Paps of Anu

The Paps of Anu (Irish: Dá Chích Anann, "the breasts of Anu") are a pair of breast shaped mountains near Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. The eastern summit is 694 metres (2,277 ft) high and the western top is 690 metres (2,260 ft) high.

The mountains are named after Anu; believed to have been an ancient mother goddess. Cormac's Glossary describes Anu or Danu as "the mother of the gods of Ireland". On each summit is a prehistoric cairn, which may be miniature passage graves or house burial cists. The cairn on the eastern Pap is slightly larger, with a height of 4 metres (13 ft) and diameter of 16 metres (52 ft). They have been described as "stone nipples on the great breasts of the mother goddess". A line of stones, known as Na Fiacla, connects the two tops and is believed to have been a processional route. Archeologist Frank Coyne suggested that the mountains were seen as sacred and said "There is little doubt that the mountaintops of both The Paps…were utilized for ritual in prehistory". To the ancients, the mountains reinforced the idea that the Earth was a motherly body.