A significant fertility and possibly solar deity, the tutelary deity of County Cavan, Ulster. In one Christian detraction he is described as 'head of all the gods'. In a late story he is banished by St Patrick who, wielding a sledgehammer, smashes Crom's gold or silver image at the centre of a circle of twelve stone or bronze figures, who then sink into the ground. The 'demon' released then turns to stone, imprinted with the saint's crozier. In pre-Christian Ireland he demanded sacrifice of worshippers' firstborn, for which he granted good milk and grain yields. The golden image and 12 figures suggest a solar deity surrounded by zodiacal symbols. In 1921 fragments of a leaning stone found near a Bronze Age stone circle at the village of Killycluggin in County Cavan supported the notion of a cult site there that required 'exorcism' at some stage. 'Crom' may be related etymologically to the Breton word 'cromlech' and suggests 'bent', while dubh means 'dark' or 'black' and thus, in Christian eyes, evil. One idea is that Crom is bent from carrying sheaves of grain home from harvest, which reinforces the theory that he is essentially a fertility deity
Found something wrong? Please let us know.