The people of Ireland in medieval times had never believed that the Gaelic speaking people were native of their land. They had believed that the Ireland was invaded and settled by successive Celtic tribes over different periods. Their history is based largely upon the pseudo-historical Lebor Gabala, translated into English as the "Book of Invasions", and Cath Maige Tuired, or the "Second Battle of Maige Tuired".
In this page we will recount the mythical Book of Invasions, as well as the real invasions of Ireland.
|Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Invasions of Ireland)|
|The Real Invasions|
The Book of Invasions form the major part of the Mythological Cycle. The Book of Invasions was supposed to contain the (fictional) history of Ireland. The cycle was written in the book titled Leabhar Gabhála or Lebor Gabala Erren - the "Book of Conquests" or the "Book of Invasions of Ireland". It was the stories of successive invasions and settlement of the Celtic people on Ireland. Five or six different people settled on the Isle.
The other main source come from Cath Maige Tuired (Second Battle of Mag Tuired (Moytura)), which was mainly centred on the Tuatha Dé Danann.
The main interests come from the race of Irish deities known as the Tuatha Dé Danann. They were supplanted by the Milesians, the last group of invaders, who became the ancestors of the modern Irish people.
|Children of Danu|
Children of Danu
Cesair was the leader of the first invasion in Ireland. Cesair was the daughter of Bith and granddaughter of Noah. Cesair was denied admission to the Ark, so she left 40 days before the Flood arrived.
Cesair arrived at Dun na mBarc (in Co. Cork), Ireland, with 50 other women, and three men. She married Fintan Mac Bochra. The three men were to divide the women among them, as well as dividing Ireland into three. They hoped they could populate Ireland, but two of the men died.
When the fifty women all turned their attention to Fintan, he saw that they were placing too much responsibility on him, so he fled from Ireland, by turning himself into a salmon. Cesair died from a broken heart. Without a single man on the isle, the other women also perished.
The Partholanians were the second group of Celtic people who settled in Ireland, but they were the first to arrive after the biblical Flood. Not much was written about these people. Partholanians were said to have come to from the west, from the Land of the Dead. The Partholanians arrived 312 years after Cesair and her followers.
The Partholanians were named after their leader Partholan, son of Sera son of Sru, who was the king of Greece. Partholon fled from Greece, after murdering his own father and mother. Partholon had lost his left eye, when he attacked his parents. Accompanied with his wife Dealgnaid (Dalny) and a group of followers, they reached Ireland, after wandering for seven years.
They have encountered the Fomorians in their 3rd year in Ireland, where they fought a battle in Slemna of Mag Itha. The Fomorians, here, were described, as each Fomorian had only a single arm and single leg. The Partholanians managed to defeat Cichol, leader of the Fomorians, and drive the Fomorians from Ireland.
However, Partholon died, after 30 years living in Ireland. The rest of the Partholonians died 120 years later from pestilence. The only survivor of the plague was Tuan, a nephew of Partholon.
This Tuan was the son of Starn and grandson of Sera. Tuan witnessed the arrival of Nemed and his followers, known as the Nemedians, thirty years after the last Partholonian, not counting Tuan. Tuan kept himself hidden from the Nemedians. When Nemedians were gone from Ireland, Tuan still lived, for many generations.
Tuan survived because he was transformed into various animal shapes. First as a stag, then as a boar and later as an eagle. In each form, he witnessed successive early invaders of Ireland.
When he was transformed into a salmon, he was caught one-day, and eaten by the wife of Cairill, who immediately fell pregnant as the result of her meal. She gave birth to a son, who was named Tuan mac Cairill. It 