This was the first year of the reign of Eochaidh, son of Erc.

The tenth year of the reign of Eochaidh, son of Erc; and this was the last year of his reign, for the Tuatha-De-Dananns^[67] Tuatha Dé Danann: The principle otherworld race in Irish literary myth. Their designation means 'the People of the Goddess Danu'. Danu was an ancient Celtic land-goddess, but it is not clear why her name in particular was chosen to refer to the otherworld race, who were often referred to in a shorter form as Tuatha Dé. Groups of Celtic people, in their westward expansion, were apparently reaching Ireland as early the 6th century BC, and these influxes of Celts continued until the early centuries AD. These groups must have brought with them whatever mythical and religious ideas which they had inherited in the Celtic areas of Europe. When they reached Ireland, they encountered many archaeological remains of much earlier settlements. Particularly noticeable were the passage-graves and tumuli of north Leinster and east Ulster, constructed by a specially advanced people in the 3rd millennium BC; but there were also cairns, dolmens, megaliths, and indeed pliable artifacts, surviving throughout the country, having been left behind by other ancient inhabitants. The incoming Celts must have been quite impressed by such remains and - in a conventional cultural reaction - tended to associate these non-natural aspects of the environment with mystical otherworld beings of old. The pantheon of such beings known to the Celts were their own deities, and in this way archaeological remains came to be associated with the characters and activities of Celtic mythology. Specific deities were said to have dwelt in noteworthy archaeological sites and to inhabit them still as spiritual beings, while the myth-patterns of Celtic lore were adapted to a geographical plane which was based on the occurrence of such sites in the landscape. Thus arose the Irish complex of imagery and story associated with the Tuath Dé Danann. The myth which gave a unified basis to the lore of the Tuatha Dé was that of a great battle. This myth, of Indo-European derivation, told of a primordial conflict between a divine race (which in Irish became known as the Tuatha Dé) and a demonic race ( the Fomhóire). It is likely that the myth was first introduced by a group of new Celtic immigrants from Britain in the 3rd or 2nd century BC, and, once situated on Irish soil, the plot of the myth allowed for various elements of the Celtic otherworld to be synchronised and for a logical Irish theogony to be constructed. This was further developed with the passing of time, the great battle being located at Moytirra in Co Sligo and a separate myth concerning Lugh being incorporated into it. Some other surviving elements of ancient lore were not overtly fitted into the Moytirra context, but were relayed as separate fragments of narrative under the general umbrella of the Tuatha Dé theme. When the early mediaeval writers set themselves the task of constructing a pseudo-history of Ireland, they enthusiastically put this mythological material to use. These writers being Christians, probably needed monks, this part of their work had particular appeal for them, for the 'historicising' of the Tuatha Dé removed the remnants of the pre-Christian religious belief from their general ambit. The culmination of the process was the long description of the Tuatha Dé given in the Lebor Gagála, which was assembled and expanded from the 8th century to the 12th. This book purported to tell the ancient history of Ireland, and its account became the standard source for later references to the Tuatha Dé. The gods and goddesses having been mythic patrons of the arts and skills, the Lebor Gabála was following good precedence when it portrayed the Tuatha Dé as having among them many magical craftsmen. The division of the race into nobles and peasants, however, was probably not so much a mythic theme as a reflection of mediaeval Gaelic society. The Lebor Gabála tells us that only the nobles had these magical abilities, and elaborates by stating that 'gods were their men of art, non-gods their husbandmen'. In typical mediaeval style, the Tuatha Dé are described as having been descendants of Neimheadh and as having sojourned in the northern parts of the world learning wizardry. The character who led them into Ireland, and their first king in the country, is stated to have been Nuadhu, and he gained control of the whole country when the Tuatha Dé defeated the Fir Bolg at the so-called 'first' battle of Moytirra. Due to the loss of his arm in that battle, however, he was replaced for seven years by Breas, whose father was of the Fomhóire. When an arm made from silver was put on him, Nuadhu was restored to the kingship but was slain at the 'second' battle of Moytirra. He had given the command of his army to the newcomer Lugh in that battle, and now Lugh became king and reigned for forty years. After his death, the Daghdha became king and reigned for eighty years. Then Dealbhaeth reigned for ten years, and he in was turn succeeded by his son Fiacha. Finally three grandsons of the Daghdha - called Mac Cuill, Mac Céacht, and Mac Gréine - divided Ireland between them and married the three eponymous goddesses of the country called Banba, Fódla, and Éire. They ruled for twenty-nine years until the coming of the sons of Míl, who took the kingship for the Gaelic people. The trio of Mac Cuill, Mac Céacht, and Mac Gréine reflect the tendency in early Irish myth to triplicate deities. This finds most striking expression in 'the three gods of Danu', called Trí Dé Danann, which designation parallels the name of the supernatural race itself. Indeed the Tuatha Dé are called 'fir Trí nDéa' (i.e. 'men of the Three Gods') in the earliest surviving text of the Moytirra battle, where we are told that Lugh went to the three gods of Danu to provide him with weapons. It is, however, apparent that the original form of the phrase was the otherwise attested Trí Dé Dána (meaning 'three gods of art'). The Lebor Gabála states that the three were Brian, Iuchair, and Iucharba - sons of the goddess Danu - but three of the Tuatha Dé champions who played a leading part in the Moytirra battle were Goibhniu the blacksmith, Luchta the wright, and Créidhne the silversmith. These made weapons for Lugh and, although they are not expressly identified as such, it may be that they were the original 'three gods of art' who were alternately known as the three sons of Danu. Other leading characters of the Tuatha Dé mentioned in the Lebor Gabála were the physician Dian Céacht, the warrior Oghma, the poetess Brighid, and the satirist Cridhinbhéal. An atmosphere of magic and mystery surrounds the Tuatha Dé in the Lebor Gabála. We read that they first came to Ireland in obscure clouds, landing on a mountain in the west of the country, and that they caused an eclipse of the sun which lasted for three days. They brought with them the Lia Fáil (Stone of Destiny) which cried out at Tara when touched by the rightful king, the great spear of Lugh which guaranteed victory to its wielder, the sword of Nuadhu from which no opponent escaped, and the cauldron of the Daghdha from which no company departed unsatisfied. After their defeat by the Gaelic people led by the sons of Míl, the Lebor Gabhála gives no further details, but a 12th-century writer tells that an agreement was reached whereby the Tuatha Dé left the upper half of the ground to the Gaelic people and they themselves went underground to live in the ancient barrows and cairns which dot the landscape. Thus mediaeval Irish Christianity explained the age old belief which associated the deities with the prehistoric monuments, while at the same time demoting these deities to the level of the Fomhóire by claiming that their habitat was in the nether regions. Regarding the Barrows and cairns, it was claimed that the Daghdha assigned to each of their chiefs one such dwelling - hence the idea, found throughout Irish literature, that the mystical Tuatha Dé live on side by side with the human inhabitants of Ireland. Another 12th-century writer, notwithstanding a strong antipathy to the subject which caused him to call the Tuatha Dé 'devils', puts the tradition in a nutshell when he states that they 'used to fight with men in bodily form, and used to show delights and mysteries to them, and people believed that they were immortal'. This synopsises the relationship, which is the general one in the literature, between the Tuatha Dé and the Gaelic people. One early source states that, as part of the war between them, the Tuatha Dé destroyed the corn and milk of the sons of Míl, but the Daghdha made restitution once the peace agreement was arranged. The late mediaeval literature makes the Daghdha's son, Bodhbh Dearg, king of the Tuatha Dé, and gives to the sea-deity Manannán the function of dividing the ten principal otherworld dwellings among their chiefs. It is Manannán, too, who institutes the 'féth fiadha' (the probable meaning of which was 'cloak of concealment'), an obscure magical device which enabled the Tuatha Dé, when they so wished, to become invisible to the human world. He also arranged that they would have magical swine which returned to life after being killed so that the warriors could again hunt them. The variety of locations for the otherworld which is usual in human thought is evidenced by the tradition that, notwithstanding their dwellings in cairns and barrows, the Tuatha Dé are portrayed also as living in idyllic overseas realms such as Magh Meall ('the Delightful Plain') or Eamhain Abhlach ('the region of Apples'), which is cognate with Avalon, the version of the Celtic otherworld which surfaced later in Arthurian romance. The later writers often confused the Tuatha Dé with Fomhóire, and in post-mediaeval literature the Tuatha Dé are represented as having both salutary and demonic groups among them. They were thus suitable as powerful beings to be introduced into a varirty of literary narratives. As well as being a vestige of the idea of a divine race, however, the Tuatha Dé were also a version of the ancient and far-flung notion of quasi-human communities living beside the human one. As such they are of the same stock as the fairies of ordinary folklore, and it is clear that Irish fairy lore owes much to them in its general themes. came to invade Ireland against the Firbolgs; and they gave battle to each other at Magh-Tuireadh,^[68] Otherwise called Magh-Tuireadh-Conga, from its proximity to Cong. The site of this battle is still pointed out in the parish of Cong, barony of Kilmaine, and county of Mayo, to the right of the road as you go from Cong to the village of the Neal. There is a detailed but legendary account of this battle in a manuscript, in the handwriting of Gilla-riabhach O'Clery, preserved in the Library of the British Museum. in Conmaicne-Cuile-Toladh, in Connacht, so that the King Eochaidh, son of Erc, was killed^[69] Eochaidh, son of Erc, is given as the last of the nine Firbolgic kings in the Annals of Clonmacnois as translated by Mageoghegan; and in all the copies of the Leabhar-Gabhala, and by Keating and O'Flaherty. According to the Leabhar-Gabhala, Eochaidh fled from this battle, and was pursued and overtaken on the strand of Traigh-Eothaile, near Ballysadare, in the present county of Sligo, where he was slain, as mentioned in the text. The carn in which he was interred is described as one of the wonders of Ireland in the Mirabilia Hiberniae, in the Book of Ballymote; and also by O'Flaherty, in Ogygia. This carn still exists, and although not high above the level of the strand, it is believed that the tide can never cover it. by the three sons of names. The Firbolgs were vanquished and slaughtered^[70] According to the Annals of Clonmacnois, as translated by Connell Mageoghegan, the Firbolgs were "overthrown" in this battle, and "one hundred thousand of them slaine, with their king, Eochy Mac Eircke, which was the greatest slaughter that was ever heard of in Ireland at one meeting."
From the monuments of this battle still remaining, it is quite evident that great numbers were slain; but certainly not so many as mentioned in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, which was probably taken from some romantic account of the battle, like that above referred to. in this battle. Moreover, the hand^[71] It is stated in the Battle of Magh-Tuireadh, and various other accounts of the Tuatha-De-Dananns, that Credne Cerd made a silver hand for this Nuadhat, and that Diancecht, the Aesculapius of the Irish, fitted it upon him, from which he was ever after known by the name of Nuadhat-Airgetlamh, i.e. Nuadhat of the Silver Hand. It is stated in Leabhar-Gabhala of the O'Clerys that Diancecht and Credne formed the hand with motion in every finger and joint, and that Miach, the son of Diancecht, to excel his father, took off this hand, and infused feeling and motion into every joint and vein of it, as if it were a natural hand. See O'Flaherty's Ogygia. In Cormac's Glossary the name of Diancecht is explained .i. dia na h-íce, "the God of curing." of Nuadhat,^[72] Nuadhu Mythical king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. The meaning of the name (earlier, Nuadu) is unclear, but the most likely interpretation would be 'catcher'. A cognate in British Celtic was the name of the deity Nodons, to whom a temple was dedicated at Lydney in Gloucestershire. Several representations of dogs were found at the temple, which factor suggests that he was envisaged as a hunter, but in particular there was the figure of a man in the act of hooking a fish. In early Irish tradition Nuadhu was associated with the Boyne, being married to the eponymous goddess of the river, Bóinn. He was displaced through a trick from his residence at Brugh na Bóinne (the Newgrange tumulus) by the Mac Óg (i.e. Aonghus), and went to live at the nearby rath called Sídh Chleitigh. Since the Mac Óg is probably cognate with the British Celtic deity Maponos, and since both Nodons and Maponos were popular in northern England, it may well be that lore of the two deities reached Ireland at the same time. In the first battle of Moytirra Nuadhu is described as the king of the Tuatha Dé who led them into Ireland, and it is therefore apparent that the myth - represented by that battle -of a struggle between the divine and the demonic races was part of this cult. The tradition concerning this battle has Nuadhu losing an arm and having to resign the kingship because of the blemish. The physician Dian Céacht magically made a silver arm for him, as good and manageable as any other arm, and as a result he was restored to the kingship. The import of this arm-motif is difficult to decipher, but it must reflect ancient lore. Similarly ancient must be the idea that the well at the source of the Boyne belonged to him. This well was said to have been in the Sídh (otherworld dwelling) of Nechtan. The origin of the name Nechtan is unclear, but it most probably contains an ancient word for water ('necht'). At any rate, it was from early times regarded as a pseudonym for Nuadhu, who was also known as Nuadhu Necht. Another well-known pseudo-name for him was Elcmar (later, Ealcmhar) which meant 'the envious one'. This designation probably sprang from the triumph of the Mac Óg over him. His association with water parallels the engraving connected with Nodons at Lydney. There is, indeed, a striking similarity between the hooked fish at Lydney and a mediaeval story which connects Nuadhu with a mystical salmon in the river Boyne. This salmon was claimed to have become a source of wisdom from eating nuts which fell from hazel-trees at the well of Nechtan. From the salmon the young Fionn mac Cumhaill gained knowledge in a striking account which has him tasting it by chance, whereas it was intended for an elderly seer called Finnéigeas. The full name of this seer is elsewhere given as Nuadhu Finneígeas, and the story was obviously suggested by the myth of how the youngster called Mac Óg got the dwelling of Newgrange from Nuadhu. The whole development can best be explained by supposing that the image of Nuadhu and his fish was super-imposed onto the earlier lore of Fionn's wisdom. Considering that Fionn (earlier, Find) was a cult figure at the river Boyne from a quite archaic period in the Celtic culture of Ireland, it is likely that the whole lore of Nuadhu was introduced into the region at some time in the final centuries BC. A further development from this fusion was to make Nuadhu a maternal ancestor of Fionn. According to the mediaeval literature, when he came of age Fionn gained possession by force of Nuadhu's fortress on the hill of Almhu (Allen, Co. Kildare). Some influence from the Lugh myth is involved here, but the basis must again be the contest between Nuadhu and the Mac Óg. Another result of the Fionn connection was the frequent designation of Nuadhu as 'Nuadhu Find', the epithet being interpreted to mean 'white'. We are accordingly told that Nuadhu whitened the walls of his fortress at Almhu with lime. He was regarded by the Leinstermen as their ancestor, and his removal from Sídh Chleitigh to Almhu was clearly part of the process by which the Leinstermen carried the cult of Fionn south with them when they were expelled from the Boyne valley by the Connachta. Further development of the Nuadhu lore is evidenced by the designation Nuadhu Find Feimhin (referring to the plain of Feimhean in Co. Tipperary), and according to which he was claimed to reside in the cairn on Slievenamon. This resulted from the borrowing of Leinster ideology and lore by the ruling Eoghanacht sept in Munster during the 7th century, a factor which caused them also to claim descent from Nuadhu. The Eoghanacht were finding common cause with the Leinstermen in their opposition to the growing power of the Connachta - Ui Néill. This accounts for the pseudonym Mugh Nuadhat ('servant of Nuadhu'), given by the Eoghanacht to their ancestor Eoghan Mór, whom they represented as contending with the ancestor of the Connachta, Conn Céadchathach. A more general designation is Nuadhu Find Fáil, which may derive from the early Boyle valley context, for the stone of Fáil was the symbol of kingship at Tara. This stone was, according to tradition, brought to Ireland by the Tuatha Dé with Nuadhu as their king. They also brought a great 'sword of Nuadhu', from which no opponent could escape and no wound inflicted by which could be healed. It seems likely that originally Nuadhu's blemishing involved a sacrifice or an accident with his own weapon. No such account survives, but it may be that some type of curative water-symbolism was involved and that his arm was a metonym for a river. Mediaeval Irish literature had its own rationale for the blemish. According to it, Nuadhu's right arm was severed in combat between Nuadhu and the Fir Bolg warrior Sreang at the first battle of Moytirra. Other Tuatha Dé warriors intervened to save Nuadhu and he was carried from the field. He and Sreang resumed their combat in the battle next day. He asked Sreang to tie up his own right hand so as to ensure fair terms, but Sreang refused, and in order to prevent fatal injury to Nuadhu the Tuatha Dé offered the province of Connacht to Sreang and his Fir Bolg. Breas then became king of the Tuatha Dé, but after seven years Dian Céacht made the silver arm for Nuadhu and he was restored. Nuadhu gave authority over his army to the newcomer Lugh in the second battle of Moytirra, a battle in which he himself was slain by Balar. A post-mediaeval writer (probably 15th century) composed a romance the title of which claimed it to be the history of Nuadhu Find Feimhin. Here Nuadhu is represented as son of a Gaelic king of Ireland called Giallchadh who resides at Tara. Giallchadh is a widower, and he marries a young lady of his son's age. Egged on by her malicious maidservant, she makes sexual advances to Nuadhu, but he forcefully rejects her. Then she pretends to Giallchadh that his son has molested her, and Nuadhu has to flee before his father's army. He fights stupendously whenever confronted and takes refuge on the island of Gola (off the Donegal coast). There he encounters and overcomes a force of Norsemen who are coming to invade Ireland, and he sails away from the country. Meanwhile, his father's druid discovers the truth about the allegations against him but, on finding the remains of a Norse prince who resembles Nuadhu, it is presumed that the young hero is dead. Nuadhu gains several great victories abroad, and returns to Ireland at the head of a huge force. When he identifies himself, he is welcomed and inherits the kingship. The writer of this text had obviously read an account of the adventures of Eoghan Mór, and he combined that with the 'Potiphar's Wife' plot which was quite popular in mediaeval Irish literature. son of Eochaidh, son of Edarlamh (the king who was over the Tuatha-De-Dananns), was cut off in the same battle. The aforesaid Eochaidh was the last king of the Firbolgs. Nine of them had assumed kingship, and thirty-seven years was the length of their sway over Ireland.

The first year of the reign of Breas^[73] Breas A mythical king of the otherworld race, Tuatha Dé Danann. Breas (earlier, Bres) means 'beautiful', and according to the text on the second battle of Moytirra, it was a sobriquet, the character's real name being Eochu Bres. That text gives a detailed account of Breas' life. We read that a maiden of the Tuatha Dé called Ériu (i.e. Éire, the name of the country) was by the sea-shore when a stunningly handsome young man came to land in a silver vessel. He wished to make love to her, and she consented. Before departing he gave her a ring and told her to give it to nobody but the person whose finger it would fit. He also told her that he was Ealatha, king of the Fomhóire, and that she would bear him a son. Thus was Breas conceived. He grew up and, when Nuadhu was removed from the kingship because of his blemish, Breas was installed in his place on condition that if he became oppressive he would resign. He soon began to connive with the Fomhóire, however, in their levying of tribute on Ireland. He made virtual slaves of Oghma and the Daghdha, and further outraged the Tuatha Dé by refusing to entertain them as a king should do for his subjects. Finally, a poet of the Tuatha Dé, Cairbre mac Éadaoine, satirised him for his stinginess, and 'from that hour there was nothing but blight on Breas'. The Tuatha Dé demanded his resignation, but agreed to his request to remain in office till the end of seven years. Intending to use this respite to assemble the Fomhóire, he went to his mother and inquired about his paternity. She gave him the ring which Ealatha had left with her, and it fitted his middle finger perfectly. He and she then set out for the domain of the Fomhóire, where they were welcomed and their dogs and their horses outran those of the Fomhóire in friendly racing contests. Breas' father recognised him from the ring, but refused him assistance to regain Ireland since he had not ruled justly. He did, however, direct Breas to Balar and to Inneach mac Dé Domhnann, two other Fomhóire kings. These assembled a mighty host and came with Breas to Ireland, but they were defeated by the Tuatha Dé in the great battle of Moytirra. Captured after the battle, in order to be given quarter by Lugh he offered to ensure that the cows would always be in milk and that there would be four harvests every year in Ireland. These conditions were refused by the Tuatha Dé, and then he offered agricultural advice to Lugh, viz. that ploughing, sowing and reaping should all be done on a Tuesday. On account of this advice Breas was released. The end of the text has him back with his father Ealatha in the latter's fortress in the realm of the Fomhóire. It would be difficult to claim any great antiquity for the character of Breas, as distinct from the theme of the Fomhóire. His name seems to be a mere echo from the divine personage Eochaidh, borrowed into the Fomhóire context by some early mediaeval writer and made to suit that context. His birth-story follows a pattern which had some popularity with early mediaeval storytellers. This pattern is found also in the birth-story of Mongán, whose father was said to be the sea-deity Manannán. On the Continent it was the birth-story of the founder of the Merovingian dynasty. Common to these stories is the paternity by a sea-spirit and, just as the element 'maris' or 'mer' was the reason why the plot was applied to the Merovingians, so also the element 'muir' (i.e. sea) - as popularly applied to the Fomhóire - attracted the plot to Breas. Another motif borrowed from folklore is that of a father recognising his son through a ring-token left with the child's mother. It is noticeable that the motif does not suit the narrative context in the case of Breas, for there is no need of a recognition scene, but the author was anxious to dramatise his text with whatever material he had to hand. A further borrowing from folklore is the nature of Breas' advice regarding agriculture, for a common superstition held that it was unlucky to begin a new undertaking on Monday. None of the other accounts given of Breas differ substantially from that in the Moytirra text, although there was some confusion regarding his ultimate fate. The first redaction of the pseudo-historical Lebor Gabála states that he was slain in the battle of Moytirra. An alternate tradition is found in other redactions i.e. that he met his death at the hands of Lugh at Carn Uí Néit (Mizen Head, Co Cork). This is a reflection from the lore concerning Balar, but in his case Breas was said to have died through treachery. Lugh magically made bog-water appear as milk in his eyes, and he was poisoned from drinking it. In the post-mediaeval text on the Moytirra battle, he is said to have been beheaded by Lugh in single combat in the course of the fighting. Yet another account - given in the text on the 'first' battle of Moytirra - states that Breas died after taking a drink while hunting on Sliabh Gamh (the Ox Mountains in Co Sligo). No accounts of him survived in post-mediaeval folklore. son of Ealathan, over Ireland; for the Tuatha-De Danann gave him the sovereignty, after gaining the battle of Magh-Tuireadh Conga, while the hand of Nuadhat was under cure.

This was the seventh year of Breas over Ireland, when he resigned the kingdom to Nuadhat, after the cure of his hand by Diancecht,^[74] Dian Céacht Mythical physician in early Irish literature. The original meaning of the name seems to have been 'he who swiftly travels', and it may in fact have been a pseudonym for a god of healing. Dian Céacht is mentioned very early in the literature. Reference in 7th and 8th-century texts have him as a physician and as an arbitrator on matters concerning leeches. An incantation against ailments refers to 'the salve which Dian Céacht left with his family so that whatever it is laid on is healed'. A 9th-century glossary directly calls him 'the healing sage of Ireland' and a later writer repeats this description and calls him a 'god of health'. Caesar refers to such a god among the Gauls, but does not give his name and calls him 'Apollo'. It is likely that Dian Céacht, the one who travels swiftly when required to heal his devotees, is the Irish version of this deity. In a 10th-century text, Dian Céacht is indeed described as 'going roads of great healing'. The mediaeval writers in general made him the physician of the Tuatha Dé Danann, an adept at magical cures, and in that role he occurs in several texts. He and his three brothers are mentioned as physicians in the first battle of Moytirra. In the second battle, however, two sons and a daughter are the trio who feature with him. They make a well, into which the wounded of the Tuatha Dé are cast to be healed while Dian Céacht and his family sing incantations by it. Before the same battle, he makes a promise which typicalises his image: 'Any man who is wounded, unless his head be cut off, or the membrane of his brain or his spinal cord be severed, will be fully healed by me.' It was appropriate, then, that it was he who healed the blemish of the Tuatha Dé king Nuadhu. Dian Céacht put a silver arm on him which had 'the vigor of every hand in it'. The great physician's son Miach, however, interfered and himself set about healing the ling. In nine days skin grew on the hand, it became manageable, and it became so deft as to catch wisps of burnt bulrushes. Dian Céacht was displeased at being upstaged by his son and struck him three times on the head with a sword, but Miach cured himself of each wound. Then Dian Céacht struck him a forth blow, which cut his brain and killed him. Three hundred and sixty-five herbs grew out of Miach's grave, one for each of his joints and sinews. The young man's sister Airmeith collected the herbs, and Dian Céacht mixed them so that nobody would ever again know their full healing qualities. We are also told that Dian Céacht put every type of herb that grew in Ireland into a well between Moytirra and Lough Arrow. This well was known as Tiopra Sláine and was reputed to have been his great healing well. All of this lore can be viewed as debris of the ancient mystique and rituals associated with the art of healing. We are told that he cured Tuirill by making an emetic draught for him, and that he destroyed serpent-like creatures which infested the heart of a son of the Mór-Ríoghain. In a more heroic vein, he is described as slaying a great serpent which threatened to devastate the country-side surrounding the river Barrow in south Leinster. It is also stated that he restored the eye which Midhir had lost in an accident, and a late variation on this particular theme is given some humorous colouring. According to this, Miach replaced the eye of Nuadhu's doorkeeper with that of a cat. Skilled though this operation was, it left the doorkeeper at a disadvantage, for the eye remained open at night watching mice and birds, whereas by day it slept while its bearer should be at work. The same late text burlesques the motif of the replacement of Nuadhu's arm by stating that Miach performed the operation in a bizarre manner. First he removed a beetle which had nested in the king's other arm, and then he replaced the lost limb with that of the king's swineherd. assisted by Creidne, the artificer, for they put a silver hand upon him.

The first year of the reign of Nuadhat Airgeatlamh, after his hand had been welded with a piece of refined silver.

At the end of the twentieth year of the reign of Nuadhat of the Silver Hand, he fell in the battle of Magh-Tuireadh na bh-Fomorach^[75] This name is still remembered in the country, and is now applied to a townland in the parish of Kilmactranny, barony of Tirerrill, and county of Sligo. There are very curious sepulchral monuments still to be seen on this battle-field, of which a minute description has been given by Dr. Petrie in a paper read before the Royal Irish Academy in 1836. See note under AD 1398. There was also a long account of this battle of the northern Magh-Tuireadh, as well as that of the southern Magh-Tuireadh, or Magh-Tuireadh-Conga, already mentioned, but the Editor never saw a copy of it. O'Flaherty, who appears to have read it, states (Ogygia, part iii. c 12) that Balor Bemen or Bailcbemnech, general of the Fomorians, was slain in this battle by a stone thrown at him by the son of his daughter, from a machine called tabhall, which is believed to have been a sling; and that Kethlenn, the wife of Balor, fought with desperation and wounded the Dagda, afterwards king of the Tuatha-De-Dananns, with some missile weapon. This Balor, the general of the Fomorians, is still vividly remembered by tradition throughout Ireland, as Balor Béimeann, and in some places they frighten children by his name; but he is more vividly remembered on Tory Island.- where he is believed to have chiefly resided,- and on the opposite coast of Donegal, than anywhere else, except, perhaps, at Cong, in Mayo. The tradition connected with Balor, on Tory Island, was written by the Editor in 1835, from the dictation of Shane O'Dugan, whose ancestor is said to have been living on Tory Island in St. Colmbkille's time. It is a curious specimen of the manner in which tradition accounts for the names of places, and remembers the names of historical characters. This story is evidently founded on facts; but from its having floated on the tide of tradition for, perhaps three thousand years, names have been confounded, and facts much distorted. The history of Balor runs as follows, as related to the Editor by Shane O'Dugan, one of the O'Dugans of Tory Island: " In days of yore (a period beyond the reach of chronology,- far back in the night of time) flourished three brothers, Gavida, Mac Samhthiann, and Mac Kineely (Mac Cinnfaelaid) the first of whom was a distinguished smith, who held his forge at Drumnatinne, a place in the parish of Rath-Finan, which derived its name from that circumstance, for Druim na teine in Irish sounds ridge of fire in English, alluding to Gavida's furnace. Mac Kineely was lord of that district, comprising the parishes of Rath-Finan and Tullaghobegely, and was possessed of a cow called Glas Gaivlen [Glas Gaibhnenn], which was so lactiferous as to be coveted by all his neighbors, and so many attempts had been made at stealing her, that he found it necessary to watch her constantly. " At this same remote period flourished on Tory (an island lying in the ocean opposite Drumnatinne, which received that name from its presenting a towery appearance from the continent of Tir-Connell, and from the many prominent rocks thereon, towering into the heavens, and called tors by the natives) a famous warrior, by the name of Balor, who had one eye in the middle of his forehead, and another directly opposite it, in the back of his skull. This latter eye, by its foul distorted glances, and its beams and dyes of venom, like that of the Basilisk, would strike people dead, and for that reason Balor kept it constantly covered, except whenever he wished to get the better of enemies by petrifying them with looks; and hence the Irish, to this day, call an evil or overlooking eye by the name of Suil Bhaloir. But though possessed of such powers of self-defence, it appears that it had been revealed to a Druid that Balor should be killed by his own O, or grandson ! At this time Balor had but an only child, a daughter, Ethnea by name, and seeing that she was the only medium through which his destruction could be wrought, he shut her up in an impregnable tower, which he himself, or some of his ancestors, had built some time before on the summit of Tor-more (a lofty and almost inaccessible rock, which, shooting into the blue sky, breaks the roaring waves and confronts the storms at the eastern extremity of Tory Island); and here he also placed a company of twelve matrons, to whom he gave the strictest charge not to allow any man near her, or give her an idea of the existence or nature of that sex. Here the fair Ethnae remained a long time imprisoned; and, though confined within the limits of a tower, tradition says that she expanded into bloom and beauty; and though her female attendants never expressed the sound man in her presence, still she would often question them about the manner in which she herself was brought into existence, and of the nature of the beings that she saw passing up and down the sea in curraghs: often did she relate to them her dreams of other beings and other places, and other enjoyments, which sported in her imagination while locked up in the arms of repose. But the matrons, faithful to their trust, never offered a single word in explanation of those mysteries which enchanted her imagination. In the meantime, Balor, now secure in his existence, and regardless of the prediction of the Druid, continued his business of war and rapine. He achieved many a deed of fame; captured many a vessel; subdued and cast in chains many an adventurous band of sea rovers; and made many a decent upon the opposite continent, carrying with him, to the Island, men and property. But his ambition could never be satiated until he could get possession of that most valuable cow, the Glas Galvin, and to obtain her, he therefore directed all his powers of strength and stratagem. One day Mac Kineely, the chief of the tract opposite the island, repaired to his brother's forge to get some swords made, and took with him the valuable Glas Galvin by a halter which he constantly held in his own hand by day, and by which she was tied and secured by night. When he arrived at the forge, he instructed her to the care of his brother, Mac Samhthainn, who, it appears, was there too, on some business connected with war, and entered the forge himself, to see the sword properly shaped and steeled. But, while he was within, Balor, assuming the form of a red-headed little boy, came to Mac Samhthainn and told him that he heard his two brothers (Gavida and Mac Kineely) saying, within at the furnace, that they would use all his (Mac Samthainn's) steel in making MacKineely's swords, and would make his of iron. "By the Seomh, then," says Mac Samthainn, "I'll let them know that I'm not to be humbugged so easily; hold this cow my red-headed little friend, and you will see how soon I'll make them alter their intention." With that he rushed into the forge with a passion, and swearing by all the powers above and below, that he would make his two brothers pay for their dishonesty. Balor, as soon as he got the halter into his hand, carried off the Glas, with the rapidity of lightning, to Tory Island, and the place where he dragged her in by the tail is, to this day (a great memorial of the transaction), called Port-na-Glaise, at the harbour of the Glas or Green cow. When Mac Kineely heard his brother's exclamations, he knew immediately that Balor had effected his purpose; so, running out of the forge, he perceived Balor and the cow in the middle of the Sound of Tory ! Mac Samthainn, also being soon made sensible of the scheme of Balor, suffered a few boxes on the head from his brother with impunity. Mac Kineely wandered about distracted for several hours, before he could be brought to a deliberate consideration of what was best to be done to recover the cow; but, after he had given full vent to his passions, he called to the lonely habitation of a lonely Druid, who lived not far from the place, and consulted him upon the matter. The Druid told him that the cow could never be recovered as long as Balor was living, for that, in order to keep her, he would never close the Basilisk eye, but petrify every man that would venture to get near her. Mac Kineely, however, had a Leanan-sidhe, or familiar sprite, called Biroge of the Mountain, who undertook to put him in the way of the destruction of Balor. After having dressed him in the clothes worn by ladies in that age, she wafted him, on the wings of a storm, across the Sound, to the airy top of Tormore, and there, knocking at the door of the tower, demanded admittance for a noble lady whom she rescued from the cruel hands of a tyrant who had attempted to carry her off, by force, from the protection of her people. The matrons, fearing to disoblige the Banshee, admitted both into the tower. As soon as the daughter of Balor beheld the noble lady thus introduced, she recognised a countenance like one of which she had frequently felt enamored in her dreams, and tradition says that she immediately fell in love with her noble guest. Shortly after this, the Banshee, by her supernatural influence over human nature, laid the twelve matrons asleep; and Mac Kineely, having left the fair daughter of Balor pregnant, was invisibly carried back by his friendly sprite to Drumnatinne. When the matrons awoke they persuaded Ethnea that the appearance of Biroge and her protege was only a dream, but told he never to mention it to her father. "Thus did matters remain until the daughter of Balor brought fourth three sons at a birth, which, when Balor discovered, he immediately secured the offspring, and sent them, rolled up in a sheet (which was fastened with a delg or pin), to be cast into a certain whirlpool; but as they were carried across a small harbour, on the way to it, the delg fell out of the sheet, and one of the three children dropped into the water, but the other two were secured and drowned in the intended whirlpool. The child that had fallen into the harbour, though he apparently sunk to the bottom, was carried away by the Banshee who had cleared the way to his procreation, and the harbour is to this day called Port-a-delig, or the Harbour of the Pin. The Banshee wafted the child (the first, it appears of the three, who had seen the light of this world) across the Sound in safety to his father, who sent him to be fostered by his brother Gavida, who brought him up to his own trade, which then ranked among the learned professions, and was deemed of so much importance that Brighit, the goddess of the poets, thought it not beneath her dignity to preside over the smiths also. "Balor, who now thought that he had again baffled the fates by drowning the three children, having learned from his Druid that Mac Kineely was the man who had made this great effort to set the wheel of his destiny in rapid motion, crossed the Sound, and landed on that part of the continent (for some more modern occupier) Ballyconnell, with a band of his fierce associates, seized upon Mac Kineely, and laying his head on a large white stone (one holding him upon it by the long hair, and others by the hands and legs) cut it off, clear with one blow of his ponderous sword ! The blood flowed around in warm floods, and penetrated the stone to its very centre. This stone, with its red veins, still tells this deed of blood, and gives name to a district comprehending two parishes. It was raised, in 1794, on a pillar sixteen feet high, by Wyby More Olpherts, Esq., and his wife, who had carefully collected all the traditions connected with Balor. It is shewn to the curious traveller as Clogh-an-Neely (the name which Wyby More has committed to the durability of marble, but the Four Masters write it more correctly Cloc Chinnfaolaid at the years 1284, 1554), and forms a very conspicuous object in the neighbourhood. "Notwithstanding all these efforts of Balor to avert his destiny, the Banshee had executed the will of fates. For after the decollation of Mac Kineely, Balor, now secure, as he thought, in his existence, and triumphant over the fates, frequented the continent without fear of opposition, and employed Gavida to make all his military weapons. But the heir of Mac Kineely, in course of time, grew up to be an able man, and, being an excellent smith, Balor, who knew nothing of his birth, became greatly attached to him. The heir of Mac Kineely, who was well aware of his father's fate, and aquainted with the history of his own birth and escape from destruction, was observed to indulge in gloomy fits of despondency, and frequently to visit the blood-stained stone, and to return from it with a sullen brow which nothing could smooth. One day Balor came to the forge to get some spears made, and it happened that Gavida was from home upon some private business, so that all the work of that day was to be executed by his young foster-son. In the course of the day Balor happened to mention, with pride, his conquest of Mac Kineely, but to his own great misfortune, for the young smith watched his opportunity, and taking a glowing rod from the furnace, thrust it through the Basilisk eye of Balor and out through the other side of his head, thus avenging the death of his father, slaying his grandfather, and executing the decree of fate, which nothing can avert. Some say that this took place at Knocknafola, or Bloodyforeland, but others, who place the scene of Balor's death at Drumnatinne, account for the name of Knocknafola by making it the scene of a bloody battle between the Irish and Danes. Tradition, however, errs as to the place of Balor's death, for according to Irish history, he was killed by his grandson, Lughaidh Lamhfhada, in the second battle of Magh-Tuireadh.- See Ogygia, part iii. c. 12 . by Balor^[76] Balar (also Balor, Bolur) Mythical tyrant, who was sometimes given the sobriquet Bailcbhéimneach ('strong-smiting'). His name seems to have originally meant 'the flashing one' and would have been 'Boleros' in ancient Celtic. Classical authors such as Ptolemy and Diodorus Siculus attest to a promontory in Cornwall being anciently known as Bolerion, and the inference is that a figure with such a name was associated with that place (probably Land's End). The Irish Balar is described in the early literature as grandson of an obscure personage called Nét and is said to have met his death at Carn Uí Néit ('the Cairn of Net's Grandson'). This is Mizen Head in Co Cork. Such associations with promontories in the extreme south-west of both Britain and Ireland strongly suggest the idea of the setting sun, and other imagery of Balar accords well with this. In one early text he is called Balar 'Birug-derc' (i.e. piercing eyed), and he is represented in story as having a fearsome eye which destroyed hosts 'by its poison'. Balar's role in Irish tradition is generally confined to the myth of Lugh, to whom his daughter gave birth against his wishes. In the mediaeval text on the second battle of Moytirra, he appears as a leader of the sea-pirate race called Fomhóire who oppress the divine race Tuatha Dé Danann. He is associated with the north and is said to have been king of the Hebridian Islands off the coast of Scotland. The general imagery of the Fomhóire has, however, been much influenced by that of the Norse raiders who harassed Ireland in the ninth and tenth centuries, and there is no reason to doubt the greater antiquity of his connection with the seas off the south-west coast. The story of the second battle of Moytirra can be reduced to two basic levels of plot - the struggle between two supernatural races on the one hand, and the killing of a tyrant by his prophesied grandson on the other. This latter is the Lugh myth, and it is reasonable to assume that Balar properly belonged to that context. The fact that Breas, rather than him, is the overall commander of the Fomhóire, and that Breas's role is much more fundamental to the plot of the battle, strengthens this assumption. The likelihood, then, is that when the harvest-myth of Lugh reached Ireland it appropriated to itself a leading personification of the scorching sun from the lore which was current at the time, and that Balar was thus made to fit the role of the tyrant-grandfather. The clash of Balar with Lugh, as it has come down to us in both literature and folklore, shows the influence of the biblical contest between David and Goliath. The weapon used by Lugh was the same as that used by David, a sling-stone, which we are told drove the eye back through Balar's head. Old Irish accounts of a slaying of an enemy by a hero in single combat usually have a great spear or javelin as the weapon of triumph, and this is likely to have been the case in the original version of this narrative also. Similarly, the portrayal of Balar has been tempered by the image of Goliath. He is of enormous size in our earliest text on the Moytirra battle, and when he falls dead 'thrice nine' of his own soldiers are crushed underneath him. Otherwise he is described with rather spontaneous dramatic touches. We read that the eye was never opened except on a battlefield - it had a polished ring in its lid, and it required four men to lift this lid. A rather ingenious, though superfluous, explanation is given of how the eye became poisonous - when the druids of his father had been brewing a magic concoction, Balar had come to observe the work and the fumes had settled on the eye, bringing with them their venomous power. A variant description of Balar's death was current from at least the 12th century. According to it, he survived the loss of his eye in the battle and was pursued by Lugh all the way to Mizen Head. When cornered and certain of his doom, he tried to exact vengeance by telling Lugh that he could gain all the power of his grandfather by performing a certain act. This was to place the severed head of Balar on top of his own. Having decapitated the tyrant, Lugh instead laid the head on a large rock, which was immediately dashed to pieces. Variants of this episode have survived in folklore recensions of the Lugh myth down to our own time, though Mizen Head is no longer mentioned in them. In these tellings, Balar is said to have had his base on Tory Island off the Donegal coast, and he is said to have oppressed Ireland with cruel taxes. This is derived from the mediaeval literature, which situated the stronghold of the Fomhóire on that island and portrayed them as robbers and exactors of tribute. Various landmarks are pointed out on the island, such as the site of his fortress (Dún Bhalair), the nigh inaccessible peak on which he had a tower (Túr Bhalair) where his daughter was kept, and a deep cleft where he used to keep prisoners. The withering effects of his evil eye were pointed out in phenomena as varied as the black tips of the rushes and the barren slopes of the mountains Muckish and Errigal on the mainland. In folk versions of the Balar myth, his grandson Lugh was assisted by a friendly smith called Goibhleann (Goibhniu). This Goibhleann had a marvelous cow (the Glas Ghoibhneann), which Balar tried to steal from its owner. A variant account of these episodes was current in Co Monaghan, according to which Balar drove the cow and its calf down into Leinster, but when they reached the coast near Dublin the cow tried to turn back, and Balar raised the lid from his eye to see what was troubling her. Immediately the cow and her calf were turned into rocks, which are now the two Rockabill islands off Skerries. His eye was reputed to have had a similar effect in Co. Mayo, the folk at Cong claiming that rocks in the locality were men who had been petrified by its glance. As might be expected, descriptions of how he employed his unique faculty are lavishly dramatised, for instance the following account from Mayo: 'He had a single eye in his forehead, a venomous fiery eye. There were always several coverings over this eye. One by one Balar removed the coverings. With the first covering the bracken began to wither, with the second the grass became copper-coloured, with the third the woods and timber began to heat, with the fourth smoke came from the trees, with the fifth everything grew red, with the sixth it sparked. With the seventh they were all set on fire, and the whole countryside was ablaze!' of the mighty blows, one of the Fomorians.

The first year of the reign of Lugh^[77] Lugh Mythical hero, originally a Celtic deity. His name is usually accompanied by the sobriquet Lámhfhada ('long-armed'), the Idea being not of a physically long limb but that his weapons had long range. He was adept at the use of the javelin and the sling. Lugh was also known as 'Samhildánach', meaning 'the one who possesses all the arts'. Writing of the Gauls, Julius Caesar stated that they most worshipped a god whom he equated with the Roman Mercurius. 'They declare him the inventor of all arts, the guide for every road and journey, and they deem him to have the greatest influence for all money-making and commerce'. All the evidence points to Lugh (Celtic 'Lugus') as the deity in question. Sanctuaries with dedications to this personage have been discovered throughout Gaulish territories. A glossary compiled in the 9th century, which embodies much ancient lore, explains Lughnasadh as 'an assembly held by him (i.e. Lugh) at the beginning of harvest each year', and another early source identifies this assembly as the great fair of Tailtiu (Teltown in Co Meath). The origins of various communal activities relating to festive celebrations were also attributed to him - such as ball-games, horse-racing, and 'Ficheall' (the Irish form of chess). Irish tradition at all stages represents Lugh as slaying his maternal grandfather, who was a tyrant. This must derive, together with the harvest lore, from the cult of Lugus among the Continental Celts, as it conforms to a myth-pattern which was prevalent among the ancient peoples of the Mediterranean. Irish tradition describes Lugh's defeated grandfather as possessing a destructive eye, and this can be taken as a symbol of the blazing sun which wanes with the end of summer and the ripening of a new harvest. The fullest description of Lugh is found in an 11th-century Irish text Cart Maige Tuired ('the Battle of Moytirria'). The text incorporates material written down several centuries earlier, and it describes the events surrounding what became known as the second battle of Moytirra. When the Tuatha Dé were at Tara preparing their defenses for the Fomhóire invasion, their doorkeeper saw a handsome young warrior approaching. The newcomer announced himself as Lugh, and was told by the doorkeeper that he could not enter the citadel without having an art. Lugh said that he was a builder, but the doorkeeper replied that they already had a builder and did not require another. Lugh said that he was a smith, but got a similar reply. Likewise when he said that he was a champion, harper, warrior, poet, historian magician, physician, cupbearer, and brazier. Then Lugh said: 'Ask the king if he has one man who is skilled in all these arts, and if he has I will not enter Tara.' The doorkeeper told the king that a stranger had arrived who was 'the man of every single art', and Nuadhu commanded that he be allowed to enter, 'because a man like that has never yet come into this fortress'. When he entered. Lugh performed a prodigious feat by throwing a great flagstone over the wall of the building, and then he played magical music on the harp. Nuadhu decided to give him command of the Tuatha Dé in their hour of need, and Lugh inspected their forces, determining which particular skill each of the leaders possessed. When battle was joined with the Fomhóire on the plain of Moytirra, Lugh slipped away from his bodyguard and circled around the warriors , 'on foot and with one eye closed', while he chanted a spell. This was a magical device used by poets to weaken the foe. Horrific slaughter ensued, and Lugh came face to face with his Fomhóire grandfather. This fearsome warrior, Balar, had a destructive eye which was never opened except on a field of battle. Four men would raise the lid of the eye, and a host on which it gazed would be destroyed by its poison. 'The lid was raised from Balar's eye. Then Lugh cast a sling-stone at him, which drove the eye through his head, and it was gazing on his own host. He fell on top of the Fomhóire army, so that thrice nine of them died under his side.' The Fomhóire were routed, but Lugh spared the life of Breas in return for advice on ploughing, sowing, and reaping the harvest. The time of the battle is given as Samhain (the November feast) rather than Lughnasadh (August); and we are not told if Lugh continued to lead the Tuatha Dé. Despite the glorious role assigned to him, he was clearly an interloper, but in time he was made to fit more comfortably into the Tuatha Dé company. References from about the 10th century state that, after the death Nuadhu, he was installed as their king by the Tuatha Dé at the hill of Tailtiu and that he reigned as king of Ireland for forty years. An 11th-century text describes him as lord of the otherworld, living in a house of gold and silver and attended by the goddess of sovereignty. He is called 'an Scáil' (the Phantom), is seated on the throne, and 'never was there seen in Tara one as wonderful as he'. In a poem written a century later Lugh is said to have been reared in Eamhain Abhlach, a beautiful wooded realm full of apple trees and cognate with the Avalon of Celtic myth which was adopted into Arthurian literature. One mediaeval writer, perhaps echoing some earlier tradition, states that Lugh had as wives two sisters called Buí and Nás. Buí was buried at Cnoghbha (Knowth in Co Meath) and Nás at the place which is claimed to be called after her (Naas, Co Kildare). The latter is pseudo-lore, for the word (and placename) 'nás' actually meant a fair or assembly, but all of this may be an echo of early importance of Lughnasadh celebrations at these places. The same writer states significantly that it was in memory of these two wives that Lugh instituted the fair of Tailtiu which, as suggested, seems to have been the earliest great centre of his cult. Already by the 8th century Lugh was being regarded as the otherworld father of Cú Chulainn, and it is clear that a broad mosaic of folklore concerning him was circulating in mediaeval Ireland. One source applies the epithet 'leathshuanach' (i.e. side-mantled) to him and explains it by claiming that 'a red colour used to be on him from sunset till morning', while another states that he had a beautiful shirt of red-gold texture. Several placenames derive from his name or were interpreted as such, while the frequent personal name Lughaidh originated as a compound of Lugh. The hero himself was sometimes referred to through his patronymic as Lugh mac Céin, but more often called Lugh mac Eithleann - from Eithliu, an early form of his mother's name Eithne. A poem from the 14th century refers to his coming to Tara and ascribes marvelous acrobatic skills to him on that occasion. These included prodigious jumping and swimming, as well as 'leaping on a bubble without bursting it'. He exemplified the process by which art and skill were extended into the realm of mystery and magic, and therefore was a prototype for several characters in later lore, such as the Gobán Saor, the Ceithearnach Caoilriabhach, and Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh. The attempts of mediaeval writers to synchronise the multiple vestiges of earlier mythology led to great confusion in names and characters. For instance, there was an enigmatic reference in the Cath Maige Tuired text to how Lugh procured weapons for the battle from the 'trí dé Danann'. Some literary sources state that the father of this trio was called Tuirill, but others have Braes as their father. Yet other sources confuse Breas with Balar, with the result that Lugh is represented as gaining a singular victory over both in the battle of Moytirra. A surveyor of the literature in the 10th century could speculate that the three brothers, whose father had been killed by Lugh, would seek vengeance by killing Lugh's own father Cian. According to the story thus invented, Cain went in the shape of a lap-dog to Brugh na Bóinne and was killed there by the sons of Tuirill (later, Tuireann), who were called Brian, Iuchair, and Iucharba. The story soon became popular with writers. One version states that the three brothers were in turn slain by Lugh on the Isle of Man, but others state the Lugh was satisfied with compensation. The wergild he demanded was seven precious things which were extremely difficult to obtain and which included a mighty javelin. An expanded version of the story was written in the 14th century, according to which Lugh deliberately made the compensation difficult out of a spirit of malice. When the three brothers, having fulfilled the conditions, returned sick and weary from their exertions, their father beseeched Lugh to lend his mantle to them. This mantle had the magical property of healing all illness, but Lugh refused the request and let them die. Another story from the mediaeval literature describes the death of Lugh as taking place at Uisneach (the hill of Ushnach in Co Westmeath, also the venue of great assemblies in ancient times). He had, we are told, slain a certain Cermaid 'through jealousy concerning his wife' and, in retaliation, the three sons of Cermaid attacked Lugh au Uisneach. One of them thrust a spear into his foot, and Lugh retreated into a lake and was drowned there. This account has no warrant other than to fancifully explain the placename Loch Lughbhorta, and it was obviously suggested by the story of the sons of Tuirill. Folklore attests that the presentation of Lugh depended on one great story from start to finish i.e. his triumph over Balar. Several versions of this have been collected from the oral tradition in recent times in Irish speaking areas in the west and north-west. The occurrence of the story in the folklore of these areas undoubtedly owes something to manuscripts. There are many references to the epic in literature, and even some literary retellings, and there is little doubt that more of such written records did exist but have been lost. Sligo and Mayo readers of the literature would note that the battle was fought at Moytirra in their own area and would thus be inclined to memorise the story. In Donegal, the placename Dún Lúiche (Dunlewy at the foot of Mount Errigal) was popularly associated with Lugh because of its phonemic similarity to his name, and this appears to be the main reason why the story thrived in the folklore of that region. Lamhfhada [Lewy of the Long Hand] over Ireland.

After the fortieth year of the reign of Lugh Lamhfhada over Ireland, he fell by Mac Cuill at Caendruim.^[78] This was the ancient name of the hill of Uisneach, in Westmeath, situated about four miles south-east of the village of Ballymore-Lough-Swedy. See Ogygia, part iii. c. xiii. It was in the reign of this Lugh that the fair of Tailltean^[79] Now Telltown, near the River Boyne, in the county of Meath, and nearly midway between Kells and Navan. This fair, at which various games and sports were celebrated, continued down to the time of Roderic O'Connor, the last monarch of Ireland. It was celebrated annually on the first of August, which is still called Lugh-Nasadh, i.e. Lugh's fair, games or sports, by the native Irish.- See Cormac's Glossary. in voce Lugnasad. See also Ogygia, part iii. cc. xiii. lvi. The remains of a large earthen rath, and traces of three artificial lakes, and other remains, are still to be seen there. To the left of the road, as you go from Kells to Donaghpatrick, there is a hollow, called Lag an aonaig, i.e. the hollow of the fair, where according to tradition, marriages were solemnized in Pagan times. There are vivid traditions of this fair yet extant in the country; and Teltown was, till recently, restored by the men of Meath for hurling, wrestling, and other manly sports. was established in commemoration and remembrance of his foster-mother, Taillte, the daughter of Maghmor, King of Spain, and the wife of Eochaidh, son of Erc, the last king of the Firbolgs.

The first year of the reign of Eochaidh Ollathair, who was named the Daghda,^[80] Daghdha (earlier, Dagdae) A leading mythic character in Irish literature, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who was demonstrably a principal deity in ancient times. The name meant 'good god', though good not specifically in the moral sense but in the sense of technical precision. This explanation is given in the important text on the second battle of Moytirra, when the Tuatha Dé were making their military preparations. The surviving portrayals cause him to be identified with the 'Dis Pater' whom Caesar claimed was regarded by the Gauls as their ancestral deity. Mediaeval texts in fact state that the Daghdha had the alternative name Eochaidh Ollathair, the sobriquet here meaning 'father of many'. He was also known by the appellation 'Ruadh Ró-Fheasa' (i.e. the All-Knowing Noble). This makes him a god of wisdom, and references to him under that name effectively portray him as a wise ancestral figure. Some basic attributes of the Daghdha are described in the account of the second battle of Moytirra. These attributes are hugeness, generosity, and a voracious appetite. He possesses a mighty cauldron from which 'no company ever went away unsatisfied', and the narrative again and again stresses the massive and momentous nature of his imagery. He is represented as willingly building a fortress for king Breas, and then being forced to build a great rampart around that fortress. During this work, he was deprived of food due to the demands of the satirist Cridhinbhéal and his life was miserable. However, through the advice of his son, the Mac Óg (i.e. Aonghus) he outwitted both Cridhinbhéal and Breas, and choose as payment for his work a single black heifer from Breas' heard. This heifer he later used to entice back all the cattle which the Fomhóire oppressors had taken from the Tuatha Dé The images of progenitor and gourmand also surface in the text. Before the battle, we are told, he went to a tryst with the Mór-Ríoghain, goddess of land and of war, on the bank of the river Unshin in Connacht. She had one foot on either side of the river when the Daghdha mated with her. Then he went to a parley at the Fomhóire camp, and they -knowing that he loved porridge - filled a great cauldron with it for him and added vast quantities of milk and meat. They poured all this mixture into a hole in the ground and forced him to eat it. He took his ladle, which was big enough for a man and a woman to lie together in it, and ate the whole meal, scraping up even the gravel in the process. His belly was greatly distended as a result, and he fell asleep. On waking he left the camp, dragging his mighty club after him. The club was so massive that eight men would be required to carry it. He had it mounted on wheels, and as he dragged it along the wheels made a track as deep as a dyke between provinces. He soon met a beautiful young woman of the Fomhóire and sought intercourse with her, but his huge belly made this impossible. The woman mocked him and flung him to the ground, and after he had disgorged himself he mated with her. She then promised magical assistance to the Tuatha Dé in the forthcoming battle, as the Mór-Rioghain had also promised. When the battle was joined, the Daghdha wrought havoc on the foe with his mighty club. The Daghdha's magical power is stressed in direct association with the club in a passage in an 8th-century text. Here we are told that the club had a rough end and a smooth one. When he put the rough end on the heads of nine men together it slew them immediately, and when he put the smooth end on them they were revived. The emphasis on his club and cauldron recall the Gaulish deity Sucellos (literally 'good striker') who was portrayed on monuments as having a mallet and a jar. Although by all indications an ancestral and therefore original figure, the mediaeval writers were very keen to attribute a genealogy to the Daghdha. In pseudo-history he is claimed to have been, like Breas, a son of Ealatha, which would give him Fomhóire paternity. This might well be a reflection of his association with fecundity, which would coincide with the agricultural imagery of the Fomhóire. In the account of the second battle of Moytirra he is said to have had two brothers, Nuadhu and Oghma, but this is no more than a late instance of the tendency to triplicate deities. Elsewhere there is no scarcity of references to his immediate family. One mediaeval account, obviously echoing earlier lore, makes him the husband of the Mór-Ríoghain, and he is also stated to have been lover or husband of the eponymous river-goddess Bóinn. By the latter he was father of Aonghus for whom he gained possession of Brugh na Bóinne. That landmark, we are told, was built by the Daghdha himself, and another great edifice attributed to his labours was the Grianán of Aileach (in Co Donegal, a few miles from Derry city). Several Tuatha Dé worthies were said to have been children of the Daghdha, including Aodh Caomh, Cermaid, and Brighid, and one source even goes so far as to make Dian Céacht his son. An account of a daughter called Ainge states that the Daghdha made a tub for her which would drip while the sea was in flood and became stable when the sea subsided. His hugeness is emphasised in one text by the casual, though serious remark, that his countenance was 'broader than half a plain'. Another text has him clearing twelve plains in one night, and cutting the path of twelve rivers in another night, and describes him as controlling the weather and the crops for the Tuatha Dé. The story of how his son Cermaid was slain by Lugh after he sought to seduce the latter's wife, reflects some ancient lore of sexual jealousy connected with the Daghdha, for similar themes occur in accounts of two other sons of his. These were Aodh Caomh, who was slain by the jealous husband after he had seduced the wife of Corrchend; and Conán who was killed while trying to win a maiden called Cealg from her father. The literary writers did not hesitate to invent new stories of the Daghdha. A 10th-century source has him using his club to expel a sea-monster and making the sea itself recede, thereby causing to surface the plain of Muirtheimhne (in north Co Louth). Continuing fascination with the great club is evidenced by a text from around the 12th century which purports to tell its origin. In this, after Cearmaid was slain by Lugh, the Daghda put the dead body of his son on his back and set out for the eastern world in search of a resuscitating cure. He met three men who were carrying treasures along the road, and one of these treasures was the club. He inveigled it from them to examine it, and then touched the three with its killing- end. He touched Cearmaid with the reviving end, and his son was restored to life and health. He then revived the three strangers, and they allowed him to keep the club on permanent loan. The Daghdha's own death was claimed by the pseudo-historians to have taken place as the result of a wound inflicted by a woman. This was Ceithleann, wife of Balar, with whom - according to some versions of the second battle of Moytirra - he engaged in single combat. She stabbed him through with a javelin and, though he survived the wound, it continued to trouble him. He succeeded Lugh as king and ruled over the Tuatha Dé for eighty years, but eventually the wound took its toll and he died from it. In a text of around the 9th century, the Daghdha is represented as still living when the Tuatha Dé were overcome by their successors, the sons of Míl. As part of the struggle, the Tuatha Dé destroyed the corn and milk of the newcomers, but when the sons of Mil made peace with the Daghdha he returned these products to them. Post-mediaeval mentions of the Daghdha make him the father of other Tuatha Dé personages such as Bodhbh Dearg and Midhir, but these are mere spontaneous identifications, and he figures little in the later lore. over Ireland.

After the completion of the last year of the eighty years which Eochaidh Ollathair passed in the monarchy of Ireland, he died at Brugh,^[81] i.e. Brugh-na-Boinne, a place on the River Boyne, near Stackallan Bridge, in the county of Meath. In the account of the Tuatha-De-Dananns preserved in the Book of Lecan, it is stated that Dhagda Mor (i.e. the Great Good Fire, so called from his military ardour), for eighty years king of Ireland, and that he had three sons, Aenghus, Aedh, and Cermad, who were buried with their father at Brugh-na-Boinne, where the mound called Sidh-an-Boinne was raised over them, as a monument. It may be further remarked that aengus-an-Bhrogha was considered the presiding fairy of the Boyne till recently, and that his name is still familiar to the old inhabitants of Meath, who are fast forgetting their traditions with the Irish language. For some accounts of the monuments which anciently existed at Brugh-na-Boinne, see Petrie's Inquiry into the Origin and uses of the Round towers of Ireland, pp. 100, 101. The monuments ascribed by the ancient Irish writers to the Tuatha-De-Danann colony still remain, and are principally situated in Meath, near the Boyne, as at Drogheda, Dowth, Knowth, and Newgrange. There are other monuments of them at Cnoc-Aine and Cnoc-Gréine, in the county of Limerick, and on the Pap Mountains, Da cic Danainne, in the SE of the county of Kerry. See the year 861. These monuments are of the most remote antiquity, and prove that the Tuatha-De-Dananns were a real people, though their history is so much wrapped up in fable and obscurity. of the venom of the wound which Cethlenn^[82] Dr. O'Connor latinizes this Kethlendius, as if it were the name of a man, but according to the old accounts of the battle of Magh-Tuireadh, Cethlenn, who wounded the Daghda in the second battle of Magh-Tuireadh (not the first, as incorrectly stated by the Four Masters), was the wife of Balor Beimenn, and grandmother of Lugh Lamhfhada, who slew Balor in the same battle. It is stated in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, that Inishkeihleann (Enniskillen, in Fermanagh) was called from her. inflicted upon him in the first battle of Magh-Tuireadh.