was this reborn Tuan, who was said to have the written a book about the early history of Ireland the Lebor Gabála.
The Fomorians were possibly nothing more than pirates or raiders, since they never settled in Ireland, and never considered to be Celtic people (Irish). The Fomorians were race of strange beings. The Fomorians were ugly, misshapen giants, who lived on Tory Island. They were cruel, violent and oppressive.
The Fomorians had fought the Partholanians, Nemedians and Tuatha Dé Dananns. For awhile the Fomorians ruled over the Nemedians and the Dananns, extracting tributes and taxes from them. These two groups suffered from the oppression and tyranny of the Fomorians.
Later Lugh Lamfada led the Danann to overthrow the Fomorian oppression. The Tuatha Dé Danann finally annihlated Fomorians. Balor was their last leader. Lugh would later kill Balor, the hero's grandfather.
The next group of people to arrive in Ireland, were the Nemedians. The Nemedians arrived 30 years after the extinction of the Partholanians. They probably come from the west in the Land of the Dead, or else from Spain. This group sailed for a year and half, wandering the sea with a fleet of 32 ships, carrying less than a thousand persons. Only one ship would survive the journey, including Nemed as their leader, and Nemed's four sons.
The Nemedians were the descendants of Nemed and his small group of survivors managed to gradually repopulate the isle. However, the Nemedians also had deadly encounters with the Fomorians, such as the Partholanians did earlier. Though the Nemedians were at first successful against the Fomorians, with four decisive victories, a pestilence decimated the population, until less than two thousand Nemedians survived.
The Nemedians had to suffer from Fomorian tyranny and oppression, paying heavy tributes to their overlords. Later three Nemedian chieftains led their people in revolt. They attack the Fomorian stronghold of Tory Island. Though the Nemedians managed to kill one of the Fomorian kings and captured one of the towers, the Nemedians was almost totally annihilated, when the Fomorians received reinforcement. Only thirty Nemedians survived the battle.
These survivors fled from Ireland and the Nemedians as we know them, were never heard from again. Fergus Lethderg fled with his son Britain Máel to Alba (Scotland), where the whole island was named after Britain, Nemed's grandson. While Semeon son of Erglan son of Beoan son of Starn son of Nemed had fled to Greece, where were subjugated and became slaves. The descendants were known as the Fir Bolg, who would later return to Ireland.
Another group of Nemedians migrated to the islands of Northern Greece. Iobath son of Beothach son of Iarbanel son of Nemed had brought his followers to these islands, where they became known Tuatha De. Later when they migrate back to Ireland, they became known as Tuatha De Danann.
|Arrival of Tuatha Dé Danann|
|First Battle of Magh Tuiredh|
|Tyranny of Bres|
|Coming of Lugh|
|Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh|
|Coming of the Milesians|
Tuatha De Danann
The next group to arrive in Ireland was the Firbolgs. The Firbolgs were actually descendants of the Nemedians, who fled Ireland from both the war against the Fomorians and the plague that ravaged their population. Semion, great-great-grandson of Nemed had brought his followers to Greece, but they suffered from slavery and oppression at the hands of their Greek masters.
It was the five sons of Dela, descendants of Semion, who took his people out of slavery in Greece and Thrace, bringing them back to Ireland, 230 years later.
The sons of Dela (Firbolgs) divided Ireland between themselves, but their power in Ireland only lasted for 37 years before the Tuatha Dé Danann arrived. The Firbolgs were often seen as inferior people, and strangely, quite primitive to the Tuatha Dé Danann, and later the Milesians.
Tailtiu was the daughter of King of the Mag Mor ("Great Plain"), from the Land of the Dead, which was a poetic name for Spain. Tailtiu married to the last Firbolg king, Eochaid Mac Eirc, who died in the Fir