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THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
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 Purchased, 1918. 
 
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CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF IRELAND 
 

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1 
 
 
 
 THE 
 
 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 
 
 Tlie First Inhabitants of Ireland. — The Colonies of Partbalon and Nemedius. — The Fomorians. — The Firbclgs 
 
 
 
 or Belgians. — The Tuatha de Dananns. 
 
 —The Legend of Mananan Mac Lir, &c. 
 
 
 
 A CCORDING to the ancient chroni- 
 
 mare river,* accompanied by his three 
 
 
 
 c i es 0 f Ireland, the first inhabitants 
 
 sons, their wives, and a thousand fol- 
 
 
 
 of this country was a colony who ar- 
 
 lowers ; that he was the first who clear- 
 
 
 
 rived here from Migdonia, supposed to 
 
 ed any part of Ireland of the primeval 
 
 
 
 be Macedonia, in Greece, under a lead- 
 
 woods which covered it ; that certain 
 
 
 
 er whose name was Parthalon, about 
 
 lakes, namely, Lough Con and Lough 
 
 
 
 300 years after the Deluge, or, according 
 
 Mask, in Mayo, Lough Gara, on the bor- 
 
 
 
 to the chronology adopted by the Four 
 
 ders of Roscommon and Slicro, two 
 
 
 
 Masters, in the year of the world 2520. 
 
 others which cannot now be identified 
 
 
 
 Some fables are related of persons hav- 
 
 by their ancient names, and Lough Cuan, 
 
 
 
 ing found their way to Ireland before 
 
 or Strangford Lough, in the county of 
 
 
 
 the Flood, and also of a race of people, 
 
 Down, were first formed during the 
 
 
 
 who lived by fishing and hunting, having 
 
 period of his colony; that he died in 
 
 
 
 been found here by Parthalon (or Par- 
 
 the plain in which Dublin now stands, 
 
 
 
 ralaun, as the name is pronounced) ; but 
 
 thirty years after his landing; and that, 
 
 
 
 these are rejected by our ancient annal- 
 
 in the same plain, in a. m. 2820, that is, 
 
 
 
 ists as unworthy of credit, and merit no 
 
 300 years after their arrival, his entire 
 
 
 
 attention. It is said of Parthalon that 
 
 colony, then numbering 9,000 persons, 
 
 
 
 he fled from his own country, where he 
 
 perished by a pestilence, in one week, 
 
 
 
 had been guilty of parricide; that he 
 
 leaving the country once more without 
 
 
 
 landed at Inver Scene, now the Ken- 
 
 inhabitants, f 
 
 
 
 * Or, as some tbink, tlie river Corrane, in Kerry. 
 
 Flocks of Edair,” a name which it received in after-times 
 
 
 
 t The place in which this catastrophe happened was 
 
 from an Irish chieftain, from whom the Hill of Howth was 
 
 
 
 tilled Sean-Mltac/hrEalta-Edair, or “ The Old Plain of the 
 
 2 
 
 called Ben-Edair ; and it extended from that hill to the 
 
 
 
 
0 THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 
 
 It is said that Ireland remained waste 
 for thirty years, until the next colony, 
 which also came from the southeastern 
 part of Europe, or the vicinity of the 
 Euxine Sea, led by a chief called Neme- 
 dius, or Neimhidh (pronounced JVevy ), 
 arrived here, and occupied the country 
 for about 200 years. The annals record 
 the names of the raths or forts which 
 were constructed, and of the plains 
 which were cleared of wood during this 
 period ; and they also mention the erup- 
 tion, during the same time, of four lakes, 
 namely, Lakes Derryvarragh and Ennell 
 in Westmeath, and two others not iden- 
 tified. Nemedius, with 2,000 of his fol- 
 lowers, were carried off by a pestilence 
 in the island of Ard-Neimhidh, now the 
 Great Island of Barrymore, near Cork ; 
 and the remnant of his people, who ap- 
 pear to have been engaged in constant 
 conflicts with a race of pirates called 
 Fomorians, who infested the coast, were 
 at length nearly annihilated in a great 
 battle with these formidable enemies, 
 a. m. 3066. They attacked and demol- 
 ished the principal Fomorian strong- 
 hold, called Tor-Conainn, or Conang’s 
 
 base of the Dublin mountains, and along the banks of 
 the Liffey. 
 
 The memory of this event is preserved in the name of 
 the village of Tallaglit (Tamleacht), which signifies “the 
 plague monument,” from Tartih, a plague, and Leacht, a 
 monument ; and in Irish books this place is sometimes 
 called Tamleacht Muintir Parthaloin, or “the plague 
 monument of Partholan’s people,” to distinguish it from 
 other plague monuments, also called Tamleaclits, in 
 other parts of Ireland. (See O’Donovan 's “Four Mas- 
 ters,” and Doctor Wilde’s “Report on Tables of Deaths,” 
 in the Census of 1851.) The pestilence which swept away 
 Parthalon’s colony was the first that visited Ireland, and 
 is said to have been caused by the corrupting bodies 
 
 Tower, in Tory island, on the north- 
 west coast of Donegal ; but succor hav 
 ing arrived by sea to the pirates, the 
 battle was renewed on the strand, and 
 became so fierce that the combatants 
 suffered themselves to be surrounded by 
 the rising tide, so that most of those 
 who did not fall in the mutual slaughter 
 were ingulphed in the Avaves.* * Three 
 captains of the Nemedians, with a hand- 
 ful of their men, survived, and, in a few 
 years after, made their escape from Ire- 
 land, with such of their countrymen as 
 chose to follow their fortunes. One 
 party, under Briotan Maol, a grandson 
 of Nemedius, sought refuge in the neigh- 
 boring island of Albion, in the north- 
 ern part of which their posterity remain- 
 ed until the invasion of the Piets, many 
 centuries after ; and that island, as some 
 will have it, took the name of Britain 
 from their leader, and not from the fab- 
 ulous Brutus. Another portion of the 
 refugees passed, after many wanderings, 
 into the northern parts of Europe, 
 where they became the Tuatha de Da- 
 nann of a subsequent age ; and finally, 
 the third party of the scattered Neme- 
 
 of the dead slain in a battle witli the people called 
 Fomorians. 
 
 * Who these Fomorians were, who are so often men- 
 tioned in Irish history, is a matter of speculation. They 
 are said by some of the old annalists to have been Afri- 
 can pirates of the race of Ham ; but O’Flaherty thinks 
 they were Northmen, or Scandinavians. Some modern 
 writers will have it that they were Phoenicians ; but 
 their name implies in Irish that they were sea-robbers, 
 and it is remarkable that their memory is preserved in 
 the Irish name of the Giant’s Causeway, which is Cloghan- 
 na-Fomharaigh, or the causeway or stepping-stones of 
 the Fomorians. (See O’Brien’s Diet.) The Fomorians 
 arc by some called the aborigines of Ireland. 
 

 
 
 
 THE FIRBOLGS. 11 
 
 
 
 dians made their way, under their chief, 
 
 tribes engaged in this expedition, ah 
 
 
 
 Simon Breac, another grandson of Ne- 
 
 though all belonged to the same race. 
 
 
 
 medius, to Greece, where they were 
 
 Thus, one section of them, called Fir- 
 
 
 
 kept in bondage, and compelled to carry 
 
 Domhnan, or Damnonians, landed on 
 
 
 
 burdens in leathern bags, whence they 
 
 the coast of Erris, in Mayo, where they 
 
 
 
 obtained the name of Firbolgs or Bag- 
 
 became very powerful, giving their 
 
 
 
 men.* 
 
 name to the district, which has been 
 
 
 
 For a long interval — 200 years, say 
 
 called, in Irish, Iarras-Domhnan, that is, 
 
 
 
 the bards — after the great battle of 
 
 the western promontory or peninsula of 
 
 
 
 Tory island, we are told that Ireland 
 
 the Damnonians; while another tribe, 
 
 
 
 remained almost a wilderness, the few 
 
 distinguished by the name of Fir-Gail- 
 
 
 
 Nemedians who were left behind hav- 
 
 lian, or Spearmen, landed on the eastern 
 
 
 
 ing retired into the interior of the coun- 
 
 coast, and from them some will have it 
 
 
 
 try, where they, nevertheless, were 
 
 that the province of Leinster has been 
 
 
 
 made to feel the galling yoke of the 
 
 so named, f 
 
 
 
 Fomorians, who were now the undis- 
 
 Such is the account of the origin of 
 
 
 
 puted masters of the coast ; but at the 
 
 the Firbolgs and Damnonians, given by 
 
 
 
 end of the interval just mentioned, the 
 
 the bardic annalists ; and of this and 
 
 
 
 island was restored to the former race, 
 
 similar relations, which we find in our 
 
 
 
 although under a different name. The 
 
 primeval history, we may remark in 
 
 
 
 Firbolgs having multiplied considerably 
 
 general that, however they may be en- 
 
 
 
 in Greece, resolved to escape from the 
 
 veloped in fable, we have sufficient rea- 
 
 
 
 bondage under which they groaned, and 
 
 son for believing them to be founded in 
 
 
 
 for that purpose seized the ships of their 
 
 historic truth ; and that they are not 
 
 
 
 masters, and proceeding to sea, succeeded 
 
 lightly to be set aside, where nothing 
 
 
 
 in making their way to Ireland, where 
 
 better than conjecture can be substitu- 
 
 
 
 they landed without opposition (a. m. 
 
 ted. The favorite modern theory is, 
 
 
 
 3266), and divided the country between 
 
 that the Firbolg colony came into this 
 
 
 
 their five leaders, the five sons of Deala, 
 
 country from the neighboring coasts of 
 
 
 
 each of whom ruled in turn over the 
 
 Britain, and that they were identical in 
 
 
 
 entire island. The names of these bro- 
 
 race with the people of Belgic Gaul, and 
 
 
 
 thers were, Slainghe, Bury, Gann, Gea- 
 
 with the Belgae and Dumnonii of South- 
 
 
 
 nann, and Seangann ; and from the first 
 
 ern Britain. Then arises the question, 
 
 
 
 of them the river Slaney, in Wexford, 
 
 were these Belgae Celts, or were they of 
 
 
 
 is said to have derived its name. It 
 
 Tuetonic or Gothic origin? To this we 
 
 
 
 would appear that there were several 
 
 can only answer that the Irish authorities 
 
 
 
 ♦From Fir, “men,” and holg, which in Irish means a 
 
 Coige Gaillian ; Coige being the word for a fifth part, or 
 
 
 
 “leathern bag.” 
 
 one of the five provinces ; but it is more generally called 
 
 
 
 f The Irish name of Leinster was sometimes written 
 
 Laighin, a word which signifies a spear or javelin. 
 
 
 
 
THE FIRBOLGS. 
 
 12 
 
 are explicit in stating that the Firbolgs 
 were of the same race with subsequent 
 colonies, who were confessedly Celtic, 
 and this seems to be the generally re- 
 ceived opinion.* 
 
 The Belgae, or Firbolgs, bad only en- 
 joyed possession of the country for 
 thirty-seven years, according to the 
 chronology of the Four Masters, or for 
 eighty years, according to that of 
 O’Flaherty, when their dominion was 
 disputed by a formidable enemy. The 
 new invaders were the celebrated Tua- 
 tha de Dananns, a people of whom such 
 strange things are recounted, that 
 modern writers were long uncertain 
 whether they should regard them as a 
 purely mythical race, or concede to 
 them a real existence, all Irish anti- 
 quaries, however, adopting at present 
 the latter alternative. The arrival of 
 the Tuatha de Dananns took place in 
 the year of the world 3303, the tenth 
 year of the reign of the ninth and last 
 of the Firbolgic kings, Eochy, son of 
 Ere. The leader of the invaders was 
 Nuadhat-Airgetlamh, or Nuad of the 
 Silver Hand, and their first proceeding 
 on landing was to burn their own fleet, 
 
 * In tlie Irisli version of Nennius, published for the 
 Irish Archaeological Society, the Firbolgs are termed 
 Viri Bullorum, which, as the learned editor, Dr. Todd, 
 remarks, might afford a derivation for the name not 
 previously noticed ; the word Bullum, in the Latinity 
 of the middle ages, signifying, according to Du Cange, 
 Raculum pastoris, a shepherd’s staff. In the additional 
 notes to that publication, by the Hon. Algernon Herbert, 
 many curious suggestions are made about these and the 
 other ancient inhabitants of Ireland, all which specula- 
 tions show how exceedingly vague and meagre is the 
 information that can be gleaned about these primitive 
 (T«oes, and how uncertain are the theories which have 
 
 in order to render all retreat impossi- 
 ble. According to the superstitious 
 ideas of the bards, these Tuatha de Da- 
 nanns were profoundly skilled in magic, 
 and rendered themselves invisible to 
 the inhabitants until they had penetra- 
 ted into the heart of the country. In 
 other words, they landed under cover 
 of a fog or mist ; and the Firbolgs, at 
 first taken by surprise, made no regular 
 stand, until the new-comers had march- 
 ed almost across Ireland, when the two 
 armies met face to face on the plain of 
 Moyturey, near the shore of Lough 
 Corrib, in part of the ancient territory 
 of Partly. Here a battle was fought, 
 in which the Firbolgs were overthrown, 
 with “the greatest slaughter,” says an 
 old writer,f “that was ever heard of in 
 Ireland at one meeting.” Eochy, the 
 Firbolg king, fled, and was overtaken 
 at a place in the present county of Sligo, 
 where he was slain, and where his cairn, 
 or the stone-heap raised over his grave, 
 is still to be seen on the sea-shore; 
 while the scattered fragments of his 
 army took refuge in the northern isle of 
 Aran, Hathlin island, the Hebrides, the 
 Isle of Man, and Britain. 
 
 been formed about them. Of the Firbolgs, however, as 
 we shall hereafter see, we find frequent mention in what 
 all admit to be authentic periods of Irish history ; and 
 their monuments, and even their race, still exist 
 among us. 
 
 f Connell Mageoghegan’s “Annals of Clonmacnoise.” 
 
 t Book of Leacan, fol. 277 ; quoted in the Ogygia, Part 
 ill., c. 9. 
 
 The site of this battlo is sometimes called Moyturey of 
 Cong, from its proximity to that town, and “it is still 
 pointed out,” says Dr. O’Donovan (Four Masters, vol. i. 
 p. 16), “in the parish of Cong, barony of Kilmaine, 
 and county of Mayo, to the right of the road as you go 
 
/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE TUATHA 
 
 DE DANANNS. 13 
 
 
 
 The victorious Nuadhat lost his hand 
 
 still mark the site of the ancient battle- 
 
 
 
 in this battle, and a silver hand was 
 
 field. Nuadhat was killed in this con- 
 
 
 
 made for him by Credne Cerd, the artifi- 
 
 flict by Balor “of the mighty blows,” 
 
 
 
 cer, and fitted on him by the physician, 
 
 the leader of the Fomorians, who is de- 
 
 
 
 Diencecht, whose son, Miach, improved 
 
 scribed in old traditions as a monster 
 
 
 
 the work, according to the legend, by 
 
 both in barbarity and strength, and as 
 
 
 
 infusing feeling and motion into every 
 
 having but one eye. Balor himself was 
 
 
 
 joint of the artificial hand as if it had 
 
 killed in the same battle by a stone cast 
 
 
 
 been a natural one. Hence the surname 
 
 from a sling by his daughter’s son, Lugh 
 
 
 
 which the king received. The story 
 
 Lamhfhada, or Lewy of the long hand, 
 
 
 
 may be taken as an illustration of the 
 
 in revenge for some of his crimes. 
 
 
 
 surgical and mechanical skill which the 
 
 We have here followed the generally 
 
 
 
 Tuatha de Dananns were believed to 
 
 received account of the fate of the Fir- 
 
 
 
 possess : and we are further told, that 
 
 bolgs in the Tuatha de Danann invasion ; 
 
 
 
 for the seven years during which the 
 
 but there is another version of it given 
 
 
 
 operation was in progress, a temporary 
 
 in an ancient Irish manuscript* which 
 
 
 
 king was elected, Breas, whose father 
 
 is much more consistent with subse- 
 
 
 ► 
 
 was a Fomorian, and whose mother was 
 
 quent history. According to this latter 
 
 
 
 of the Tuatha de Dananns, having been 
 
 account, the battle of Southern Moytu- 
 
 
 
 chosen for the purpose. At the end of 
 
 rey resulted in a compromise, rather than 
 
 
 
 that period Nuadhat resumed the au- 
 
 in such a defeat as that mentioned above; 
 
 
 
 thority ; and in the twentieth year of 
 
 and although the Firbolg king was slain, 
 
 
 
 his reign, counting from this resumption, 
 
 another leader of the same people, named 
 
 
 
 he fell in a battle fought with the Fo- 
 
 Srang, was still at the head of a con- 
 
 
 
 morians, who took the field at the insti- 
 
 siderable force ; and, after some nego- 
 
 
 
 gation of their countryman, the deposed 
 
 tiations, a partition of the country was 
 
 
 
 king, Breas, and were aided also, we 
 
 agreed to, Srang and his people retain- 
 
 
 
 may suppose, by the Firbolg refugees. 
 
 ing Connaught, and the Tuatha de Da- 
 
 
 
 This battle was fought at a place called 
 
 nanns taking all the remainder. Mac- 
 
 
 
 Northern Moyturey, or Moyturey of the 
 
 Firbis, in his tract on the Firbolgs, 
 
 
 
 Fomorians; and its name is still pre- 
 
 seems to say that an account of the 
 
 
 
 served in that of a townland in the 
 
 affair to some such effect existed ; and 
 
 
 
 barony of Tirerrill, in the county of Sli- 
 
 unless it be admitted, it is impossible 
 
 
 
 go, where several sepulchral monuments 
 
 to account for the firm footing which 
 
 
 
 from Cong to the village of the Neal. From the monu- 
 
 strand, it is the popular belief that the tide can never 
 
 
 
 ments of tliis battle still remaining! it is quite evident that 
 
 cover it. 
 
 
 
 great numbers were slain.” The cairn of the Firbolg 
 
 * The author is indebted to Professor Eugene Curry 
 
 
 
 king, Eochy, is on the shore near Ballysadare, in the 
 
 for the purport of this tract, which appears to have 
 
 
 
 county of Sligo; and, although not high above the 
 
 escaped the attention of our other Irish scholars. 
 
 
 
 
THE TUATHA DE DANANNS. 
 
 we find these people all along holding 
 in Ireland, and for their position at the 
 Milesian epoch, when they were at first 
 received as allies by the invaders, and 
 were afterwards, for centuries, able to 
 resist them in war. Nor is this account 
 inconsistent with the statement that 
 man}^ of the Firbolgs repaired, on the 
 arrival of the Tuatha de Dananns, to 
 the islands mentioned above. 
 
 Lugh Lamhf hada, the slayer of Balor, 
 succeeded Nuadhat as king of Ireland ; 
 and the fact that he was of Fomorian 
 origin, on his mother’s side, and a 
 Tuatha de Danann on that of his father, 
 as well as a like mingling of races in 
 the person of Breas, the first king of 
 the Tuatha de Dananns, led to the con- 
 clusion that an affinity existed between 
 the two races, and afford an argument 
 to O’Flaherty, who held that both ra- 
 ces were Northmen, or Danes.* Lugh 
 reigned forty years, and instituted the 
 public games, or fair, of the hill of Taill- 
 tean, now Teltown, near the Blackwater, 
 in Meath, in commemoration of his 
 foster-mother, Taillte, the daughter of 
 Maghmor, a Spanish or Iberian king, 
 and wife of Eochy, sou of Ere, the last 
 of the Firbolg kings, after whose death, 
 in the battle of Southern Moyturey, she 
 married a Tuatha de Danann chief, and 
 undertook the fostering, or education, of 
 the infant Lewy. This celebrated fair, 
 at which various sports took place, con- 
 tinued to be held until the twelfth cen- 
 tury, on the 1st of August, which day 
 
 * Ogygia, part i., p. 13. 
 
 is still called, in Irish, Lugh-Nasadh, or 
 Lugh’s fair; and vivid traditions are yet 
 preserved of the pagan form of marriage, 
 and ancient sports, of which the old rath 
 of Teltown was the scene. f 
 
 Lewy, having been killed by Mac- 
 Cuill at Caendruim, now the hill of Uis- 
 neach, in Westmeath, was succeeded by 
 Eochy Ollathair, who was surnamed the 
 Dagda Mor (the Great-good-fire), the 
 son of Ealathan. The Dagda reigned 
 eighty years, and having died from the 
 effects of a wound inflicted 120 years 
 before at the battle of Northern Moy- 
 turey, with a poisoned javelin, by Katli- 
 len, the wife of the Fomorian Balor, he 
 was interred at the Brugh, on the Boyne, 
 the great cemetery of the east of Ireland 
 in the pagan times. His monument is 
 mentioned in ancient Irish manuscripts 
 as one of those vast sepulchral mounds 
 which are at this day objects of wonder 
 and interest on the banks of the Boyne, 
 between Drogheda and Slane. 
 
 a. m. 3451. — Dealboeth, the son ol 
 Ogma, succeeded, and was followed 
 by Fiacha ; after whom three brothers, 
 named MacCuill, MacCeacht, and Mac- 
 Greine, the last of the Tuatha de Da- 
 nann kings, reigned conjointly for thir- 
 ty years, each exercising sovereign au- 
 thority in succession for the space of 
 one year. The real names of the 
 three brothers, according to an old po- 
 em- quoted by Keating, were, Eathur, 
 Teathur, and Ceathur, and they were 
 called, the first, MacCuill, because he 
 
 f See Wilde’s Boyne and Blackwater, p. 150. Ogygia, 
 part iii., c. 13 and 50. 
 

 
 
 
 THE TUATHA 
 
 DE DANANNS. 15 
 
 
 
 worshipped the hazel-tree ; the second, 
 
 rightful heir to the crown ; and when 
 
 
 
 MacCeacht, because he worshipped the 
 
 an Irish colony invaded North Britain, 
 
 
 
 plough, or rather, encouraged agricul- 
 
 and founded the Scottish monarchy 
 
 
 
 ture ; and the third, MacGreine, because 
 
 there in the sixth century, the Lia Fail 
 
 
 • 
 
 he made the sun the object of his devo- 
 
 was carried thither to give more solem- 
 
 
 
 tions. The old bardic annalists, who, 
 
 nity to the coronation of the king, and 
 
 
 
 with a gallantry peculiar to their coun- 
 
 more security to his dynasty. It was 
 
 
 
 try, derive most of the names of places 
 
 afterwards preserved for several ages in 
 
 
 
 from celebrated women, tell us that the 
 
 the monastery of Scone, but Avas carried 
 
 
 
 wives of these three kings were Eire, 
 
 into England by Edward I., in the year 
 
 
 
 Banba, and Fodhla, three sisters who 
 
 1300, and deposited in Westminster 
 
 
 
 have given their names to Ireland ; and 
 
 Abbey, and is believed to be identical 
 
 
 
 they add that the country was called 
 
 with the large block of stone now to be 
 
 
 
 after each queen during the year of her 
 
 seen under the coronation chair.* 
 
 
 
 husband’s administration; and that if 
 
 Ogma, one of the Tuatha de Dananu 
 
 
 
 the name of Eire has been since more 
 
 princes, is said to have invented the 
 
 
 
 generally applied, it was because the 
 
 Ogam Craove, or occult mode of writing 
 
 
 
 husband of queen Eire was the reigning 
 
 by notches on the edges of sticks or 
 
 
 
 kino; when the Milesians arrived and 
 
 stones; and Orbsen, another of them, 
 
 
 
 conquered the island. The names of 
 
 is celebrated as the mythical protector 
 
 
 
 Banba and Fodhla are frequently giv- 
 
 of commerce and navigation. lie was 
 
 
 
 en to Ireland in all the ancient Irish 
 
 commonly called Mananan , from the 
 
 
 
 writings. 
 
 Isle of Man, of which he Avas king, and 
 
 
 
 Before we leave the Tuatha de Da- 
 
 Maclir , son of the sea, from his knowl- 
 
 
 
 nanns, whose sway continued for 197 
 
 edge of nautical affairs. lie Avas killed 
 
 
 
 years — from a. m. 3303 to a. m. 3500 — 
 
 in a battle in the west of Ireland by 
 
 
 
 we may mention two or three remark- 
 
 Ullin, grandson of King Nuad of the 
 
 
 
 able circumstances connected with the 
 
 Silver Hand, and Avas buried in an 
 
 
 
 accounts of that ancient people. By 
 
 island in the large lake, Avliich from him 
 
 
 
 them the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, 
 
 Avas called Lough Orbsen, since cor- 
 
 
 
 on which the Irish kings were crowned 
 
 rupted into Lough Corrib, the place 
 
 
 
 in subsequent ages, was brought into 
 
 where the battle Avas fought being 
 
 
 
 Ireland. This stone was said to emit 
 
 still called Moycullen, or the plain of 
 
 
 
 mysterious sounds when touched by the 
 
 Ullin.f 
 
 
 
 * Dr. Petrie, in his History and Antiquities of Tara 
 
 thinks the Stone of Destiny was not carried to Scot- 
 
 
 
 Hill, controverts this account of the Lia Fail, and employs 
 
 land until A. D. 850, when it was sent bv Hugh Finnliath, 
 
 
 
 some learned, though not conclusive, arguments to show 
 
 king of Ireland, to his father-in-law, Kenetli MacAlpine, 
 
 
 
 that that celebrated relic of pagan antiquity is the pres- 
 
 who finally subjugated the Piets. 
 
 
 
 ent pillar-stone over the ‘Croppies’ Grave,’’ in one of 
 
 f Dr. O Donovan, in a note on the Tuatha de Dauanns 
 
 
 
 the great raths of Tara. O’Flalierty (Ogygia, p. 45.) 
 
 (Four Masters, vol. i., p. 24), says: — “In Mageogliegan’g 
 
 
 
 
THE MILESIAN COLONY. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Milesian Colony. — Wanderings of the Gadelians. — Voyage of Ith to Ireland. — Expedition of the Sons of 
 Miledh, or Milesius. — Contests with the Tuatha de Dananns. — Division of Ireland by Ileremon. — The Cruith- 
 nians, or Piets. 
 
 r | "'IIE old annalists preface the account 
 of the Milesian invasion of Ireland 
 by a long story of the origin of that 
 colony, and of its many wanderings, by 
 land and sea, for several hundred years, 
 until it arrived in Ireland from Spain. 
 There is no part of our primitive history 
 that has been so frequently questioned, 
 or which modern writers so generally 
 reject as fabulous, as these first accounts 
 of the Milesian or Gadelian race ; yet 
 
 translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise it is stated 
 that ‘this people, Tuatliy DeDanan, ruled Ireland for 
 197 years ; that they were most notable magicians, and 
 would work wonderful things by magick and other dia- 
 bolicale arts, wherein they were exceedingly well skilled, 
 and in these days accompted the chiefest in the world in 
 that profession.’ From the many monuments ascribed 
 to this colony by tradition, and in ancient Irish histori- 
 cal tales, it is quite evident that they were a real people ; 
 and from their having been considered gods and magi- 
 cians by the Gaedhil, or Scoti, who subdued them, it 
 may be inferred that they were skilled in arts which the 
 latter did not understand. Among them was Danann, 
 the mother of the gods, from whom Da chick Danainne, 
 a mountain in Kerry (the Pap Mountain), was called ; 
 Buanann, the goddess that instructed the heroes in mili- 
 tary exercises, the Minerva of the ancient Irish ; Badhbh, 
 the Bellonaof the ancient Irish ; Abhortach, god of music ; 
 Ned, the god of war ; Nemon, his wife ; Manannan, the 
 god of the sea ; Diancecht, the god of physic ; Brioghit, the 
 goddess of poets and smiths, &c. It appears from a very 
 curious and ancient Irish tract, written in the shape of 
 a dialogue between St. Patrick and Caoilte MacRonain 
 that there were very many places in Ireland where the 
 Tuatha de Dananns were then supposed to live as sprites 
 or fairies, with corporeal and material forms, but endued 
 with immortality. The inference naturally to be drawn 
 
 they are so mixed up with our authen- 
 tic history, and so frequently referred 
 to, that they cannot be passed over in 
 silence. We, therefore, give an outline 
 of the narrative, chiefly as we find it re- 
 lated in the Duan Eireannach, or Poem 
 of Ireland, written by Maelmura of 
 Othain, one of the most ancient of our 
 authorities for the Milesian tradition.* 
 We are told in this poem that Feni- 
 us Farsaidh came out of Scythia to 
 
 from these stories is, that the Tuatha de Dananns lin 
 gered in the country for many centuries after their sub- 
 jugation by the Gaedhil, and that they lived in retired 
 situations, where they practised abstruse arts, which in- 
 duced the others to regard them as magicians It 
 
 looks very strange that our genealogists trace the pedi- 
 gree of no family living for the last thousand years to 
 any of the kings or chieftains of the Tuatha de Dananns, 
 while several families of Firbolgic descent are mentioned, 
 as in Hy-Many, and other parts of Connaught. (See Tribes 
 and Customs of Hy-Many, pp. 85-00 ; and O’Flalierty’s 
 Ogygia, part iii., c. 11.”) 
 
 Manannan MacLir is described in Cormac's Glossary as 
 “a famous merchant of the Isle of Man, and the best 
 navigator in the western world.” Dr. O’Donovan (Four 
 Masters, vol. iii., p. 532, note) says : “ There exists ji tra- 
 dition in the county of Londonderry that the spirit of 
 this celebrated navigator lives in an enchanted castle in 
 the tuns or waves of Magilligan, opposite Inishowen, and 
 that his magical ship is seen there once every seventh 
 year.” 
 
 * Maelmura of Othain (now Fahan, in Donegal) died 
 A. D. 881, and the historical poem referred to above was 
 printed, for the first time, in the Irish version of Nennius, 
 published in 1848 by the Irish Archaeological Society, 
 with copious notes by the Rev. Dr. Todd, S. F. T. C. D., 
 and by the Hon. Algernon Herbert. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBAN A 
 9415H29HI C001 
 
 History ol Ireland ancient and modern