....The Age of the World ^[1] This is according to the computation of the Septuagint, as given by St. Jerome in his addition of the Chronicon of Eusebius, from whom, no doubt, the Four Masters took this date.
According to the Annals of Clonmacnoise and various ancient Irish historical poems, 1656 years had elapsed from the Creation to the Flood, which was the computation of the Hebrews. to this Year of the Deluge.
Forty days before the Deluge, Ceasair ^[2] Cessair Fictional lady, leader of the imagined first ever settlement in Ireland. The mediaeval writers claimed that she was a grand-daughter of the Biblical Noah and that she came to Ireland to escape the Deluge. 'She thought it probable that a place where people had never come before, and where no evil or sin had been committed, and which was free from the world's reptiles and monsters, that place would be free from the flood.'
Two of her three ships were wrecked and only one came ashore at Corca Dhuibhne (the Dingle Peninsula in Co. Kerry). Ladra was the pilot, Bith, son of Noah, was Cessair's father, and Fionntan, were the men of the crew.
The women were divided among them, with Cessair being part of Fionntan's share. The other two men soon died and, being left alone with all the women, Fionntan felt inadequate and fled from them. Cessair died from a broken heart on account of his absence, and the other women did not long survive her. Fionntan alone remained. came to Ireland ^[3] This story of the coming of Ceasair, the grand-daughter of Noah, to Ireland, is given in the Book of Leinster, in all copies of the Book of Invasions; in the Book of Fenagh; and in Giraldus Cambrensis's Topographia Hibernica. It is also given in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise; but the translator remarks: "my author, Eochy O'Flannagan, giveth no credit to that fabulous tale." Hanmer also gives this story, as does Keating; but they do not appear to believe it, "because," says the latter, "I cannot conceive how the Irish antiquaries could have obtained the accounts of those who arrived in Ireland before the Flood, unless they were communicated by those aerial demons, or familiar sprites, who waited on them in times of paganism, or that they found them engraved on stones after the Deluge had subsided." The latter opinion had been propunded by Giraldus Cambrensis, in the twelfth century. with fifty girls and three men; ^[4] According to the Book of Lecan, the Leabhar-Gabhala of the O'Clery's, and Keating's History of Ireland, they put in at Dun-na-mbarc, in Corca-Duibhne, now Corcaguiny, a barony in the west of Kerry. There is no place in Corcaguiny at present known as having borne the name; and the Editor is of opinion that "Corca Duibhne" is an error of transcribers for "Corca-Luighe," and that the place referred to is Dun-na-m-barc, in Corca-Luighe, now Dunamark, in the parish of Kilcommoge, barony of Bantry, and county of Cork. Bith, Ladhra, and Fintain, their names.
Ladhra died at Ard-Ladhrann ^[5] Ladhra's Hill or Height. This was the name of a place on the sea coast, in the east of the present county of Wexford. The name is now obsolete; but the Editor thinks that it was applied originally to Ardamine, in the east of the county of Wexford, where there is a curious moat near the sea coast. The tribe of Cinel-Cobhthaigh were seated at this place. and from him it is named, He was the first that died ^[6] Literally, "the first dead [man] of Ireland." in Ireland. Bith died at Sliabh Beatha ^[7] Bith's Mountain. Now anglice Slieve Beagh, a mountain on the confines of the counties of Fermanagh and Monaghan. and was interred in the carn of Sliabh Beatha, ^[8] This carn still exists, and is situated on that part of the mountain of Slieve Beagh which extends across a portion of the parish of Clones belonging to the county of Fermanagh. -- see note under AD 1593. If this carn be ever explored, it may furnish evidences of the true period of the arrival of Bith. and from him the mountain is named.
Ceasair died at Cuil-Ceasra, in Connaught, and was interred in Carn-Ceasra. ^[9] O'Flaherty states in his Ogygia, that Knockmea, a hill in the barony of Clare, and county of Galway, is thought to be this Carn-Ceasra, and that Cuil-Ceasra was near it. This hill has on its summit a very ancient carn, or sepulchral heap of stones; but the name of Ceasair is not remembered in connexion with it, for it is believed that this is the carn of Finnbheara, who is believed by the peasantry to be king of the fairies of Connaught. Giraldus Cambrensis states that the place where Ceasair was buried was called Caesarae tumulus in his own time. But O'Flaherty's opinion must be wrong, for in Eochaidh O' Flynn's poem on the early colonization of Ireland, as in the Book of Leinster, Carn-Ceasra is placed over the fruitful [River] Boyle. It is distinctly stated in the Leabhar Gabhala of the O'Clerys that Carn-Ceasair was on the bank of the River Boyle, and that Cuil-Ceasra was in the same neighborhood. Cuil-Ceasra is mentioned in the Annals of Kilronan, at the year 1571 , as on the River Boyle. From Fintan is [named] Feart-Fintain, ^[10] Fintain's grave. This place, which was otherwise called Tultuine, is described as in the territory of Aradh, over Loch Deirgdheirc, now Lough Derg, an expansion of the Shannon, between Killaloe and Portumna. According to a wild legend, preserved in Leabhar-na-h-Uidhri, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, this Fintan survived the Deluge, and lived till the reign of Dermot, son of Fergus Ceirbheoil, having during this period undergone various transmigrations; from which O'Flaherty infers that the Irish Druids held the doctrine of the Metempsychosis. over Loch Deirgdheirc. From the Deluge until Parthalon ^[11] Having been thirty years in Ireland, Parthalán died on the primeval plain of Sean-Mhagh nEalta. His people continued to inhabit the country for five hundred and twenty years. When they numbered over nine thousand, they were overtaken by a plague on that same plain and all perished there between two Mondays in May. A variant telling, however, had one survivor, the long-living Tuán mac Cairill. took possession of Ireland 278 years; and the age of the world when he arrived in it, 2520.

....The age of the world ^[12] The Annals of Clonmacnoise synchronize the arrival of Parthalon with the twenty-first year of the age of the Patriarch Abraham, and the twelfth year of the reign of Semiramis, Empress of Assyria, A. M. 1969, or 313 years after the Flood. O'Flaherty adopts this chronology in his Ogygia. when Parthalon came into Ireland. These were the chieftains who were with him: Slainge, Laighlinne, and Rudhraidhe, his three sons; Dealgnat, Nerbha, Ciochbha, and Cerbnad, their four wives.

Fea, son of Torton, son of Sru, died this year at Magh-Fea, ^[13] Fea's plain. This was the name of a level plain in the present barony of Forth, and county of Carlow.
Keating states in his History of Ireland (reign of Olioll Molt) that the church of Cill-Osnadha (now Kellistown), four (large Irish) miles to the east of Leighlin, was situated in this plain.
The barony of Forth, or O'Nolan's country, comprised all this plain, and was from it called Fotharta-Fea, to distinguish it from the barony of Forth in the county of Wexford, which was called Fotharta-an-Chairn, from Carnsore Point. and was interred at Dolrai-Maighe-Fea; so that it was from him the plain is named.

In this year the first battle was fought in Ireland; i.e. Cical Grigenchosach, son of Goll, son of Garbh, of the Fomorians, ^[14] Fomhóire: Malign supernatural race in the Mythological Cycle. Their designation (earlier, Fomóiri ) meant 'underworld phantoms', but from a confusion of the element 'mór' (phantom) with 'muir' (sea) they came to be regarded as sea-pirates.
The Fomhóire were the opponents of the divine Tuatha Dé Danann in the Irish version of the Indo-European myth of a great struggle between a divine race and a demonic one. The surviving text which describes this - the so-called 'second' battle of Moytirra - has the Fomhóire living in regions to the north of Ireland such as Scandinavia and the Hebrides. This is obviously a reflex from the Viking raids on mediaeval Ireland, and prior to this portrayal the Fomhóire were apparently regarded as underwater spirits, and ultimately as spirits residing in the nether regions of the earth.
Such an origin is echoed in the Moytirra text, in which some of them are associated with the soil and with agricultural skill. This text, based on an 8th-century account but with a good deal of material added by the 11th-century redactor, gives the earliest detailed account of the Fomhóire. They are not described as being particularly monstrous, for the adaptation of the Lugh myth to the tradition had made a more salutary portrayal of them possible. Lugh's mother Eithliu (variously Eithne) was daughter of the tyrant Balar, and the motif of a hostile maternal line meant that both she and Balar had to be portrayed as Fomhóire, but the authentic plot had Cain gaining access to the maiden against her father's wishes and as a result Lugh being born.
The idea of love and marriage between the two races necessitated the conceit that not all the Fomhóire were ugly and repulsive, a conceit which is found also in the description of the birth of Breas in the same text. His father Ealatha is of the Fomhóire and is extraordinarily handsome.
Breas was installed as their king by the Tuatha Dé, partly as a diplomatic gesture to the Fomhóire, and he was given a Tuatha Dé wife (Brighid). When he connived with the Fomhóire in imposing tribute on Ireland and refusing to entertain his subjects with the generosity of a king, the Tuatha Dé demanded that he resign. He went to the territories of the Fomhóire and arranged with two of their leaders, Balar and Inneach, to invade Ireland. They gathered a mighty force from the whole region between Scandinavia and Ireland, but in the battle of Moytirra they were defeated by the Tuatha Dé, with Balar being slain by Lugh.
The poet of the Fomhóire, Lóch Leathghlas, was given quarter by Lugh, as also was Breas. The price which Breas paid for his life was agricultural advice, thus echoing the underground origins of his race.
In the Lebor Gabála, the Fomhóire are given a generally repulsive portrayal. In the time of Parthalán, we are told, they were led by one Cichol Gricenchos and they had 'single arms and single legs'. Parthalán and his people fought for a whole week with them and nobody was slain 'because it was a magic battle'. These are echoes of the great mythic contest described as the battle of Moytirra, and it is clear that the Fomhóire and their deeds all derive from that contest. The pseudo-historians, aware of the chronological difficulty of having the Fomhóire already in Ireland when the various pioneering groups arrived, stressed that they were not settlers but mere sea-raiders.
Accordingly when Neimheadh's people had settled in Ireland they were oppressed by these Fomhóire, who had a fortress on Tor-Inis (Tory Island off the Donegal coast). This location was apparently chosen due to an early redaction of the Tuatha Dé versus Fomhóire clash which had the Fomhóire leaders residing in a great tower (Old Irish, 'tor' ).
We read that at the time of Neimheadh the Fomhóire were led by two kings, Conand and Morc, who had a great fleet and who demanded an exorbitant tribute - namely, two-thirds of the progeny and wheat and milk which Neimheadh's people had. The latter attacked the Fomhóire fortress on Tor-Inis and slew Conand, but Morc arrived with a huge fleet and, after a horrific contest, the survivors of Neimheadh's people withdrew and left Ireland. It is clear that in this account the pseudo-historians were making use of echoes from the clash between the Tuatha Dé and their Fomhóire oppressors.
In post-mediaeval literature the designation 'fomhóire' was applied in general to any strange grotesque beings required in the plot of narratives. Gradually the designation - in its later form 'fomhórach' -came to be used as a common noun to describe a huge and ugly enemy, so that a 'fomhórach' was in the late literature the usual counterpart of the 'fathach' or giant of folklore. and his mother, ^[15] Dr. O'Conor prints this math oir, and translates it "Duces Orientales," which shews that he did not take the trouble to compare the older accounts of this story.
It is stated in the Leabhar Gabhala of the O'Clerys, and in Keating's History of Ireland, that this Cical and his mother, Lot Luaimneach, had been in Ireland before Partholan. came into Ireland, eight hundred in number, so that a battle was fought between them [and Parthalon's people] at Sleamhnai-Maighe-Ithe ^[16] This was the name of a place near Lough Swilly, in the barony of Raphoe, and county of Donegal; but it is now obsolete.
Magh-Ithe is the name of a plain in the barony of Raphoe, along the River Finn. where the Fomorians were defeated by Parthalon, so that they were all slain. This is called the battle of Magh-Ithe.

The eruption of Loch Con, ^[17] A large lake in the barony of Tirawley, and county of Mayo. and Loch Techeat ^[18] Now Lough Gara, near Boyle, on the borders of the counties of Roscommon and Sligo. -- see note under AD 1256. in this year.

Slainge, son of Partholan, died in this year, and was interred in the carn of Sliabh Slangha. ^[19] This was the ancient name of Sliabh Domhanghairt, or Slieve Donard, in the south-east of the county of Down. Giraldus Cambrensis says that it was called Mons Dominici in his own time, from a St. Dominicus who built a noble monastery at the foot of it.
This was St. Domhanghart, and the monastery is Maghera. The carn of Slainge is still to be seen on the very summit of Slieve-Donard, and forms a very conspicuous object.
The hero Slainge is now forgotten by tradition, but the memory of St. Donard is still held in great veneration throughout the barony of Iveagh and the Mourne mountains. Also the eruption of Loch Mesc ^[20] Now Lough-Mask, a large and beautiful lake near Ballinrobe, in the county of Mayo. in the same year.

Laighlinne, son of Parthalon, died in this year. When his grave was dug, Loch Laighlinne ^[21] This lake is mentioned in the Leabhar-Gabhala, and by Keating and O'Flaherty, as in Ui Mac Uais Breagh, a district in East Meath, to the south-west of Tara. This lake has not been identified. sprang forth in Ui Mac Uais, and from him it is named. The eruption of Loch Eachtra ^[22] This lake is referred to in the Chronicon Scotorum as situated between Sliabh Modhurn and Sliabh Fuaid; and Keating and O'Flaherty place it in Oirghialla. There is no remarkable lake between Sliabh Modhurn and Sliabh Fuaid, except Loch Mucnamha at Castleblaney, in the county of Monaghan; and it may be therefore conjectured that it is the Loch Eachtra in question. Sliabh Modhurn is in the barony of Cremorene, in the county of Monaghan; and Sliabh Fuaid is near Newtown Hamilton, in the county of Armagh. also.