circa 400 AD
The Goddess dovinia
The earliest people to inhabit the Dingle (Corca Dhuibhne) and Iveragh (Uíbh Ráthach) peninsulas were the Corcu Duibne. The oldest reference to them occurs in a number of ogham inscriptions of 5th century date, in which they are described as Muccoi Dovinia, 'the followers [or sons] of [the goddess] Dovinia'. Dovinia was the female ancestor divinity or goddess of this people. Later, when Christianity had taken a firmer hold, Dovinia was written out of history and the Corcu Duibne instead made to descend from a male ancestor, the fictional Corc Duibne. A good example of one of these 'Dovinia' ogham stones is the one at Ballinrannig, overlooking Smerwick harbour. Others can be found elsewhere on the peninsula as well as in Iveragh.
