For other persons named Niamh, see Niamh (disambiguation).

In Irish mythology

Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...

, Niamh (ˈniː.ɒf) is the daughter of Manannán mac Lir

Manannán mac Lir

Manannán mac Lir is a sea deity in Irish mythology. He is the son of the obscure Lir . He is often seen as a psychopomp, and has strong affiliations with the Otherworld, the weather and the mists between the worlds...

. She is one of the Queens of Tir na nÓg

Tír na nÓg

Tír na nÓg is the most popular of the Otherworlds in Irish mythology. It is perhaps best known from the story of Oisín, one of the few mortals who lived there, who was said to have been brought there by Niamh of the Golden Hair. It was where the Tuatha Dé Danann settled when they left Ireland's...

, and might also be the daughter of Fand

Fand

Fand is an early Irish sea goddess, later described as a "Queen of the Fairies". Her name is variously translated as "Pearl of Beauty" or "A Tear"...

.

Niamh crossed the Western Sea on a magical horse, Embarr, and asked Fionn mac Cumhail if his son Oisín

Oisín

Oisín , also spelt in English Ossian or Osheen, was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, and is a warrior of the fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology...

 would come with her to Tír na nÓg

Tír na nÓg

Tír na nÓg is the most popular of the Otherworlds in Irish mythology. It is perhaps best known from the story of Oisín, one of the few mortals who lived there, who was said to have been brought there by Niamh of the Golden Hair. It was where the Tuatha Dé Danann settled when they left Ireland's...

 (the Land of Youth). Oisín agreed and went with her, promising his father he would return to visit soon.

Oisín was a member of the Fianna

Fianna

Fianna were small, semi-independent warrior bands in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology, most notably in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are led by Fionn mac Cumhaill....

 and, though he fell in love with Niamh during their time together in Tír na nÓg, he became homesick after what he thought was three years. Niamh let him borrow Embarr, who could run above ground, and made him promise not to get off of the horse or touch Irish soil.

The three years he spent in Tír na nÓg turned out to be 300 Irish years. When Oisín returned to Ireland, he asked where he could find Fionn mac Cumhail and the Fianna, only to find that they had been dead for hundreds of years and were now only remembered as legends. Whilst travelling through Ireland, Oisín was asked by some men to help them move a standing stone. He reached down to help them, but fell off his horse. Upon touching the ground he instantly became an old man. He is then said to have dictated his story to Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....

, who cared for and nursed him until he died. Meanwhile, Niamh had given birth to his daughter, Plor na mBan

Plor na mBan

In Irish mythology, Plor na mBan —meaning "the flower of women"—was the beautiful daughter of Oisín and Niamh....

. Niamh returned to Ireland to search for him, but he had died.

The LÉ Niamh (P52)

LÉ Niamh (P52)

LÉ Niamh is a in the Irish Naval Service. It is the youngest ship in service in the Irish fleet, and is named after Niamh, queen of Tír na nÓg, from Irish mythology.-History:...

, a ship in the Irish Naval Service

Irish Naval Service

The Naval Service is the navy of Ireland and is one of the three standing branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its main base is in Haulbowline, County Cork....

, is named after her.