²⁵Waddell, John, Joe Fenwick, and K. J. Barton. Rathcroghan: Archaeological and Geophysical Survey in a Ritual Landscape. Dublin: Wordwell, 2009. 221.
The author speculates: "It is an interesting possibility that some of these legends may provide a clue to some of the uses to which the cave was once put. The legend of Nera, who had a vision of the destruction of Cruachain, might suggest that oracular and prophetic practices took place here, and, as befits a point where two worlds meet, the cave had ambivalent functions. It evidently had negative and monstrous aspects as well as being a place of refuge and protection." Waddell suggests (p. 68) that heroic warriors connected to the cave suggests "the interesting possibility that such activities were once part of the cults performed here. A part of the ritual could have involved the introduction of the initiate to the spirits of the warrior dead and the Fraoch inscription may have had a role in this."