The Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland -  Daithi O. Hogain, Dáithí O hOgain
I had a few problems reading this book. 1. I had no clue to whom Dáithí Ó hÓgáin was referring when he used the term "Celt" - as I am used to Celtic being a reference to certain languages that had grown out of those areas that traded with mainland Europe, not a people who invaded or settled certain lands - and the nearest I could discern was that the Celts arrived sometime between the start of the Iron Age and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Perhaps another reader might find where the term Celt is clearly defined in the book.2. From what I could gather, Dáithí Ó hÓgáin is equating all male deities with the sun and all female deities with planet earth (either as land or water), which seems at odds with other books I have read on the subject. All names were traced back to "fierce", "bright", "red", "light" and are thus representative of the sun. 3. My understanding has been that the gods of the peoples of the British Isles (in which I include Ireland) were more localised, associated more with the immediate landscape; i.e. the same gods were not worshipped across the nations, except perhaps one or two and whilst Dáithí Ó hÓgáin does look at each of the four/five provinces of Ireland, the impression given is, in all provinces, the people worship a/the sun god (though possibly by a different name).I feel though these problems are because of my lack of any knowledge on the history of Ireland - something I am attempting to rectify. Perhaps my confusion arises from reading both more recent releases on history (which can now include DNA research and other advances in the field of archaeology) and books written more than 10 years ago.At this point, I am just not sure I can recommend this book.