient days of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Boann was a goddess of great beauty and the wife of Nechtan. Nechtan was the keeper of the Well of Segais, a mystical source of all wisdom surrounded by nine hazel trees that dropped their nuts into the water, where the salmon of knowledge ate them. Nechtan strictly forbade anyone but himself and his three cupbearers from approaching the well. Driven by a desire to prove her own power or perhaps to seek the wisdom within, Boann defied her husband's decree. She approached the well and walked around it three times widdershins—against the sun—challenging its sanctity. The well’s waters, enraged by her transgression, rose up in a violent, surging torrent. The magical waters blinded, deafened, and mutilated Boann as she fled toward the coast. She was swept away by the flood, and as she merged with the rushing water, her body transformed into the River Boyne. In her sacrifice, she brought the hidden waters of wisdom out from the secret well and into the world of mortals, creating the life-giving artery of Ireland.