Tír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg is depicted as an island paradise and supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. Its inhabitants are the Tuatha Dé Danann or the warriors of the Tuatha Dé, who engage in poetry, music, entertainment, and the feast of Goibniu, which grants immortality to the participants. In the echtrae (adventure) and immram (voyage) tales, various mythical heroes visit Tír na nÓg after a voyage or an invitation from one of its residents. They reach it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, by journeying through a mist, by going under water, or by travelling across the sea for three days on an enchanted boat or Manannán's horse. The tales of mortals who visit the Otherworld are referred to as echtrai (adventures) and baili (visions, ecstasies). The path across the sea is called Mag Mell (Plain of Honey). It is the golden path made by the sun on the ocean and to travel, "far over the green meadows of the waters where the horses of Lir have their pastures."
The god that rules this region is said to be the first ancestor of the human race and the god of the dead, and in the surviving tales is almost always named as Manannán mac Lir. In the tales, Manannán is usually described as a warrior and is sometimes accompanied by his golden-haired wife or daughter, who sometimes wears a golden helmet.
Tír na nÓg is described as a beautiful place (a forested wilderness or flowery meadow), but it is usually dangerous or hostile to human visitors (such as Ossian, Diarmuid, the Fianna, the King of Greece), who remain on the island for a period of time that is typically a multiple of three (three days or years). The women of Tír na nÓg are very beautiful - and maybe the only residents - and sometimes leave to visit mortal men or otherwise establish a presence.
There is a salmon-inhabited well or fountain in Tír na nÓg that is found near an enormous tree or grove of nine hazels - or a lady's bower, "where bloom was on every bough, and the air heavy with the sweetness of orchards" and a lake area (perhaps Dulcinea). Typically an enormous tree lies at the centre of the island, and birds singing beautiful music in its branches are stated in the echtrai to be the souls of the dead. A drinking horn suspended near the well or an enchanted cup is also present in some of the tales along with a silver branch containing golden apples (perhaps even somewhere an enchanted herb and a false war). There are cities and fortresses made of precious metals and feather thatch in Tír na nÓg, although their exact number is not clear. In some stories there is a multicoloured flowered plain full of bees in or underneath the forested wilderness of Tír na nÓg and a parting "is sweet as honey" and maybe forever.
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