While I haven’t looked at the links you’ve provided yet, I wanted to give you a perspective on Danu from a friend of mine that lives in Ireland and is also a pagan. In a Discord conversation from a server I’m in, he says that Danu is more a mother of Ireland itself and a physical representation of the land rather than an actual deity. However, it could be a complicated entity/egregore/deity situation and not so much a deity Herself. He says it may not make sense to work with Her if you live outside Ireland as She is quite literally a deity of the physical place. I can’t provide a link to this info as it comes from a private Discord server. Danu is more of a Land spirit than a deity, if that makes sense.
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@anon87969570 I can’t speak about facts to any other pantheons as Frigg is the first deity I have connected with and I haven’t begun actually working with her yet because… Well in order to know her I need to first explore the Norse pantheon as a whole as her stories will likely be woven in and out of those of other gods/goddesses within the pantheon. But one of the first titles I saw in reference to Frigg was “a mother goddess” and I have also heard the triple goddess referred to as “the mother goddess” so I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it is probably safe to assume “mother goddess” is going to be used to reference any pantheons “main” goddess. I am delighted to hear that you are enjoying your studies on the Celtic pantheon though. I’m thoroughly enjoying learning about the Norse pantheon and Frigg which I didn’t think I would have interest in at all. I’m currently connecting dots on other things which are connected to my pantheon that I found shockingly interesting and will later share with everyone but right now I’m way late for my daily meditation thanks to my dr appointment. Enjoy your studies!
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Thanks, @MeganB. Wow, this is getting complicated! I had to look up ‘egregore,’ and I’m still not sure I understand it. The readings I’ve done have all been more in line with what @Susurrus mentioned above - Danu, The Flowing One, associated with rivers, and Anu associated with the land, with there being some connection based on name similarity and other details.
As a river goddess, this would fit with my meditation results. All rivers are connecteed through the sea, I am of predominately Irish descent and I live 5 minutes from the Shenandoah. A stretch maybe, but plausible.
As a representation the the land of Ireland or deity of the physical place, I don’t know to interpret the meditation. And as an egregore…I’m still trying to wrap my head around what that is.
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Yeah, it makes sense that most pantheons would have some sort of mother goddess. Many of the listed sources describe Danu as the literal Mother of the Gods, with one site actually showing a genealogical tree with Danu as the mother of Dagda and grandmother of Brigit.
Hope your dr appt went well and your meditation is helpful.
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Appointment went ok I guess. Tube of blood taken and got to go home. I won’t get the results until tomorrow
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Found this today:
“Part of the mystery of Danu is that, although she appears to originate as an ancient river goddess, at some point in Irish history she seemed to make a transition from Danu of the sacred waters to Anu of the sacred land.”
Excerpt From: “The Spirit of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses: Their History, Magical Power, and Healing Energies” by Carl McColman. Scribd.
This material may be protected by copyright.
Read this book on Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/463468961
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Yeah, She is one of the deities that’s harder to pin down because it appears She originated as a literal embodiment of the isle and that there may be a mistranslation of Danu and Anu, thus pointing them to being the same being. However, I’m not from Ireland and it isn’t my culture so I tend to err on the side of listening to my Irish friends 
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I have book on Witta, Irish Paganism, which has the following information (I can see from this link that Danu and Dana are the same goddess):
DANA (Dawn-na): The name literally means “great queen”. She was the first Great Mother Goddess of Ireland, later renamed Brigid. Today Dana’s tri-form usually assigns her the name Danu, the virgin aspect of the Triple Goddess with Brigid as mother and Bahb as crone.
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I really want to point out that Witta is not Irish Paganism. It’s basically Wicca-lite with Irish or Celtic inspiration. There is no Maiden, Mother, Crone concept in Irish paganism or polytheistic practice. There is the aspect of a triple deity but it has nothing to do with Maiden/Mother/Crone. It is usually seen, for example, as Ná Morrigna being three deities in one. Same for Bríg (Brigid) as being three sisters.
If I’m not mistaken, the idea that Danu/Anu is the mother of the Gods comes from Cormac’s Glossary. According to an entry from Mary Jones on Cormac’s Glossary regarding the etymologies of words, “The etymologies are fairly usless in terms of a true etymology of a term, but in terms of understanding Irish folklore in the 10th century, it is priceless.” (source)
Again, if you look to Mary Jones, a reputable source and collection of Celtic literature, they begin to break down information on Anu/Danu. I’ve quoted some here but if you’re interested in learning more, I recommend reading this particular page and then looking into the resources that Mary Jones has listed.
Since the first Irish texts were being translated, there has been a confusion between the figures of Anu and Danu; both have been listed as a “mother of the Irish gods”. However, this is not entirely accurate, but a confusion which has existed since at least the eleventh century, with the composition of Lebor Gabála Érenn , which saw the beginning of confusion and conflation with three figures: Anand, Danand, and Morrigan.
It has been argued–very convincingly–that while many people believe that there was a goddess Danu who was mother of the Irish gods–hense the name Tuatha Dé Danann–there is no textual evidence for this. To begin with, *Danu is a hypotheical reconstruction from the possessive “Danann”. However, the goddess named Danand who appears in the LGE is not given as the mother of all the gods (impossibly anyway, since the text has been overwhelmingly euhemerized), but as the mother of “Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba, the three gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann” and the three sons (usually) of Delbaeth/Turill. However, confusion sets in, as in some redactions of the text, their mother is given as Morrigan, in others as Brigit. Morrigan is then given as the title for a goddess named Anand (sometimes Anann), for whom the two mountains in Munster, Da Chich Anann–the Breasts of Anu–are named.
Meanwhile, according to the ninth century text of Sanas Cormaic , Anand is listed as “mother of the Irish gods.” Again, in the LGE, Anand is one of the trio of sisters named Badb, Macha, and Anand. In one redaction, Macha is identified with the figure of Morrigan, while in another, Anand is identified as Morrigan. As “Morrigan” is thought to mean either “mare queen” or “great queen,” it is difficult to say which she may be. Macha is elsewhere identified with horses (as are the Welsh goddess Rhiannon and the Gallic goddess Epona), while Anand is clearly refered to as the mother of the gods. Of course, the Morrigan is also sometimes thought to refer to all three sisters, and perhaps like the triple goddess Brigit, these are all one and the same goddess. This is likely, as Brigit is also identified as the mother of Brian, Iuchar, and Iuchabar. (SOURCE)
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Sorry I didn’t mean to imply that Witta is all that’s involved in Irish Paganism. It’s just one Irish Pagan tradition amongst others. Should have clarified that but was typing quickly.
The book I have on Witta is quite in depth and whilst there are many similarities to Wicca there are lots of differences too.
Happy to bow to someone with greater knowledge though as I’ve only read this one book on Witta, hoping to find others 
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No worries! I’ve seen people read Witta and think that’s all Irish paganism is but it’s a tradition of Celtic Wicca created by Edain McCoy, author of said Witta book. I hope I didn’t come off as rude or condescending 
that’s definitely not my intention. However, I can’t speak fully on the book itself as I haven’t read it 
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It’s an interesting book and gave me a lot to think about. I picked it up in the second hand section of a witchy shop in Gloucester.
It confirmed what I already knew about the Catholic Church picking up and eradicating religions and traditions that were there before. I was interested to read it because my husband’s family is Irish, but I also want to look into more areas of Irish Paganism too. Even more so now that we’re moving there. If anyone has any book suggestions I’ll gladly take them, and I’ll check out the links you posted too. Thanks @MeganB
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Actually 
I HAVE A WHOLE GOOGLE DOC!!
An Irish Witch on TikTok (an actual Irish person) put together an entire Google doc full of resources for anyone interested in legitimate sources for Irish paganism or polytheism. It is 100% free to access!
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You’re a star! Saving it now 
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Ignore whatever I’ve just requested access for trying to look at it on my phone and no idea what I pressed!
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Knowledge is a driving force for the human race. When we stop learning and stagnate, I wonder if that’s where discontent comes from. I’m a firm believer in pick up a book, not a gun.
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