Ire- Yoruba LocationLocation · Landmark"Ogun's Sacred City"

The Massacre at Ire

After Ogun cleared paths through the primordial forest with his iron machete, he withdrew from the other orishas and settled at Ire, a town in what is now Ekiti State. The city became his seat, and its people his most devoted worshippers. They honored him with annual festivals and copious offerings of palm wine, his favored drink.

During one of these celebrations, Ogun consumed vast quantities of palm wine and became deeply intoxicated. He could not distinguish between enemies and his own celebrants. He drew his sword and cut down the people who had gathered to praise him.

When the palm wine cleared and Ogun saw what he had done, he drove his sword into the earth at Ire and swore never again to live among humans. Then he sank into the ground. Other accounts describe him retreating into the forest, becoming one with the iron ore hidden in the earth. The site where he disappeared is sacred ground.

The Festival

Ire remains the center of Ogun worship. The annual Ogun Festival draws devotees from across the Yoruba world and the diaspora. Dogs, Ogun's sacred animal, are sacrificed, and palm wine flows freely. The drink that destroyed his worshippers is offered again each year.