As alluring as the idea is to atheists like me, the claim that Easter was derived from a pre-existing pagan festival in honour of the goddess ‘Eostre’ turns out to have very little basis indeed. It amounts to one reference. CJ Romer has this tied up on his blog;
Eostre never existed???: why Easter is NOT a Pagan Holiday
CJ is a Christian, so in case you think there’s bias at work, here’s another three-part debunk from a Neo-Pagan writer;
Eostre: The Making of a Myth
An instructive lesson in not buying into claims just becuase they agree with our (pagan or atheist) preconceptions and biases.
The BS Historian 