Goban Saer, Gobán Saor
[Irish saor, smith, wright]
A euhemerized version of the god Goibniu who becomes the master craftsman of Irish and Scottish Gaelic folklore. As he was described in early texts as a great architect of the Christian era, the name Gobbán was borne by many monks. He was thought to have assisted workmen in the building of many monasteries and round towers. W. B. Yeats in The Celtic Twilight (1893) describes Gobbán as a legendary mason who is very wise. His name is associated with numerous place-name stories, such as Turvey Strand (now Fairview), Co. Dublin, where he was born and where his father, Tuirbe Trágmar, stopped the tide by throwing an axe; Goban Saor's Castle, a ruin near Fair Head, Co. Antrim; and Goban's Mountain-Top [Slieve Anieran], Co. Leitrim. Ironically, the early modern Hiberno-English slang term gubbaun was used in derision for an unskilled tradesman. See also GLWYDDYN SAER; GOFANNON.
