FORAS FEASA AR EIRINN Le SEATHRUN CEITINN

[The History of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating]

Translated by Edward Comyn and Patrick S. Dineen



EDITOR'S PREFACE.

GEOFFREY KEATING stands alone among Gaelic writers: he has had neither
precursor nor successor, nor, in his own domain, either equal or
second. His works show the fullest development of the language, and
his historical treatise, with which we are here concerned, marks an
epoch in our literature, a complete departure from the conventional
usage of the annalists. From the last and greatest of these, even from
his illustrious contemporaries, the Four Masters, he is, in his style
and mode of using his materials, as far removed as is Gibbon from
earlier English writers on European affairs. The period, however, with
which the English author deals is one for the history of which ample
authentic materials existed, and nothing remained for the writer but
to select and present the facts in his own style to the reader. But
our author has to give an account of a country apart from the general
development of European civilization, and to treat chiefly of remote
ages without the support of contemporary documents or monuments. In
this respect his field of inquiry resembles somewhat that of the
portion of Dr. Liddell's work relating to the Kings and early Consuls
of Rome, where the author, in a pleasing style, does his best with
scanty and unsatisfactory materials, not altogether throwing aside,
like the German critics, all data which cannot be confirmed by
inscriptions or authentic records, yet skilfully exercising his
discretion in the use of legend and tradition which had by earlier
writers been received as trustworthy evidence. It will be seen, in the
course of this work, that Keating, though often accused of being
weakly credulous, and though he was perhaps inclined to attach undue
importance to records which he believed to be of extreme antiquity,
while carrying on his narrative by their help (he had no other), yet
shows as much discrimination as writers on the history of other
countries in his time. He recounts the story, in his own happy manner,
as it was handed down in annals and poems, leaving selection and
criticism to come after, when they have a 'basis of knowledge' to work
upon. By this term he accurately indicates the contents of his
principal work, in which not merely history, but mythology,
archæology, geography, statistics, genealogy, bardic chronicles,
ancient poetry, romance, and tradition are all made to subserve the
purpose of his account of Ireland, and to increase the reader's
interest in the subject. From his style and method, his freedom from
artificial restraint and his extensive reading, it may well be
conjectured that, but for the unhappy circumstances of our country, he
might have been the founder of a modern native historical school in
the Irish language, the medium employed by him in all his works. We
may well be glad of his choice, and much is due to him for this good
service. He might have written in Latin like his friend Dr. John
Lynch, or Rev. Stephen White, or Philip O'Sullivan, his
contemporaries, or like O'Flaherty in the next generation; or in
French, like the later Abbé Mac Geoghagan; or in English, like Charles
O'Conor, and so many other vindicators of their country and her
history. He was shut out from any opportunity of printing or
publishing his work; but his own industry, and the devoted zeal of his
literary friends and admirers who undertook the duty, secured its
preservation. Printing in Gaelic was then rare and difficult,
especially in Ireland, but the reproduction of manuscripts was an
honourable calling actively pursued, and the copies were so clearly
and beautifully executed by professional scribes that the native
reader was never so bereft of literature as the absence of printed
books might suggest.

Keating's works are "veritably Irish uncontaminated by English
phrases, and written by a master of the language while it was yet a
power," as Dr. Atkinson puts it. His vocabulary is so full and varied
that one of a translator's difficulties must be to find equivalents
for what appear on the surface to be synonymous terms or merely
redundant phrases: and though we may admit an occasional lapse into
verbiage unpleasing to critics, yet his style has a charm of its own
which quite escapes in any translation, and can only be fully
appreciated by native readers, among whom his works have always
enjoyed an unrivalled popularity; and, in a less degree, by
sympathetic students of Gaelic. His wealth of reference and
illustration too, the result of much wider reading than might be
thought possible under his circumstances, gives zest to the perusal of
his books, and enhances their interest for people accustomed to a
fuller and more extended range of inquiry than our ancient annals
afford. The general neglect of the Gaelic language and of Irish
history for more than two centuries has hindered that careful and
critical study of Dr. Keating's narrative, to which the works of
writers of his period and standing have, in other countries, been 
subjected, whereby difficulties have been cleared up, errors corrected
and hasty conclusions modified; while the books themselves, where they
are not absolutely superseded as texts, have been revised and in parts
rewritten, and furnished with accessories to enable students of other
generations to use and value them. All this has yet to be done for
Keating.

"To live is to change," and the Irish language, like everything
living, has changed, passing from what scholars know as 'old' Irish to
'middle' and 'modern' Irish. Modern Irish begins with Keating, and his
model has been followed by the good writers of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, including O'Nachtan and O'Donlevy; and it still
guides us, allowance being made for inevitable change, not more
noticeable in Irish than in any other language cultivated during the
same period. Save where ancient documents are cited, there is in
Keating's writings, to quote Dr. Atkinson again, scarcely a line
which, at this day, "an Irish-speaking native will not at once get a
grip of."

The language used by our author is described by O'Curry as "the
modified Gaedhlic of Keating's own time": which merely means that
Keating elected to write in the living language, not (like the
O'Clerys and Mac Firbis) continuing to employ forms long obsolete, and
to copy strictly ancient models. O'Curry says further of Keating, whom
he elsewhere calls "a most learned Gaedhlic scholar ":-- "Although he
has used but little discrimination in his selections from old records,
and has almost entirely neglected any critical examination of his
authorities, still, his book is a valuable one, and not at all, in my
opinion, the despicable production that it is often ignorantly said to
be." In another passage, however, O'Curry rather tones down this
censure, and thus appreciates Keating:-- "It is greatly to be
regretted that a man so learned as Keating (one who had access, too,
at some period of his life, to some valuable and ancient MSS. since
lost) should not have had time to apply to his materials the rigid
test of that criticism so necessary to the examination of ancient
tales and traditions -- criticism which his learning and ability so
well qualified him to undertake. As it is, however, Keating's book is
of great value to the student, so far as it contains at least a fair
outline of our ancient history, and so far as regards the language in
which it is written, which is regarded as a good specimen of the
Gaedhlic of his time." From O'Curry's standpoint, and taking into
account the purpose of his work, we cannot expect a more favourable
estimate.

But O'Donovan himself says of Keating's History of Ireland:-- "This
work, though much abused by modern writers, on account of some fables
which the author has inserted, is, nevertheless, of great authority,
and has been drawn from the most genuine sources of Irish history,
some of which have been since lost... The most valuable copy of it...
is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (H. 5.
26.). It is in the handwriting of John, son of Torna O'Mulconry, of
the Ardchoill family, in the county of Clare, a most profound Irish
scholar, and a contemporary of Keating."

In his 'Literary History of Ireland,' Dr. Douglas Hyde thus contrasts
the O'Clerys and Keating:-- "As if to emphasise the truth that they
were only redacting the Annals of Ireland from the most ancient
sources at their command, the Masters wrote in an ancient bardic
dialect, full at once of such idioms and words as were unintelligible,
even to the men of their own day, unless they had received a bardic
training. In fact, they were learned men writing for the learned, and
this work was one of the last efforts of the esprit de corps of the
school-bred shanachy which always prompted him to keep bardic and
historical learning a close monopoly amongst his own class. Keating
was Michael O'Clery's contemporary, but he wrote -- and I consider him
the first Irish historian and trained scholar who did so -- for the
masses, not the classes, and he had his reward in the thousands of
copies of his popular History made and read throughout all Ireland,
while the copies made of the Annals were quite few in comparison, and
after the end of the seventeenth century little read."

Dr. Hyde further says:-- "What Keating found in the old vellums of the
monasteries and the brehons, as they existed about the year 1630 --
they have, many of them, perished since -- he rewrote and redacted in
his own language, like another Herodotus. He invents nothing,
embroiders little. What he does not find before him, he does not
relate.... though he wrote currente calamo, and is in matters of fact
less accurate than they [the Four Masters] are, yet his history is an
independent compilation made from the same class of ancient vellums,
often from the very same books from which they also derived their
information, and it must ever remain a co-ordinate authority to be
consulted by historians along with them and the other annalists." The
lists of ancient books, given by Keating himself in the course of his
work, afford ample evidence of this.

The great annalists mentioned were more rigid in their conception of
their duty, and more stiff in composition than some earlier Gaelic
writers; the compilers of the Annals of Loch Cé, for instance, display
a much freer treatment of their materials and an easier style. Indeed,
the gradual modification of the language, and the development of good
prose narrative form, to which in early times not much attention was
given, may be traced from the 'Irish Nennius,' in the twelfth century,
through the 'Passions and Homilies' of the Leabhar Breac, some of the
'Lives' of the Book of Lismore and the Loch Cé Annals, to the
translators of the Bible, to Carsuel, and to Keating when the
evolution was complete. The various publications, chiefly religious,
issued at Louvain, Rome, and Paris, during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries by O'Molloy, O'Donlevy, and others, afford good
examples of a similar style: and at home the sermons of Dr.
O'Gallagher, and the writings of the O'Nachtans, and others, show that
the language, while undergoing some inevitable modification, had still
the same literary standard. To their influence, and to the efforts of
humble scribes and teachers in Ireland it is due that, through the
darkest period of our history, the native language, at least, was
preserved uncontaminated and undegraded till the approach of better
days; a marvellous fact when we consider the persecution, misery, and
hardship the Irish-speaking people, for the most part, had then to
endure.

The present will be the first complete edition of Keating's History. 
Outside the restricted circle of Irish scholars, nothing was known of
the work, save through Dermod O'Connor's unsatisfactory translation,
published in 1723, and often reprinted, until, in 1811, William
Haliday published a good text of the Dionbhrollach, or vindicatory
Introduction, and about one-fourth of the Foras feasa, the body of the
historical work, with a readable translation, fairly conveying the
author's meaning, but vague, and in parts too wide of the original to
be useful. This book was never reprinted, and has become very rare. In
1857, John O'Mahony, a competent Irish scholar and native speaker of
the language, published, in New York, a faithful translation of the
entire work with copious and valuable notes, in a large volume, now
also rare. Dr. P. W. Joyce, in 1881, edited, for the use of students,
the first part of the Foras feasa, with a close, almost word-for-word,
translation, and a vocabulary; and I have recently edited the
Dionbhrollach for the same purpose. Both these texts, and the first
volume of the present edition, fall within the limits of Haliday's
publication. I shall not, therefore, until my work is considerably
advanced, have actually to break new ground; and, as I do not hesitate
to make use of the work of my predecessors, it would be unfair not to
admit this, and ungrateful not to acknowledge their assistance. More
especially I have to thank Dr. Joyce for the use of his accurate
transcript (made some years ago with a view to publication) of part of
O'Mulconry's great manuscript of Keating, so highly prized by
O'Donovan, Todd, and others, which has greatly helped the present
volume. An unpublished Latin translation of Keating exists, by Dr.
John Lynch: there is also an English translation much abridged, and
rather vague and inaccurate, in manuscript (date about 1700); to this,
perhaps, it is that Harris refers in his edition of Ware, and Haliday
seems to allude to more than one. These and other very interesting
points, on which I have a good deal of information most kindly
furnished by friends, I shall refer to more fully in the concluding
volume, to which I must also defer my own notes and comment on the
text, my historical doubts and inquiries, and my further
acknowledgments.

Dr. Joyce says:-- "To publish text, translation, and annotations of
old Keating -- whom I revere and love -- would be a great work, enough
to place all Irishmen, present and future, under deep obligations to
you. A grand ambition, enough to make a man's whole life pleasant and
healthy." I too can claim that I have always had a like deep
veneration and affection for our good old author, and to do this work
has been with me the desire and dream of half a lifetime: in fact,
since I was first able to read the Irish language, and took part, now
more than a quarter of a century ago, in the movement for its
preservation. I even then hoped to have commenced this undertaking,
but other matters, in themselves of minor interest, were more pressing
needs for the time: now, however, the Irish Texts Society gives me the
opportunity so long wished for; and from Dr. Hyde, the President, Miss
Eleanor Hull, the Hon. Sec., my colleagues on the Committee, and other
members and friends, I have received such encouragement and
assistance, as give me hope that I may be able, under their auspices,
to complete so great and useful a work.

As to Dr. Keating's other works, Dr. Atkinson's splendid edition,
published by the Royal Irish Academy, in 189o, of the text of the
'Three Shafts of Death,' a moral and philosophic treatise, with an
exhaustive vocabulary, has been of great service in the preparation of
the present volumes: and the text of 'An Explanatory Defence of the
Mass' has been issued by Mr. Patrick O'Brien, and is important and
useful. It was Keating's earliest work, and the language is simpler
than in the other text named. These two texts, together with the
present edition of the History, furnish an ample store of classical
Gaelic prose, and to these works, since their first production, so far
as they were known, everyone has been satisfied to appeal as to
authoritative standards. A valuable edition of Keating's poems has
been lately issued by Rev. J. C. Mac Erlean, S.J., for the Gaelic
League.

A sketch of the life of the author prefixed to Haliday's edition of
Keating, has been in part reprinted by Mr. O'Brien: O'Mahony also
wrote a life for his translation; and other brief narratives have been
published, though authentic materials are scanty. A full biography of
Keating, however, with an account of the time in which he lived and
the conditions under which he worked, is still a desideratum for the
numerous and increasing class who now feel interest in him, his work,
and his language.

I must content myself with a few approximate dates. Neither the year
of his birth nor of his death is exactly known; but between 1570 and
1650 may be assumed as his period. He was born at Burges, and is
buried at Tubrid, both in Co. Tipperary, and distant only a few miles.
He was educated at Bordeaux, and returned to Ireland about 1610. His
first known work, the treatise on the Mass, was written about 1615;
though there is in the Franciscan MSS. a small religious tract,
attributed to him, which may be of earlier date, as also some of his
poems. The 'Three Shafts of Death' was written about 1625, and the
History was completed about 1634, certainly before 1640. In 1644 he
built the little church of Tubrid in which he is interred, though the
exact spot is not known.

From D'Arcy McGee's position in literature, an opinion from him on
Keating's History of Ireland is of some interest. He writes:-- "It is
a semi-bardic and semi-historic work. It is full of faith in legends
and trust in traditions. But its author has invented nothing. If it
contain improbabilities or absurdities, they are not of his creation.
He had gathered from manuscripts, now dispersed or almost unknown,
strange facts wildly put, which jar upon our sense as downright
fictions. They are not such. Ignorance has criticised what it knew not
of, and condemned accounts which it had never examined. Hence
Keating's name has grown to be almost synonymous with credulity. He
may have been to blame for giving us the statements and traditions
which he found in their old age dwelling in the hearts of the people,
but we must remember that the philosophic or sceptic era in history
had not then set in. The school of Machiavelli had not yet superseded
that of Herodotus."

Hardiman, who was a first-rate Irish scholar, and familiar with the
original, writes thus of Keating's work:-- "Our Irish Herodotus was
both a poet and an historian. Indeed the flowery style of his Foras
Feasa ar Éirinn, or 'History of Ireland,' shows that he must have paid
early and sedulous court to the muses; and, that he was rewarded for
his attentions, appears from the pleasing poems which he has left
behind.... As an historian and antiquary, he has acquired much
celebrity for profound knowledge of the antiquities of his country,
'vir multiplicis lectionis in patriis antiquitatibus.'... It is an
irreparable loss to Irish history that he did not continue his
work.... Of all men, he was best qualified to give a true domestic
picture of this country, from a knowledge of its civil affairs,
manners, customs, poetry, music, architecture, &c., seldom equalled
and never surpassed; besides his intimate acquaintance with many
ancient MSS. extant in his time, but since dispersed or destroyed. The
English edition by which his history, so far as it extends, is known
to the world, is a burlesque on translation. In innumerable passages
it is as much a version of Geoffrey of Monmouth as of Geoffrey
Keating."

Dr. Todd says:-- "O'Mahony's translation," before referred to, "is a
great improvement upon the ignorant and dishonest one published by Mr.
Dermod O'Connor... which has so unjustly lowered in public estimation
the character of Keating as a historian; but O'Mahony's translation
has been taken from a very imperfect text, and has evidently been
executed, as he himself confesses, in great haste; it has, therefore,
by no means superseded a new and scholarlike translation of Keating,
which is greatly wanted. Keating's authorities are still almost all
accessible to us, and should be collated for the correction of his
text; and two excellent MS. copies of the original Irish, by John
Torna O'Mulconry, a contemporary of Keating, are now in the Library of
Trinity College, Dublin." Though I may not hope to do all that the
learned writer here quoted lays down, or to rival his own scholarlike
edition of the 'War of the Gael with the Gall', from which this
passage is cited, I shall be well pleased if I do not fall greatly
short of O'Mahony's mark, whose work has done so much to rehabilitate
our author in the opinion of those who have to depend on a
translation. His best vindication, however, will be the publication of
an authoritative text of his complete work, based on the MSS. named by
Dr. Todd, and others at least equally authentic, carefully edited and
revised, and printed with the accuracy and style which have
characterised the Press of his University since Dr. O'Donovan's 'Four
Masters' was produced there, fifty years ago.
A few words will be in place here concerning the authorities for the
text of the present volume. The chief are:--

I. -- A MS., believed to be in the handwriting of the author, most
accurate and valuable, now in the Franciscan Convent Library, Dublin.
This volume is stated to have been written in the convent of Kildare,
and is shown by another entry to have belonged to the famous convent
of Donegal, whence it was transferred to Louvain, where it was
included among Colgan's collection, thence conveyed to Rome, and
ultimately restored to Ireland some twenty-eight years ago. Its date
unfortunately is not traceable, but in all probability it is the
oldest existing transcript of Keating's History, and written before
1640. This manuscript will be cited in this edition as F. There is
another important Keating MS. in the same collection, a copy made, as
appears from entries, before 1652, which I have consulted 
occasionally. These manuscripts were not known to Dr. O'Donovan. The
first is referred to in Sir John T. Gilbert's catalogue, on the
authority of a list made in 1732, as an autograph: but I see no
evidence of the date 1636, which some scholars have assigned for one
of these manuscripts. I have to return thanks to the learned
librarian, Rev. Father O'Reilly, and the Franciscan Fathers for access
to their unique collection, and for much information given me and
trouble taken on my behalf.

II. -- Ms. H. 5, 26, by O'Mulconry, referred to in this edition as C,
with the aid of Dr. Joyce's transcript, and printed edition of part of
same, compared, in doubtful and difficult passages, and to supply
omissions, with Ms. H. 5, 32 both in Trinity College, Dublin, being
Nos. 1397 and 1403 in the printed catalogue. I have to express my
thanks to the authorities of Trinity College for permission to use the
University Library, and to the Library officers for their courtesy and
kindness.

III. -- Haliday's text, stated to have been printed from a MS. also by
O'Mulconry, dated 1657, but differing considerably in places from
those named.

IV. -- The next is an older MS., dated 1643, in my own possession,
unfortunately in bad preservation, but still legible for the body of
the work, written by James O'Mulconry, of Ballymecuda, in the county
of Clare. These two authorities will be referred to in this edition as
H, and M, respectively.

By the letter N, I shall indicate a MS., also my own, written in
Dublin by Teig O'Nachtan, and dated 1704, with which has been
carefully compared a copy made in 1708 by Hugh Mac Curtin, and various
readings noted. This I have occasionally consulted, and found to be a
very useful text. All the writers named were well-known Irish
scholars. I have, besides, a transcript made by Peter O'Dornin, the
Gaelic Poet, in 1750; another, dated 1744, and written in a very good
hand; and others: but of these I have made no special use.

I shall note at the foot of each page, for the present, only such
'various readings' as appear to me to be important. Space, after all,
is an object, and the whole volume might easily be filled with matter
which would be little help, but rather a distraction, to the reader.
The author himself is believed to have made several transcripts of his
work; and to have inserted from time to time, passages or quotations
relating to the events recorded. In this way there is some inevitable
discrepancy between the best manuscripts. I have followed, in the
main, the recension of the O'Mulconrys, adhered to strictly by Dr.
Joyce, and which is also the basis of Haliday's text. I have not
modernized their system of inflection, or altered the orthography,
save in certain mannerisms, which I have not felt bound to adopt. It
is probable that this family of professional scribes and antiquaries
would have adhered more rigidly than Keating himself to classic but
obsolescent usages. In fact, the important MS. cited as F, prefers
living forms such as tugadar where C has tugsad &c. The authentic
copies differ occasionally from each other, and where I have had to
choose between them, or prefer another authority, the ancillary
manuscript and other sources from which omissions have been supplied
and various readings drawn, will be indicated wherever necessary. The
MSS., here and there, retain antiquated forms of spelling from which I
have felt at liberty to depart when their use in other places of more
modern forms gives sanction to the innovation. Thus, for instance,
O'Mulconry uses the obsolete doridisi, and aridhisi, almost side by
side with the living arís. The latter I have uniformly adopted, as it
exists in texts much older than Keating's time, such as the 'Homilies'
in the Leabhar Breac: and so I have, where authority was equal,
endeavoured to attain uniformity of spelling, and given the preference
to the simplest forms and those still in living use. No substitution
of words has, however, been admitted, and there is over the whole text
a slightly archaic flavour, not too unfamiliar, and by no means
unpleasing, but such as a great classic work in any other living
tongue presents to readers three centuries later than its author.

I have endeavoured to prepare a closely literal translation, though
not actually word for word: thus, while not unreadable, it will aid
students in the better understanding of the text, to which object it
is entirely subsidiary: no attempt being made to draw away the
reader's attention from the plain meaning of the author, by a
sophisticated version for the sake of superficial correctness or
elegance of style. Any such considerations must give place to the
necessity for the study and understanding of Keating's text by the
native reader and the Gaelic student, who will be alike unwilling to
substitute any translation, however successful, for the original
language of this standard work. This view has also guided me in the
forms of personal and place names in the translation. I should prefer
to retain the correct spelling in every instance, especially when so
many are now studying the language and becoming familiarized with its
phonetics: however, in the case of some very familiar names, I have
adopted no hard and fast rule, but wherever I follow the usual corrupt
spelling, I point out the correct Irish form also. The few foot-notes,
here and there, on the translation, must of necessity be brief: but I
hope, later, to give a full Index, and, for the present, will merely
indicate, in loco, the place or person alluded to, where this may be
necessary, or not obvious from the context.

The Latin quotations used by Keating are here relegated to the margin
to avoid disturbing the continuity of the text, and distracting the
reader's attention. In each case our author gives the Gaelic
equivalent, and from this the English translation has been made. A
letter will indicate the reference at the foot, and, in the case of
the notes to the present volume, which are chiefly 'various readings,'
the number of the line to which they refer will be given, and so the
appearance of our text, which is of some importance, will not be
marred by the insertion of too many figures.

Not only among the "strange facts wildly put," and the traditions
gathered by Keating, but also in the more authentic portions of his
narrative, there will be found recorded occurrences which may offend
certain readers who would fain judge every age and people by the
standards of modern European civilization; or, rather, by their own
narrow experience and reading, and their ill-informed prepossessions.
Persons whose susceptibilities are so easily shocked, and who cherish
their convictions so tenderly, have no business studying the history
of human progress in ancient times, or during the middle ages, or
among people who have developed under special conditions; or, indeed,
any subject outside of the commonplace.

Among the many writers who have censured Geoffrey Keating's work and
method, as the introduction to Haliday points out, Roderick
O'Flaherty, at least, had a sufficient knowledge of the language and
the subject: but, without this title to a hearing, Isaac D'Israeli
presumes to denounce Keating and O'Flaherty, alike, in the most
sweeping manner, among the various literary cranks and humbugs whom he
criticises. We need not wonder, therefore, though we may regret, that
Thomas Moore, in his History of Ireland, speaks slightingly of
Keating, whose text he could not read, but there is reason to believe
that Moore subsequently recognised the need of acquaintance with the
native records; as it is well known that he expressed to O'Curry and
Petrie his conviction, that without this knowledge he should not have
undertaken to write a History of Ireland, a work, now, in its turn,
notwithstanding its fascinating style, almost as much neglected as,
and of far less value than, either Keating or O'Flaherty.

Our author concludes his vindicatory introduction by affirming that if
there be anything in his history inviting censure, it is there not
from evil intent but from want of knowledge or ability. Being a
descendant of the old foreign settlers, Keating cannot be said to have
inherited a prejudice in favour of the native Irish; and his testimony
on their behalf; as he himself argues, ought on that account to be the
more readily received. While indignantly refuting the calumnies of
ignorance and malice, his honesty of purpose is yet such as impels him
to relate some strange facts which his keenly sensitive regard for his
country's honour must have induced him to wish could be related
differently. But not less is this the case with the native annalists
of Ireland. Having had the advantage of writing their own history, for
their own people, in their own language, they did not attempt to make
the facts bend to preconceived theories, but, to the best of their
ability and according to their lights, they delivered the stories as
they found them, not condescending to pander to any mistaken patriotic
zeal, or to insert and omit with a purpose in view, and so colour
their narrative as to place their ancestors before their own fellow-
countrymen and the world in any better light than they felt was
warranted by the authorities available. Though occasionally vain-
glorious, and by no means free from clan predilections, they do not
conceal faults or errors, or extenuate crimes: they are, in general,
too candid. In this way the ancient history of Ireland often appears
to the modern reader at a disadvantage, compared with the nicely
adjusted narratives told by historians of remote times in other
countries.

In closing these remarks I have to express my great regret at the
delay in the publication of this annual volume owing to unforeseen
difficulties and unavoidable interruptions.

DAVID COMYN.
43, BRIGHTON SQUARE, RATHGAR, DUBLIN,
1st October, 1901.



INTRODUCTION.
THE AUTHOR TO THE READER.

I.

WHOSOEVER proposes to trace and follow up the ancient history and
origin of any country ought to determine on setting down plainly the
method which reveals most clearly the truth of the state of the
country, and the condition of the people who inhabit it: and forasmuch
as I have undertaken to investigate the groundwork of Irish historical
knowledge, I have thought at the outset of deploring some part of her
affliction and of her unequal contest; especially the unfairness which
continues to be practised on her inhabitants, alike the old
foreigners[1] who are in possession more than four hundred years from
the Norman invasion down, as well as the native Irish[2] who have had
possession during almost three thousand years. For there is no
historian of all those who have written on Ireland from that epoch
that has not continuously sought to cast reproach and blame both on
the old foreign settlers and on the native Irish.
Whereof the testimony given by Cambrensis, Spenser, Stanihurst, Hanmer,
Camden, Barckly, Moryson, Davies, Campion, and every other new
foreigner[3] who has written on Ireland from that time, may bear
witness; inasmuch as it is almost according to the fashion of the
beetle they act, when writing concerning the Irish. For it is the
fashion of the beetle, when it lifts its head in the summertime, to go
about fluttering, and not to stoop towards any delicate flower that
may be in the field, or any blossom in the garden, though they be all
roses or lilies, but it keeps bustling about until it meets with dung
of horse or cow, and proceeds to roll itself therein. Thus it is with
the set above-named; they have displayed no inclination to treat of
the virtues or good qualities of the nobles among the old foreigners
and the native Irish who then dwelt in Ireland; such as to write on
their valour and on their piety, on the number of abbeys they had
founded, and what land and endowments for worship they had bestowed on
them; on the privileges they had granted to the learned professors of
Ireland, and all the reverence they manifested towards churchmen and
prelates: on every immunity they secured for their sages, and the
maintenance they provided for the poor and for orphans; on each
donation they were wont to bestow on the learned and on petitioners,
and on the extent of their hospitality to guests, insomuch that it
cannot truthfully be said that there ever existed in Europe folk who
surpassed them, in their own time, in generosity or in hospitality
according to their ability. Bear witness the literary assemblies which
were proclaimed by them, a custom not heard of among any other people
in Europe, so that the stress of generosity and hospitality among the
old foreigners and the native Irish of Ireland was such that they did
not deem it sufficient to give to any who should come seeking relief,
but issued a general invitation summoning them, in order to bestow
valuable gifts and treasure on them. However, nothing of all this is
described in the works of the present-day foreigners, but they take
notice of the ways of inferiors and wretched little hags, ignoring the
worthy actions of the gentry: yet as far as regards the old Irish, who
were inhabiting this island before the Norman invasion, let it appear
whether there has been in Europe any people more valiant than they,
contending with the Romans for the defence of Scotland.[4] For they
compelled the Britons to make a dyke between their portion of Britain
and Scotland, to protect (Roman) Britain from the incursion of the
Irish; and notwithstanding that there were usually fifty-two thousand
of a Roman army defending the dyke, and two hundred (scouts) riding
about, and twenty-three thousand foot and thirteen hundred horse with
them (besides), defending the frontier and harbours of the country
against the violent attacks of the Scots[5] and of the Picts[6]; yet,
with all that, the Irish would burst over the dyke, and the country
would be harried by them, despite these great hosts, according to
Samuel Daniel in his chronicle. Cormac, son of Cuileannan, says also
in his 'Saltair,' that, as a result of the violence of the Irish (or
Scots) and of the Crutheni (who are called Picts) against Britain, the
Britons three times conspired against the Roman governors set over
them, as a means of purchasing peace with the Scots and Picts. Observe,
moreover, the straits in which the Irish had placed the Britons whilst
Vortigern was king over them, whence it arose that he subsidised
Hengist, with his German host, as may be read in Geoffrey of Monmouth.
It is stated by Samuel Daniel that the Romans had fourteen garrisons
to oppose the Scots and Picts, and that the Scots and Picts kept
disturbing Britain, despite the Romans, from the time of Julius Cæsar
to that of the Emperor Valentinian the Third, during the space of five
hundred years; and the year of the Lord was four hundred and forty-
seven when the Romans abandoned the suzerainty of Britain: and it is
before that epoch a dispute arose between Theodosius and Maximus,
whence it resulted that Maximus led with him a great body of the
people of Britain to [French] Armorica, which is called [little]
Brittany, and having banished the people who were before them in the
land, he gave the country to the company who went with him to inhabit,
so that some of their posterity are still there.

II.

There are some ancient authors who lay lying charges against the
Irish; such as Strabo, who says in his fourth book that the Irish are
a man-eating people. My answer to Strabo is, that it is a lie for him
to say that the Irish are a people who eat human flesh; for it is not
read in the ancient record that there was ever one in Ireland who used
to eat human flesh, but Eithne the loathsome, daughter of Criomhthann,
son of Eanna Cinnsiolach, king of Leinster,[7] who was in fosterage
with the Deisi of Munster[8]: and she was reared by them on the flesh
of children, in hope that thereby she would be the sooner marriageable.
For it had been promised to them that they should receive land from
the man to whom she would be married; and it is to Aonghus, son of
Nadfraoch, king of Munster, she was married, as we shall relate
hereafter in the body of the history. Understand, reader, since the
antiquaries do not suppress this disgusting fact, which was a reproach
to the daughter of a king of Leinster, and the wife of a king of
Munster, that they would not conceal, without recounting it in the
case of lesser people than they, if it had been a custom practised in
Ireland: wherefore it is false for Strabo to say that it was a custom
for the Irish to eat human flesh, since this was never done among them
but by the aforesaid girl, and even that in time of paganism. My
answer also to St. Jerome, who relates this same thing, writing
against Jovinian, is that it must have been a base asserter of lies
who informed him, and therefore it ought not be brought as a charge
against the Irish.

Solinus, in the twenty-first chapter, says that there are no bees in
Ireland; and he says, that it is from the point of a sword the first
bit is tasted by a male child in Ireland. He says, moreover, that the
Irishman is wont, when his enemy is slain by him, to bathe himself in
the blood. It is clear from the ancient record, which will be (found)
in the history, that every one of these things is false. Pomponius
Mela, in the third book, says these words, speaking of the Irish, "a
people ignorant of all the virtues"[9]: and so of many other ancient
foreign authors who wrote rashly without evidence concerning Ireland,
on the lying statements of false witnesses, whom it would not be right
to trust in such a matter: wherefore Camden, setting down the
testimony of these people concerning Ireland, says these words: "We
have not (says he) credible witness of these things."[10] It is clear
that it is false to say that there were not bees in Ireland, according
to the same Camden, where he says, speaking of Ireland: "Such is the
quantity of bees there, that it is not alone in apiaries or in hives
they are found, but (also) in trunks of trees, and in holes of the
ground."[11]

III.

We shall set down here a few of the lies of the new foreigners who
have written concerning Ireland, following Cambrensis; and shall make
a beginning by refuting Cambrensis himself, where he says that Ireland
owed tribute to King Arthur, and that the time when he imposed the tax
on them at Caerleon was, when the year of the Lord was five hundred
and nineteen, as Campion sets forth in his chronicle, in the second
chapter of the second book, where he says that Gillamar was then king
of Ireland. Howbeit, notwithstanding that (the author of)
Polychronicon, and (Geoffrey of) Monmouth, and others of the new
foreigners assert this Gillamar to have been king of Ireland, I defy
any of their followers (to show) that there is a lay or a letter from
the ancient record of Ireland in which there is mention or account of
Gillamar having ever been king of Ireland: unless it be to
Muircheartach the Great, son of Earc, they call it, who was king of
Ireland, and was a contemporary of King Arthur; and Muircheartach
could not have been tributary to King Arthur, because, that he himself
was mighty in Ireland and in Scotland, and that it was he who sent his
six brothers into Scotland, and that it was one of them became the
first king of the Scotic race in Scotland, namely, Feargus the Great,
son of Earc; and moreover, that it was by the Scots and the Picts King
Arthur himself was slain. This Feargus, whom I have mentioned, was the
first king of Scotland of the Scotic race: for, notwithstanding that
Hector Boetius, in his history of Scotland, enumerates thirty-nine
kings to have ruled over Scotland before this Feargus, yet, according
to the ancient record, there was not any king of the Scotic race in
Scotland before him: and it is not true for him where he says that it 
is Feargus, son of Fearchar, king of Ireland, who was the first king
of Scotland of the Scotic race, for there never was a king of Ireland
named Fearchar, and so Feargus, son of Fearchar, was not king of
Scotland, as Hector Boetius says: and, granted that Muircheartach the
Great wished his brother Feargus (son of Earc) to become king of
Scotland, yet, withal, the title which is given to Muircheartach
himself, in the annals of Ireland, is 'King of Scots,' to signify that
he had supremacy over the Scots, both in Ireland and in Scotland; and
it is not conceivable that he, who was in so much power, should have
been tributary to King Arthur. And, moreover, Speed says in his
chronicle, that it was not tribute King Arthur had from the king of 
Ireland, but an alliance of friendship in war, so that whichever of
them should be attacked by enemies, it was obligatory on the other
party to send an auxiliary force to him who should be attacked: and
the name Speed calls this co-operation is "mutual obligation of
war,"[12] such as exists between the king of Spain and the Emperor;
for each of these sends aid in time of need to the other, and it is
not to be understood from this that the Emperor is tributary to the
king of Spain, or the king of Spain to the Emperor. In like manner, if
there existed a close alliance of war between King Arthur and
Muircheartach, son of Earc, king of Ireland, so that they were
accustomed to aid each other whenever an attack was made on either of
them, it must not be thence inferred that either was tributary to the
other. The truth of this matter is still more to be understood from
what (William of) Newbury says in the twenty-sixth chapter of the
second book of his history, where he speaks of Ireland: here is what
he says:-- "Ireland never lay under foreign dominion[13]." Cambrensis
himself corroborates this matter in his twenty-sixth chapter, where he
says:-- "From the first, Ireland has remained free from the invasion
of any foreign nation."[14] From these words it is evident that
neither Arthur, nor any other foreign potentate, ever had supremacy
over Ireland from the beginning till the Norman invasion: and,
moreover, it is not conceivable that the Britons had any control over
Ireland, since even the Romans did not venture to meddle with it, and
it is not alone that the Romans, or other foreigners, had no control
over Ireland, but it is Ireland that was a refuge to the other
territories to protect them from the violence of the Romans and other
foreigners.

Here we may see how Camden corroborates this in the book called
Camden's 'Britannia,' where he says:-- "When the Romans had widely
extended their dominion, there came, without doubt, many hither
(speaking of Ireland) from Spain, from France, and from Britain, in
order to extricate their necks from the most grievous yoke of the
Romans."[15] From this it may be understood that it is not alone that
the Romans did not come to Ireland, but even that it is there the
people of other countries were protected from the Romans. Here also is
what the same Camden says, refuting the folk who say, according to
(their) opinion, that the Romans had power over Ireland:-- "I should
find it difficult to persuade myself that Ireland had ever been under
the authority of the Romans.[16]"

Cambrensis says, in his ninth chapter, that in Ireland the men used to
marry the wives who had been married to their brothers, upon the death
of their brothers: and he says that the tithe used not to be paid in
Ireland, and that there was no regard for marriage there till the
coming of Cardinal John Papiron; this, however, is not true for him,
as we shall prove in the body of the history, and as will be evident
from this same introduction shortly hereafter. He says, in his seventh
chapter, where he treats of the wonders of Ireland, that there is a
well in Munster which presently makes a man grey when he washes his
hair or his beard in its water, and that there is likewise a well in
Ulster[17] which prevents greyness. Howbeit, there are not the like of
these wells in Ireland now, and I do not think there were in the time
of Cambrensis, but these wonders were (merely) set forth as a
colouring for his lies.

Cambrensis says, in his twenty-second chapter, that whenever the
nobles of Ireland are making a compact with each other, in presence of
a bishop, they kiss at that time a relic of some saint, and that they
drink each other's blood, and at that same time they are ready to
perpetrate any treachery on each other. My answer to him here (is),
that there is not a lay nor a letter, of old record or of ancient text,
chronicle or annals, supporting him in this lie: and, moreover, it is
evident that it was obligatory on the antiquaries not to conceal the
like of this evil custom, and even to put it in (their) manuscript on
pain of losing their professorship, if it had been practised in
Ireland. Wherefore it is clear that it is a lie Cambrensis has uttered
here. Cambrensis says, in his tenth chapter, that the Irish are an
inhospitable nation: here is what he says:-- "Moreover, this nation is
an inhospitable nation[18] (says he). However, I think Stanihurst
sufficient in his history by way of reply to him in this matter; here
is what he says, speaking of the generosity of the Irish:-- "Verily
(he says), they are a most hospitable people; and there is no greater
degree in which you may earn their gratitude, than freely, and of your
own will, to make your resort to their houses[19]." Hence it may be
inferred, without leave of Cambrensis, that they are hospitable people,
(and) truly generous in regard to food. Cambrensis says, where he
writes concerning Ireland, that it was the wife of the king of
Meath[20] who eloped with Diarmuid of the foreigners; yet this is not
true for him, but she was the wife of Tighearnan O'Ruairc, king of
Brefny,[21] and daughter to Murchadh, son of Flann, son of
Maoilseachlainn, king of Meath, and Dearbhforgaill was her name. He
says, moreover, that it is from Sliev Bloom' the Suir,[22] Nore, and
Barrow take their rise, though that is not true for him, for it is
clear that it is from the brow of Sliev Bloom[23], on the east side,
the Barrow springs, and that it is from the brow of Sliev Aldun,[24]
which is called the mountain of the Gap in Ikerrin,[25] the Suir and
the Nore rise.
Again, he says, in the twenty.fifth chapter of his narration
concerning Ireland, that the king of Cinéal Conaill,[26] i.e.
O'Donnell, used to be inaugurated in this wise: an assembly being made
of the people of his country on a high hill in his territory, a white
mare being slain, and being put to boil in a large pot in the centre
of the field, and, on her being boiled, he to drink up her broth like
a hound or a beagle with his mouth, and to eat the flesh out of his
hands without having a knife or any instrument for cutting it, and
that he would divide the rest of the flesh among the assembly, and
then bathe himself in the broth. It is manifest that this thing
Cambrensis tells is false, according to the ancient record of Ireland,
for it is thus it describes the mode in which O'Donnell was proclaimed,
to wit, by his being seated in the midst of the nobles and of the
council of his own territory; and a chief of the nobility of his
district used to stand before him with a straight white wand in his
hand, and on presenting it to the king of Cinéal Conaill, it is this
he would say to him, to receive the headship of his own country, and
to maintain right and equity between each division of his country: and,
wherefore the wand was appointed to be straight and white, was to
remind him that so ought he to be just in his administration, and pure
and upright in his actions. I marvel at Cambrensis reporting this lie,
and I conceive that it was through malice he inserted it in his work.
For it is well known that they have been at all times devout and
religious people; and that many of them forsook the world, and
finished their lives under religious rule, and, moreover, that from
them came many saints, such as Columcille, Baoithin, Adhamnan, and
many other saints whom we shall not mention here. Besides, it is not
credible that the nobility of Ireland would permit the king of Cinéal
Conaill to have in use that barbarous custom which Cambrensis mentions,
seeing that the Catholic religion has lived among them from the time
of Patrick to the Norman invasion, and, accordingly, I consider that
it is a malicious unwarranted lie Cambrensis has uttered here.

IV.

Spenser, in his narrative, says that Egfrid, king of the Northumbrians,
and Edgar, king of Britain, had authority over Ireland, as may be read
in the thirty-third page of his history: yet this is not true for him,
because the old records of Ireland are opposed to that, and, moreover,
British authors themselves confess that the Saxons did not leave them
any ancient texts, or monuments, by which they might know the
condition of the time which preceded the Saxons. For Gildas, an
ancient British author says, that the monuments, and consequently the
history of the Britons, were destroyed by the Romans and by the Saxons.
Samuel Daniel, in the first part of his chronicle, agrees with this
author on the same matter, and Rider, in the Latin dictionary he wrote,
where he treats of this word Britannia; moreover he says, that it is
not from Brutus Britain is called Britannia, and, if it were, that it
should be Brutia or Brutica it should be called; and it were likely,
if it had been from Brutus it was named, that Julius Cæsar, Cornelius
Tacitus, Diodorus Siculus, or Bede, or some other ancient author would
have stated whence is this word Britannia; and since they knew not
whence is the name of their own country, it was no wonder they should
be in ignorance of many of the ancient concerns of Britain, and,
therefore, it is not strange that Spenser likewise should be ignorant
of them.

It is a marvellous thing Spenser took in hand to trace up antiquity
concerning some of the nobles of Ireland, and to assert that they are
foreigners in regard to their origin. Seven surnames, in especial, of
the nobles of the Gael are mentioned by him, to wit, Mac Mahon, Mac
Sweeny, Mac Sheehy, Macnamara, Cavanagh, Toole, and Byrne. He says
that it is from Ursula (or Fitz Urse, a surname which is in England)
Mac Mahon is derived, and that 'ursula' and bear' are equal, and that
'bear' and 'mahon' are alike (in meaning), and, accordingly, that it
is from that house Mac Mahon of Ulster came. My answer to this
reasoning is, that it is not more probable that Mac Mahon of Oriel[27]
should have come from that house, in such fashion, according to the
derivation of the word, than Mac Mahon of Thomond,[28] or O'Mahony of
Carbry,[29] and as neither of these is from the house of Fitz Urse, or
Bear, in England, neither is Mac Mahon of Ulster: but truly he is of
the posterity of Colla-dá-Chríoch, son of Eochaidh Doimhléan son of
Fiachadh Sraibhtheine, son of Cairbre Lifeachar of the race of
Eireamhón. The second race, the Mac Sweenys, he says that it is from a
house in England which is called 'Swyn,' they have come; howbeit,
'Swyn' and 'Sweeny' are not equal, and, accordingly it is not from
that house Mac Sweeny has sprung, but truly he is of the race of
Niall: for it is from the posterity of Aodh Athlamh son of
Flaithbheartach of the pilgrim-staff, Mac Sweeny comes. He also says
that the Mac Sheehys are of the foreigners; however, that is not true,
for it is known that they are of the posterity of Colla Uais, and that
they have sprung from Sítheach, son of Eachdunn, son of Alastar, son
of Dómhnall from whom are named the Mac Donnells of Ireland and
Scotland. Again he says that the Macnamaras are of the foreigners, and
that they came from a family of the Normans called Mortimer; however,
that is not true, for it is from a person named Cúmara they are called
children of Cúmara: the proper surname for them is the race of Aodh,
and it is from Caisin, son of Cas, son of Conall of the swift steeds,
of the race of Éibhear, they are derived, as may be read in the
genealogical account of the Dal Cas. He states, likewise, that it is
from Great Britain came these three following surnames, Byrne, Toole,
and Cavanagh; and the proof which he offers for this statement is
unreliable, where he says that these three words are British words.
First, he says that 'brin' and' woody' are alike (in meaning); I allow
that 'brin' and 'woody' are the same, yet it is not from this word
'brin' the Byrnes are called, but from the name of a young warrior
called Brannút.[30] Secondly, he says that 'tol' and 'hilly' are alike,
and that it is from it the Tooles are named; I allow that 'tol' and
'hilly' are equal, yet 'tol' and 'Tuathal' are not like each other,
for it is from the name of a warrior called Tuathal[31] they are
(called): wherefore the opinion of Spenser is false. Once again he
says that 'caomhan' and 'strong' are alike, and that it is from it the
Cavanaghs are named. My answer to him is, that 'caomhan' is the same
as a 'mild' or pleasant person, and that the Cavanaghs were so named
from Dómhnall Caomhanach, son of Diarmuid of the foreigners. The
epithet adhered to Domhnall himself from his having been nurtured in
Kilcavan, in the lower part of Leinster;[32] and it is from the
Kinsellachs[33] they are by descent. Moreover, it is manifest,
according to genuine record, that these three peoples are of the Gael,
and that these three surnames are of the posterity of Fiachadh Aiceadh,
son of Cathaoir the Great, king of Leinster, as may be read in the
genealogical account of Leinster. I am surprised how Spenser ventured
to meddle in these matters, of which he was ignorant, unless that, on
the score of being a poet, he allowed himself license of invention, as
it was usual with him, and others like him, to frame and arrange many
poetic romances with sweet-sounding words to deceive the reader.

V.

Stanihurst asserts that Meath was the allotted portion of Slainghe,
son of Deala, son of Loch; howbeit, that is not true for him. For,
according to the Book of Invasion, there was of Meath, in Slainghe's
time, but one district of land only, which lies hard by Usna,[34] (and
so) till the time of Tuathal the Welcome: and where he says that it is
from Slainghe the town of Slane is called, and, consequently, that
Meath was the allotted share which came to him from his brothers, it
is not more reasonable to suppose that it was his share than to
suppose that it was the province of Leinster that was allotted to him,
and that it is from him is named Inver Slaney[35] which flows through
the midst of Leinster to Lochgarman (or Wexford)[36]; and that it is
from him is named Dumha Slainghe, otherwise called Dionnriogh, on the
bank of the Barrow, between Carlow[37] and Leighlin,[38] on the west
side of the Barrow, and that it was his fortified residence, and that
it was there he died.

It is no marvel that Stanihurst should be without knowledge of this
matter, since he had never seen the records of Ireland, from which he
might have known her previous condition; and I fancy he did not make
any great inquiry after them, since he is so ignorant about Irish
affairs that he asserts Rosmactriuin[39] to be in Munster, and that
Meath is a province, (or 'fifth '), in opposition even to Cambrensis,
who does not reckon Meath as a province, and contrary to the Book of
Invasion of Ireland. As Stanihurst divides Ireland, he makes up one
half from the race of the foreigners[40] apart, and the other half of
Ireland outside that (jointly) between Gall and Gael; and, moreover,
he says that the least colonist among the race of the foreigners would
not deem it fitting to form a matrimonial alliance with the noblest
Gael in Ireland; thus, he says, in his chronicle:-- "The most lowly of
the colonists who dwell in the foreign province would not give his
daughter in marriage to the greatest prince among the Irish."[41] I
ask Stanihurst which were the more honourable, the more noble, or the
more loyal to the crown of England, or which were better as securities
for preserving Ireland to the crown of England, the colonists of
Fingall, or the noble earls of the foreigners who are in Ireland, such
as the earl of Kildare, who contracted alliance with Mac Carthy
riabhach,[42] with O'Neill, and with others of the nobles of the Gael;
the earl of Ormond[43] with O'Brien, with Mac Gil Patrick, and with
O'Carroll; the earl of Desmond[44] with Mac Carthy mór,[45] and the
earl of Clanricard with O'Ruarc. I do not reckon the viscounts nor the
barons, who were as noble as any settler who was ever in Fingall, and
by whom frequently their daughters were given in marriage to the
nobles of the Gael. It is, moreover, manifest that it is more
frequently the English authorities entrusted the care of defending and
retaining Ireland to the charge of the earls {whom we have mentioned}
who made alliance with the native Irish, than to the charge of all the
settlers that ever were in the English pale. Wherefore I conceive not
whence it is that they do not contract alliance with the nobles of
Ireland, unless it be from disesteem for their own obscurity, so that
they did not deem themselves worthy to have such noble Gaels in their
kinship.

From the worthlessness of the testimony Stanihurst gives concerning
the Irish, I consider that he should be rejected as a witness, because
it was purposely at the instigation of a party who were hostile to the
Irish that he wrote contemptuously of them; and, I think, that hatred
of the Irish must have been the first dug he drew after his first
going into England[46] to study, and that it lay as a weight on his
stomach till, having returned to Ireland, he ejected it by his writing.
I deem it no small token of the aversion he had for the Irish, that he
finds fault with the colonists of the English province for that they
did not banish the Gaelic from the country at the time when they
routed the people who were dwelling in the land before them. He also
says, however excellent the Gaelic language may be, that whoever
smacks thereof, would likewise savour of the ill manners of the folk
whose language it is. What is to be understood from this, but that
Stanihurst had so great a hatred for the Irish, that he deemed it an
evil that it was a Christian-like conquest the Gaill had achieved over
Ireland and the Gael, and not a pagan conquest. For, indeed, he who
makes a Christian conquest thinks it sufficient to obtain submission
and fidelity from the people who have been subdued by him, and to send
from himself other new people to inhabit the land over which his power
has prevailed, together with the people of that country. Moreover, it
is the manner of him who makes a pagan conquest, to bring destruction
on the people who are subdued by him, and to send new people from
himself to inhabit the country which he has taken by force. But he who
makes a Christian conquest extinguishes not the language which was
before him in any country which he brings under control: and it is
thus William the Conqueror did as regards the Saxons. He did not
extinguish the language of the Saxons, seeing that he suffered the
people who used that language to remain in the country, so that it
resulted therefrom that the language has been preserved from that time
down among the Saxons. Howbeit, it is a pagan conquest which Hengist,
the chief of the Saxons made over the Britons, since he swept them
from the soil of Britain, and sent people from himself in their
places; and having altogether banished everyone, he banished their
language with them. And it is the same way Stanihurst would desire to
act by the Irish; for it is not possible to banish the language
without banishing the folk whose language it is: and, inasmuch as he
had the desire of banishing the language, he had, likewise, the desire
of banishing the people whose language it was, and, accordingly, he
was hostile to the Irish; and so his testimony concerning the Irish
ought not to be received.

Stanihurst also finds fault with the lawgivers of the country, and
with its physicians: although I wonder how he ventured to find fault
with them, seeing that he understood neither of them, nor the language
in which the skill of either class found expression, he being himself
ignorant and uninformed as regards the Gaelic, which was their
language, and in which the legal decisions of the country and the
(books of) medicine were written. For he was not capable of reading
either the law of the land or the medicine in their own language, and
if they had been read to him, he had no comprehension of them.
Accordingly, I think that it is the same case with him, depreciating
the two faculties we have mentioned, and the case of the blind man who
would discriminate the colour of one piece of cloth from another: for
as the blind man cannot give a decision between the two colours,
because he does not see either of them, in like manner, it was not
possible for him to form a judgment between the two aforesaid
faculties, inasmuch as he never understood the books in which they
were written, and did not even understand the doctors whose arts these
were, because the Gaelic alone was their proper language, and he was
out and out ignorant of it.

He finds fault also with those who play the harp in Ireland, and says,
that they have no music in them. It is likely that he was not a judge
of any sort of music, and especially of Irish music, he being
unacquainted with the rules which appertain to it. I think Stanihurst
has not understood that it is thus Ireland was (being) a kingdom apart
by herself, like a little world, and that the nobles and the learned
who were there long ago arranged to have jurisprudence, medicine,
poetry, and music established in Ireland with appropriate regulations:
and, therefore, it was not seemly for him to have formed and delivered
a hasty rash judgment censuring the music of Ireland. It is a marvel
to me that he had not read Cambrensis in the nineteenth chapter, where
he praises the music of the Irish, unless it were that he had
determined to attain a degree beyond Cambrensis in disparaging the
Irish: for there is nothing at all in which Cambrensis more commends
Irishmen than in the Irish music. Here is what he says in the same
chapter:-- "In instruments of music alone I find the diligence of this
nation praiseworthy, in which, above every nation that we have seen,
they are incomparably skilful."[47] As he says further, according to
the same chapter, here is the information he gives concerning Irish
music, praising it:-- "Their melody, says he, is perfected and
harmonized by an easy quickness, by a dissimilar equality, and by a
discordant concord."[48] From this it may be understood, on the
testimony of Cambrensis, that it is false for Stanihurst to say that
there is no music in Irish melody. It is not true for him, either,
what he says, that the greater part of the singing folk of Ireland are
blind; for it is clear that, at the time he wrote his history, there
was a greater number of persons with eyesight engaged in singing and
playing than of blind people, so from that down, and now, the evidence
may rest on our contemporaries.

Understand, reader, that Stanihurst was under three deficiencies for
writing the history of Ireland, on account of which it is not fit to
regard him as an historian. In the first place, he was too young, so
that he had not had opportunity for pursuing inquiry concerning the
antiquity of this country, on which he undertook to write. The second
defect, he was blindly ignorant in the language of the country in
which were the ancient records and transactions of the territory, and
of every people who had inhabited it; and, therefore, he could not
know these things. The third defect, he was ambitious, and accordingly, 
he had expectation of obtaining an advantage from those by whom he was
incited to write evil concerning Ireland: and, moreover, on his having
subsequently become a priest, he promised to recall most part of the
contemptuous things he had written concerning Ireland, and I hear that
it is now in print, to be exhibited in Ireland.

Stanihurst says that when Irishmen are contending, or striking each
other, they say as a shout with a loud voice, 'Pharo, Pharo,' and he
thinks that it is from this word 'Pharao,' which was a name for the
king of Egypt, they use it as a war-cry: howbeit, that is not true for
him, for it is the same as 'watch, watch O,' or, 'O take care,'
telling the other party to be on their guard, as the Frenchman says,
'gardez, gardez,' when he sees his neighbour in danger.

VI.

Dr. Hanmer states in his chronicle that it was Bartholinus who was
leader of the Gaels at their coming into Ireland, and it is to
Partholón he calls Bartholinus here. However, according to the ancient
record of Ireland, there were more than seven hundred years between
the coming of Partholón and the coming of the children of Míleadh[49]
to Ireland. For at the end of three hundred years after the deluge
came Partholón, and at the end of a thousand and four score years
after the deluge came the sons of Míleadh to Ireland. And in the
opinion of Camden, it is more fitting to rely on the history of
Ireland in this matter than on the words of Hanmer. Here is what he
says:-- "Let its due respect be given to antiquity in these
things,"[50] (says he): and if it should be given to any record in the
world on the score of being ancient, the antiquity of Ireland is
indeed worthy of respect, according to the same Camden, in the book
which is called 'Camden's Britannia,' where he says, speaking of
Ireland:-- "Not unjustifiably was this island called 'Ogygia' by
Plutarch, i.e. most ancient."[51] Camden furnishes a reason for this,
and here is what he says:-- "From the most profound memory of
antiquity they derive their own history (speaking of the Irish),
insomuch that there is not in all antiquity of all other nations but
newness or almost infancy,"[52] beside the antiquity of Ireland: and,
therefore, that it is more fitting to rely on it than on Dr. Hanmer,
who never saw the old record of Ireland.
The same author says that it was a king of Scandinavia,[53] whose name
was Froto, was king of Ireland when Christ was born; however, that is
not true for him, for according to the ancient history, it is during
the time of Criomhthann Nia Náir being in the sovereignty of Ireland
that Christ was born; and according to that, it was not Froto, king of
Scandinavia, who was king of Ireland at that time. It is marvellous
how Hanmer, an Englishman, who never either saw or understood the
history of Ireland, should know who was king of Ireland at the time
Christ was born, he being without definite information as to who was
king of Great Britain itself. For Samuel Daniel, Gildas, Rider, and
Nennius, and many other authors who have written the history of Great
Britain, acknowledge that the old account they have themselves on the
ancient condition of Britain was inexact, because the Romans and
Saxons deprived them of their records and their ancient texts;
insomuch that they had but a conjecture or an opinion to offer
concerning the ancient affairs of Britain before the Saxons and the
Romans: and, therefore, the learned Camden himself says that he knew
not whence it was that Britain was called Britannia, but to give his
opinion like any man. He says also that he did not know when the Picts
came to inhabit the northern part of Great Britain; and since there
were many of the ancient transactions of Great Britain obscure to him,
it was no wonder their being still more obscure to Hanmer, and that
there should be greater obscurity than that in his case concerning the
ancient affairs of Ireland: and, accordingly, he is not a trustworthy
warrant as regards the king of Scandinavia having been king of Ireland
at the time of the birth of Christ.

He says, likewise, that it is not Patrick, the apostle of Ireland (he
by whom the Catholic faith was first propagated in the country), who
discovered the cave of Patrick's purgatory in the island of purgatory,
but another Patrick, an abbot, who lived in the year of the Lord,
eight hundred and fifty. Nevertheless, this is not true for him
according to holy Caesarius, who lived within six hundred years of
Christ, and consequently flourished two centuries and a half before
this second Patrick. Here is what he says in the thirty-eighth chapter
of the twelfth book he wrote, entitled 'Liber dialogorum':-- "Whoever
casts doubt on purgatory, let him proceed to Ireland, let him enter
the purgatory of Patrick, and he will have no doubt of the pains of
purgatory thenceforward."[54] From this it may be understood that it
is not that second Patrick whom Hanmer mentions, who discovered
Patrick's purgatory in the beginning, but the first Patrick. For how
could it be possible that it should have been the second Patrick who
discovered it, seeing that two centuries and a half elapsed from the
time Cæsarius wrote on the purgatory of Patrick to the time the second
Patrick lived; and moreover, we have the record and the tradition of
Ireland stating, that it was Patrick the apostle who discovered
purgatory at first in Ireland. Wherefore, it is clear that it is a
malicious lie Hanmer has stated here, in hope that thereby the Irish
would have less veneration for the cave of Patrick.

Another thing he says, in his twenty-fourth page, that Fionn, son of
Cumhall, was of the Scandinavians of Denmark; though this is not true
for him, according to the chronicle, but he is of the posterity of
Nuadha Neacht, king of Leinster, who came from Eireamhón, son of
Míleadh. He says also, in the twenty-fifth page, that the person whom
authors call Gillamar,[55] king of Ireland, was son to the king of
Thomond; howbeit, we deem the confutation we have already given this
thing sufficient.

I think that it is mockingly Hanmer inserts the battle of Ventry,
deceitfully ridiculing the antiquaries, so that he might give the
reader to understand that there is no validity in the history of
Ireland, but like the battle of Ventry. However, it is clear that the
'shanachies'[56] do not, and did not, regard the battle of Ventry as a
true history, but that they are assured that it is a poetical romance,
which was invented as a pastime. The same answer I give to every other
story he recounts concerning the Fianna.[57] It is untrue for him also
where he says that Sláinghe son of Deala, was thirty years in the
sovereignty of Ireland, whereas, according to the record, he reigned
but one year only.

It is untrue, likewise, for him to say that the archbishop of
Canterbury had jurisdiction over the clergy of Ireland from the time
of Augustine the monk. For it is certain that the archbishop of
Canterbury had no jurisdiction over the clergy of Ireland until the
time of William the Conqueror, and even then he had not jurisdiction,
except over the clergy of Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, and
Limerick;[58] and it is those clergy themselves who placed themselves
under the control of the archbishop of Canterbury, through affection
of kinship with the people of Normandy, they being themselves of the
remnant of the Danes usually called Normans, and also through dislike
of the Irish; and I do not think there was authority over those same
(clerics), but during the time of three, archbishops who were in
Canterbury, namely, Radulph, Lanfranc, and Anselm. Therefore it is
false for him to say that the archbishop of Canterbury had
jurisdiction over the clergy of Ireland from the time of Augustine the
monk.

It is also false what he says that Murchadh Mac Cochlain was king of
Ireland in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and sixty-six,
for it is certain that it was Ruaidhri Ua Conchubhair[59] who was at
that time assuming the headship of Ireland, and that that time was
four years before the Norman invasion.

Again, he says, that it is in Great Britain Comhghall, abbot of
Beannchar[60] in the Aird of Ulster,[61] was born: yet that is not
true for him, for it is read in his life that it was in Dal n-
aruidhe[62] in the north of Ulster he was born, and that he was of the
race called Dal n-aruidhe. It is wherefore Hanmer thought to make a
Briton of Comhghall, because that it was Comhghall founded the abbey
of Beannchar in the Aird of Ulster, which was the mother of the abbeys
of all Europe, and that he founded another abbey in England beside
west Chester, which is called Bangor: and if it should happen to
Hanmer to convince the reader that Comhghall was a Briton, that he
would give him consequently to understand that every excellence which
adorned the abbey of Beannchar of Ulster would tend to the renown of
the Britons in regard to Comhghall belonging to them; or that all the
fame which Beannchar of Ulster had earned would be imputed to the
abbey named Bangor, which is in England.

Hanmer says that Fursa, Faolan, and Ultan were bastard children of a
king of Leinster; although truly they were children of Aodh Beannan,
king of Munster, according to the account of the saints of Ireland. So
also for many other of the lies of Hanmer writing on Ireland, and I
pass on without pursuing them further, because it would be tedious to
mention them all.

VII.

John Barckly, writing on Ireland, says these words:-- "They build
(says he, speaking of the Irish) frail cabins to the height of a man,
where they themselves and their cattle abide in one dwelling."[63] I
think, seeing that this man stoops to afford information on the
characteristics and on the habitations of peasants and wretched petty
underlings, that his being compared with the beetle is not unfitting,
since he stoops in its fashion to give an account of the hovels of the
poor, and of miserable people, and that he does not endeavour to make
mention or narration concerning the palatial princely mansions of the
earls and of the other nobles who are in Ireland. I consider also that
the repute of an historian ought not to be given to him, nor to any
body else who would follow his track in the same degree: and thus,
with one word, I discard the witness of Fynes Moryson who wrote
jeeringly on Ireland; for, though his pen was skilful for writing in
English, I do not think that he intended by the power of the pen to
disclose the truth, and so I do not consider that it is worth (while)
giving him an answer. For, the historian who proposes to furnish a
description of any people who may be in a country, ought to report
their special character truthfully [on them], whether good or bad; and
because that it was of set purpose, through evil and through a bad
disposition (at the suggestion of other people, who had the same mind
towards the Irish), he has left in oblivion, without estimating the
good qualities of the Irish, whereby he has abandoned the rule most
necessary for an historian to preserve in his narrative, and,
therefore, the status of history ought not to be accorded to his
writing. These are, indeed, the rules which should be most observed in
writing history, according to Polydorus, in the first book he has
written 'de rerum inventoribus,' where he treats of the fittest rules
for writing history: here is the first rule he sets down -- "That he
should not dare to assert anything false."[64] The second rule:--
"That he should not dare to omit setting down every truth": here are
the author's words: "in order (says he) that there should be no
mistrust of friendship or unfriendliness in the writing."[65] He says,
moreover, in the same place, that the historian ought to explain the
customs and way of life, the counsels, causes, resolves, acts, and
development, whether good or bad, of every people who dwell in the
country about which he has undertaken to write: and, inasmuch as Fynes
Moryson has omitted to notice anything good of the Irish, he has
neglected to observe the aforesaid rules, and, accordingly, the
dignity of history cannot be allowed to his composition.

Whoever should determine to make a minute search for ill customs, or
an investigation into the faults of inferior people, it would be easy
to fill a book with them; for there is no country in the world without
a rabble. Let us consider the rough folk of Scotland, the rabble-rout
of Great Britain, the plebeians of Flanders, the insignificant fellows
of France, the poor wretches of Spain, the ignoble caste of Italy, and
the unfree tribe of every country besides, and a multitude of ill-
conditioned evil ways will be found in them; howbeit, the entire
country is not to be disparaged on their account. In like manner, if
there are evil customs among part of the unfree clans of Ireland, all
Irishmen are not to be reviled because of them, and whoever would do
so, I do not think the credit of an historian should be given him; and
since it is thus Fynes Moryson has acted, writing about the Irish, I
think it is not allowable he should have the repute of an historian:
and so I say also of Campion.

Camden says that it is usual in Ireland for the priests with their
children and concubines to dwell in the churches, and to be drinking
and feasting in them: and moreover, that it is a habit there to call
the children of these clerics, son of the bishop, son of the abbot,
son of the prior, and son of the priest. My answer to him here is,
that the time the clergy of Ireland began that bad system was after
the eighth Henry had changed his faith, and, even at that time and
thenceforward, there did not practise that bad habit but such of them
as followed their own lusts, and denied the lawful superiors who were
set over them. Camden himself concurs with this reply, where he says,
speaking of Ireland:-- "Whoever among them (says he) give themselves
to a religious life, restrain themselves even to miracle in a
condition of austerity, governed by rule, watching, praying, and
fasting for their mortification."[66] Here is what Cambrensis says in
the twenty-seventh chapter, speaking also of the clergy of Ireland:--
"The clergy of this land (says he, speaking of Ireland) are abundantly
commendable as to the religious life, and amongst every other virtue
which they possess, their chastity excels all the other virtues."[67]
From this it may be understood that chastity prevailed among the
clergy of Ireland in Cambrensis' time: and, moreover, it may be
inferred from this, that it is not every body of the clergy of Ireland
who followed that evil custom, but only the lustful set who broke
their obligation, and went schismatically in disobedience to their
ecclesiastical superiors. Stanihurst agrees with this thing in the
narrative which he wrote concerning Ireland, in the year of the Lord
one thousand five hundred and eighty-four. Here is what he says:--
"The most part of the Irish (says he) have great regard for devotion
or the religious state."[68] From this it may be understood that that
bad practice which Camden mentions was not common in Ireland, except
only among the clergy who rejected their obligation as we have said
above.

Camden says that the marriage bond is not strictly observed in Ireland,
outside of the great towns: however, this is not true for him, and
casts great discredit on the true aristocracy of Ireland, both native
and foreign, because that it is in the country they mostly reside.
Howbeit, I say not that there be not some of them lustful, as there be
in every country, those who are not obedient to their ecclesiastical
superiors: and, accordingly, it is unjust for Camden to charge this
offence, rarely occurring, as a reproach against the Irish who reside
in the rural districts. For, if there were one or two, or a few, of
them unruly, the inhabitants of the entire country should not be
censured because of these: and, consequently, it is not fair of Camden
to say that marriage is seldom regarded among the Irish, except among
the people of the large towns and cities: and as for the folk who say
that a marriage contract for a year is customary in Ireland, it is
certain that it was never practised there, but by misguided people who
were not submissive to their ecclesiastical superiors, and, for that
reason, a general reproach should not be flung at the Irish because a
few indocile unrestrained individuals practise this.

Campion says, in the sixth chapter of the first book of his narrative,
that the Irish are so credulous, in a manner, that they will regard as
truth whatever their superior may say, however incredible, and he
propounds a dull fabulous tale in support of this. That is to say,
that there was a greedy prelate in Ireland who was capable of imposing
on his people anything he might say, and, being straitened for money,
and in hope that he might obtain assistance from them, he made known
to them that, within a few years, Patrick and Peter had been
contending with each other concerning an Irish galloglass[69] whom
Patrick wanted to have admitted into the kingdom of Heaven, and that
Peter became angry, and with that he struck Patrick on the head with
the key of Heaven, so that he broke his pate, and Campion says that
the prelate obtained a subsidy by this story. My answer to him here is,
that he is like a player who would be recounting jeering stories on a
platform rather than an historian. For, how could it be possible that
any Christian who was in Ireland would believe that Patrick's crown
could be broken, and he having died more than a thousand years before:
and moreover, as everybody knows, that it is a key of authority Peter
had, and not an iron key by which any headpiece could be broken.
Wherefore I think it was a silly lie Campion invented in making up
this thing about the Irish; and orasmuch as he admits himself in the
epistle he writes at the beginning of his book, that he spent but ten
weeks in writing the history of Ireland, I think that it is not worth
making areply to any more of his lies.

Here is the testimony which Mr. Good, an English priest who was
directing a school in Limerick, gives concerning the Irish in the year
of the Lord fifteen hundred and sixty-six:-- "A nation this, (he says)
which is strong of body, and active, which has a high vigorous mind,
an acute intellect, which is warlike, lavish of its substance, which
is gifted with endurance of labour, cold, and hunger, which has an
amorous turn, which is most kind towards guests, steadfast in love,
implacable in enmity, which is credulous, greedy of obtaining renown,
impatient of enduring insult or injustice."[70] Here is also the
testimony which Stanihurst gives of them:-- "A people much enduring in
labours, beyond every race of men, and it is seldom they are cast down
in difficulties."[71]

Spenser says that it was from the Irish the Saxons first received the
alphabet, and, according to that, the Saxons had no knowledge whatever
of literature till they acquired it from Irishmen.

VIII.

John Davies finds fault with the legal system of the country, because,
as he thinks, there are three evil customs in it. The first custom of
these is that the tanist[72] takes precedence of the son of the lord
of the soil. The second custom is the division which was made on the
land between brethren, which the Galls call 'gavalkind,'[73] where a 
subdivision of the land is made between the kinsmen. The third custom
is to take 'eric'[74] for the slaying of man. My answer in this matter
is, that there is not a country in the world in which a change is not
made in statutes and customs, according as the condition of the
country alters. For, those customs were not sanctioned in the law of
the land until the Irish had entered upon war and conflict between
every two of their territories, so that they were usually slaying,
harrying, and plundering each other: and as it was apparent to the
nobles of Ireland, and to their 'ollavs,'[75] the damage which ensued
from the disunion among the inhabitants, they deemed it expedient to
ordain those three customs.

In the first place, they understood that the 'tanistry'[76] was
suitable in order that there should be an efficient captain
safeguarding the people of every district in Ireland, by defending
their spoils and their goods for them. For, if it were the son should
be there, instead of the father, it might happen, occasionally, for
the son to be in his minority, and so that he would not be capable of
defending his own territory, and that detriment would result to the
country from that circumstance. Neither was it possible to dispense
with the second custom obtaining in Ireland at that time, that is to
say, to have fraternal partnership in the land. For, the rent of the
district would not equal the hire which would fall to the number of
troops who would defend it: whereas, when the territory became divided
among the associated brethren, the kinsman who had the least share of
it would be as ready in its defence, to the best of his ability, as
the tribal chief who was over them would be. No more was it possible
to avoid having the 'eric' established at this time: for, if any one
slew a man then, he would find protection in the territory nearest to
him, and since it was not in the power of the friends of him who was
slain to exact vengeance or satisfaction from him who did the deed,
they would sue his kin for the crime, as punishment on the slayer; and
inasmuch as his kin had no privity of the slaying, it would not be
lawful to shed their blood; nevertheless, a fine was imposed on them
as punishment for him who had committed the crime, and I notice the
same custom obtaining among the Galls now, where the 'kin-cogaish'[77]
is adopted by them. Indeed, 'eric' and 'kin-cogaish' are alike; for
'cion' and 'coir,' (i.e. a crime) are equal, and 'comghas' and 'gaol,'
(i.e. kinship) are equal, and what 'kin-cogaish' signifies is to exact
a tax or payment in 'eric' or honour-price[78] for the hurt or the
loss which anyone causes (though it be slaying or other evil deed),
from his friend or from his kindred; and I perceive that the Galls
keep up that system now, since the 'kin-cogaish' is adopted by them.
Wherefore, it is not honest in John Davies to find fault with the
native jurisprudence because of it; and, as far as regards the other
two customs, there was no way of doing without them in Ireland when
they were appointed, and, therefore, the native law of the land should
not be censured on their account. For, though they are not suitable
for Ireland now, they were necessary at the time they were established.

Camden says it is a system among the Irish for their nobles to have
lawgivers, physicians, antiquaries, poets, and musicians, and for
endowments to be bestowed on them, and also their persons, lands, and
property to enjoy immunity. Here is what he says, speaking of them:
"These princes (he says) have their own lawgivers, whom they call
'brehons,'[79] their historians for writing their actions, their
physicians, their poets, whom they name 'bards,' and their singing men,
and land appointed to each one of these, and each of them dwelling on
his own land, and, moreover, every one of them of a certain family
apart; that is to say, the judges of one special tribe and surname,
the antiquaries or historians of another tribe and surname, and so to
each one from that out, they bring up their children and their
kinsfolk, each one of them in his own art, and there are always
successors of themselves in these arts "[80]

From these words of Camden it is clear that the order is good which
the Irish had laid down for preserving these arts in Ireland from time
to time. For they assigned professional lands to each tribe of them,
in order that they might have sustenance for themselves for the
cultivation of the arts, that poverty should not turn them away; and,
moreover, it is the most proficient individual of one tribe or the
other who would obtain the professorship of the prince of the land
which he held; and it used to result from that that every one of them
would make his best efforts to be well versed in his own art in hope
of obtaining the professorship in preference to the rest of his tribe:
and it is thus it is done beyond the sea now by many who go to obtain
(college) chairs in consideration of their learning. It was all the
more possible to preserve these arts, as the nobility of Ireland had
appointed that the land, the persons and the property of the
'ollavs'[81] should enjoy security and protection; for when the native
Irish and the foreigners would be contending with each other, they
should not cause trouble or annoyance to the professors, or to the
pupils who were with them for instruction, hindering them from
cultivating the arts. It is read in Julius Cæsar, in the sixth book of
his history, that the 'druids'[82] who came from the west of Europe to
direct schools in France enjoyed a similar immunity, and I think that
it was from Ireland they brought that custom with them.

IX

The refutation of these new foreign writers need not be pursued by us
any further, although there are many things they insert in their
histories which it would be possible to confute; because, as to the
most part of what they write disparagingly of Ireland, they have no
authority for writing it but repeating the tales of false witnesses
who were hostile to Ireland, and ignorant of her history: for it is
certain that the learned men who were conversant with antiquity in
Ireland did not undertake to enlighten them in it, and, so, it was not
possible for them to have knowledge of the history and ancient state
of Ireland. And Cambrensis, who undertook to supply warrant for
everything, it is likely in his case that it was a blind man or a
blockhead who gave him such a shower of fabulous information, so that
he has left the invasion of the Tuatha Dé Danann without making
mention of it, although they were three years short of two hundred in
the headship of Ireland, and that there were nine kings of them in the
sovereignty of Ireland: and (yet) he had recounted the first invasion
of Ireland, although it were only the invasion of Ceasair, and that
the antiquaries do not regard it for certain as an invasion,
notwithstanding that it is mentioned by them in their books. Truly I
think that he took no interest in investigating the antiquity of
Ireland, but that the reason why he set about writing of Ireland is to
give false testimony concerning her people during his own time, and
their ancestors before them: and, besides, it was but brief
opportunity he had for research on the history of Ireland, since he
spent but a year and a half at it before going (back) to England; and
his history not being finished (in that time), he left a half year's
portion wanting (to be completed) of it under the care of a companion
of his, named Bertram Verdon.

Wherefore, I have hope that whatsoever impartial reader shall read
every refutation which I make on Cambrensis, and on these new
foreigners who follow his track, will trust the refutation I make on
their lies rather than the story-telling they all do, for I am old,
and a number of these were young; I have seen and I understand the
chief historical books, and they did not see them, and if they had
seen them, they would not have understood them. It is not for hatred
nor for love of any set of people beyond another, nor at the
instigation of anyone, nor with the expectation of obtaining profit
from it, that I set forth to write the history of Ireland, but because
I deemed it was not fitting that a country so honourable as Ireland,
and races so noble as those who have inhabited it, should go into
oblivion without mention or narration being left of them: and I think
that my estimate in the account I give concerning the Irish ought the
rather to be accepted, because it is of the Gaels I chiefly treat.
Whoever thinks it much I say for them, it is not to be considered that
I should deliver judgment through favour, giving them much praise
beyond what they have deserved, being myself of the old Galls as
regards my origin.

If, indeed it be that the soil is commended by every historian who
writes on Ireland, the race is dispraised by every new foreign
historian who writes about it, and it is by that I was incited to
write this history concerning the Irish, owing to the extent of the
pity I felt at the manifest injustice which is done to them by those
writers. If only indeed they had given their proper estimate to the
Irish, I know not why they should not put them in comparison with any
nation in Europe in three things, namely, in valour, in learning, and
in being steadfast in the Catholic faith: and forasmuch as regards the
saints of Ireland, it needs not to boast what a multitude they were,
because the foreign authors of Europe admit this, and they state that
Ireland was more prolific in saints than any country in Europe; and,
moreover, they admit that the dominion of learning in Ireland was so
productive, that she sent forth from her learned companies to France,
to Italy, to Germany, to Flanders, to England, and to Scotland, as is
clear from the introduction to the book in which were written in
English lives of Patrick, Columcille, and Brigid: and forasmuch as
concerns the ancient history of Ireland, it may be assumed that it was
authoritative, because it used to be revised at the assembly[83] of
Tara[84] every third year, in presence of the nobility, the clergy,
and the learned of Ireland; and since the Irish received the faith, it
has been placed under the sanction of the prelates of the Church.
These chief books following which are still to be seen, will testify
to this; namely, the Book of Armagh;[85] the 'Saltair'[86] of
Cashel,[87] which holy Cormac, son of Cuileannan, king of the two
provinces,of Munster and archbishop of Cashel, wrote; the Book of
Uachongbháil;[88] the Book of Cluaineidhneach[89] of Fionntan in
Leix;[90] the Saltair na rann,[91] which Aonghus the 'Culdee'[92]
wrote; the Book of Glendaloch;[93] the Book of Rights, which holy
Benen, son of Sesgnen wrote; the 'Uidhir'[94] of Ciaran, which was
written in Clonmacnois;[95] the Yellow Book of Moling, and the Black
Book of Molaga. Here follows a summary of the books which were written
in those,[96] namely, the book of Invasion, the book of the Provinces,
the Roll of Kings, the book of tribes,[97] the book of
synchronism,[98] the the book of famous places,[99] the book of
remarkable women, the book which was called 'Cóir anmann';[100] the
book which was called 'Uraicheapt,'[101] which Ceannfaolaidh the
learned wrote, and the book which is called the 'Amhra'[102] of
Columcille, which Dallan Forgaill wrote shortly after the death of
Columcille. There are yet to be seen in Ireland many other histories,
besides the chief books which we have mentioned, in which there is
much of ancient record to be discovered, such as the battle of Magh
Muccraimhe, the siege of Druim Damhghaire, the fates of the knights,
the battle of Crionna, the battle of Fionnchoradh, the battle of Ros-
na-Ríogh, the battle of Magh Léana, the battle of Magh Rath, the
battle of Magh Tualaing, and many other histories which we shall not
mention here. Furthermore, the historical record of Ireland should be
considered as authoritative, the rather that there were over two
hundred professors of history[103] keeping the ancient record of
Ireland, and every one of them having a subsidy from the nobles of
Ireland on that account, and having the revision of the nobility and
clergy from time to time. Because of its antiquity, likewise, it is
the more worthy of trust, and, also, that it has not suffered
interruption or suppression from the violence of strangers. For,
notwithstanding that the Norsemen had been troubling Ireland for a
period, there were such a number of learned men keeping the ancient
record that the historical compilation was preserved, even though many
books fell into the hands of the Norsemen. Howbeit, it is not thus
with other European countries, because the Romans, Gauls, Goths,
Vandals, Saxons, Saracens, Moors, and Danes destroyed their old
records in every inroad (of their kings) which they made upon them:
yet, it fell not to any of these to plunder Ireland, according to
Cambrensis, in the forty-sixth chapter, where he says, speaking of
Ireland: "Ireland was, from the beginning, free from incursion of any
foreign nation."[104] From this it may be understood that Ireland was
free from the invasion of enemies by which her ancient history and her
former transactions would be extinguished; and it is not so with any
other country in Europe. Wherefore I think that it is more fitting to
rely on the history of Ireland than on the history of any other
country in Europe, and, moreover, as it has been expurgated by Patrick,
and by the holy clergy of Ireland, from time to time.

Understand, nevertheless, O reader, that I have made a change in the
computation of the years which are stated to have been in the reign of
a few of the pagan kings of Ireland apart from how it is set down in
the Roll of Kings, and in the poems which have been composed on them;
and the reason I have for that is, that I find them not agreeing with
the enumeration of the epochs from Adam to the birth of Christ,
according to any reputable foreign author. I have, besides, another
reason, that it seems to me that an undue number of years is assigned
to some of them, such as Síorna the long-lived to whom three fifties
of years are attributed, and that we may read in the old book of
Invasion that Síorna was an hundred years old before he assumed the
sovereignty of Ireland, and if I set down his being thrice fifty years
in the sovereignty, I would not be believed. Wherefore I give him one
and twenty years, according to the verse which is in his reign, which
gives to Síorna but a year and twenty, as will be clear to the reader.
They allow fifty years of reign to Cobhthach 'Caolmbreágh,' although
there should be given to him but thirty: for Moiriath, daughter of
Scoiriath, king of Corca Duibhne, loved Maon, who was called Labhra
'loingseach,' he being then in exile in her father's house, he a youth
and she a young maiden; and, after he had returned to Ireland from his
exile, and after the slaying of Cobhthach, it is she who became wife
to him, and bore him children. Wherefore, if I were to give fifty
years of reign to Cobhthach, she would be three-score years, when she
bore children to Labhra the navigator, and since this cannot be true,
Cobhthach cannot have been in the sovereignty fifty years. Also, for
other reasons, I make a change in the number of years of the reign of
a few of the kings of Ireland before the Faith: but I think it was not
through the ignorance of the antiquaries this change became necessary,
but through the ignorance of some people who copied after them, who
had no skill save only to practise the art of writing: because, since
the time the suzerainty of Ireland passed to the Galls, the Irish have
abandoned making the revision which was customary with them every
third year of the ancient record, and so the professors of archæology
have neglected its purification, having lost the immunity and the
emolument which it was customary with them to obtain from the Gaels in
regard of preserving the ancient record; and because, moreover, there
has been continual dissension between Galls and Gaels in Ireland, by
which unrest was caused to the professors -- preventing them from
revising and purifying the record from time to time.

And if any one be surprised at the discrepancy which exists among some
of the authors of our ancient record as to the calculation of time
from Adam to the birth of Christ, it is no cause for wonder, seeing
that there are few of the standard authors of all Europe who agree
together in the computation of the same time. Let us take as witness
of this, the disagreement which these chief authors following make
with each other:

In the first place, of the Hebrew authors:-Baalsederhelm, 3518: the
Talmudists, 3784: the New Rabbis, 3760: Rabbi Nahsson, 3740: Rabbi
Levi, 3786: Rabbi Moses, 4058: Josephus, 4192.

Of the Greek authors:-
Metrodorus, 5000: Eusebius, 5190: Theophilus, 5476.

Of the Latin authors:- St. Jerome, 3941: St. Augustine, 5351: Isidore,
5270: Orosius, 5199: Bede, 3952: Alphonsus, 5984.

Here is the reckoning of the twelve men and three score[105] on the
four first ages of the world, together with the calculation which the
wise learned men who have followed them in the direct track have given
on the epochs from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ,
dividing them into five parts, i.e. from Adam to the deluge, 2242,
from the deluge to Abraham, 942, from Abraham to David 940, from David
to the captivity of Babylon, 485, from the captivity to the birth of
Christ, 590:-- Sum, 5199: it is why the authorities who follow the
seventy-two men place the fifth period as their own time, because it
is thus this era is completed, 5199, from the creation of Adam to the
birth of Christ: and it is to the authors who follow the seventy-two
men in the four first periods, i.e. Eusebius, who counts in his
history from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ, 5199;
Orosius, in the first chapter of his first book, says that there are
from Adam to Abraham, 3184, and from Abraham to the birth of Christ,
2015; and the sum of both is 5199. St. Jerome says, in his epistle to
Titus, that six thousand years of the age of the world had not been
completed to the birth of Christ. St. Augustine, too, says, in the
tenth chapter of the twelfth book 'de civitate Dei,' that six thousand
years are not computed from the creation of the world to the birth of
Christ. Let both be set on that part that they agree with these
calculators, in the number of the count from the creation of the world
to the birth of Christ nineteen years on four score, on one hundred,
on five thousand. Another proof of the same computation is the Roman
Martyrology, which declares the total of these epochs, from the
creation of Adam to the birth of Christ, five thousand, one hundred,
ninety and nine.

And since these chief authorities agree not with each other in the
computation of the time which is from Adam to the birth of Christ, it
is no wonder that there should be discrepancy among some of the
antiquaries of Ireland about the same calculation. However, I have not
found among them a computation I rather think to be accurate than the
numbering which some of them make four thousand, fifty and two years,
for the time from Adam to the birth of Christ; and (it is) what I
desire is to follow the standard author who comes nearest to this
reckoning in the synchronism of the sovereigns, of the epochs, of the
popes, and of the general councils at the end of the book in their own
proper places.

If anyone should charge it upon me as a strange thing wherefore I give
many verses as evidence for the history out of the old record, my
answer to him is that my reason for that is, that the authors of the
ancient record framed the entire historical compilation in poems, in
order that thereby the less change should be made in the record; and
also, that in this manner, it might the more be committed to memory by
the students who were attending them: for it is through being in verse
metre the saltair[106] of Tara was called to the chief book which was
in the custody of the king of Ireland's own professors, and the
'saltair' of Cashel to the chronicle of Cormac, son of Cuileannan, and
the 'saltair' of the verses' to the record of Aonghus the
'culdee'[107]: for, as psalm' and 'duan' (poem) or 'dán' (song) are
alike, equal are 'saltair' or 'psalterium' and 'duanaire,'[108] in
which there would be many poems or songs: and forasmuch as in the
poems are the bone and marrow of the ancient record, I think that it
is expedient for me to rely on it as authority in treating of the
history. Therefore I have often said, in opposing the authors who have
been refuted by us, that the ancient record was against them, because
I considered that the record which was common and had been frequently
revised, had more of authority, as we have said, than any one solitary
author of those who are in the history.

Some people profess astonishment how it should be possible to trace to
Adam the origin of any man. My answer to that is, that it was easy for
the Gaels to keep themselves (traced) even to Adam, because they had,
from the time of Gaedheal down, 'druids' who used to preserve their
generations of descent and their transactions in every expedition (of
all) that befel them up to reaching Ireland, as is clear from the
history following: and, moreover, they had an affection for science,
insomuch that it was owing to his learning Níul, the father of
Gaedheal, obtained every possession he got; and also the length the
Gaels have been without change in the possession of one and the same
country, and the excellence of the order they laid down for the
preservation of the record, as we have said. Here follows an example
from a British author, where he gives the pedigree to Adam of a king
who was over Britain, from which the reader will allow that it was
possible for the Gaels to do the same thing; and the author's name is
Assher: here is the name of that king -- Aelfred, son of Aethelwulf,
son of Egbert, son of Etalmund, son of Eafa, son of Eowua, son of
Ingeld, son of Coenred, son of Coelwald, son of Cudam, son of Cutwin,
son of Ceawlin, son of Cenric, son of Creoda, son of Cerdic, son of
Elesa, son of Gelwus, son of Brond, son of Beld, son of Woden, son of
Fritilwald, son of Frealaf, son of Fritilwulf, son of Fingodwulf, son
of Gead, son of Caetwa, son of Beawua, son of Sceldwa, son of Eremod,
son of Itermod, son of Atra, son of Hwala, son of Bedug, son of Japhet,
son of Noah, &c., &c.

Here is a vindication or defensive introduction to the groundwork of
knowledge on Ireland, in which is a compendium of the history of
Ireland briefly: which has been gathered and collected from the chief
books of the history of Ireland, and from a good many trustworthy
foreign authors by Geoffrey Keating, priest and doctor of divinity, in
which is a brief summary of the principal transactions of Ireland from
Partholón to the Norman invasion: and whoever shall desire to write
fully and comprehensively on Ireland hereafter, he will find, in the
same ancient books, many things desirable to write of her which have
been purposely omitted here, lest, putting these all in one work,
thereby this compilation should less likely come to light from the
greatness of the labour of putting them in one writing.

The history is divided into two books: the first book makes known the
condition of Ireland from Adam to the coming of Patrick into Ireland;
the second book from the coming of Patrick to the invasion of the
Galls, or down to this time.

I think that there is not a reader, impartial and open to conviction,
whom it concerns to make a scrutiny into the antiquity of Ireland, but
such as will be pleased with what we have said in this introduction:
and if it should happen that he deems insufficient every explanation 
which I have given, it is beyond my ability he would go. Wherefore, I
take leave of him, and let him excuse me, if it happen to me to go out
of the way in anything I may say in this book, for if there be
anything blameworthy in it, it is not from malice it is there, but
from want of knowledge.

Your ever faithful poor friend till death,

GEOFFREY KEATING.



BOOK I.
SECTION I.

HERE (I proceed to write) of the history[109] of Ireland,[110] and of
every name that was given to it, and of every division that was made
of it, and of every invasion that was made of it, and of every people
who took it, and of every famous deed which was done in it during the
time of each high-king who was over it at any time from the beginning
to this time, as many of them as I have found to publish.

In the first place, we shall set down every name that was at any time
on Ireland.

The first name which was given to Ireland was 'Inis na bhfiodhbhadh,'
that is to say Island of the woods; and the person who called that
name to it was a warrior of the people of Nin, son of Bel, who came
from him to spy out Ireland, and on his coming thither he found it to
be all one forest-wood, except Magh-n-ealta[111] alone. Three times,
indeed, Ireland was one continuous wood, according to this old saying,
which is in the ancient record: "Three times Éire put three coverings
and three barenesses off her."

The second name was 'Crioch na bhfuineadhach,'[112] from its being at
the limit or end of the three divisions of the world which had then
been discovered; 'fuin' indeed, from the Latin word 'finis,' being
equivalent to 'end.'

The third name was Inis Ealga,' that is, noble island; for 'inis' and
'oiléan' are equivalent, and likewise 'ealga' and 'uasal': and it is
during the time of the Firbolg it was usual to have that name on it.

The fourth name was Éire, and it is said that wherefore that name is
called to it, according to a certain author, is from this word
'Aeria,' which was an old name for the island which is now called
Creta or Candia; and why that author thinks that is because the
posterity of Gaedheal glas[113] dwelt in that island some space of
time after Sru, son of Easru, son of Gaedheal, had been driven out of
Egypt: and, moreover, Aere is given as a name for Egypt whence the
Gael proceeded. However, it is the common opinion of antiquaries that
why it is called Éire is from the name of the queen of the Tuatha Dé
Danann who was in the land at the time of the coming of the Clanna
Míleadh[114] into it: Éire, daughter of Dealbhaoth, was her name, and
it is she was wife to Mac Gréine who was called Ceathúr who was king
of Ireland when the sons of Míleadh came into it.

The fifth name was Fódhla, from a queen of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who
was called Fódhla: it is she was wife to Mac Cécht, whose proper name
was Teathúr

The sixth name was Banbha, from a queen of the Tuatha Dé Danann, that
was in the land, who was called Banbha: it is she was wife to Mac
Cuill, whose proper name was Eathúr. These three kings held the
sovereignty of Ireland each year by turns; and it is the name of the
wife of each one of them would be on the island the year he was
himself king. It is why the island is called Éire oftener than Fódhla
or Banbha, because that is the husband of the woman whose name was
Éire was king the year the sons of Míleadh came there.

The seventh name was Inis Fáil; and it is the Tuatha Dé Danann gave
that name to it, from a stone they brought with them into it, which
was called the Lia Fáil: and 'Saxum fatale,' i.e. 'Stone of Destiny,'
Hector Bocce calls it in the history of Scotland;[115] and it was a
stone on which were enchantments,[116] for it used to roar under the
person who had the best right to obtain the sovereignty of Ireland at
the time of the men of Ireland being in assembly at Tara[117] to
choose a king over them. However, it has not roared from the time of
Conchubhar forward, for the false images of the world were silenced
when Christ was born. Here is a verse of quotation proving that it is
from this stone Ireland is called Inis Fáil, as Cionaoth[118] the poet
said:-

The stone which is under my two heels, from it is named Inisfail;
Between two shores of a mighty flood, the plain of Fál on all Ireland.

The eighth name was Muicinis; and it is the children of Míleadh who
gave it that name before they arrived in it. When, indeed, they had
come to the mouth of Innbhear Sláinghe which to-day is called the
haven of Lochgarman,[119] the Tuatha Dé Danann, with their druids,
assembled to oppose them there, and they practised magic on them, so
that the island was not visible to them but in the likeness of a pig,
so it is, therefore, they gave (the name) Muicinis[120] to Ireland.

The ninth name was Scotia; and it is the sons of Míleadh who gave that
name to it, from their mother, whose name was Scota, daughter of
Pharao Nectonibus; or it is why they called it Scotia, because that
they are themselves the Scottish race from Scythia.[121]

The tenth name was Hibernia; and it is the sons of Míleadh gave that
name to it. However, it is said that it is from a river that is in
Spain which is called Iberus[122] (the name) Hibernia is given to it.
It is said also that it is from Éibhear,[123] son of Míleadh, it is
called Hibernia; but, however, holy Cormac, son of Cuileannan, says,
that why it is called Hibernia is from this compound Greek word
'hiberoc' (i.e. 'occasus' in Latin) and 'nyaon' (i.e. 'insula'); that
is equivalent to saying 'insula occidentalis,' i.e.' western island.'

The eleventh name was Iuernia, according to Ptolemy, or Iuerna,
according to Solinus, or Ierna according to Claudian, or Vernia
according to Eustatius. I think there is no meaning in the difference
which is between these authors concerning this word Hibernia, but that
they did not understand whence came the word itself; and, accordingly,
that each one of them separately gave a guess from himself at it, so
that from that came this variation on the word.

The twelfth name was Irin, according to Diodorus Siculus.

The thirteenth name was Irlanda; and I think that the reason why that
name was given to it is, because that it was Ir, son of Míleadh, was
the first man of the Clanna Míleadh who was buried under the soil of
Ireland, and accordingly, the island was named from him: 'Irlanda' and
'land of Ir' being indeed equivalent, for 'land' in English, and
'fonn' or 'fearann' in Gaelic are alike. The truth of this thing is
the more admissible, since the book of Armagh says that a name for
this island is Ireo, that is to say, the grave[124] of Ir, because
that it is there is the sepulchre or grave of Ir.

The fourteenth name was Ogygia, according to Plutarch: indeed,
'Ogygia' in Greek and 'insula perantiqua,' i.e. 'most ancient island,'
are equivalent; and that is a suitable name for Ireland, because that
it is long since it was first inhabited, and that perfect is the sound
information which its antiquaries possess on the transactions of their
ancestors from the beginning of eras, one after another.



SECTION II.
Here follows every division which was made on Ireland.

The first division, it is Partholón who divided it into four parts
among his four sons, whose names were Er, Orba, Fearon, and Feargna.
He gave the first part to Er, namely, all that is from Aileach
Néid[125] in the north of Ulster to Athcliath of Leinster.[126] He
gave the second part to Orba, namely, all that is from Athcliath to
Oiléan Arda Neimheadh, which is called Oiléan Mór an Bharraigh.[127]
He gave the third part to Fearon, from the Great Island to Athcliath
Meadhruidhe[128] at Galway.[129] He gave the fourth part to Feargna,
namely, from Meadhruidhe to Aileach Néid.

The second division, that is, the division of the children of
Neimheadh. Three leaders of the children of Neimheadh divided Ireland
among them into three parts:-- Beothach, Simeon, and Briotán their
names. Beothach takes from Tóirinis[130] to the Boyne.[131] Simeon
takes from the Boyne to Bealach Chonglais near to Cork. Briotán takes
from Bealach Chonglais to Tóirinis in the north of Connacht.

The third division here, i.e. the division of the Firbolg. The five
sons of Deala, son of Loch, divided Ireland into five parts among them,
and it is those are called the five provinces, and it is that is the
division which is the most permanent that was ever made in Ireland, as
we shall shortly hereafter relate. Cambrensis agrees with this
division in the book he wrote of an account of Ireland, where he
says:-- "In five parts, indeed, almost equal, (he says), this country
was anciently divided, which are, the two Munsters, north Munster and
south Munster, Leinster,[132] Ulster, and Connacht."[133] Here are the
five leaders of the Firbolg who took the headship of those five
provinces: Sláinge Seangann, Gann, Geanann, and Rughruidhe.[134]
Sláinge took the province of Leinster, from Droicheadátha[135] to
Cumar-na-dtrí-n-uisge;[136] Gann takes the province of Eochaidh
Abhradhruaidh, from Cumar-na-dtri-n-uisge to Bealach Chonglais[137]:
Seangann takes the province of Cúraoi, son of Dáire, from Bealach
Chonglais to Luimneach; Geanann takes the province of Connacht from
Luimneach to Drobhaois[138]: Rughruidhe takes the province of Ulster
from Drobhaois to Droicheadátha"

Although some antiquaries hold that it is a tripartite division which
was on Ireland among the three sons of Cearmad Milbheoil of the Tuatha
Dé Danann, I do not think that they divided Ireland among them, but it
is my opinion that it is a permutation of the sovereignty each
succeeding year which they had between them, according as we have said
above, in showing why Éire is called to this country more frequently
than Fodhla or Banbha.

The fourth division, that is, the division of the children of Míleadh.
It is the opinion of some antiquaries that it is thus Ireland was
divided between Éibhear and Eireamhón:-- all that is from Athcliath
and from Gaillimh[138] southwards, and Eisgir riadha for a boundary
between them, to Éibhear; and what there is from that northwards to
Eireamhón. However, this is not the division which was made between
them, as we shall prove hereafter; but it is thus they divided
Ireland:-- the two provinces of Munster to Éibhear; the province of
Connacht and the province of Leinster to Eireamhón; and the province
of Ulster to Éibhear, son of Ir, i.e. their brother's son: and a party
of the nobles who had come with them, in the company of each one of
them in his own division of the country.

The fifth division, that is, the division of Cearmna and Sobhairce.
Cearmna and Sobhairce, indeed, in [two] halves between them, namely,
from Innbhear Colptha at Droicheadátha[139] to Luimneach Mumhan,[140]
and the half which was north to Sobhairce, and he built a fortress in
his own half, namely Dún Sobhairce.[141] Cearmna takes the southern
half, and he built a fortress beside the south sea, namely, Dún
Cearmna, which to-day is called Dún-mic-Padraic, in De Courcy's
country.

The sixth division, that is, the division of Ugaine Mór. Ugaine Mór
divides Ireland in twenty-five parts, among the five and twenty
children that he had, as we shall set down in the Roll of Kings.

The seventh division, namely, the division of Conn Céad-chathach[142]
and Mógh Nuadhat.[143] Conn and Mógh Nuadhat divided Ireland into
halves between them, that is to say, all that is from Gaillimh and
from Athcliath northwards, and Eisgir riadha for a boundary between
them to Conn: and it is from that came Leath Chuinn[144] to be given
to the side which was north; and Leath Mhógha[145] to Mógh Nuadhat;
and it is from that was given Leath Mhógha to the half which was south.

Notwithstanding, however, that I have set down in order these seven
divisions which were made of Ireland, according to the sequence of the
invasions and of the epochs, I shall return to the usual division
which is on Ireland from the time 	of the Firbolg apart, for it is
the most permanently established, namely, five provinces to be made of
it, as we have said. And it is where the common centre of these five
provinces was, at a pillar-stone which is in Uisneach,[146] until that
Tuathal Teachtmhar came into the sovereignty, and that he took away a
portion of each province as mensal land for every high-king who should
be in Ireland: so that it is of these Meath[147] was formed, as we
shall show in the reign of Tuathal.



SECTION III.
Of the subdivision of Meath and of the provinces here.

I shall now make the subdivision of Meath and of the provinces also;
and I shall give the beginning of this division to Meath until its
lands are described, because it is the mensal land of the king of
Ireland, according to the Gael, and that it used to be free, without
obligation, without control, without a tax from any one in Ireland,
except from the king of Ireland alone. Eighteen 'triochas'[148] the
extent of its land; thirty 'bailes'[149] in the 'triocha-céd' of them;
twelve 'seisreachs'[150] of land in the 'baile,' according to the
ancient record, and six score acres in the 'seisreach.' Three score
and three hundred 'seisreachs' of land in the 'triocha-céd'
accordingly.
eFour score and four hundred and six thousand 'seisreachs' of land in
all Meath, according to this computation. It is why it is called Meath,
because that it is from the neck[151] of each province Tuathal
Teachtmhar cut it. Or it is why Meath is called to it from Midhe, son
of Brath, son of Deaghfhath, chief druid of the children of Neimheadh;
and it is by him was kindled the first fire in Ireland, after the
coming of the children of Neimheadh; and hard by Uisneach he kindled
it. The children of Neimheadh bestowed on him the 'tuath'[152] of land
which was there, and from that druid it is called Midhe. And there was
not, about that time, of land in Meath, but the one 'tuath' aforesaid,
until Tuathal Teachtmhar put a 'meidhe' or neck of every province with
it, as we have said.

Of the boundary of Meath with the provinces here, as Tuathal
Teachtmhar ordained; i.e. as one goes from the Shannon[153] east to
Dublin,[154] from Dublin to the river Righe,[155] from the river Righe
west to Cluain-Connrach,[156] from Cluain-Connrach to Ath-an-mhuilinn-
Fhrancaigh,[157] and to the confluence of Cluain-Ioraird,[158] from
that to Tóchar Cairbre,[159] from Tóchar Cairbre to Crannach of
Géisill[160] to Druimchuilinn,[161] to Birr, to the river which is
called Abhainnchara[162] to the Shannon northwards, to Loch Ribh[163]
and all the islands belong to Meath: and the Shannon to Loch-Bó-
dearg,[164] from that to Maothail,[165] thence to Athluain,[166] 
thence to upper Sgairbh,[167] to Druimleathan,[168] till one reaches
the Magh,[169] to the confluence of Cluain-eois,[170] to Loch-dá-eun
to Magh Cnoghbha, to Duibhir, to Linn-átha-an-daill on Sliabh
Fuaid,[171] to Mághan-chosnamhaigh at Cillshléibhe,[172] to Snámh
Eugnachair, to Cumar, and from Cumar to Life:[173] as the ancient
writer says --

From Loch-bó-dearg to Biorra, from the Shannon east to the sea,
To the confluence of Cluain-ioraird, and to the confluence of Cluain-
airde.

Thirteen 'triochas' in the body of Meath itself, and five 'triochas'
in Breagh, as is said in these verses below --

Thirteen 'triochas' in Meath, as every poet says;
Five 'triochas' in rich Breagh's plain -- it is a memory with the
learned;
The territory of Meath I will tell to you, and the territory of Breagh
most pleasant,
From Shannon of the fair gardens to the sea -- we have known it --
The men of Teathbha[174] on the northern border, and Cairbre of bright
victory;
With abundance of bee-swarms and of oxen,(?) the men of Breagh[175]
(possess) as far as the Casan.[176]

Meath was divided after this by Aodh Oirdnidhe, king of Ireland,
between the two sons of Donnchadh son of Dómhnall (who was king of
Ireland before Aodh Oirdnidhe); Conchubhar[177] and Oilioll their
names. He gave the western half to one of them, and the eastern half
to the other man, so that that division adhered to it from that out:
and it is in it is the royal seat, Tara.[178]

Of the division of the province of Connacht[179] here.

The province of Connacht from Limerick[180] to Drobhaois: nine hundred
'bally-betaghs'[181] that are in it, and that is thirty 'triochas';
and thirty 'bailes' in each 'triocha-céd' of them, and twelve
'seisreachs' of land in the 'baile.' Six score acres in the
'seisreach': eight hundred and ten thousand 'seisreachs' of land in
all Connacht. It is why it is called Connacht: a contention of magic
which took place between two druids of the Tuatha Dé Danann,
Cithneallach and Conn their names. Conn brought a great snow round
about the province through art magic, so that from it was named
Connacht, i e. Conn's snow. Or it is why it is called Connacht, i.e.
Conn-iochta, namely, the children of Conn, for 'iocht' and 
'clann'[182] are equivalent: and because that they are the children of
Conn who inhabited the province, that is to say, the race of Eochaidh
Moighmheadhón they are called Connachta.[183] Eochaidh Feidhleach
divides the province of Connacht in three parts among three. He gave
to Fidheach, son of Fiach, of the men of the Craobh, from Fidhic to
Limerick. He gave to Eochaidh Alath, Iorras Domhnann,[184] from Galway
to Dubh and to Drobhaois. He gave to Tinne, son of Connrach, Magh
Sainbh, and the old districts of Taoidhe from Fidhic to Teamhair
brogha-niadh: it is Cruachan[185] was its royal seat.

Of the division of the province of Ulster here.

The province of Ulster from Drobhaois[186] to Innbhear Cholptha,[187]
five and thirty 'triochas '; or six and thirty that are in it. Nine
score and nine hundred 'Bally-betaghs' in it. Three score nine hundred
and twelve thousand 'seisreachs' of land in all this province. It is
why they are called Ulaidh,[188] from this word 'oll-sháith,' i.e.
great plenty, signifying that Ulster is very rich with regard to fish
and cattle. This verse testifies that sáith and ionnmhas (treasure)
are equivalent:--

Wednesday Judas transgressed his order, following demons vengeful-
fierce;
Wednesday he became eager for treasure; Wednesday he betrayed Jesus the
exalted.

Or it is wherefore they are called Ulaidh, from Ollamh Fodhla, son of
Fiachaidh Fionnscothach, as this verse certifies

Ollamh Fodhla of prudent valour, from him were named (the) Ulaidh,
After the real assembly of Tara of the tribes, it is by him it was
first appointed.

And Eamhain Mácha[188] and Aileach Néid[190] its royal seats.

Of the division of the province of Leinster here.

The province of Leinster from the strand of Innbhear Cholptha to
Cumar-na-dtrí-n-uisge, thirty-one 'triochas' in it. Nine hundred and
thirty 'ballybetaghs' that: eleven thousand one hundred and sixty
'seisreachs' in this whole province. It is why they are called
Laighin,[191] from the broad green spears which the Dubh-Ghaill[192]
brought with them into Ireland, when they came with Labhraidh
Loingseach: laighean and sleagh are, indeed, equivalent. And because
that these spears had flat broad heads to them, it is from them the
province was named. After the slaying of Cobhthach Caoilbhreágh king
of Ireland in Dionnriogh, Leinster took its appellation. It is to show
that it is from these spears Leinster was named, that this verse was
made:--

Two hundred and twenty hundred Galls,[193] with broad spears with them
hither; From those spears, without blemish, of them the Laighin were
named.

Two chief seats were indeed in Leinster, in which its kings used to
reside, namely Dionnríogh[194] and Nás.[195]

Of the division of the province of Eochaidh Abhradhruaidh here.

The province of Eochaidh Abhradhruaidh,[196] from Cork[197] and from
Limerick east to Cumar-na-dtrí-n-uisge; thirty-five 'triochas' in it.
Ten ['ballys'] seven score and nine hundred 'bally-betaghs' that are
in it. Six hundred and twelve thousand 'seisreachs' of land that are
in east Munster. Two royal seats of residence the kings of this
province had, namely, Dún gCrot and Dún Iasgaigh.[198]

Of the division of the province of Cúraoi son of Mire here.

The province of Cúraoi son of Dáire from Bealach Chonglais[199] to
Limerick, and from Limerick west to the western land of Ireland.
Thirty-five 'triochas' in it: one thousand and fifty 'bally-betaghs'
in that. Twelve thousand six hundred 'seisreachs' of land that are in
west Munster. Two royal seats of residence the kings of this province
anciently had, namely, Dún gCláire[200] and Dún Eochair Mhaighe.[201]

There were two races who used to be in possession of these two
provinces of Munster, that is to say, the race of Dáirfhine and the
race of Deirgthine, up to the time of Oilioll Ólom of the race of
Deirgthine who took the chieftaincy of the two provinces, having
banished from Ireland Mac Con, who was of the race of Dáirfhine. And
he left the chieftaincy of the two provinces with his own posterity
from that out: by way of alternation to be with the race of Eoghan mór
son of Oilioll Ólom, and with the race of Cormac Cas (second son of
Oilioll Ólom), every generation by turns, in the sovereignty of the
two provinces of Munster.

It is the four royal seats aforesaid which were the chief mansions of
residence for the kings of these two provinces till the time of Corc,
son of Lughaidh,[202] being in the sovereignty of Munster. For it is
during his time Cashel became known first; and Siothdhruim was the
name for the place which to-day is called the Rock of Cashel. The same
place used also to be called Leac na gcéad and Druim
Fiodhbhuidhe,[203] for there were many woods round about that ridge in
the time of Corc. There came, however, about that time, two swineherds
to feed their hogs among the woods of this ridge, namely the swineherd
of the king of Éile, Ciolarn his name, and the swineherd of the king
of Musgraidhe-tire,, which is called Ur-Mhumha,[204] Duirdre his name.
They were occupying the hill during a quarter, till there was shown to
them a figure which was as bright as the sun, and which was sweeter
(of voice) than any music they had ever heard, and it blessing the
hill and the place, and foretelling Patrick to come there. And the
figure that was there was Victor, Patrick's own angel. After the
swineherds had returned back to their houses, they make known this
thing to their own lords. These stories having reached Corc, son of
Lughaidh, he comes without delay to Síothdhruim, and he built a
fortress there which was called Lios-na-laochraidhe[205]; and on his
becoming king of Munster, it is on the rock which is now called
Carraig Phádraic he used to receive his royal rent. It is hence that
rock is called Caiseal, for Caiseal and Cíosáil are equivalent: áil,
indeed, a name for a rock; so that, therefore, that place is called
Caiseal, i.e. tribute rock.

Here is an assurance on this matter, from the poem which has beginning
-- 'Cashel, city of the clans of Mogha,' which Ua Dubhagáin composed:-
-

Corc, son of Lughaidh, warrior-like the man, first man who sat in
Cashel;
Under a thick mist was the place, till the two herdsmen found it.
The swineherd of the king of Muskerry of the gold, (?) Duirdre his name
and it is not wrong;
And Ciolarn through the plain of rue (?), swineherd of the worthy king
of Éile.
It is they who got knowledge of the place at first in Druim
Fiodhbhuidhe.
Druim Fiodhbhuidhe without fault with you, most dear to Core of Cashel.

Of the subdivision of Munster here.

The race of Oilioll Ólom having acquired the two provinces of Munster,
they divided them into five parts, which are called the five Munsters.
The first part which is called North Munster,[206] its length is from
Léim Chongculainn[207] to Slighe Dala, i.e. the great road in
Osraidhe,[208] and its breadth from Sliabh Eichtge[209] to Sliabh
Eibhlinne.[210] And notwithstanding that all that is from Sliabh
Eichtge to Limerick was in the ancient division of Connacht, yet
Lughaidh Meann, son of Aonghus Tíreach, son of Fear Corb,son of Mogh
Corb, son of Cormac Cas, son of Oilioll Ólom, made sword-land of all
that is from Eichtge to Limerick, and from the Shannon west to Léim
Chongculainn, so that he annexed it[211] to Munster: and the name it
was usually called was the rough land of Lughaidh, and the Dal
gCais[212] had it free without rent, without taxing, from the kings of
Ireland. The second part East Munster,[213] its length is from
Gabhran[214] to Cnamhchoill[215] near Tipperary,[216] and its breadth
from Béarnan Éile[217] to Oiléan O'Bric.[218] The third part, namely,
Middle Munster,[219] its length is from Cnámhchoill to Luachair
Dheaghaidh,[220] and its breadth from Sliabh Eibhlinne to Sliabh
Caoin.[221] The fourth part South Munster,[222] its length is from
Sliabh Caoin to the sea southwards. The fifth part West Munster,[223]
its length is from Luachair Dheaghaidh to the sea west, and its
breadth from Gleann Ua-Ruachta[224] to the Shannon.
         According to Breasal Ua Treasaigh, when Munster was divided into
its five parts, there were five tribes in each part, and five
companies in a tribe, and five hundred effective men in the company.
And if the strength of all Ireland at that time be estimated, the
opinion is unsound of the people who thought that the Roman with a
legion or with two legions would be able to bring Ireland under power
of spear and sword[225] to himself, [and] the Irish always being
valiant men.
        
It is why these two provinces of Munster are called Mumha [i.e. that
it is greater], because that it is greater than any other province of
Ireland. For there are thirty-five 'triochas' in each province of
these two provinces of Munster, and not that much in any other
province in Ireland. For,
3 allowing that thirty-six are reckoned in the province of Ulster,
there were but thirty-three in it till the time of the provincial
kings. For it is Cairbre Nia Fear, king of Leinster, who yielded to
the province of Ulster three 'triocha-céads' of Leinster (that is to
say from Loch an Chúigidh to the sea), in consideration of obtaining
the daughter of Conchubhar son of Neasa as his wife, as we shall
relate hereafter in the body of the history.

Five ['triochas'] and nine score triocha-céads in all Ireland: ten
['ballys'] and two score and five hundred and five thousand(5,500)
'Bally-betaghs' there are in it: six, hundred, and six thousand, and
three-score thousand (66,600) 'seisreachs' of land in it, according to
the old division of the Gael. Under stand, O reader, that the acre of
the measure of the Gael is greater, twice or thrice, than the acre of
the division of the Gall now.

Of the situation of Ireland here.

It is the situation which is on Ireland; Spain to the south-west side
of it, France to the south-east side of it, Great Britain to the east
side of it, Scotland to the north-east side, and the ocean to the
north-west side and to the west side of it. And in the form of an egg
it is shaped, and its foot to Scotland, north-eastwards, its head to
Spain, south-westwards; and, according to Maginus, writing on Ptolemy,
it is four degrees and a half of the solar zone, which is called the
Zodiac, that are in its breadth; and the same man says that it is
sixteen hours and three-quarters that are in length in the longest day
in the year in the side of Ireland which is farthest towards the south,
and eighteen hours in the longest day at the northern side. The length
of Ireland is from Carn Uí Néid[226] to Cloch an Stocáin,[227] and its
breadth from Innbhear mór[228] to Iorrus Domhnann.[229]

Understand, O reader, that it is not through forgetfulness that I do
not mention here the counties, nor the cities, nor the great towns of
Ireland; but that Camden and these new chronicles give their
description down clearly, and that this is not the place for inserting
them, but at the beginning of the invasion of the foreigners, by whom
they were arranged.



SECTION IV.
Of the creation of the first father from whom we have sprung, i.e.
Adam, here, and of his race to Noah, and from that to Noah's
children's children, until the genealogical account of each tribe
which obtained possession of Ireland is given by us completely up to
Noah; and also the kinship of each people of these same with each
other.

In the beginning Adam was created, the sixth day of the age of the
world: the fifteenth year of the life of Adam, Cain and his sister
Calmana were born: the thirtieth year of the life of Adam, Abel and
his sister Delbora were born: at the end of a hundred and thirty years
of the life of Adam, Seth was born, according to the Hebrews, as is
read in Polychronicon.

Of the age of the fathers from Adam to Noah, and the length of the
period from
Adam to the deluge; and the genealogy of Noah to Adam.

Noah was son of Lamech, son of Mathusalem, son of Enoch, son of Iared,
son of Malaleel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam:
for it is of the race of Seth are all those who live after the deluge,
and all the race of Cain were drowned under the deluge. And, according 
to the Hebrews, it is the length from the creation of Adam to the
deluge, one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years; it is therefore
the ancient author recited this verse:-
The first period of true life, from when Adam is to the deluge;
Six years, fifty, a clear saying, on six hundred, on a thousand.

Here is how another antiquary agrees with the same calculation:--

Six years and fifty, and six hundred, as I count,
And a thousand, as I calculate, from Adam to the deluge.

Yet another ancient author agrees with the same computation:--

Ten hundred years, six hundred fair, on fifty, with six years,
As I reckon, it is known without blemish, from the deluge to the
beginning of the World.

Here is the age of every man from whom Noah sprang in the direct
line:-- Adam thirty and nine hundred years; Seth twelve years and nine
hundred; Enos five years and nine hundred; Cainan ten years and nine
hundred; Malaleel nine hundred but five years wanting of them; Jared
two years and three score on nine hundred; Enoch five years and three
score on three hundred; Mathusalem nine years, three score, on nine
hundred; Lamech seventeen years, three score, on seven hundred; Noah
ten years, two score, on nine hundred.

Here is the assurance of the ancient writer on the age of every
patriarch of them, as is read in the poem which has for beginning:--
'Father of all, Ruler of Heaven,' &c.[230]

Thirty (and) nine hundred fair years,
The life of Adam to be narrated;
Ten years together with all that (was)
The age of his yellow-haired wife:
The life of Seth, that is known to me,
Twelve (years) and nine hundreds;
Five years nine hundred, it has been heard,
Until death took away Enos;
Ten years nine hundred, without reproach,
The age of the son of Enos,
Cainan Nine hundred but five, with renown,
The life of Malaleel of mighty deed;
Two years, sixty, (and) nine hundred,
To Jared before going to death;
Three hundred, sixty, (and) five, it has been heard,
For Enoch before going into Paradise:
Nine years sixty, with renown,
And nine hundred of years,
That is the life, glorious,
Which was given to Mathusalem;
The life of Lamech, it is mentioned to thee,
Seven hundred, seventy, and seven:
The life of Noah, pure bright his fame,
Fifty and nine hundred years.

When, indeed, God saw the race of Seth transgressing his own covenant,
where he had commanded them not to make intermixture or alliance with
the race of the wicked Cain, and that they had not observed that
injunction, he sent a deluge to drown all the people, except Noah and
his wife, whose name was Coba, and his three sons, Sem, Cham, and
Japheth, and their three wives, Olla, Oliva, and Olivana: for Noah had
not mixed with the race of Cain, and he was righteous. After the
subsiding of the deluge, Noah divides the three parts of the world
among his three sons, as the antiquary says:-

Sem took his place in Asia;
Cham with his children in Africa;
The noble Japheth and his sons,
It is they who obtained Europe.

Of the genealogical account of those three sons from whom were sprung
the seventy-two tribes who were building the tower.

Twenty-seven sons had Sem, including Arphaxad, Asshur, and Persius;
and it is from his seed (came) the Hebrews. Thirty sons had Cham, and
of those were Cus and Canaan. Fifteen from Japheth, and of those were
Gomer and Magog. Here is a 'rann'[231] certifying those kindreds to
have come from the three sons of Noah:-

Thirty gentle sons, a clear fact,
Sprang from Cham, son of Noe;
Seven and twenty are from Sem,
Fifteen (are) from Japheth.

Many of the people of Asia, and the people of all Europe have
descended from Japheth. The people of Scythia are of the posterity of
Magog, son of Japheth, and especially the tribes who occupied Ireland
after the deluge, before the sons of Míleadh, as we shall show in
(relating) the invasions of Ireland after the deluge. Nevertheless, we
shall set down here at first, concerning the invasions of Ireland
before the deluge, according to some antiquaries, before we shall
treat of the real occupation of it which was made after the deluge.



SECTION V.
Of the invasions of Ireland before the deluge down here.

I. Some say that it is three daughters of the wicked Cain who
inhabited it at first, so to certify that I have set down here a verse
out of the poem which commences "I found in the Saltair of Cashel ":--

Three virgin daughters of Cain,
With Seth, son of Adam,
They first saw Banbha,
I remember their adventure.

The book of Dromsneachta says that Banbha was the name of the first
maiden who occupied Ireland before the deluge, and that Ireland is
called Banbha from her. Thrice fifty women came there, and three men:
Ladhra was the name of one of them, and it is from him Ard
Ladhrann[232] is named. Two score years they were in the island, till
a plague fell on them, so that they all died in one week. Ireland
after that, was desert, empty, without anyone alive in it, for two
hundred years till after that came the deluge.

II. Some others say that it is three fishermen who were driven by a
storm of wind from Spain unwillingly; and as the island pleased them
that they returned for their wives to Spain; and having come back to
Ireland again, the deluge was showered upon them at Tuaigh
Innbhir,[233] so that they were drowned: Capa, Laighne, and Luasad,
their names. It is about them the verse was sung:--

Capa, Laighne, and Luasad pleasant,
They were a year before the deluge
On the isle of Banbha of the bays;
They were eminently brave.

III. It is said, however, that it is Ceasair, daughter of Bioth, son
of Noe, who came there before the deluge, so the verse was made about
it:--

Ceasair, daughter of lasting Bioth,
Foster-child of Sabhall, son of Nionuall;
The first valiant woman who came
To the isle of Banbha before the deluge.

If one should wish, indeed, to obtain knowledge what brought her to
Ireland:-- Bioth had sent a messenger to Noe, to know whether he
himself and his daughter Ceasair would obtain a place in the ark to
save them from the deluge; Noe says they should not get (that).
Fionntain asks the same, and Noe says he should not get it. Whereupon
Bioth, Fionntain and the maiden Ceasair go to consult. "Let my advice
be followed by you," says Ceasair. "It shall be done," say they. "Well
then," says she, "take to ye an idol, and adore him, and forsake the
God of Noe." After that they brought with them an idol, and the idol
told them to make a ship, and put to sea: although he did not know
what time the deluge would come. A ship was fitted, accordingly, by
them, and they went to sea. Those who went into it were three men,
namely, Bioth, Fionntain, and Ladhra: (also) Ceasair, Barrann, and
Balbha, and fifty maidens along with them. Seven years and a quarter
for them on the sea, until they put into port at Dún na mbarc[234] in
the district of Corca Dhuibhne,[235] the fifteenth day of the moon, as
the antiquary says:--

It is there they took harbour
At Dún na-mbarc, the female company,
In Cúil Ceasrach, in the district of Carn,[236]
The fifteenth, (being) Saturday.

And that was forty days before the deluge, as is said:--

Two score days before the deluge,
Ceasair came into Ireland,
Fionntain, Bioth, and Ladhra fierce,
And fifty beautiful maidens.

Another poet agrees with the same thing, where he says in this verse:-
-

Ceasair set out from the east --
Daughter of Bioth was the woman --
With her fifty maidens,
And with her three men.

A ship's company were on that expedition to Dún na mbarc: Ceasair, and
her ship's lading, came to land there; namely, fifty women and three
men, i.e. Bioth and Fionntain, and Ladhra, as we have said. It was
that Ladhra, as we have said, who was the first dead person of Ireland,
according to the folk who say that no people at all occupied Ireland
before the deluge, but Ceasair and those who came with her. And from
him is named Ard Ladhrann.[237] From Bioth Sliabh Beatha[238] is
named; and from Fionntain is named Feart Fionntain over Tultuinne[239]
in Duthaigh Aradh,[240] near to Loch Deirgdheirc.[241] From Ceasair is
named Carn Ceasrach in Connacht. They proceed thence to Bun Suaimhne,
i.e. Cumar na dtri-n-uisge,[242] where is the junction of Suir and,
Nore and Barrow. There they share their fifty women in three parts
among them. Fionntain took Ceasair with him, and seventeen women along
with her. Bioth took Barrann with him, and seventeen other women in
her company: and Ladhra took Balbha with sixteen women likewise with
him, till he reached Ard Ladhrann, and died there. Balbha and her
sixteen women return to Ceasair again. Ceasair sends tidings to Bioth.
Bioth comes to acquaint Fionntain, so that they shared those sixteen
women equally between them. Bioth brought his own share of them with
him to Sliabh Beatha in the north of Ireland, and it was not long
afterwards until he died there. As for these women of Bioth, they come
to Fionntain after that. Howbeit, Fionntain flies before them from
Leinster, across Bun Suaimhne, across Sliabh gCua[243] into Ceann
Feabhrad[244] of Sliabh Caoin, and with left hand towards the Shannon
east to Tultuinne over Loch Deirgdheirc. Ceasair goes with her female
company to Cúil Ceasrach[245] in Connacht, till her heart broke
through being in estrangement from her husband, and through the death
of her father and of her brother: and there were not then from her to
the deluge but six days. So to attest that, this verse was spoken:--

It is those -- after appointed time -- 
Their deaths, their proceedings; 
There was not, but a week alone, 
From them to the forty (days' rain).

IV. Know, O reader, that it is not as genuine history I set down this
occupation, nor any occupation of which we have treated up to this;
but because I have found them written in old books. And, moreover, I
do not understand how the antiquaries obtained tidings of the people
whom they assert to have come into Ireland before the deluge, except
it be the aerial demons gave them to them, who were their fairy
lovers[246] during the time of their being pagans; or unless it be on
flags of stones they found them graven after the subsiding of the
deluge, if the story be true: for it is not to be said that it is that
Fionntain who was before the deluge who would live after it, because
the Scripture is against it, where it says that there did not escape
of the human race, without drowning, but the eight persons of the ark
alone, and it is clear he was not of those. The argument is unsound
which some antiquaries have concerning Fionntain to have lived during
the deluge, where they said that there lived four in the four quarters
of the world during the time of the deluge, namely, Fionntain, Fearón,
Fors, and Andóid. However, think not, O reader, that this is the
opinion of the people who are most authoritative in history. Therefore,
a certain author sets this thing before us in a poem, to show that it
does not accord with the truth of the faith to say that Fionntain or
any of the other three should live after the pouring forth of the
deluge and before it. Here is the poem:--

The names of four -- in right resolved
Whom God left (safe) throughout the deluge,
Fionntain, Fearon, Fors, just, gentle,
And Andoid, son of Eathor.
Fors in the eastern land, east, was allowed;
Fearón for [northern] coldness (in need) of clothing;
Fionntain for the west limit fairly 
And Andóid for the southern part.
Though antiquaries record that,
The just canon[247] does not record
But Noe who was in the ark, and his children,
And their wives, who obtained protection of their lives.

Whence it is understood that it is not the common opinion of all the
antiquaries, any of these to have lived after the deluge: however, if
any antiquary should say, as a safeguard against perverting the faith,
that Fionntain, a man like the rest, was drowned under the deluge, and
that he was revived by God after that, to save and to keep the
proceedings of the ancients, with their stories, to the time of
Patrick, and after that to the time of Finnian of Magh Bile;[248] I do
not understand how it would be possible to conceal throughout Europe
so wonderful a thing as this, [seeing] the frequency, during the time
of Finnian, and from that forth, [with which there] went accomplished
parties of divines and philosophers, and many of other learned wise
people from Ireland through the principal countries of Europe to
instruct the clergy and congregations, and to teach public schools;
and (yet) to say that there would not be [in their track] after them
some disciple by whom would be left a poem or a letter in which there
would be a mention or a narrative concerning Fionntain; and
[considering also] the frequency that they wrote other things which
are now to be seen, and, moreover, that I do not see any narrative
about him in their chief authentic books: and, accordingly, I think
that there is nothing but a poetical romance in the history which
would relate Fionntain to have lived before the deluge and after it.
However, I do not say that there was not a very aged and wise man
before the coming of Patrick to Ireland, and that he lived many
hundred years, and that he related to Patrick everything which he
remembered, and moreover every tradition which he had got from the
ancestors concerning the times which had elapsed before him: and I
think that there was his like of an elder, who was called Tuan son of
Caireall according to some antiquaries, and according to others Roanus,
that is Caoilte son of Rónán, who lived more than three hundred years,
and who made known to Patrick much of antiquity, as is evident in the
"Dialogue of the Ancients"; and it is [on] Caoilte that it is right to
call Roanus or Ronanus. For it is not read in any book of the history
of Ireland that Fionntain was called Roanus or Ronanus: Even though it
is on him Cambrensis puts the name like every other lie of his partial
history, and as he set down Roanus in his chronicle in place of
Ronanus, every one of the new Galls who writes on Ireland, writes
Roanus, in imitation of Cambrensis, as a name for Fionntain, because
it is Cambrensis who is as the bull of the herd for them for writing
the false history of Ireland, wherefore they had no choice of guide.
It is the more right to think that it is to Caoilte Ronanus is given,
since ancient authors set down among the works of Patrick that he
wrote "A History of Ireland, from Roanus or Ronanus": it is, indeed,
the surname of the author which it is the custom to put over the head
of every work which anyone writes, as is clear to every reader who
practises reading authors.

And it is not true for Hanmer in his chronicle, where he says that the
Gaels hold in great esteem the stories of Fionntain, whom he himself
calls Roanus, where they say that he was hidden from the deluge, and
that he lived after it more than two thousand years till he met with
Patrick, and that he received baptism from him, and that he made known
to him much of antiquity, and that he died at the end of a year after
the coming of Patrick into Ireland, and that he was buried beside Loch
Ribh in Urmhumha,[248] where there is a church named or dedicated in
his name, and, moreover, that he is named among the saints of Ireland.
Nevertheless, it is clear that an antiquary never said, and also that
he never left written this thing Dr. Hanmer says. For there are three
persons being mentioned here in the guise of one man, namely,
Fionntain, whom Cambrensis calls Roanus, i.e. Caoilte, son of Rónán,
who was baptised by Patrick, and gave much of ancient record to him;
and Ruadhan, to whom Lothra in Urmhumha was dedicated (it is beside
Loch Deirgdheirc and not, as Hanmer says, beside Loch Ribh): and Tuan,
son of Caireall. We shall not follow any more of the lies of Hanmer,
or of the authority he has. Moreover, I think that it is instead of
this word Ronanus Cambrensis wrote Roanus at first, and that it was
left without amendment by his followers from that forward.



SECTION VI.
I. Of the first occupation that was made on Ireland here.

According to some antiquaries, there came a youth of the family of Nin
son of Bel (whose name was Adhna son of Bioth) to spy Ireland about
seven score years after the deluge. However, it was not long the stay
he made in it. He went back to give an account of the island he had
seen, to his neighbours, and with him a part or certain bulk of the
grass of Ireland, as is read in the poem (to which is) beginning, "I
found in the Saltair of Caiseal," &c.[249] [Here is what the poem
says.]

Adhna, son of Bioth, with prophecy(?)[250]
A warrior of the family of Nin son of Bel,
Came into Ireland to explore it,
So that he plucked grass in wood island[251]:
He brought with him the full of his fist of its grass,
He goes back to tell the news:
That is the clear complete possession,
Shortest in duration which occupied Ireland.

Howbeit, I do not think that the expedition of that man ought to be
called a conquest, because he did not make any stay in it, and
therefore that it is more right to reckon the conquest of Partholón as
the first occupation of it after the deluge.

II. Of the first chief-conquest which was made on Ireland after the
deluge, namely the invasion of Partholón here.

Ireland, indeed, was desert three hundred years after the deluge, till
Partholón son of Sera, son of Sru, son of Esru, son of Fraimint, son
of Fathacht, son of Magog, son of Japheth came to occupy it, according
as it is found in the poem [to which is] beginning, -- "Adam, father,
fountain of our hosts" [as the poet says]

Three hundred years after the deluge,
It is a tale of truth, as I reckon,
All holy Ireland was desert,
Until Partholón came.

Accordingly, I think that it is twenty-two years before Abraham was
born, Partholón came into Ireland, and that it is it which was the age
of the world therefore, about this time a thousand, nine hundred and
three score and eighteen years, as this verse states:-

Eight and seventy -- a clear gradation --
A thousand and nine hundred years,
From the time of Adam, virtuous, just,
To the birth of Abraham our father.

However, the opinion of the people who say that it is at the end of
two years and a thousand after the deluge that Partholón came to
Ireland, is not truthful, and they, admitting that it is in the time
of Abraham he came into it, and that it is Abraham, who was only the
eighth generation from Sem, son of Noe, and Sem himself to be reckoned.
For it is not likely that more than a thousand years would have been
spent during the time of seven generations after the deluge. Wherefore
I deem the former opinion more sound than the latter opinion; and,
accordingly, it is probable that it was at the end of three hundred
years after the deluge Partholón came into Ireland.

From middle Greece, i.e. 'Migdonia,' Partholón set out. It is the way
which he took (was) through the 'Torrian' Sea to Sicily, and with the
right hand towards Spain till he reached Ireland. Two months and a
half he was on the sea till he took harbour in Innbhear Sceine,[252] 
in the western part of Munster, the fourteenth day in the month May.
It is of it this verse was recited [as the poet says]:--

The fourteenth, on (day of) Mars,
They put their noble barks
Into the port of fair lands, blue, clear,
In Innbhear Scéine of bright shields.

Here is the company who came with Partholón to Ireland, and with his
wife, Dealgnaid her name: their three sons, namely, Rudhruidhe,
Slangha, and Laighlinne, with their wives, and a thousand of a host
along with them, according to Nennius, as is read in the Saltair of
Caiseal.

It is the place where Partholón dwelt at first in Ireland, in Inis
Saimher,[253] near to Eirne. It is why it was called Inis Saimher; a
lap-dog or hound-whelp which Partholón had, which was named Saimher;
and he killed it through jealousy with his wife, who committed
misconduct with her own attendant, Todhga; and when Partholón accused
her, it is not an apology she made, but said it was fitter the blame
of that ill-deed to be on himself than on her: and she said these
words: "O Partholón", says she, "do you think that it is possible a
woman and honey to be near one another, new milk and a child, food and
a generous person, flesh meat and a cat, weapons or implements and a
workman, or a man and woman in private, without their meddling with
each other": and she repeats the verse

Honey with a woman, new milk with a child,
Food with the generous, flesh with a cat,
A workman in a house, and edge tools,
One with the other, it is great risk.

After Partholón had heard that answer, his jealousy was so increased
by it that he struck the dog to the ground, till it was killed: so
that from it the island is named. The first jealousy of Ireland after
the deluge (was) that. So for it was recited this verse:--

The king strikes the hound of the woman
With his hand -- it was not sad that it was (so); --?
The hound was dead.... [254]
That was the first jealousy of Ireland.

The seventh year after the occupation of Ireland by Partholón the
first man of his people died, namely, Feadha, son of Tortan, from whom
is named Magh Feadha.[255]

It is the cause on account of which Partholón came to Ireland, because
he had slain his father and his mother, seeking the kingdom from his
brother, so that he came in flight (because of) his parricide till he
reached Ireland, so that it is therefore God sent a plague on his race,
by which nine thousand of them were slain during one week in Beann
Eadair.[256]

Some of our authors reckon another occupation of Ireland before
Partholón namely, the invasion of Ciocal, son of Nel, son of Garbh,
son of Ughmhór from Sliabh Ughmhóir, and Lot Luaimhneach (was) his
mother: they (were) two hundred years (living) on fish and fowl till
the coming of Partholón into Ireland, till the battle of Magh
Iotha[257] took place between them, in which Ciocal fell, and in which
the Fomorians[258] were destroyed by Partholón. In Innbhear
Domhnann[259] Ciocal, with his people, took harbour in Ireland: six
ships their number; fifty men and fifty women the complement of each
ship [of them]. It is about them it is recited:--

The seventh invasion which took
Spoil of Ireland of the high plains
(Was) by Ciocal the stunted, of withered feet,[260]
Over the fields of Innbhear Domhnann;
Three hundred men, the number of his host,
Who came from the regions of Ughmhór
Till they were scattered after that,
Being cut off in a week.

Seven lakes burst forth in Ireland in the time of Partholón namely,
Loch Masc in Connacht; over Magh Leargna it sprang up: at the end of
three years after giving battle to Ciocal, Loch Con burst over the
land, and Magh Cró (was) the name of the plain over which it came:
Loch Deichet[261] at the end of twelve years after the coming of
Partholón into Ireland. A year after that the fourth chieftain of his
people died, namely, Slangha, and it is at Sliabh Slangha[262] he was
buried. At the end of a year after that (was) the eruption of Loch
Laighlinne[263] in Ua-mac-Uais Breagh,[264] i.e. (the lake of)
Laighlinne, son of Partholón; and when his sepulchre was being built,
the lake sprang forth from the earth, it is from that it is called
Loch Laighlinne. At the end of a year after that (was) the eruption of
Loch Eachtra,[265] between Sliabh Mudhairn[266] and Sliabh Fuaid,[267]
in Oirghialla.[268] After that, the eruption of Loch Rudhruidhe,[269]
in which Rudhruidhe himself was drowned. In the same year the eruption
of Loch Cuan.[270]

Partholón did not find before him in Ireland but three lakes and nine
rivers: the names of the lakes (are) Loch Luimneach[271] in Desmond,
Loch Foirdhreamhain[272] at Tráigh-lí,[273] by Sliabh Mis in Munster,
and Fionnloch Ceara[274] in lorros Domhnann[275] in Connacht. It is
for them this verse was recited [as the poet says]:--

Three lakes -- wondrous their brilliancy,
And nine plentiful rivers;
Loch Foirdhreamhain, Loch Luimnigh,
Fionn Loch beyond the bounds of Iorros.

Here are the rivers:-- The Buas,[276] between Dal n-Áruidhe[277] and
Dalriada,[278] i.e. the Rúta; the Rurthach, i.e. Abhann Life,[279]
between the Ui Neill[280] and the Leinstermen; Laoi,[281] in Munster,
through Muscraidhe[282] to Cork; the Sligeach[283]; the Samhaoir[284];
the Muaidh[285] in Connacht, through Ui Fiachrach of the north[286];
the Moghurn[287] in Tír-Eoghain; the Fionn,[288] between Cinéal
Eoghain and Cinéal Conaill[289]; and the Banna, between Lí and
Eille[290]; as is said in the poem to which (this) is the beginning,
"Ye learned of the plain of fair gentle Conn ":--

Muaidh, Sligeach, Samhaoir of name[291]?
Buas, a torrent of melodious sound;
Moghurn, Fionn, with face of brightness;
Banna, between Lí and Eille.

Or yet in the poem which has for beginning, "Adam, father, fount of
our hosts," &c.:--

Laoi, Buas, Banna, lasting Bearbha,[292]
Samhaoir, Sligeach, Moghurn, Muaidh,
And Life in Leinster with them,
There they are, the old rivers.

At the end of four years after the eruption of Murthol,[293] Partholón
died in Sean-mhagh Ealta Eudair,[294] and it is there he was buried.
It is called Sean-mhagh, 'old plain,' because a wood never grew on it;
and, moreover, it is why it is called Magh n-Ealta,[295] as it was
there the birds of Ireland used to come to bask in the sun. At the end
of thirty years from the coming of Partholón to Ireland, he died. Some
antiquaries say that the age of the world when Partholón died was two
thousand six hundred and twenty-eight years: nevertheless, what I
think is, according to everything we have said before, that it is one
thousand nine hundred and four score and six years from the beginning
of the world to the death of Partholón. Some others say that it is
five hundred and twenty years from the death of Partholón to the
plague of his people: however, the general opinion of the antiquaries
is against that, since they say that Ireland was not a desert but
thirty years [the time which] was from the death of Partholón's people
to the coming of Neimheadh into it, as the poet says in this verse:--

During thirty years of a period
It was empty of (its) skilled warriors,
After the destruction of its host in a week,
In crowds upon Magh n-Ealta.

Holy Cormac son of Cuileannan agrees with the same thing in the
Saltair of Caiseal, where he says that it is three hundred years
(that) were from the coming of Partholón into Ireland to the plague of
his people. The poet Eochaidh Ua Floinn agrees with it likewise,
according to this verse:--

Three hundred years, who know it?
Over very great (or wide) excellent corn-lands,(?)
The rank sharp-pointed stalks (or weeds)(?)[296]
(Were) in noble Erin grass-grown.

From all these things (it appears that) those who say that there was
more than five hundred years from the death of Partholón till the
destruction of his people, are not to be believed; and it is not
probable that Ireland could have been settled so long, without more
people in it than five thousand men and four thousand women.

III. Here is the division which the four sons of Partholón made on
Ireland; and
it is the first partition of Ireland.

Er, Orba, Fearón and Feargna their names, and there were four their
namesakes among the descendants of Míleadh, as we shall set down in
(relating) their special conquest.

From Aileach Néid (in the) north to Áthcliath Laighean, the portion of
Er.

From the same Áthcliath to OiléanÁrda Neimeadh [to] which is called
Oiléan Mór an Bharraigh now, the portion of Orba.

From the Oiléan Mór to Meadhraidhe by Gaillimh, the division of Fearón.

From Áthcliath Meadhraidhe to Aileach Néid, the portion of
Feargna,[297] as Eochaidh Ua Floinn says in these verses: and he was
the chief professor of poetry in Ireland in his time:--

Four sons, (who) were fierce of voice,
For noble children had Partholón:
They took under direction among them
The tribes of Ireland without objection:
Not easy to the kings was their division,
The island of Erin (being all) one wood,
Treasure close (? safe) in each dwelling[298] during their time;
Each man got knowledge of his share.
Er, their eldest, (who) was free in happiness,
Pleasant his portion, long without change;
From Aileach Néid, land without treachery, To Áthcliath Laighean full-
strong.
From Áthcliath of Leinster -- leap of the sea[299] --
To the isle of Neimheadh's Height,
Without misery -- not weak his conduct --
(Was) Orba's portion of the land of his race.
From the ford where Neimheadh was slain
To Meadhraidhe of the great districts,
A cause of good content without cease there,
The portion of Fearón, long the tract.
From Meadhraidhe, (it is) long also,
To Aileach Ned of good customs,
If we follow the boundary in every track;
Feargna got an extensive tract.
On Erin itself, not a cause of deceit (this),
Were born the strong men (whom) I enumerate,
A noble company, who were established in fame,
Gentle (and) knightly were the four.

IV. Of the people of Partholón here.

Here are the names of the ploughmen he had, namely, Tothacht, Treun,
Iomhas, Aicheachbhéal, Cúl, Dorcha, and Damh. The names of the four
oxen they had, namely, Liag, Leagmhagh, Iomaire, and Eitrighe. Beoir
(was) the name of the man who gave out free entertainment or
hospitality at first in Ireland. Breagha, son of Seanbhoth (it was)
who established single combat first in Ireland. Samaliliath first
introduced ale-drinking in it. Fios, Eolus and Fochmorc (were) his
three druids. Macha, Mearan, and Muicneachán his three strong-men.
Biobhal and Beabhal his two merchants. Partholón had ten daughters and
ten sons-in-law.



SECTION VII.
Of the second conquest which was made on Ireland here, i.e. the
conquest of the
children of Neimheadh.
I	reland, indeed, was waste thirty years after the destruction of
the race of Partholón till Neimheadh son of Agnoman, son of Pamp, son
of Tat, son of Seara, son of Srú, son of Easrú, son of Framant, son of
Fathacht, son of Magog, son of Japheth, came to settle in it: for
every invasion which occupied Ireland after the deluge is of the
children of Magog. At Srú, son of Easrú, Partholón and the children of
Neimheadh separate from each other: and at Seara the Firbolg, the
Tuatha Dé Danann, and the sons of Míleadh separate. And it is the
Scotic[300] language every tribe of these had. That is evident from
(the occasion) when Ith, son of Breogan, came into Ireland; for it is
through the Scotic language he himself and the Tuatha Dé Danann spoke
with each other; and they said that they were of the race of Magog on
both sides. Some others say, as for Neimheadh, that he was of the
posterity of the son, Adhla his name, whom Partholón had left in the
east. It is the track in which Neimheadh journeyed, coming into
Ireland from Scythia on the narrow sea which reaches from the ocean
called 'Mare Euxinum,[301]- it is it (i.e. the narrow sea) which is
the boundary between the north-west side of Asia and the north-east
side of Europe, -- and at the north-west part of Asia are the
mountains of Riffé,[302] according to Pomponius Mela, on the boundary
line of the narrow sea[303] we have mentioned and the northern ocean.
He gave his right hand to the mountains of Riffé, till he came into
the ocean to the north,[304] and his left hand towards Europe till he
came to Ireland. Thirty-four ships (was) the number of his fleet, and
thirty persons in every ship of them.

Starn, Iarbhoinel Fáidh, Ainninn, and Fearghus Leithdhearg[305] (are)
the names of the four sons of Neimheadh.

Four lake-eruptions in Ireland in the time of Neimheadh, namely, Loch
mBreunainn[306] on Mágh n-Asail in Uí Nialláin; Loch Muinreamhair[307]
on Mágh Sola among the Leinstermen: at the end of ten years after
Neimheadh had arrived in Ireland, Loch Dairbhreach and Loch n-
Ainnin[308] sprang up in Magh Mór in Meath: for when the grave of
Ainnin was dug, it is then Loch Ainnin sprang forth. It is in proof
that it was in Neimheadh's time these lakes burst forth that this
verse was made:--

Four lakes of abundant water
Burst forth over Fodhla truly great:--
Loch Dairbhreach, Loch mBreunainn sweet sounding,
Loch Muinreamhair, Loch n-Ainnin,

The wife of Neimheadh -- Macha her name -- died in Ireland sooner than
Ainnin; and the twelfth year after their coming into Ireland this
Macha died; and she was the first dead person of Ireland after the
coming of Neimheadh into it. And it is from her Ard Macha[309] is
named; for it is there she was buried. Two royal forts were built by
Neimheadh in Ireland, namely, Rath Chinneich[310] in Uí Nialláin, and
Rath Ciombaoth[311] in Seimhne.[312] The four sons of Madán
Muinreamhair[313] of the Fomórians built Rath Cinneich in one day, Bog, 
Robhog, Ruibhne, and Rodan their names: and Neimheadh slew them on the
morrow in the morning, in Daire Lighe,[314] for fear that they should
resolve on the destruction of the fort again; and they were buried
there.

Twelve plains were cleared from wood by Neimheadh in Ireland; namely,
Magh Ceara,[315] Magh Neara, Magh Cuile Toladh,[316] Magh Luirg[317]
in Connacht, Magh Tochair in Tír Eoghain,[318] Leacmhagh in Munster,
Magh mBreasa,[319] Magh Lughaidh in Ui Tuirtre,[320] Magh Seireadh in
Teathbha,[321] Magh Seimhne[322] in Dal n-Aruidhe, Magh
Muirtheimhne[323] in Breagh,[324] and Magh Macha in Oirghialla.[325]

Neimheadh won three battles on the Fomorians, namely, navigators of
the race of Cham, who fared from Africa; they came fleeing to the
islands of the west of Europe, and to make a settlement for themselves,
and (also) fleeing the race of Sem, for fear that they might have
advantage over them, in consequence of the curse which Noe had left on
Cham from whom they came; inasmuch as they thought themselves to be
safe from the control of the posterity of Sem by being at a distance
from them: wherefore, they came to Ireland, so that the three battles
aforesaid were won over them, i.e. the battle of Sliabh Bádhna;[326]
the battle of Ross Fraocháin[327] in Connacht, in which there fell
Gann and Geanann, two leaders of the Fomorians; and the battle of
Murbholg[328] in Dalriada, i.e. the Rúta, the place where Starn son of
Neimheadh fell by Conaing son of Faobhar in Leithead Lachtmhaighe.
Moreover, he fought the battle of Cnámhros[329] in Leinster, where
there was a slaughter (made) of the men of Ireland, including Artur,
son of Neimheadh, i.e. a son born in Ireland to him; and including
Iobcan son of Starn, son of Neimheadh. However, it is by Neimheadh
these three battles were won over the Fomorians, as these verses below
certify:--

Neimheadh defeated -- illustrious his strength -- 
(Their sepulchre was satiated I think),
Gann and Geanann, by his attack.
They were slain by him, one after the other.
Geanann by Neimheadh was worn out.
Their little grave -- what tomb is greater (than it)?-
By Starn, son of Neimheadh the mighty,
Gann fell, and it is not deceit.
The battle of Murbholg -- he fought it --
Till it was closed, it was stiff,
It was won by Neimheadh of the arms,
Though Starn came not back (from it).
During the battle of Cnamhros, which was very great,
It is much there was of hacking of flesh;
Artur and Iobcan fell there,
Although in it Gann was routed.

After that Neimheadh died of the plague in Oiléan Arda Neimheadh in
Críoch Liatháin[330] in Munster, which is called Oiléan Mór an
Bharraigh; and two thousand (of) people with him, both men and women.

There was slavery and great oppression afterwards on the race of
Neimheadh by the Fomorians, revenging the battles which Neimheadh had
gained over them. Morc, indeed, son of Deileadh, and Conaing, son of
Faobhar, from whom is named Tor Conaing on the border of Ireland north
[who] had a fleet, and they residing in Tor Conaing which is called
Toirinis[331], enforcing a tribute on the children of Neimheadh and
the extent of that tribute was two thirds of the children, and of the
corn, and of the milch-kine of the men of Ireland, to be offered to
them every year on the eve of Samhain[332] at Magh gCéidne between the
Drobhaois and the Eirne.[333] It is why it is called Magh gCéidne from
the frequency (with which) the tribute was brought to the same
plain.[334]

The Fomorians had still more tyranny on the children of Neimheadh, to
wit, three full measures from every single household in Ireland of the
cream of milk, of the flour of wheat, and of butter, to be brought to
Morc and to Conaing to Toirinis; and a female steward who was called
Liagh, enforcing that tax throughout Ireland, so that of that tax this
verse was recited:--

That tax which was devised there,
Three measures which were not very scant;
A measure of the cream of rich milk,
And a measure of the flour of wheat,
The third obligation -- we think it was hard --
A measure of butter over it for a condiment.

Anger and rage indeed seize upon the men of Ireland by reason of the
heaviness of that tribute and tax, insomuch that they went to do
battle with the Fomorians. It is wherefore they used to be called
Fomorians, namely, from their being committing robbery on sea:
Fomhóraigh[335] i.e. along the seas.

There were, however, three good warriors among the children of 
Neimheadh at this period, namely, Beothach, son of Iarbhoineol the
prophetic, son of Neimheadh; Fearghus the red-sided, son of Neimheadh;
and Earglan, son of Béoan, son of Starn, son of Neimheadh, with his
two brothers, namely, Manntán and Iarthacht: and their number was
thirty thousand on sea, and the same number on land, as this verse
shows:--

Three score thousand, -- bright array -
On land and on water;
It is the number went from their dwelling,
The race of Neimheadh to the demolition (of the tower).

The tower was demolished then, and Conaing falls with his children by
the race of Neimheadh. Afterwards, Morc, son of Deileadh, brought the
crew of three score ships from Africa to Toirinis, till he gave battle
to the children of Neimheadh, so that they fell side by side, and that
everyone of them who was not slain was drowned, but Morc and a few of
his company who took possession of the island: for they did not
perceive the sea coming under them with the obstinacy of the fighting,
so that there escaped not of the race of Neimheadh (as many of them as
were in this warfare) but the crew of one bark, in which were thirty
strong men, including three chiefs, namely, Simeon Breac, son of Starn,
son of Neimheadh; Iobath, son of Beothach, son of Iarbhoineol Fáidh,
son of Neimheadh; and Briotán Maol, son of Fearghus Leithdhearg, son
of Neimheadh, as the verse says:--

But one bark with its full company,
There escaped not of them, the entire of their hosts
Simeon and Iobath good,
And Briotán Maol, in that ship.

On their coming away from that conflict, it is the counsel on which
they resolved, to fare from Ireland to fly the tyranny of the
Fomorians. They were seven years making ready towards this adventure;
and a fleet is prepared by each chief of them, and a party of the
people who had come with Neimheadh to Ireland, and of his descendants,
go with each one of the aforesaid chiefs; and some of them remain
behind in Ireland, namely, ten warriors whom they left taking the
headship of the remnant of the race of Neimheadh who remained under
servitude of the Fomorians till the time of the Firbolg.

A chief of the three above (named), viz. Simeon Breac, son of Starn,
goes to Greece, even to Thrace, and a company with him; it is there
they were under bondage, and it is from him the Firbolg have come, as
we shall say hereafter.

The second chief, namely, Iobáth, son of Beothach, goes into the
regions of the north of Europe; and some antiquaries say that it is to
'Boetia'[336] he went: it is from him the Tuatha Dé Danann have
descended.
The third chief, i.e. Briotán Maol goes with a company with him to
Dobhar and to Iardhobhar in the north of Scotland, so that he himself
and his posterity after him dwelled there. It is the total of the
fleet these chiefs, the children of Neimheadh, (had) on this
expedition, between ship, bark, skiff, and small boat, one thousand
one hundred and thirty vessels.

However, Briotán Maol, son of Fearghus Leithdhearg, son of Neimheadh,
and his posterity, were inhabiting the north of Scotland until the
Crutheni, i.e. the Picts, went from Ireland to dwell in Scotland in
the time of Eireamhón. Holy Cormac, son of Cuileannan, in his Saltair,
says that it is from Briotán Britannia is called to the island which
is to-day called Great Britain: and the ancient record of Ireland is
agreeing with him on that, as the poem says, which has for beginning
"Adam father, fountain of our hosts," where it says

Briotán went beyond sea, without stain,
Generous son of red-sided Fearghus;
The Britons all, victory with renown,
From him, without deception, they have descended.

Another author supports him on that where he says:--

Briotán Maol, son of the prince,
Noble the stock-branch spreading from him,
Son of Leithdheirg from Leacmhagh,[337]
From whom are the Britons of the world.

It is the more right to think that to be true since it is not probable
that it is from Brutus it is called (Britain); for if it were from him,
it is likely that it is Brutania it would be called; and, besides, it
is the more its name was obscured by the children of Brutus, according
to (Geoffrey of) Monmouth, since Laegrus, son of Brutus, gave Laegria
for name to the part of Britain which came to him; Camber, the second
son of Brutus, gave Cambria for name to the part of it that came to
himself; and Albanactus, the third son of Brutus, gave Albania for
name to his own portion of the same territory.[338]

As to the remnant of the race of Neimheadh, who remained dwelling in
Ireland after those chiefs; they were oppressed by the Fomorians from
time to time, till the arrival of the posterity of Simeon Breac, son
of Starn, son of Neimheadh, in Ireland from Greece. Two hundred and
seventeen years from the coming by Neimheadh into Ireland till the
coming of the Firbolg into it, as this verse certifies:--

Seventeen years and two hundred
During their reckoning, (there is) no exaggeration -- 
Since Neimheadh came from the east,
Over sea with his great sons,
Till the children of Starn came
From Greece,[339] terrifying, very rugged.



SECTION VIII.
Of the invasion of the Firbolg here.

The posterity of Simeon Breac, son of Starn, son of Neimheadh, having
been in Greece, i.e. Thrace, as we have said, they grew so that the
people who were there of them were numerous. Howbeit, the Greeks put
bondage and great tyranny on them, such as their being digging the
ground, raising earth, and carrying it in bags or in sacks of leather
for putting it on stony crags, until it should become fruitful soil.
Great sadness seized them, and enmity to the Greeks through the
slavery in which they had them: and with that it was resolved by them
to leave that evil plight. Having determined on that counsel, five
thousand of them get together, and they make boats of the bags or of
the wallets of leather in which they used to be drawing the clay: or
it is the fleet of the king of the Greeks they stole, as the Cin of
Druim Sneachta says,[340] so that this posterity of Simeon Breac, son
of Starn, came back to Ireland at the end of two hundred and seventeen
years after Neimheadh had occupied Ireland.

Here are the chiefs who were over them that time, namely, Sláinghe,
Rughruidhe, Gann, Geanann, and Seanghann, i.e. the five sons of Deala,
son of Loch, son of Teacht, son of Triobuat, son of Othorb, son of
Goiste, son of Oirtheacht, son of Simeon, son of Arglán son of Beoán,
son of Starn, son of Neimheadh, son of Agnamon, &c. Their five wives,
Fuad, Eudar, Anust, Cnucha, and Liobhra, their names: and it is of
them it was said:--

Fuad wife of Slainghe -- not deceiving you
Eudar wife of Gann the valorous,
Anust wife of Seanghann of the spears,
Cnucha was wife of Geanann bright, (?)
Liobhra wife of Rughruidhe of the way. (?)

Five thousand the number of the host who came with them; one thousand
one hundred and thirty ships (between ship, bark, skiff, and small
boat) the number of their fleet, as these verses of antiquity[341]
show which follow[342]:--

Thirty ships on one hundred,
And a thousand -- it is not a lie
It is the number who came from the east,
The good Sláinghe with his hosts:]
Many were the Firbolg, without a lie,
At their coming out from Greece;
Good the tribes who were not diffident (in setting out),
Nor was the fleet wooden.[343]
Wednesday they went westward,
Over the great broad Torrian Sea;
The period of three days on a fair year (went by)
Until they reached to Spain:
From that by them to noble Ireland -- 
A convenient sailing from Spain --
Better then not to conceal it from all, (?)
The space of three days and ten.

These five chiefs divide Ireland in five parts among them, as we have
said before, speaking of the third partition which was made of
Ireland; as this verse says:--

Five chiefs at the head of the host
Divide into five Banbha the ancient;
Geanann, Rughraidhe -- a brilliant roll --
Gann, Seangann, and Sláinghe

Sláinghe (from whom is named Innbhear Sláinghe at Lochgarman, [the
youngest of the children]) took the province of Leinster from Innbhear
Colptha at Droichead-átha to Cumar na dtrí-n-uisge, and a thousand the
number of his host. Gann takes from Cumar na dtrí-n-uisge to Bealach
Chonghlais, and a thousand the number ofhis host. Seangann takes from
Bealach Chonghlais to Luimneach, and a thousand the number of his host.
Geanann takes the province of Connacht from Luimneach to Drobhais, and
a thousand the number of his host. Rughraidhe takes the province of
Ulster, namely, from Drobhaois to Droichead-átha and a thousand the
number of his host.

It is [to] these chiefs with their companies that are called Fir Bolg,
Fir Domhnann and Gaileon. Fir Bolg, indeed, from the bags of leather
they used to have in Greece, carrying earth to put it on bare flags so
that they might make of them flowery plains in bloom. Fir Domhnann
from the pits[344] they used to dig in the soil by carrying it to the
Fir Bolg. Gaileoin, indeed, they were named from the darts; because it
is these which used to be their arms defending everybody when they
would be (i.e. the others) doing their work; and from the darts or the
spears which were their arms, they were named.

Understand, O reader, that it is one conquest they made, and that it
is in one week they came into Ireland, i.e. Sláinghe on Saturday in
Innbhear Sláinghe Gann and Seangann the Tuesday after that in lorrus
Domhnann,[345] Geannan and Rughraidhe the Friday afterwards in Tracht
Rughraidhe.[346] (The name) Gaileoin is given to Sláinghe with his
people: Fir Bolg is given to Gann and to Seangann with their people:
and Fir Domhnann is given to Geanann and to Rughraidhe. And some of
the antiquaries say that it is in Iorrus Domhnann[347] (in the north-
west of the province of Connacht) these two came to land with a third
of the host, and that it is from them Iorrus Domhnann is called.
However, they are all commonly called Fir Bolg. Thirty-six years (was)
the length of the dominion of the Fir Bolg over Ireland: and no one to
whom the title of high-king was given came into the island before
them; so it is to prove that the following rann[348] was composed:--

Sixteen years and two tens,
Fir Bolg over Banbha throughout,
Till the coming of the Tuatha Dé to the people,
(And) that they seized all Ireland.



SECTION IX.
Of the first kings who took the sovereignty of Ireland; and of every
king after them who assumed it, according to the order of the periods
and of the invasions, down here.

Sláinghe son of Deala, son of LÓch, took rule of Ireland (for) a year,
till he died in Dionnriogh, which is called Dumha Sláinghe[349]: and
he was the first king of Ireland [ever]; and, moreover he was the
first dead among the Fir Bolg.

Rughraidhe, son of Deala, son of Loch, took the kingdom of Ireland two
years till he fell in the Brugh[350] over the Bóinn[351]

Gann and Geanann took the kingdom of Ireland four years till they died
of the plague in Freamhainn Midhe.[352]

Seangann held the kingship five years till he fell by Fiachaidh
Ceinnfhionnán.[353]

Fiachaidh Ceinnfhionnán son of Starn, son of Rughraidhe, son of Deala,
son of Lóch, held the kingdom five years, till he fell by Rionnal, son
of Geannan, son of Deala, son of Lóch. There were white heads on the
men of Ireland during his time: hence he was called Ceinnfhionnán.

Rionnal took the kingdom of Ireland six years, till he fell by
Foidhbghein, son of Seangann, son of Deala, son of Lóch.

This Foidhbghein held the kingship four years, until he was slain by
Eochaidh, son of Earc, in Magh Muirtheimhne.[354]

Eochaidh, son of Earc, son of Rionnal, son of Geannan, held the
kingship ten years. There was no rain nor bad weather during his time,
nor yet a year without fruit and increase. It is in his time injustice
and lawlessness were put down in Ireland, and approved and elaborated
laws were ordained in it. This Eochaidh fell by the three sons of
Neimheadh, son of Badhraoi (Ceasarb, Luamh, and Luachra their names),
in the battle of Magh Tuireadh.[355] It is this Eochaidh who was king
of the Fir Bolg at the coming of the Tuatha Dé Danann into Ireland. It
is she who was queen to him, Taillte, daughter of Madhmór, king of
Spain, and in Taillte[356] she was buried, so that from her it was
named Taillte. Nuadha Airgeadlámh[357] was king over the Tuatha Dé
Danann at that time. This battle of Magh Tuireadh was very long being
fought between the two kings aforesaid. Howbeit, it was gained at last
over Eochaidh and over the Fir Bolg, till Eochaidh was slain, and a
hundred thousand of his people cut off from Magh Tuireadh to Tráigh
Eothaile.[358] It is in this battle his hand was cut off from Nuadha
Airgeadlámh so that he was seven years being cured, until a hand of
silver was put on him, whence it is that he was named Nuadha of the
silver hand.

The small number of Fir Bolg who escaped out of this battle departed
in flight before the Tuatha Dé Danann, so that Ára,[359] Ilé,[360]
Reachra,[361] Inse Gall,[362] and many islands besides, were inhabited
by them; and they dwelt there until the time of the provincial kings
being in the sovereignty of Ireland, until the Cruithnigh, i.e. Picts,
banished them out of those islands, so that they (i.e. Fir Bolg) came
to seek Cairbre Niadh-fir, king of Leinster, (and) obtained land from
him under tenure. However, the heaviness of their rent was such that
they were not able to endure it. They depart thence to seek Meadhbh
and Oilioll[363] so that they gave land to them, whence it is that
that is the migration of the sons of Ughmhór. Aonghus son of Ughmhór
was prince over them in the east. It is from them are named the lands
where they took up residence in Ireland, namely, Loch Cime,[364] from
Cime Ceithircheann, Rinn Tamhain[365] in Meadhraidhe,[366] Loch
Cútra,[367] Rinn mBeara,[368] Maoilinn,[368] Dún Aonghusa in Ara,[369]
Carn Conaill in Crich Aidhne,[368] Magh n-Aghar[370] (i.e. the plain
of Aghar) son of Ughmhór the poet, Druim n-Asail,[371] Magh
Maoin[372](i.e. the plain of Maon) son of Ughmhór, Loch Uair[373] (i.e.
the lake of Uar) son of Ughmhór: and they occupied fortresses and
islands in like manner in Ireland till they were expelled by
Cuchulainn, by Conall Cearnach and by the Ulstermen also. It is not
recounted 'raths'[374] to have been built, lakes to have burst forth,
or plains to have been cleared of woods during the dominion of the Fir
Bolg. Some antiquaries say that it is from them (come) these three
tribes which are in Ireland but not of the Gael, namely, the
Gabhraidhe of Suca[375] in Connacht, the Uí Tairsidh in Crích Ua
bhFailghe,[376] and the Gaileoin of Leinster. Those are the
proceedings of the Fir Bolg, according to the antiquary, the learned
Tanuidhe Ua Maoilchonaire, in the 'duan'[377] of which the beginning
is this 'rann':-

The Fir Bolg were here a while
In the great island of the sons of Míleadh:
Five chiefs they came hither,
I have knowledge of their names.



SECTION X.
Of the invasion of the Tuatha Dé Danann here.

The Tuatha Dé Danann are of the posterity of the third chief of the
race of Neimheadh who had gone on adventures from Ireland after the
destruction of the tower of Conaing, namely, Iobath son of Beothach;
and, according to some antiquaries, the place which was inhabited by
them was Boetia[378] in the north of Europe. Some others say that it
is in the Athenian territory they dwelt, where the city of Athens is.
Understand, O reader, that Boeotia and the city of Athens, according
to Pomponius Mela, are in the district of Greece which is called
Achaia: and that it is there they learned their magic and their arts
until they became skilled in every trick of sorcery.

It happened about that time that a great fleet came from the country
of Syria to make war on the people of the Athenian country, so that
there was daily warfare between them; and those of the Athenians who
would be slain, it is they who would be on the morrow fighting with
the people of Syria. That necromancy used to be done through the art
magic of the Tuatha Dé Danann: for they would put demons into the same
bodies to restore them. And when the people of Syria became aware of
this, they go to take counsel with their own druid. The druid says to
them, to set a watch on the site or on the place of the battle-field,
and to thrust a stake [of a spit] of quicken-tree[379] through the
trunk of every dead person who would be rising up against them; and if
it were demons who would cause their bodies to revive, that they would
be from that immediately turned into worms, while, if it were really
their revival that had been brought about, the bodies would not suffer
change or corruption. The people of Syria come to join battle on the
morrow, and it is won by them, and they thrust the stakes of ash
through the dead, as the druid had told them, and presently worms were
made of them: and the people of Syria fell on the others after that,
slaughtering them.

As regards the Tuatha Dé Danann, when they saw the people of Syria
prevailing over the people of the country, they, in one band, depart
from that territory, for fear of them, and they made no stay till they
came to the country of Lochlonn,[53] i.e. Fionn-Lochlonn, viz. the
people of Norway, where they got welcome from the people of the
country for the extent of their science and of their varied arts. It
is Nuadha Airgeadlámh son of Euchtach, son of Edarlámh of the
posterity of Neimheadh who was chief over them at that time. Indeed,
they obtained four cities, so as to be teaching the young folk of that
country in them. The names of the cities here: Fáilias Gorias, Finias,
and Murias. The Tuatha Dé Danann place four sages in those cities to
teach the sciences and the varied arts they had to the youths of the
country; Semias in Murias, and Arias in Finias, and Eurus in Gorias,
and Morias in Fáilias. After being a while of their time in these
cities, they proceed to the north of Scotland,[4] so that they were
seven years at Dobhar and at Iardobhar. They had four noble jewels,
which they brought from those cities, namely, a stone of virtue from
Fáilias; it is it that is called 'Lia Fáil'; and it is it that used to
roar under each king of Ireland on his being chosen by them up to the
time of Conchubhar (as we mentioned before), and it is to that stone
is called in Latin 'Saxum fatale.' It is from it, moreover, is called
Inis Fáil to Ireland. So that it is therefore a certain antiquary
composed this verse:-

The stone which is under my two heels,
From it Inis Fáil is named;
Between two shores of a mighty flood,
The plain of Fál (is for name) on all Ireland.'[380]


[This stone which is called 'Lia Fáil'], another name for it (is) the
Stone of Destiny[381]; for it was in destiny for this stone whatever
place it would be in, that it is a man of the Scotic nation, i.e. of
the seed of Míleadh of Spain, that would be in the sovereignty of that
country, according as is read in Hector Boetius in the history of
Scotland. Here is what he says, viz. --

The Scotic nation, noble the race,
Unless the prophecy be false,
Ought to obtain dominion,
Where they shall find the Lia Fáil.[382]

When the race of Scot heard that the stone had this virtue, after
Feargus the great, son of Earc, had obtained the power of Scotland,
and after he had proposed to style himself king of Scotland, he sends
information into the presence of his brother Muircheartach, son of
Earc, of the race of Eireamhón, who was king of Ireland at that time,
to ask him to send him this stone, to sit upon, for the purpose of
being proclaimed king of Scotland. Muircheartach sends the stone to
him, and he was inaugurated king of Scotland on the same stone, and he
was the first king of Scotland of the Scotic nation; and although some
of the Cruithnigh, i.e. the Picts, had been styled kings of Scotland,
before Feargus was made king, there was not one of them full king
without being under tax and under tribute to the kings of Ireland from
time to time; and especially from the time of Eireamhón son of Míleadh
[forward], by whom the 'Picts' were sent out of Leinster to inhabit
Scotland, (as we shall say in the reign of Eireamhón), to the reign of
this Feargus. Concerning the stone, they had it accordingly some space
of time, age to age, till it reached after that to England,[383] so
that it is there now in the chair in which the king of England is
inaugurated, it having been forcibly brought from Scotland, out of the
abbey of Scone; and the first Edward king of England brought it with
him, so that the prophecy of that stone has been verified in the king
we have now, namely, the first king Charles, and in his father, the
king James, who came from the Scotic race (that is to say, from the
posterity of Maine son of Corc son of Lughaidh, who came from Éibhear
son of Míleadh of Spain); who[384] assumed the style of kings of
England upon the stone aforesaid.

The second jewel the Tuatha Dé Danann brought into Ireland then, that
is the sword which Ugh Lámhfada[385] had used, and from Gorias it was
brought. The third jewel, namely, the spear which the same Lúgh had
when prepared for battle, and from Finias it was brought. The fourth
jewel, the caldron of the Daghdha: a company would not go away
unsatisfied from it, and from Murias it was brought. Here is a poem
from a certain book of invasion for proof on the same things:--

Tuatha Dé Danann of the precious jewels,
The place in which they acquired learning
They attained their complete culture,
Their art magic (and) their diablerie.
Iarbhoineol fair -- an excellent seer --
Son of Neimheadh, son of Aghnomon,
To whom the doughty fool-hardy Beothach was son,
Who was a hero full-active, given to slaughter.
The children of Beothach -- vivid their fame
They arrived a powerful host of heroes,
After much travail and wandering,
The entire of their fleet to Lochlonn.[53]
Four cities, justly famous,
They occupied in sway with great power,
Where they used to wage war ingeniously (?)[386]
For learning (and) for exact knowledge.
Fáilias and Gorias bright,
Finias (and) Murias of great deeds,
To blazon their sallies abroad (?)
(And) the names of the great cities.
Morias and Euras high-placed,
Arias (and) Semias austere;
Their naming is profitable discourse,
Of the names of the sages of the noble gain.
Morias the sage of Fáilias itself,
Euras in Gorias, of good disposition,
Semias in Murias, southern stronghold (?)
Arias fair, sage of Finias.
Four gifts with them (brought) from afar,
By the nobles of the Tuatha Dé Danann:--
A sword, a stone, a shapely caldron,
A spear for facing tall champions.
Lia Fáil from Pallas hither,
Which used to roar under the king of Ireland;
The sword of the hand of Lúgh the active (?),
From Gorias -- choicest of great store.
From Finias far over the sea,
Was brought the spear of Lúgh who was not weak;
From Murias -- great prodigious gift
The caldron of the Daghdha of lofty deeds.
King of heaven, king of feeble men,
Protect me, king of the great stars,
Prince, who hast endurance of hateful things,(?)
And the strength of the gentle tribes.

Concerning the Tuatha Dé Danann, they, having spent seven years in the
north of Scotland, came to Ireland; and, on their coming to land,
Monday Béaltaine[387] in the north of Ireland, they burn their ships,
so to certify that, this 'rann'[231] was composed:--

Each warrior of them burned his ship, 
When he reached noble Éire:
It was a grave decision in his state(?)
The vapour of the ships being burned.

After that they put of mist of druidism[388] around them for the space
of three days, so that they were not manifest to any one of the Fir
Bolg till they reached Sliabh-an-iarainn.[389] Thence they send an
embassy from them to Eochaidh, son of Earc, and to the chiefs of the
Fir Bolg, to demand the kingdom of Ireland or battle on its account.
Whereupon, the battle of Magh Tuireadh South[390]is fought between the
Fir Bolg and the Tuatha Dé Danann, so that the battle was gained[391]
on the Fir Bolg, and that a hundred thousand[392] of them were slain,
according as we have said above.[393]

Thirty years from the battle of Magh Tuireadh South to the battle of
Magh Tuireadh North,[394] as the verse says:--

Thirty years, it is known,
From the battle of Magh Tuireadh South,
To the battle of Magh Tuireadh North,
In which fell Balor of the great host.

Some antiquaries say that it is from the three sons whom Danann,
daughter of Dealbhaoth, bore, the Tuatha Dé Danann were called, to wit,
Brian, Iuchar and Iucharbha, i.e. three of the children of Dealbhaoth,
son of Ealatha, son of Ned, son of Iondaoi, son of Allaoi, son of Tat,
son of Tabharn, son of Enna, son of Bathach, son of Iobath, son of
Beothach, son of Iarbhoineol Fáidh, son of Neimheadh: because that the
aforesaid three were so accomplished [as that] in heathen arts, that
these tribes with whom they were wished to style them gods, and to
name themselves from them. Here is a stave of a quotation certifying
it, that these three are the three gods of Danann, as the poem says,
which has for beginning, 'Hear, ye learned without blemish,' &c.:--

Brian, Iucharbha and Iuchar there,
Three gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann;
They were slain at Mana[395] over the great sea 
By the hand of Lugh, son of Eithneann.

It is from [the] Danann, who was mother to these three, Dá Chích
Danann[396] is called to the two hills which are in Luachair
Deaghaidh[397] in Desmond.

Others say that it is why they are called Tuatha Dé Danann, because it
is in [their] three orders they were, of those who had come into
Ireland on this expedition. The first order of them, which is called
'Tuath,'[398] used to be in the rank of nobility and headship of
tribe: tuathach, indeed, and tighearna[399] being equivalent, as tuath
and tighearnas[400] are equal. That is the more fit to believe,
inasmuch as 'Dá Bhantuathaigh'[401] is given (as an epithet) for
Beuchuill and for Danann, whom they had for female rulers: so this
verse gives us to understand:--

Beuchuill and Danann beloved --
The two female chiefs were slain;
The extinction of their magic at last
By pale demons of air.

The second order (to) which used to be called 'Dé,'[402] such are
their druids,[403] whence it is the above three used to be called the
three gods of Danann. Wherefore they were called 'gods' (is) from the
wonderfulness of their deeds of magic. The third order which was
called 'Danann,' namely, the order which was given to dán,[404] or to
crafts; for dán and céard[405] are equal.



SECTION XI.
Of the branching of the tribe that was noblest of the Tuatha Dé Danann
down here.[406]

Eochaidh Ollathar, i.e. the Daghdha, Oghma, Allód, Breas and
Dealbhaoth, the five sons of Ealatha, son of Ned, son of Iondaoi, son
of Allaoi, son of Tat, son of Tabharn, son of Enna, son of Báthadh son
of Iobath, son of Beothach, son of Iarbhoineol Fáidh, son of Neimheadh,
son of Aghnoman.

Manannán son of Allód, son of Ealatha, son of Dealbhaoth.
The six sons of Dealbhaoth, son of Oghma: Fiachaidh, Ollamh, Iondaoi,
Brian, Iuchar and Iucharbha.

Lúgh, son of Cian, son of Dianchéacht son of Easarg, son of Ned, son
of Iondaoi.

Goibhneann the smith and Creidhne the artist: Dianchéacht the
physician and Luchtain the mechanic; and Cairbre the poet, son of Tara,
son of Tuirreall.

Beigreó, son of Cairbre Caitcheann, son of Tabharn. Fiachaidh, son of
Dealbhaoth, and Ollamh, son of Dealbhaoth.

Caichér and Neachtain, two sons of Námha, son of Eochaidh Garbh, son
of Duach Dall.

Siodhmall, son of Cairbre Crom, son of Ealcmhar, son of Dealbhaoth.

Éire and Fódhla and Banbha, three daughters of Fiachaidh, son of
Dealbhaoth, son of Oghma. Eirnin, daughter of Eadarlámh mother of
those women.

Badhbh, Macha, and Móirríoghan, their three goddesses. Danann and
Beuchuill, the two female chiefs, and Brighid the poetess.

Appertaining to these noble females were the two royal institutes, i.e.
Fe and Meann (being) their names:[407] it is from them is named Magh 
Feimhin.[408] It is among to them also was Triath-rí-thorc,[409] from
whom is called Treitheirne Mumhan[410]

[Cridhinbhéal Bruinne, and Casmhaol, the three satirists.][411]
It is they[412] who won[413] the battle of Magh Tuireadh North on the
Fomórians, and the battle of Magh Tuireadh South[355] on the Fir Bolg.
It is in the first battle his hand was cut off Nuadha, and his head in
the last battle.[414]



SECTION XII.
Of the kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann here, and of the length of their
sovereignty over Ireland.

Nuadha Airgeadlámh son of Euchtach, son of Eadarlámh son of Orda, son
of Allaoi, son of Tat, son of Tabharn, son of Enna, son of Iobáth, son
of Beothach, son of Iarbhoineol Fáidh, son of Neimheadh, took the
kingdom of Ireland thirty years, till he fell in the battle of Magh
Tuireadh North.

Breas, son of Ealatha, son of Ned, son of Iondaoi, son of Allaoi, son
of Tat, held the kingship seven years.

Lúgh Lámhfada, son of Cian, son of Dianchéacht son of Easar Breac, son
of Ned, son of Iondaoi, son of Allaoi, held the kingdom of Ireland
forty years. It is this Lúgh who appointed the Fair of Taillte at
first as a yearly commemoration of Taillte, daughter of Madhmór i.e.
king of Spain, who was wife to Eochaidh, son of Earc, last king of the
Fir Bolg, and who was wife after that to Eochaidh Garbh, son of Duach
Dall, a chief of the Tuatha Dé Danann. It is by this woman Lúgh
Lámhfada was fostered and trained till he was fit to bear arms; and it
is as an honourable commemoration for her Lúgh instituted the games of
the Fair of Taillte[356] a fortnight before Lúghnasadh,[415] and a
fortnight after it, resembling the games called 'Olympiades': and it
is from that memorial which Ugh used to make Lúghnasadh is given (as
name) to the first day (or) to the Calends of August, i.e. the
'násadh' or commemoration of Lúgh,[416] (on which is now the feast of
St. Peter's chains). He fell by (the hand of) Mac Coll at
Caondruim.[417]

The Daghdha Mór, son of Ealatha, son of Dealbhaoth, son of Ned, held
the kingdom of Ireland seventy years. He died at Brugh of the bloody
missiles of a cast which Ceithleann flung at him in the battle of Magh
Tuireadh. Eochaidh Ollathar (was) the proper name of the Daghdha.

Dealbhaoth, son of Oghma Griain-eigis, son of Ealatha, son of
Dealbhaoth, son of Ned, held the kingship ten years till he fell by
Fiachaidh, son of Dealbhaoth.

Fiachaidh, son of Dealbhaoth, son of Ealatha, held the kingship ten
years, till he fell by Eoghan at Ard Breac.

The three sons of Cearmad Milbheol, son of the Daghdha, that is to say,
Mac Coll, Mac Céacht and Mac Greine their names, assumed the dominion
of Ireland thirty years; and some antiquaries say that it is a
tripartite division which they made on Ireland, as is said in this
verse

Though Éire had many thousands,
They divide the land in three;
Great nobles of glorious deeds,
Mac Coll, Mac Céacht, Mac Greine.

However, it is not a tripartite division which was among them, but the
permutation of the sovereignty, that is to say, each one of them had
it every succeeding year, by turns, as we have said above in
(enumerating) the names of this country, [and in the battle of Taillte
all three fell]. It is why these names were given to those three kings,
because Coll, Céacht and Grian[418] were gods of worship to them. Coll,
indeed, was god to Mac Cuill, and Eathúr was his proper name, and
Banbha his wife. Mac Céacht too, Céacht his god, Teathúr his name, and
Fódhla his wife, Mac Gréine lastly, Grian his god, Ceathúr his name,
and Éire his wife.

Oirbsean (was) the proper name of Manannán: it is from him Loch
Oirbsean[419] is named: for when his grave was being dug, it is then
the lake burst forth over the land. It is to make this matter clear
these verses following were composed:-

Eathúr tall, who obtained dignity, fierce the man,
Coll his god, grandson of the Daghdha not gloomy,
Banbha his wife: Teathúr stout, strong his contest, sharp his stroke
(?),
Fódhla his wife, great deeds he accomplished (?), in Céacht he trusted:
Ceathúr comely, fair his complexion, noble was he,
Éire his wife, generous woman she, Grian his divinity.
Manannán son of Lear. from the 'loch,'[420] he sought the
'sraith,'[421]
Oirbsean his (own) name, after a hundred conflicts he died the death.

According to the Saltair of Caiseal,[422] it is three years wanting of
two hundred (is) the length of the sovereignty of the Tuatha Dé Danann
over Ireland. This verse agrees with that:--
Seven years, ninety, and one hundred -- 
That reckoning is not false
For the Tuatha Dé Danann with might, 
Over Ireland in high sovereignty.[423]



SECTION XIII.
Of the origin of the children of Míleadh, of their proceedings, and of
their transactions, of their genealogy, and of every occurrence that
happened to them, from Fénius Farsaidh down to the invasion of Ireland
by them, here below (stated).

In order, truly, that we should be able to trace the origin of the
Scotic nation to its root, i.e. to Japheth (we find) the two most
distinguished sons Japheth had, that is to say, Gomer and Magog. Moses,
in the tenth chapter of Genesis, where he records the propagation of
the posterity of Japheth, sets down that Gomer had three sons, namely
Aschenez, Riphath, and Thogorma; however, he does not mention
specially the children of Magog according to their names. Nevertheless,
as it is on the antiquaries of the Scotic nation that it is incumbent
to follow up the ascertained genealogy of the nobles who sprang from
Magog, and particularly of the posterity of Fenius Farsaidh, we shall
here set down the genealogical account of the posterity of Magog,
according to the book of invasion which is called Cin Droma
Sneachta;[424] and that authority existed before Patrick came to
Ireland. What it says is, that Magog had three sons, namely, Beath,
Iobáth and Fáthachta. From Beath came Fénius Farsaidh, the ancestor of
the posterity of Gaedheal; from Iobáth came the Amazons, Bactrians,
and Parthians; from Fathachta came Partholón [he who first occupied
Ireland after the deluge] and (also) Neimheadh, son of Aghnoman, and,
accordingly, the Fir Bolg and Tuatha Dé Danann [as we have said above
in (the account of) their conquests]. It is from the posterity of this
Fathachta came the great Attila, who brought Pannonia under his sway,
and was a length of time perturbing the state of Rome, destroyed and
depopulated Aquileia, and made many raids on Germany. It is from
Scythia also, of the posterity of Magog by origin, Zeliorbes, king of
the Huns, who made war upon the emperor Justinian. It is from Scythia,
too, came the Lombards, Hungarians, and Goths [all]. It is from [the]
Scythia, likewise, came the Dauni, from whom is called Daunia in Italy,
and the name of that country now is Apulia. It is from Scythia also
that the Turks have come. But in short,[425] Buchanan,[426] an
investigator of the antiquity of the dissemination of the races of the
world, says, repeating Epiphanius, that the people of Scythia obtained
chief rule shortly after the deluge, and that their sovereignty
continued until the predominance of Babylon. The same authors say that
it is from Scythia the other countries used to receive institutes and
laws and ordinances, and, moreover, that it is they who were the first
race which commenced to be honoured after the deluge. Johannes
Boemus,[427] in the ninth chapter of the second book which he wrote on
the customs of every race, says that the Scythians were never subdued
by any dominion. Josephus says that the Greeks called the people of
Scythia, Magogai. Johannes Nauclerus says[428] that people have come
of the race of Scythia by whom very great deeds were done. Let
Herodotus bear witness to this in the fourth book where he says that
the people of Scythia repelled Darius king of Persia contemptuously
from Scythia. Let Justin likewise witness in his history, where he
treats of the gallantry of the exploits which the people of Scythia
performed: and here are the words of this author:-- 'The people of
Scythia, he says, were always without foreign power affecting them or
seizing their spoils: they drove back Darius, king of Persia, with
disgrace out of Scythia; they slew Cyrus with the entire of his army;
Zophyron, the leader of the army of Alexander the great, with his host,
was destroyed by them: they had heard of the power of the Romans, and
(yet) had never felt it.'[429] From these words it may be understood
that it was great was the bravery and the valour which was among the
people of Scythia to the time of this author.

The Polychronicon says in the thirty-seventh chapter of the first book,
that it is from this word Scythia, Scot is called to the posterity of
Gaedheal Glas, and, in my judgment, it is not more fit to give Gall
(for name) to the people who are now inhabiting Ireland who are called
Gall, that is to say, from Gallia or France as to their origin than to
give Scot (for name) to the Gael from Scythia whence they came
according to their origin: and it is therefore 'Greeks' of Scythia is
called to the posterity of Fáthachta, son of Magog, who obtained
dominion in Gothia, Thracia, and Achaia, viz. Partholón, son of Seara,
with his people; Neimheadh, son of Aghnoman, from whom the children of
Neimheadh are called; the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha Dé Danann, because
it is from Scythia they all came, according to their origin. And I
think that it is why Scot is more especially called to the posterity
of Gaedheal, son of Niul, son of Fenius Farsaidh, because it is to
Fenius Farsaidh the chief dominion of Scythia came, and to his
posterity after him; and that it was Niul was the younger son of
Fenius, and that he did not obtain any equal share of the territory,
as the kindred of Fenius had obtained districts from which they
themselves and their posterity were named. Wherefore Niul enjoined on
his posterity to denominate themselves from Scythia, and for ever to
call themselves Scots, because there was no land in their possession,
and that his father had left him as a portion, only the acquisition of
the sciences and of the several languages; having left the kingdom of
Scythia undivided to Neanual, the son who was older than Niul.



SECTION XIV.
Here below (we treat) definitely apart concerning the true origin from
which the the race of Gaedheal have sprung; and of their proceedings
till the arrival of the sons of Míleadh in Ireland.[430]

Some Latin authors say that Gaedheal was the son of Argus or of
Cecrops, who obtained the sovereignty of the Argives; but that cannot
be well-founded, because that St. Augustine says that the monarchy of
that people commenced at the time Jacob was born, i.e. about four
hundred and thirty-two years after the deluge; and, moreover,
according to the same author, [that] the dominion of his posterity was
maintained but two hundred and fifteen years: and, according to that,
that it is at the end of six hundred and three[431] score and seven
years after the deluge the rule of that line terminated. But truly, it
is not possible for that to be authentic, and to say (at the same
time) that it is from Argus or Cecrops Gaedheal should have come; for
Hector Boetius in his history of Scotland, and, moreover, all the
books of invasion of Ireland, state that Gaedheal was in Egypt during
the time of Moses being in the headship of the children of Israel in
Egypt. Indeed, the books of invasion say that it is at that time Scota,
daughter of Pharao Cingcris, bore Gaedheal to Niul, son of Fenius
Farsaidh, son of Báath, son of Magog: and it is the time when Moses
began to act as leader of the children of Israel in Egypt, seven
hundred and four score and seventeen years (from the deluge); so that
according to that reckoning of time, there were as a conjecture three
hundred years and two score and five besides, from the time of Argus
or Cecrops till Gaedheal was born, and, consequently, it was not
possible for him to be son to Argus or to Cecrops.

Whoever would say that it was from Greece Gaedheal proceeded to Egypt,
and that it is why it is said that it was from Scythia he went to
Egypt, because that it was from the land of 'Cetim'[432] (as a certain
author thinks), he journeyed, [and,] consequently [that he] says that
Scythia, and 'iath na sceach'[433] are equivalent: 'iath,' truly, when
it is understood in place of this word 'fearann' (land), has 'th' or
'dh' at the end, that is to say iath or iadh: however, when this word
'Scithia' is written, there is no 'c' in the middle, as should be in
such like compound word; and, moreover, there is no 'th' or 'dh' at
the end of it, and, consequently, it is but an unwarranted opinion to
suppose that, according to Gaelic etymology, 'Scithia' is equivalent
to 'land of thorns.'

The proof, likewise, is weak concerning Gaedheal[434] having come from
Greece according to his origin, to say that the posterity of Gaedheal
have a resemblance to the Greeks in (their) manners, customs, and
games, and that, therefore it must be said that they came from Greece.
For every invasion that came into Ireland after the deluge, except
only the race of Gaedheal and the children of Neimheadh, it is from
Greece they came, [that is to say, Partholón from 'Migdonia,' the Fir
Bolg from Thracia and the Tuatha Dé Danann from Achaia, where Beotia
is, and the city of Athens,] according as we have shown above in their
several conquests the name of every place in Greece from whence they
had set out.

Wherefore, although the race of the Gaedheal, on their arrival in
Ireland, had not the manners and customs of the Greeks, it was
possible for them to have learned them from the remnant of the Fir
Bolg and the Tuatha Dé Danann who were before them in Ireland, and to
have left them to be practised by their posterity after them, though
they themselves had never been in Greece, nor Gaedheal, nor any of
those who had come before them.



VOLUME 2
Preface to volumes 2 and 3

AN edition of Keating's Foras Feasa with translation and notes, was
undertaken for the Irish Texts Society some ten years ago, by the late
lamented Mr. David Comyn; and the first volume appeared in 1902. Mr.
Comyn, however, while engaged in the preparation of the second volume,
was overtaken by a serious illness, which made it necessary for him to
abandon the undertaking. In February, 1907, the present editor
reluctantly undertook the completion of the work, as far as text and
translation are concerned. Mr. Comyn's plan included a supplementary
volume of notes; and in the two volumes now issued, the lines of the
text are numbered continuously, and thus a system of reference is
secured for the purpose of future annotation. The plan of the work and
the size to which these volumes have grown made the insertion of notes
other than textual ones impracticable. The reasons which induced the
editor to follow a text differing considerably in style from that
mainly used by Mr. Comyn are given fully elsewhere in this volume.

The volume edited by Mr. Comyn contains the Dionbhrollach or
Introduction, together with a portion of Book I. of the Foras Feasa or
History, that portion amounting to almost an eighth of the entire
Foras Feasa. The first of the two volumes now issued gives Book I. of
the Foras Feasa from the point at which Mr. Comyn's volume left off to
the end. The second volume gives the whole of Book II. Thus the
present volumes contain rather more than seven-eighths of the entire
Foras Feasa, excluding the Introduction. There only remain the
Genealogies and Synchronisms, which, with indices, etc., must find a
place in the volume of notes without which the work cannot be regarded
as complete.

These volumes are issued at a time when the Irish text they contain
will have a far larger circle of readers than they would have had at
any time during the past hundred years. The work, too, is one of great
and many-sided interest. It is of interest to the historian, the
antiquarian, the ethnologist, the philologist, the littérateur. In
some of the byways of Irish history, it is our only source of
information. It is a storehouse of excellent Irish prose, almost
modern in style and language. The second book, which is contained in
the second of the volumes now issued, giving the History of Ireland
from the coming of St. Patrick to the Norman Invasion, is as
interesting as a fairy tale.

The Foras Feasa was finished probably in 1633 or 1634; and now, after
a lapse of nearly three centuries, it appears in print, in full, for
the first time. The annotation of the Foras Feasa -- a work scarcely
less important or less difficult than the annotation of the "Annals of
the Four Masters" -- will require years of patient labour and research.
Still it is no inconsiderable advantage to the student to have the
entire text in a convenient form accompanied by a translation, and to
have, moreover, a system of reference which will facilitate the work
of research.

The editor has to acknowledge gratefully the kindness he received from
authorities and assistants while using, in the preparation of this
work, the libraries of Trinity College, the Royal Irish Academy, the
Franciscan Convent, Merchants' Quay, and the King's Inns, as well as
the National Library. He has, moreover, to thank his friendsTadhg O
Donnchadha and Rlseard Ca Foghludha for help given in reading the
proof-sheets.
Pádraig ua Duinnín,
Baile Átha Cliath, Bealltaine, 1908



XV.
The doings of Feinius Farsaidh the grandfather of Gaedheal till his
return from
the Plain of Seanair, and till his death, as follows.

WHEN Feinius Farsaidh became king of Scythia, he determined to become
perfectly acquainted with the various languages which had sprung up
after the confusion of tongues that had taken place long before at the
tower of Babel, which was being erected through pride for the space of
forty years by Nimrod and his followers. For before that confusion of
tongues took place at the tower, the entire human race had but one
common language which had existed amongst them from the time of Adam.
And the name the Book of Invasions gives this language is Gortighern,
as the poet says:

Gortighern the name of the language
Used by the son of God of goodly science,
And by the race of Adam erst
Ere the building of Nimrod's tower.

And Latin authors call it lingua humana, that is, the human language.
But when Nimrod and his kinsfolk were building the tower, as the
confusion of tongues set in and prevented them from finishing a
structure they had begun through pride, the human language they
derived from Adam was taken from them, as many as were engaged in
building the tower. However, it remained with Eibhear son of Saile,
and with his tribe, so that it was named from him; for they called it
Hebrew from Eibhear. Now when Eibhear had learned the cause of their
erecting the tower, that it was with a view to protecting themselves
against the second flood which it was foretold would come upon the
people -- they imagined that the second flood would not be higher than
the first, and proposed to make the tower so high that the flood would
not reach its upper stories, and that accordingly their nobles could
be securely situated in these without fear of the flood -- and when
Eibhear learned that that was the cause of their building the tower,
he declared that he would not help them, and that it was sheer
idleness on their part to have recourse to ingenuity for the purpose
of resisting the fulfilment of God's will. Thereupon he separated from
them without taking any part whatever with them in the building of the
tower. Moreover, when the confusion came on all, God left to Eibhear
alone and to his tribe after him, as a mark of good will, that human
language of our ancestors.

The principal reason why Feinius Farsaidh went to the Plain of Seanair,
together with his school, was that he might be with the people whose
native language was Hebrew, and that it might thus come about that he
and his school would acquire a full and perfect knowledge of that
language.

Now, when Feinius, as we have said, had resolved to acquire the
various languages, he sent, at his own expense, seventy-two disciples
into the various countries of the three continents of the world that
were then inhabited, and charged them to remain abroad seven years, so
that each of them might learn the language of the country in which he
stayed during that time. And at the end of seven years they returned
to Feinius to Scythia; and Feinius went with them to the Plain of
Seanair, together with a large number of the youths of Scythia,
leaving his eldest son Neanual to rule Scythia in his stead, as a
certain poet says, in the poem which begins, "Let us relate the origin
of the Gaels":

Feinius went from Scythia
On the expedition,
A man renowned, wise, learned,
Ardent, triumphant;

There was but one tongue in the world
When they set out;
There were seventy-two tongues
When they parted;

Feinius had a great school learning
Each science,
A man renowned, wise, learned
In each language.

And some seanchas assert that there was a space of sixty years from
the building of the tower until Feinius and his school came southwards
from Scythia to the Plain of Seanair, as a certain poet says in this
stanza:

Thrice twenty years of renown,
So every seancha says,
Till Feinius came southwards,
From the building of Nimrod's tower.

Feinius established schools for the teaching of the various languages
on the Plain of Seanair in the city which Cin Droma Sneachta calls
Eathena, as the poet says in the following stanza:

In the Plain of Seanair after the tower,
The first school was assembled,
In the city of Eathena,
To learn the various tongues.

And they assembled the youths of the countries next them to learn the
various tongues from them; and the three sages who presided over this
school were Feinius Farsaidh himself from Scythia, and Gaedheal son of
Eathor of the race of Gomer from Greece, and Caoi Caoinbhreathach from
Judea, or Iar son of Neama, as the poet says:

Here are the names of the sages
I shall reveal them to you speedily --
Gaedheal son of Ethor of wisdom,
Iar son of Neama and Feinius.

Another poet speaks thus:

Feinius the eloquent sage,
Gaedheal and Caoi Caoinbhreathach,
Three of the writers of the schools
Who followed in the true track of the authors.

It was this trio who wrote on wooden tablets the alphabets of the
three chief languages, namely, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, as
Ceannfaolaidh the Learned asserts in the Accidence which he wrote in
the time of Columcille. The same author states that Nion son of Beil,
son of Nimrod, was monarch of the world at that time. He also states
that it was about this time that Niul, the tanist son of Feinius
Farsaidh, was born, and that the same Feinius continued in charge of
the school for twenty years in order that this son who was born to him
might be acquainted with the several languages.

As some seanchas assert that it was when Nion son of Beil had reigned
forty-two years that Feinius Farsaidh established a school in the
Plain of Seanair, I am of opinion that he passed ten years of the
reign of Nion son of Beil, and ten years thereafter, in the Plain of
Seanair before he returned from the school to Scythia. For all the
seanchas say that he passed twenty years in charge of the school
before his return. I am also of opinion that it was two hundred and
forty-two years after the Deluge that Feinius established the school
in the Plain of Seanair, according to the computation Bellarminus
makes in his chronicle, where he says that the age of the world was
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six years when Nion son of Beil
began his sovereignty.

This is the same, according to the Hebrew chronology which Bellarminus
follows, as to say that the reign of Nion began two hundred years
after the Deluge, since according to the Hebrews one thousand six
hundred and fifty-six years elapsed from the beginning of the world to
the Deluge. Add to this forty-two years of the reign of Nion that had
passed before Feinius began the school, and it thus appears that it
was two hundred and forty-two years after the Deluge he began it, and
that he passed twenty years directing it, namely, the ten years that
remained to him of the reign of Nion, and ten years thereafter.

Now after twenty years Feinius returned to Scythia, and established
schools there, and appointed Gaedheal son of Eathor to take charge of
them. Then did Feinius command Gaedheal to arrange and regulate the
Gaelic language as it is into five divisions, that is, Bearla na Feine,
Bearla na bhFileadh, Bearla an Eaderscartha, Bearla Teibidhe, and
Gnaithbhearla, and to name it precisely from himself; hence it is from
Gaedheal son of Eathor it is called Gaelic, and not from Gaedheal Glas,
as others assert. Moreover, it was through friendship for Gaedheal son
of Eathor that Niul son of Feinius Farsaidh gave the name Gaedheal to
the son whom Scota daughter of Pharao Cincris bore him, as
Ceannfaolaidh the Learned says in the Uraicheapt.

Now, it is disputed among authors whence is this word 'Gaedheal.'
Becanus says that it is from the word goedin, that is, goethin,
'noble,' and from the word 'all,' that is, uile, that Gaedheal is
named, that is, 'all noble'; or from the Hebrew word gadhal, meaning
'great,' because Gaedheal son of Eathor, the first who was called
Gaedheal, was great in learning, in wisdom, and in the languages.
However, the seanchas say that he is called Gaedheal from the two
words gaoith dhil, that is, 'lover of wisdom'; for gaoith means 'wise'
and dil 'loving,' as the Greeks call a sage philosophos, that is, 'a
lover of wisdom.'

As to Feinius Farsaidh we are not told that he had any children except
two sons, namely, Neanul and Niul, as the poet says in this stanza:

Two sons had Feinius, truth I tell,
Neanul and Niul, the valiant;
Niul was born at the tower in the east,
Neanul in shield-bright Scythia.

When Feinius had been twenty-two years sovereign of Scythia, after his
return from the Plain of Seanair, being at the point of death, he
bequeathed the sovereignty of Scythia to Neanul, his eldest son, and
left to Niul, his youngest son, only what profit he derived from the
sciences and the various languages which he used to teach in the
public schools of the country.



XVI.
Of the journeying of Niul to Egypt from Scythia, and of his doings
there until
his death as follows:

Before we speak of the journeying of Niul from Scythia to Egypt, we
may observe that Herodotus says that it was from Babylon the Greeks
derived the knowledge of the position of the north star, and the
division of the hours; and Solon asserts that the Greeks had not a
knowledge of history until they obtained it from the Egyptians.
Josephus says, in the first book of his History, that the Greeks had
not an alphabet till the time of Homer. From these authors it appears
that it was not from Greece, so named to-day, that Isis or anyone else
went to teach the sciences to the Egyptians; but it was Niul, the son
of Feinius Farsaidh, who went from Scythia to teach the sciences there.
And whoever should say that there was not learning in Scythia, from
whence Niul came, earlier than in Egypt, would not be stating truth,
according to Polydorus, in the first book he has written, "De rerum
inventoribus," where he says: "There was a long dispute between the
Egyptians and the Scythians; and, in that struggle, the Egyptians
having been overcome, it appeared that the Scythians were more ancient
than they were."[434] From this it may be inferred that the Scythians
possessed education and learning earlier than the Egyptians, and since,
according to the above authors, learning was earlier in Egypt than in
Greece, it was not Isis of Greece or any such person who went from
Greece to Egypt to conduct schools, but Niul son of Feinius Farsaidh
from Scythia, who was born in the Plain of Seanair, and was then
trained in learning in the first school that was established in the
country of Babylon; and this was the first school after the confusion
of the languages of the world, as we have stated above.

When Niul had been a long time conducting the public schools in
Scythia, his fame for knowledge and wisdom spread through the nations
generally, so that on account of his great reputation Pharao Cincris,
king of Egypt, sent envoys to him, inviting him to Egypt to teach the
sciences and the various languages to the youths of that country. Niul
accordingly proceeded to Egypt, as the poet says in this stanza, which
is taken from the poem beginning, "Let us relate the origin of the
Gaels":

Tidings reached Forann
With great acclaim
Of Niul son of Feinius knowing
The languages of the world.

Niul then went to Egypt with the envoys of Pharao; and the king gave
him the land called Capacyront (or Campus Circit) beside the Red Sea.
He also gave his own daughter Scota in marriage to Niul, as Giolla
Caomhain says in the poem beginning "Gaedheal Glas, from whom are the
Gaels ":

He then went into Egypt
And reached the mighty Forann,
And married Scota of charms not few,
The generous, clever daughter of Forann.

When Niul had married Scota, he established schools at Campus Circit
for teaching the sciences and the various languages to the youths of
Egypt. And it was there that Scota gave birth to Gaedheal son of Niul.
Perhaps some one might wonder how Niul, the fifth in descent from
Japhet, could be a contemporary of Moses, seeing that seven hundred
and ninety-seven years elapsed between the Deluge and the assuming by
Moses of the leadership of the children of Israel. My reply to that is
that it is not incredible that Niul should live several hundred years;
for people used to live a long time at that period; witness Eibear son
of Saile the fourth in descent from Seim who lived four hundred and
sixty-four years, and Seim who lived five hundred years after Arphaxad
was born to him, as we read in the eleventh chapter of Genesis; that
it is not to be doubted, therefore, that Niul might have lived from
the forty-second year of the reign of Nion son of Beil, as we have
said, to the time of Moses. And moreover, the length of life granted
to Niul and that he should have survived till the time of Moses in
Egypt is still less to be wondered at, if what Marianus Scotus states
be true; for he says that it was three hundred and thirty-one years
after the Deluge that the Confusion of Tongues took place at Babylon,
while, according to what we have stated above, it was long after the
Babylonian Confusion that Niul was born. From what we have said, we
should trust the authors of the seanchus of the Scotic race as regards
the age of Niul son of Feinius Farsaidh, and believe that he was a
contemporary of Moses in Egypt.

As to Niul, it was when he was sojourning at Capacyront beside the Red
Sea, and when Scota had given birth to Gaedheal, that the children of
Israel escaped from Pharao and marched to the shore of the Red Sea,
and made an encampment beside Capacyront where Niul dwelt. When Niul
heard of this, he went to meet them and discourse with them, and to
find out who they were. At the outposts of the host he met Aaron who
told him the story of the children of Israel and of Moses and the
witness-bearing miracles that God had wrought against Pharao and his
army, because of the bondage of the children of Israel. Now Niul and
Aaron entered into an alliance and friendship with one another; and
Niul inquired of Aaron whether they had food or provisions, and
further informed him that whatever corn and means he had would all be
at their service. For this Aaron was grateful to him. Then night came
on; and Aaron went to Moses and told him of the offers which Niul had
made to them; and Moses and Aaron were grateful to him accordingly.

Now Niul went to his own people after this, and told them that the
children of Israel were nigh unto them; and he told them all that had
befallen the children of Israel. And that same night a serpent came
upon Gaedheal as he was swimming, and wounded him so that he was at
the point of death; and others say that it was from the desert it came
and wounded him in bed. His people told Niul to take the lad to Moses;
and he took Gaedheal into the presence of Moses. Moses prayed to God,
and applied the rod he held in his hand to the wound, and thus healed
it. And Moses said that, in what place soever the stock of that youth
would settle, there no serpent would ever have venom, and this is
verified in Crete, an island in Greece, in which some of his posterity
are; it is without serpents as Ireland is. And although there were
serpents in Ireland up to the coming of Patrick, I do not think they
had venom; or I imagine it is the demons that are called serpents in
the life of Patrick.

Some seanchas state that Moses fastened with a lock around the neck of
Gaedheal the bracelet that he had on his own arm, and that it was from
this he was called Gaedheal Glas. At that time each chieftain wore a
bracelet on the arm as a mark of his tribal supremacy; and hence the
head of a company is now called a noble fleascach or 'bracelet-
bearer.' To set forth that it was from the trail of the serpent that
clung to Gaedheal's neck that he is called Gaedheal Glas, and to show
that it was Moses who healed him, we have the following stanzas:

Gaedheal Glas, why was the name given
To that brilliant, perfect man?
The event whence Gaedheal is Glas,
Few are those who know its history;

While bathed in the strong stream
Gaedheal son of Niul of good disposition,
A serpent bit his skin;
It was not easy to heal it;

The grey-blue mark did not leave him
Till Moses kindly healed it.
What the learned understand from this
Is that thence comes Gaedheal Glas.

Others assert that he was called Gaedheal Glas from the grey-blue
colour of his arms and armour. Hence someone has composed the
following stanza:

Scota bore a son to Niul the modest,
From whom sprang many noble tribes;
Gaedheal Glas was the name of the man,
From the grey-blue colour of his arms and armour.

And it is from this Gaedheal that all the Gaels are named. Hence the
poet composed this stanza:

The Feni are named from Feinius,
The meaning is not difficult;
The Gaels from comely Gaedheal Glas,
The Scots from Scota.

Others, however, say that the mother of Gaedheal was called Scota
because his father was of the Scotic race from Scythia, and that it
was their custom to call the women after their husbands. Understand
that this is not the Scota who was wife of Galamh, who is called
Milidh of Spain, and bore him six sons. For the mother of Gaedheal was
daughter to Pharao Cincris; and it was he who held the children of
Israel in bondage. But the Pharao whose daughter was wife of Milidh
was the fifteenth Pharao after him. He was called Pharao Nectonibus.

Now as to Niul, he told Moses that Pharao Cincris would be angry with
himself for having welcomed him. "In that case," said Moses, "come
along with us; and if we reach the land which God has fore-appointed
to us, thou shalt get a share of it; or, if thou wilt, we will deliver
the fleet of Pharao into thy hands, and do thou go on sea in it so
that thou mayest learn how we shall separate from Pharao." Niul
followed this latter counsel. A thousand armed men were sent with him
to the ships; and these were delivered over to him; and he embarked in
them, and beheld the events of the ensuing day, namely, the opening of
the sea before the children of Israel, and its dispersion after them
on Pharao and on his host, drowning them, as the poet says in this
stanza, which is taken from the poem beginning, "O thou who believest
not according to truth":

Sixty thousand of them on foot,
Fifty thousand on horseback,
A storm of the Red Sea of Romhar
Overwhelmed them all at once.

Sixty thousand foot, then, and fifty thousand horse was their number.
It was seven hundred and ninety-seven years after the Deluge that
Pharao was drowned, as we have stated above. And Niul having seen
Pharao and his host drown, remained in the same territory, as he was
not afraid after the drowning of Pharao; and his children and progeny
grew up until they were able to bear arms. Some time afterwards Niul
died; and Gaedheal and his mother took possession of his lands.
Thereafter a son was born to Gaedheal in Egypt, namely Easru son of
Gaedheal, and some time after that a son was born to him in turn, Sru
son of Easru, son of Gaedheal, and these possessed the same lands and
dwelt thereon. Now, as to the Egyptians, Pharao Intuir assumed
sovereignty over them after the drowning of Pharao Cincris. Pharao was
a name given to every king who ruled over Egypt from Pharao Cincris
who was drowned in the Red Sea to Pharao Nectonibus the fifteenth king
after Pharao Cincris.



XVII.
Of the expulsion by Pharao Intuir of the race of Gaedheal from Egypt
as follows:

As to Pharao Intuir and the Egyptians thereafter, when they had become
powerful in the country, they remembered their old enmity against the
children of Niul and the race of Gaedheal, that is, the friendship
into which they had entered with the children of Israel, and Niul's
having carried off the fleet of Pharao Cincris on the escape of the
children of Israel. They accordingly made war upon the race of
Gaedheal and banished them against their will from Egypt. Thomas
Walsingham agrees with this account in Upodigma, where he says: "When
the Egyptians had been drowned, the portion of the inhabitants who
lived after them expelled a certain Scythian nobleman who dwelt
amongst them, lest he might assume sovereignty over them. When he had
been expelled with his tribe, he came to Spain, where he resided many
years, and where his progeny multiplied exceedingly, and thence they
came to Ireland."[436]

Know, O reader, that this nobleman was Sru son of Easru, son of
Gaedheal, and not Gaedheal himself, notwithstanding Hector Boetius,
and notwithstanding also the opinion of the modern English authors who
have written on Ireland, and who imagine that it was Gaedheal himself
who came to Spain. Because, according to the truth of the seanchus of
Ireland, which one should believe in this matter, it was in Egypt that
Scota daughter of Pharao Cincris gave birth to Gaedheal, and it was
there that he lived till his death; and he did not come from Greece,
as others assert, but his father, who was called Niul, came from
Scythia. And although the author whom we have quoted states that it
was to Spain the nobleman to whom we have referred came, such is not
the fact; for it was to Scythia he went, and it was the fifteenth in
descent from him, called Bratha son of Deaghaidh, who first came to
Spain. Here is the seancha's statement of the fact that it was Sru son
of Easru who was the leader of this expedition on its setting out from
Egypt, as Giolla Caomhain says in the poem beginning, "Gaedheal Glas
from whom are the Gaels ":

Sru son of Easru son of Gaedheal,
Our ancestor of the joyous host,
It was he who went northwards from his house
Over the Red Sea of Romhar.

Four shipfuls were his host
Upon the Red Sea of Romhar;
Found room in each wooden dwelling, as was right,
Four and twenty wedded couples.

Know, as we have said, that it was Sru son of Easru who headed this
expedition till they reached the Island of Crete where he died, and
that his son Eibhear Scot assumed the supreme authority till they
arrived in Scythia. It is for this reason that a certain author says
that Eibhear Scot was their leader in this expedition, and that it was
from his cognomen, namely, Scot, that the Gaels are called the Scotic
race. For, according to a certain author, Scot means 'archer,' and
there was in his time no bowman superior to him; and from this
cognomen given him the name was given to his posterity; and they
practised the bow as a weapon in imitation of the ancients down to a
recent period within our own memory. However, we shall not adopt the
view of this author, since it is the common opinion of the seanchas
that the race of the Gaels were called the Scotic race from their
having come originally from Scythia.

Understand, O reader, that Gaedheal was a contemporary of Moses, and
that accordingly he was fourscore years of age when Pharao was drowned,
and that the fourth in descent from himself, namely, Eibhear Scot son
of Easru, son of Gaedheal, had been born before the children of Israel
passed through the Red Sea with Moses as leader over them. Certain
seanchas are of opinion that there were four hundred and forty years
from the drowning of Pharao in the Red Sea to the coming to Ireland of
the sons of Milidh. And in confirmation of this, one of these authors
thus speaks in this stanza:

Forty and four hundred
Years, it is not a falsehood,
From the going of the people of God, I assure you,
Over the surface of the sea of Romhar
Till sped across the sturrering sea
The sons of Milidh to the land of Erin.

However, according to the computation made by the Book of Invasions,
there were only three hundred years less by seventeen from the time
that Moses assumed the leadership of the children of Israel in Egypt
until the coming of the sons of Milidh to Ireland. For Moses assumed
the leadership of the children of Israel in Egypt seven hundred and
ninety-seven years after the Deluge; and according to the time Irish
history allows to the Invasions of Ireland, it was one thousand and
eighty years after the Deluge that the sons of Milidh took possession
of Ireland. Thus the Book of Invasions states that it was three
hundred years after the Deluge that Parthalon came, and that his
descendants remained in possession of Ireland three hundred years, and
that Ireland remained a waste for thirty years, till the descendants
of Neimhidh arrived there, and that these descendants ruled Ireland
two hundred and seventeen years, and that the Firbolg held the
sovereignty thirty-six years, and the Tuatha De Danann two hundred
years less by three; and, adding all these together, they make a total
of one thousand and eighty years from the Deluge to the coming of the
sons of Milidh to Ireland. And if this number be taken in connexion
with the seven hundred and ninety-seven years that elapsed from the
Deluge to the leadership of Moses over the children of Israel, it is
plain that there were only three hundred years less by seventeen from
that time till the coming of the sons of Milidh to Ireland; and hence
that the opinion above-mentioned is false which states that it was
four hundred and forty years after the children of Israel had passed
through the Red Sea that the sons of Milidh came to Ireland.

Some seanchas state that the route taken by Sru son of Easru and his
followers was through the Red Sea and south-eastward through the ocean,
having Taprobana on their right, and Asia on their left to the east,
and then turning northwards, having it still on the left, and thence
to the extremity of Sliabh Rife, in the north-west part of Asia, and
southward through the strait that separates Europe and Asia, and
thence to Scythia.

However, this was not the route Sru took as he proceeded from Egypt to
Scythia with the crews of four ships, and each ship containing thirty
men; but from the mouth of the Nile through the Torrian Sea to Crete,
which is now called Candia, where he dwelt for a time, and where he
died, and where he left succeeding generations of his descendants; and
hence, according to the authors of our records there are no serpents
in Crete as there are none in Ireland. And thence they proceeded to
Scythia, with Eibhear Scot for their leader; and whoever should state
that it was not possible to go from Egypt to Scythia by ship or vessel,
considering how Scythia was bounded at that time, would not be stating
a fact, since it is plain from every writer who has treated of
geography that the river called Tanais flows into the Mediterranean
Sea, and that that sea extends to Egypt, where the river Nile is; and
according to the limits of Scythia at that ime the river Tanais is
reckoned among the rivers of Scythia, according to Herodotus, an
ancient author of weight, in the fourth book, where he says: "The
river Tanais, which separates Asia from Europe, is reckoned among the
rivers of the Scythians."[437] And when they had arrived in Scythia,
war and strife arose between themselves and their kinsmen, namely, the
children of Neanul son of Feinius Farsaidh; and they contended with
one another for the mastery of the country until it happened that
Aghnon son of Tat, the fifth in descent from Eibhear Scot, slew his
own cousin, Reafloir son of Rifill, of the race of Neanul, who was
then king of Scythia, as Giolla Caomhain says in the poem beginning,
"Gaedheal Glas, from whom are the Gaels ":

Reafloir and Aghnon without fault
Were seven years contending for mastery,
Till Reafloir fell with glory
By the successful hand of Aghnon.

Of the expulsion of the race of Gaedheal from Scythia.

Now, as to the children of Reafloir son of Rifill, he had two sons, to
wit, Neanul and Rifill, and they collected an army against the
descendants of Gaedheal, to banish them completely from the country;
and the descendants of Gaedheal came together, and left the country in
a body, going through the land of the Breast-Seared, who are called
Amazons, to the border of the Caspian Sea. There they took ship and
went on sea, and landed on an island in the Caspian Sea, where they
remained a year; and their leaders in that expedition were Aghnon and
Eibhear, two sons of Tat son of Aghnaman, son of Beodhaman, son of
Eibhear Scot, son of Sru, son of Easru, son of Gaedheal.

Aghnon had three sons with him on that expedition, namely, Ealloit,
Laimhfhionn, and Lamhghlas. Eibhear son of Tat had two sons, namely
Caicher and Cing. And Aghnon died on that island. And at the end of a
year they all quitted the island, the crews of three ships, there
being sixty in each ship, and every third man having a wife with him.
They had six leaders in that expedition; and they made for the strait
that leads westward from the Caspian Sea to the narrow sea that comes
in from the northern ocean; and when they reached that sea, a storm
came upon them, and they were driven to an island called Caronia in
the Pontic Sea, where they abode for a year and a quarter; and it was
in that island Eibhear son of Tat and Lamhghlas son of Aghnon died.
Thence they set out, having four leaders, namely Ealloit, Laimhfhionn,
Cing, and Caicher; and mermaids came on the sea before them, and these
used to discourse music to the sailors as they passed them, so that
they might lull them to sleep, and then fall upon them and slay them;
and Caicher the Druid applied a remedy to this by melting wax in their
ears so that they could not hear the music lest it might put them to
sleep. They went on in this way till they put into port at the
extremity of Sliabh Rife in the north; and it was there that Caicher
foretold them that they would not find a dwelling-place anywhere till
they reached Ireland, and that it was not they themselves who would
reach it but their descendants. Thence they set out and reached
Gothia; and to Laimhfhionn was born a renowned son called Eibhear
Gluinfhionn, and the race of Gaedhael dwelt in that country thirty
years, and some of their progeny are there to this day. In proof of
this Giolla Caomhain composed this stanza:

The race of skilful, beloved Gaedheal
Were thirty years in that land;
Some of their tribe remain there ever since
Until the end of the world.

Other seanchas are of opinion that the race of Gaedheal dwelt in
Gothia a hundred and fifty years; and this is the most probable
opinion. For it is plain that the race of Gaedheal spent eight
generations in Gothia, namely, from Eibhear Gluinfhionn to Bratha.
These generations are as follows: Bratha son of Deaghaidh, son of
Earchaidh, son of Ealloit, son of Nuadha, son.of Neanul, son of Eibric,
son of Eibhear Gluinfhionn, who was born in Gothia itself, son of
Laimhfhionn, the first leader of the race of Gaedheal that came into
that country; and since so many generations could not come within
thirty years, I am convinced that the latter opinion is the true one.

Other seanchas assert that it was three hundred years the race of
Gaedheal dwelt in Gothia. But this cannot be true, since, according to
the times of the Invasions, as we have said above, there were not
three hundred years in full from the time Pharao was drowned in the
Red Sea until the coming of the sons of Milidh to Ireland. Hence this
opinion cannot be true, since within that period the race of Gaedheal
went through the whole of their wanderings from Egypt to Crete, and
from Crete to Scythia, and from Scythia to Gothia, from Gothia to
Spain, from Spain to Scythia, and from Scythia to Egypt, and from
Egypt to Thrace, from Thrace to Gothia, and from Gothia to Spain, and
from Spain to Ireland.



XVIII.
Of the journeying of the race of Gaedheal from Gothia to Spain as
follows.

Now Bratha son of Deaghaidh, the eighth in descent from Eibhear
Gluinfhionn, proceeded from Gothia by Crete and Sicily, having Europe
on the right, to Spain, there being with him the crews of four ships,
as Giolla Caomhain says in this stanza:

Bratha son of Deaghaidh the beloved
Came to Crete to Sicily;
The crews of four well-rigged ships safely came,
Having Europe on the right, to Spain.

From Bratha Braganza in Portugal is named, where lies the duchy of
Braganza. Here are the four leaders that came with Bratha to Spain on
that expedition: Oige and Uige, two sons of Ealloit son of Neanul,
Manntan and Caicher. There were fourteen wedded couples and six
servants in each of the ships; and they routed the natives thrice,
after they had come to land, that is, the race of Tubal son of Japhet.
However, a one-day's plague came afterwards upon the followers of the
son of Ealloit; and they died all but ten. But after this they
increased; and Breoghan son of Bratha was born.

The general chronicle of Spain, which was written by a French
gentleman called Lobhaois, as we read in Edward Grimston, page 3, says
that the first king who obtained sovereignty over all Spain was a
person called Brigus, who built many castles; and it is he who, in the
Book of Invasions, is called Breoghan, the grandfather of Milidh of
Spain; and it is from him the Brigantes are so called; and, according
to the same chronicle, it is from him that the country now called
Castile was given the name Brigia in olden times; and a castle was the
emblem on his shield, as is the case with the king of Spain now.

It was this Breoghan, too, who defeated Spain in many battles; and it
was he who erected or built Brigansia near Corunna, and the tower of
Breoghan in Corunna itself. Whence Giolla Caomhain composed this
stanza:

Many contests and battles
Over the proud host of Spain
Won Breoghan of conflicts and strifes,
Who built Brigansia.

This Breoghan had ten sons, namely, Breogha, Fuad, Muirtheimhne,
Cuailgne, Cuala, Bladh, Eibhle, Nar, Ioth, and Bile. And hereupon the
same author composed this stanza:

The ten sons of Breoghan without faltering;
Breogha, Fuad, and Muirtheimhne,
Cnailgne, Cuala, noble Bladh,
Eibhle, Nar, Ioth, and Bile.

Now Galamh, who is called Milidh of Spain, was a son of the Bile here
mentioned; and although Bile be the last-named of the sons of Breoghan
in the stanza given above, the authors of our records assert that he
was the eldest of Breoghan's sons.

And when the race of Breoghan had multiplied and had conquered the
greater part of Spain, a mighty son of renowned deeds called Galamh 
was born to Bile son of Breoghan; and it is he who is named Milidh of
Spain; and he was seized by a desire to go to Scythia with a fleetful
of the young men of Spain to visit his kinsmen and to serve under them.
Having resolved on this undertaking, he equipped thirty ships, placing
in them their complement of warriors, launched on the Torrian Sea, and
proceeded directly northeastward to Sicily and to Crete, until he
reached Scythia; and when he had landed there, he sent word to
Reafloir son of Neamain, who was king of Scythia at that time; and
this Reafloir son of Neamain was of the race of Reafloir son of Rifill,
whom we have mentioned above. Now when Milidh came into the presence
of Reafloir, the latter welcomed him; and shortly afterwards that king
made him commander of the forces of Scythia, and gave him in marriage
his own daughter, whose name was Seang daughter of Reafloir, and she
bore him two sons, namely, Donn and Airioch Feabhruadh.

And when Milidh had passed some time in Scythia, he had much success
against rebels and plunderers in that country, so that the inhabitants
loved him greatly. When Reafloir the king perceived this, he grew
afraid lest Milidh should oppose him and deprive him of the kingdom of
Scythia; and accordingly he conspired to kill him, notwithstanding
that he was his son-in-law. And when Milidh heard this, he sought an
opportunity and killed Reafloir the king; and he then assembled and
brought together his own followers and put to sea with the crews of
threescore ships, and proceeded by direct route through the Torrian
Sea till he reached the mouth of the Nile; and when he had landed
there, he sent messengers to Pharao Nectonibus, informing him that he
had arrived in the country; and that king sent messengers to Milidh;
and when the latter came into his presence, he bade him welcome, and
gave territory in that country to himself and his followers to abide
in. This expedition of Milidh from Scythia to Egypt is related by
Giolla Caomhain in this stanza:

Milidh, whose progeny was good,
Slew Reafloir, who was not weak;
Hastily did he fly from yon land
To the river Nile, where he obtained territory.

Understand, O reader, that the two sons whom Seang daughter of
Reafloir bore to Mileadh, that is, Donn and Airioch Feabhruadh, were
with him on his voyage to Egypt, their mother having died in Scythia.

At this time a great war took place between king Pharao and the king
of Aethiopia. Pharao, when he had satisfied himself as to the valour
and prowess of Milidh, made him commander of his army to oppose the
army of the Aethiopians, and he fought the Aethiopian army in many
battles and conflicts; and Milidh was most successful, so that his
fame and renown spread throughout the nations, so that, as a
consequence, Pharao gave him his own daughter to wife, who was called
Scota, from being the wife of Milidh, who was of the race of Scot. And
she bore him two sons in Egypt, namely, Eibhear Fionn and Aimhirgin;
and immediately on Milidh's reaching Egypt, he set twelve of the
youths who accompanied him to learn the principal crafts of Egypt, so
that each of them might become proficient in his own craft at the end
of the seven years that he dwelt in Egypt.

As for Milidh, he bethought him that Caicher the Druid had foretold,
long before, to his ancestor Laimhfhionn, that it was in Ireland his
descendants would obtain permanent sovereignty; and accordingly he
fitted out sixty ships, putting the full number of warriors into them,
and bade farewell to Pharao. Thereupon, he proceeded from the mouth of
the river Nile through the Torrian Sea till he landed on an island
close to Thrace, which is called Irena; and it was here that Ir son of
Milidh was born. Thence he proceeded to an island called Gothia, which
lies in the channel leading to the northern ocean; and he dwelt there
for some time, and it was there that Scota bore him a son called Colpa
of the Sword. Thence they proceeded into the narrow sea which
separates Asia from Europe on the north, and continued in a westerly
direction, having Europe on the left, till they came to Cruithentuaith,
which is called Alba. They plundered the coasts of that country, and
afterwards proceeded, having Great Britain on their right, and reached
the mouth of the river Rhine, and continued in a south-westerly
direction, having France on the left, and after that they landed in
Biscay.

Now, when they had arrived in that country, Milidh's kinsmen came to
bid him welcome; and they informed him that the Goths, and many other
foreign tribes, were harassing both that country and all Spain. Upon
hearing this, Milidh summoned his own supporters throughout Spain; and
when they had assembled in one place, he set out with them, and with
the fleetful that had come into the country with him, against the
Goths and the foreign tribes, and defeated them in fifty-four battles,
and banished them from Spain; and he himself and his kinsmen, that is,
the descendants of Breoghan son of Bratha, took possession of the
greater part of that country. At this time, Milidh had thirty-two sons,
as the poet says:

Thirty sons and two sons
Had Milidh of bright hands;
There came of these, we are certain,  
Only a single eight to Ireland.

Twenty-four of these were born to him in concubinage before he set out
from Spain for Scythia, and the other eight were borne to him by the
two wives he had in succession, namely, Seang daughter of Reafloir,
prince of Scythia, who gave birth to two of them in Scythia, namely
Donn and Aerioch Feabhruadh, and Scota, the daughter of Pharao
Nectonibus, who gave birth to the remaining six of them, to wit, two
in Egypt, Eibhear Fionn and Aimhirgin, Ir on the Thracian Sea, Colpa
of the Sword in Gothia, Arannan and Eireamhon in Galicia, as Conaing
the poet says in the following historical poem:

Eight sons of Galamh of the shouts,
Who was called Milidh of Spain, 
They hewed down a thousand fields;
In what countries were they born

Airioch Feabhruadh and Donn of conflicts
Were born in Scythia;
There were born in stream-filled Egypt
Eibhear Fionn and Aimhirgin;

Ir, no warrior was greater,
Was born beside Thrace;
Colpa of the Sword was born
In Colpa's Glen in Gaothlaidhe;

There were born at Breoghan's tower without grief
Arannan and Eireamhon,
The two youngest of the faultless warriors;
The Son of God subdued their strength. Eight.



XIX.

When the race of Breoghan son of Bratha had increased, they were
strong and numerous in Spain; and because of the greatness of their
exploits, they resolved to extend their sway in other directions. They
had another motive also. For, at that time, there was a scarcity of
food in Spain for the space of twenty-six years, on account of the
great drought that existed during that period, and also because of the
many conflicts that took place between them and the Goths, and the
other foreign races, with whom they were contending for the mastery of
Spain. They accordingly took counsel together as to what country they
should explore, and who should be sent to explore it. What they
resolved on was, to elect Ioth son of Breoghan, son of Bratha, who was
a valiant man, and also wise and learned in the sciences, for the
purpose of exploring the island of Ireland. And the place where they
adopted this counsel was at the tower of Breoghan in Galicia.

It was in this manner that they sent Ioth to Ireland, and not, as
others assert, that he had seen it in the clouds of heaven on a
winter's night from the summit of the tower of Breoghan. For there had
been familiarity and intercourse before then between Ireland and Spain
since the time when Eochaidh son of Earc, the last king of the Fir
Bolg, took Taillte daughter of Maghmhor, king of Spain, to wife. They
thus had been in the habit of trading with one another, and of
exchanging their wares and valuables, so that the Spaniards were
familiar with Ireland, and the Irish had a knowledge of Spain before
Ioth son of Breoghan was born. Hence it was not from a view obtained
in a single night from the summit of the tower of Breoghan that Ioth,
or the children of Breoghan, acquired a knowledge of Ireland, but from
there having been intercourse for a long time previously between Spain
and Ireland.

Now, Ioth equipped a ship and manned it with thrice fifty chosen
warriors, and put out to sea until they reached the northern part of
Ireland, and put into port at Breantracht Mhaighe Iotha. And when Ioth
landed there, he sacrificed-to Neptune, the god of the sea. and the
demons gave him bad omens. Thereupon, a company of the natives came
and spoke with him in Scoitbhearla, that is, in Gaelic: and he replied
to them in the same tongue, and said that it was from Magog he himself
was descended, as they were, and that Scoitbhearla was his native
language as it was theirs. Taking their cue from this passage in the
Book of Invasions, the seanchas state that Scoitbhearla, which is
called Gaelic, was the mother tongue of Neimhidh and his tribe, and
therefore also of the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha De Danann. For this may
be believed from what we have stated above, that it was Gaedheal son
of Eathor, at the command of Feinius Farsaidh, king of Scythia, who
regulated and set in order the Scoitbhearla; and it is from this
Gaedheal that it was called Gaelic as we have said above.

Now, this Gaedheal had been teaching the public schools in Scythia
before Neimhidh proceeded from Scythia on an expedition to Ireland;
and since Scoitbhearla was the common tongue of Scythia when Neimhidh
set out from that country, according to the seanchas, the Scoitbhearla
must have been the mother tongue ofNeimhidh and of his followers when
they came to Ireland, and accordingly of every colony sprung from him
or from his descendants who came to Ireland, not to mention the
descendants of Milidh, whose native language was the Scoitbhearla from
the time that Niul left Scythia to the present time. Richard Creagh,
primate of Ireland, supports this view in the book he has written on
the origin of Gaelic and of the race of Gaedheal. He speaks as
follows: "The Gaelic speech," he says, "has been in common use in
Ireland from the coming of Neimidh, six hundred and thirty years after
the Deluge, to this day."[438] From what we have said, it is not
improbable that it was in Scoitbhearla that Ioth and the Tuatha De
Danann conversed with one another.

As to Ioth, he proceeded to ask them the name of the country and who
held the sovereignty of it at that time. The company he had first
fallen in with explained that the name of the country was Inis Ealga,
and that the three sons of Cearmad Milbheoil son of the Daghaidh held
the sovereignty of it yearly, in succession, as we have said above,
that they were at that time at Oileach Neid, in the north of Ulster,
contending with one another about the valuables of their ancestors.
Upon hearing this, Ioth set out with two-thirds of the company who had
come with him in the ship, the full number manning the ship being
thrice fifty warriors. And when he had come into the presence of the
sons of Cearmad, they bade him welcome, and made known to him the
cause of their contention. He, on his part, informed them that it was
through stress of weather at sea he had landed in the country, and
that he did not intend to dwell there, but to return to his own
country. But as they deemed Ioth a learned man, they chose him as a
judge in the dispute that was between them, and his decision was that
the valuables be divided into three equal parts between them; and he
thereupon proceeded to praise Ireland, and said it was wrong for them
to dispute with one another, seeing that the island so abounded in
honey, in fruit, in fish, and in milk, in grain and corn, and that the
climate was so temperate as regards heat and cold. He further said
that, if a tripartite division were made of the country between them,
it would be sufficient for them all. Ioth then took his leave of them,
and with his hundred warriors set out for his ship.

As to the sons of Cearmad, they observed how highly Ioth had praised
Ireland; and they believed that, were he to reach his own country, he
would return with a large host to conquer Ireland; and they resolved
to send the son of Coll with thrice fifty warriors in pursuit of him.
These overtook him, and Ioth placed himself in the rear of his party,
and conducted them to northwards Magh Iotha; and a conflict took place
between them, and Ioth fell there; and his followers took him with
them in their ship, and he died at sea in their midst, and was buried
in Spain, his body having been previously exhibited to the sons of
Milidh in order to incite them to come to Ireland to avenge him on the
sons of Cearmad. Some seanchas are of opinion that it was at Druim
Lighean that Ioth was slain, and that he was buried at Magh Iotha. But
the above view is better established and more probable.

Of the invasion of Ireland by the sons of Milidh, and of their doings,
and from what country they came to Ireland.

Hector Boetius, in the third chapter of the History of Scotland,
states that Eibhear and Eireamhon were sons of Gaedheal. Now this
cannot be true, since, according to Cormac son of Cuileannan in his
chronicle, Gaedheal was a contemporary of Moses; and he says, moreover,
according to the Book of Invasions, that it was two hundred and
eighty-three years after the drowning of Pharao that the sons of
Milidh came to Ireland, and therefore Gaedheal could not have been the
father of Eibhear or of Eireamhon. It is plain also, according to
Cormac, in the enumeration of the generations he has made from Galamh,
called Milidh of Spain, who was father of Eibhear and of Eireamhon, to
Noe, that it was not Gaedheal who was their father. Here is the
pedigree to Noe, according to Cormac: Galamh son of Bile, son
of.Breoghan, son of Bratha, son of Deaghaidh, son of Earchaidh, son of
Ealloit, son of Nuadha, son of Neanul, son of Eibric Glas, son of
Eibhear Gluinfhionn, son of Laimhfionn, son of Aghnon, son of Tat, son
of Ogaman, son of Beodhaman, son of Eibhear Scot, son of Sru, son of
Easru, son of Gaedheal Glas, son of Niul, son of Feinius Farsaidh, son
of Baath, son of Magog, son of Japhet, son of Noe.

Whoever reads the History of Hector Boetius would imagine that he is
of opinion that the Gaels of Alba sprang from a different Gaedheal
from the Gaedheal whence the Irish sprang. However, I am content with
the opinion of a reputable Scotch author, Johannes Major, who asserts
that it is from the Gaels of Ireland the Gaels of Alba sprang. He
speaks in these terms: "For this reason, I assert," says he, "that
whatever stock the Irish be from, the Albanians are from the same
stock."[439] Beda agrees with this view in the first chapter of the
first book of the History of the Church of Sacsa, where he says: "In
the course of time," says he, "Britain received, after the Britons and
the Picts, a third race in the portion or division of the Picts, a
race that came from Ireland together with their chief Rheada, who
seized on a settlement for themselves among the Picts by friendship or
with arms, which they retain to the present time."[440]

From this it is to be inferred, in accordance with Beda, that it was
from Ireland the Scotic race, together with their chief Rheada, went
to Scotland, and that their descendants are there to this day, and
that it is they who are called Scots. Humphredus, a Welsh author,
speaks thus: "The Scots themselves, and all besides, know well that
they are the descendants of the Irish; and our countrymen (that is,
the Welsh) call them by the same name, that is, Gaels."[441] Moreover,
Cambrensis, in the sixteenth chapter of the third distinction of the
book he has written describing Ireland, points out that it was when
Niall Naoighiallach held the sovereignty of Ireland that the six sons
of Muiredhach, king of Ulster, went to Alba, that they acquired power
and supremacy there, and that it was at this time that the name Scotia
was first given to Alba, and that it is from these sons of the king of
Ulster that the Albanians are called the Scotic race. Of these sons he
speaks as follows: "And hence," says he, "it is from them that the
Gaels of Scotland are descended, and are specially called the Scotic
race to this day."[442]

According to what we have said the two opinions advanced by Hector
Boetius in the History of Scotland are false: the first in which he
imagines that Gaedheal was the father of the children of Milidh; and
the second in which he thinks that the Gaedheal from whom the Gaelic
race of Alba are descended was a different person from the Gaedheal
from whom sprang the sons of Milidh who conquered Ireland.

Buchanan, a Scotch author, in the History of Scotland which he has
written, asserts that it was from France the sons of Milidh came to
Ireland; and he advances, as he thinks, three reasons for this. The
first of these reasons is that in which he says that France was so
populous that the portion of it called Gallia Lugdunensis could supply
three hundred thousand fighting men, and hence that it is likely that
she sent out surplus forces to occupy other countries, and that
accordingly she sent forth a company to occupy Ireland, namely, the
tribe of Gaedheal. My reply to this reason is, that this author did
not know when the sons of Milidh came to Ireland, and accordingly did
not know whether France was populous or waste when the sons of Milidh
came to Ireland. Moreover, granted that France was as populous as he
represents it to have been when the sons of Milidh came to Ireland, it
does not necessarily follow from this that it was from France the sons
of Milidh came. For why should France be populous at that time rather
than Spain, whence the sons of Milidh came? It thus appears how
trifling is this reason that Buchanan advances to prove that it was
from France that the sons of Milidh originally came.

The second silly argument he gives for supposing that it was from
France the sons of Milidh came to Ireland is, that certain French and
Irish words are identical, such as dris and dun, which are identical
in Irish and in French, and a few others of a similar kind. My reply
to this reason is, that there are words from every language as loan-
words in the fourth division of Irish which is called Bearla Teibidhe
from the time of Fenius Farsaidh onwards. And thus as there are words
from French in it, so there are words in it from Spanish, from Italian,
from Greek, from Hebrew, from Latin, and from every other chief
language. And hence it is no proof of the Gaels having come from
France that a few words should be identical in Irish and in French;
and, moreover, I believe that the few words that are common to them
were taken from Ireland to France; and I hold this view all the more
because Cæsar says, in the sixth book of his History, that it was from
the islands of Britain that druids went to France, where they became
judges, and got termon lands and immunities and honour from the nobles
of that country.



XX.

It is probable that this island whence the druids went to France was
the island of Ireland, since Ireland was the fountain of druidism for
western Europe at that time, and that accordingly Gaelic was the
language of these druids. Or if it was from Manainn they went thither,
it is well known that Gaelic was the mother-tongue there, according to
Ortelius, who, treating of Manainn, says: "They use," he says, "the
Scotic language, or Gaelic, which is the same."[443]

Accordingly it is probable that, when these druids were teaching in
France, the youth of France, from their intercourse with the druids,
caught up a certain number of Irish words, and that these have ever
since been in use in the French language; and, moreover, Camden states
in the book called "Britannia Camdeni," that the druids taught in
their schools more from oral tradition than from writing.

Another reason why it should not seem strange that Irish words should
be embodied in French is, the great intercourse that existed between
the Irish and the French. For the Book of Invasions says that the wife
of Ughaine Mor, high king of Ireland, was a daughter of the king of
the French, and this Ughaine went to conquer France. In like manner
another high king of Ireland, Niall Naoighiallach, a long time after
Ughaine, went to conquer France, and was slain at the river Leor, in
France, by Eochaidh son of Eanna Cinnsealach, king of Leinster.
Criomhthann son of Fiodhach, king of Ireland, went to France before
Niall. Another high king of Ireland also, whose name was Dathi son of
Fiachraidh, went on an expedition of conquest to France; but he was
slain by lightning in the east of France, beside the Alp mountains.
Similarly, Cornelius Tacitus says that commercial exchange and
intercourse existed between Ireland and France. From what we have said,
it is not strange that there should have been a borrowing of words
from Irish into French and from French into Irish. However, it does
not necessarily follow from this that it was from France the race of
Gaedheal came to Ireland. Hence, the second argument that Buchanan
advances is trivial.

False again is the third argument that Buchanan gives in which he says
that the manners and customs of the French and of the Irish are the
same. Now, whoever reads Joannes Bohemus, in the book which he has
written on the manners and customs of all nations, will find plainly
there that neither the manners nor the customs of the French and the
Irish are the same at present, nor were they the same in the distant
past. Accordingly false is the third reason he alleges as a proof that
the race of Gaedheal came first to Ireland from France.

Some modern English writers treating of Ireland state that it was from
Great Britain that the sons of Milidh first came, and their reason for
that view is, that there are many words identical in Irish and Welsh.
My reply to this reason is, that it is not a proof of the race of
Gaedheal having first come from Great Britain. There are two reasons
for this. The first reason is, that Gaelic was the mother tongue of
Briotan son of Fearghus Leithdhearg, son of Neimhidh, and that it was
from him Britain was called Britannia, according to Cormac son of
Cuileannan and the Books of Invasion of Ireland, and that it was in
Britain he and his descendants after him dwelt; that Eireamhon son of
Milidh sent the Cruithnigh, who are called Picts, to share Alba with
them; and that Brutus son of Silvias, if we may believe some of their
r own chronicles, invaded them, and after him the Romans, and then the
Saxons and the Lochlonnaigh, and finally William the Conqueror and the
French, so that they suffered so much oppression from foreigners that
it was not strange that Scoitbhearla, which was the language of
Briotan and of his descendants after him, should fail. Still the
little of it that remains alive without being completely extinguished
is identical with Gaelic, as much of it as has remained from the time
of Briotan without change.

The second reason why it is not strange that many words are the same
in Irish and in Welsh, without supposing the sons of Milidh to have
come to Ireland from Britain, is that Ireland was a place of refuge
for Britons whenever they suffered persecution from the Romans or the
Saxons, or from any other races that oppressed them, so that large
companies of them, with their families and followers, and with their
wealth, used to fly for refuge to Ireland; and the Irish nobles used
to give them land during their stay; and the children they had during
their time of exile used to learn Irish, and there are townlands in
Ireland named from them, as Graig na mBreathnach, Baile na mBreathnach,
Dun na mBreathnach, etc.; and after they returned to Britain they
themselves, and their descendants after them, had many Irish words in
constant use. From what we have said it is not necessarily to be
inferred that it was from Britain the sons of Milidh first came,
notwithstanding that there are some words identical in Welsh and in
Irish. Furthermore, if anyone were to say that the Welsh and the Irish
are alike in their manners and customs, since as the Irishman is
hospitable in bestowing food without payment so is the Welshman; as,
moreover, the Irishman loves seanchas, poets and bards and harp-
players, the Welshman has a similar love for these classes, and in the
same way they resemble one another in several other customs; this is
not a proof that the Gaels came from Britain, but is rather a proof
that the Welsh were familiar with Ireland, as we have said above; and
hence it is not to be inferred from the forementioned reasons that it
was from Great Britain the sons of Milidh first came. It may, however,
be stated with truth that a company of the race of Breoghan went from
Ireland to settle in Great Britain, to wit, some of the descendants of
the chiefs of the race of Breoghan who came with the sons of Milidh to
Ireland.

The following are the names of those sons of Breoghan who came with
the sons of Milidh to Ireland, namely, Breagha, Fuad, Muirtheimhne,
Cuailgne, Cuala, Eibhle, Bladh, and Nar. It is precisely from the
progeny of these, according to the records of Ireland, that the race
called Brigantes are descended; and the truth of this should be the
more readily admitted, as Thomasius, in the Latin Dictionary which he
has written, says that the Brigantes, that is, the descendants of
Breoghan, were an Irish tribe.

A Spanish author named Florianus del Campo, agreeing with the Irish
records, says that the Brigantes were Spanish by origin, and that it
was from Spain they came to Ireland, and from Ireland they went to
Britain.

All that we have stated concerning the intercourse of the Britons with
the Irish, and Ireland's being a place of refuge for the Britons, is
the more probable, because Caradocus, a Welsh author, in his chronicle,
and Albion in his chronicle, and many other Welsh authors, state that
many British princes and nobles, with their families and followers,
used to come to Ireland, where they were received and kindly
entertained, and where they got land to settle down in, as we have
said above. Moreover, Doctor Hanmer, in his chronicle, makes special
mention of some of them. In the first place, he says that a king of
Wales named Cadualin was banished to Ireland by Edwin son of Athelfred
in the year of the Lord 635, and that he was kindly received there,
and got a reinforcement for his army, by means of which he recovered
his own kingdom. He also states that two princes from Britain, namely,
Haralt and Conan, came to Ireland in the year of the Lord 1050, and
that they were received and even treated in a friendly manner and
protected by the Irish. He says likewise that Aligor, Earl of Chester,
fled from Britain to Ireland for refuge, and that the Irish sent a
force with him by means of which he regained his own territory in the
year of the Lord 1054. There came also for refuge to Ireland another
Welsh prince whose name was Bleithin ap Conan in the year of the Lord
1087; and he was maintained during his visit there. Thus from age to
age did they cultivate alliance and intercourse with one another.

In Hanmer's chronicle, also, we read that Arnulfus, Earl of Pembroke,
married the daughter of Muircheartach O'Brien, King of Ireland, in the
year of the Lord 1101. And his second daughter was married to Maghnus
son of Aralt, king of the Isles. Moreover, when Henry the First was on
the throne of England, there was a prince over Wales whose name was
Griffin ap Conan, who used often boast that his mother was an
Irishwoman, and also his grandmother, and that it was in Ireland he
was born and educated in politeness. According to the same author
there was also another prince of Wales in the time of Henry the Second,
whose name was Biradus son of Guineth, who had an Irishwoman for his
mother. In this manner there used to be much intercourse of friendship
and of alliance between the Irish and Welsh, so that therefore it is
not to be wondered at that there are many words common to their
languages, and that they resemble one another in their manners and
customs, without supposing that the Gaels ever came originally from
Britain.

Camden says, in like manner, that the Brigantes settled in the
following territories of Great Britain, to wit, the district of York,
the district of Lancaster, the district of Durham, the district of
Westmoreland, and the district of Cumberland; and it is not strange,
from what we have said, that the Welsh and the Irish should resemble
one another in their manners and customs, and that there should be may
words common to both their languages without supposing the sons of
Milidh to have ever come from Britain originally, notwithstanding
Camden, who says that it was from Britain that the first inhabitants
came to Ireland. Now the seanchus of Ireland, whose function it is to
investigate and preserve an exact account of every event that ever
happened in Ireland, is more deserving of credit than the opinion of
Camden, to whom Irish history never gave up its secret from which he
could derive a knowlege of the affairs of Ireland.

Cambrensis, writing of Ireland, says that it was by permission of the
King of Great Britain that the sons of Milidh came from Biscay, and
that, moreover, it was at his inducement they came after him to the
Orcades, and that he sent a company with them to Ireland so that they
might settle down there on condition that themselves and their
descendants should be subject to him and to the kings of Great Britain
for ever; and Cambrensis gives the king's name as Gorguntius son of
Beilin. In the same way my reply to Cambrensis is, that it is plain
that his statement is false. For, whoever will read Stowe's Chronicle
will plainly find that there is little more than three hundred years
from the reign of that Gorguntius over Great Britain till the coming
of Julius Cæsar to conquer it, the eighth year of the reign of
Cassibellanus over Great Britain; and we read in the same author that
there were only about forty-two years from Julius Cæsar to the birth
of Christ, so that, according to the computation of Stowe, there were
not four hundred years in full from the time of Gorguntius to the
birth of Christ. Now Cormac son of Cuileannan and the Books of
Invasion of Ireland state that it was about thirteen hundred years
before the birth of Christ that the sons of Milidh came to Ireland.
And the Polychronicon agrees with them in the same computation where
it treats of Ireland. It thus speaks: "There are," it says, "one
thousand eight hundred years from the arrival of the Irish to the
death of Patrick." This is equivalent to saying that it was about
thirteen hundred years before Christ that the sons of Milidh came to
Ireland. For deduct the four hundred and ninety-two years from the
birth of Christ to the death of Patrick from the eighteen hundred
years the Polychronicon computes to be between the coming of the sons
of Milidh to Ireland and the death of Patrick, and there will be one
thousand three hundred and eight years from the coming of the sons of
Milidh to Ireland to the birth of Christ, so that the Polychronicon,
Cormac son of Cuileannan, and the Books of Invasion agree with one
another in computing the time from the invasion of the sons of Milidh
to the birth of Christ; and if we compare, according to the Chronicle
of Stowe, the space of time between Gorguntius and the birth of Christ,
and similarly the space of time the Polychronicon, and Cormac son of
Cuileannan, and the Books of Invasion compute to be from the coming of
the sons of Milidh to Ireland to the birth of Christ, we shall plainly
find that the sons of Milidh were in Ireland more than nine hundred
years before Gorguntius assumed the sovereignty of Great Britain. From
what we have said it is obvious that it is a baseless falsehood
Cambrensis states in his chronicle when he says that Gorguntius above-
mentioned brought after him the sons of Milidh to the Orcades, and
sent them thence to Ireland. For how could Gorguntius send them to
Ireland, seeing he was not himself born, according to authorities we
have cited here, until nine hundred years after the sons of Milidh had
come to Ireland?



XXI.
Of the coming of the sons of Milidh to Ireland as follows:

When the sons of Milidh and all the descendants of Breoghan heard that
the children of Cearmad had murdered Ioth son of Breoghan and his
followers, and when they saw his body mangled and lifeless, they
resolved to come to Ireland to avenge him on the children of Cearmad,
and they assembled an army to come to Ireland to wrest that country
from the Tuatha De Danann in retribution for the deed of treachery
they had done against Ioth son of Breoghan and his followers. Some
seanchas assert that it was from Biscay the sons of Milidh went to
Ireland from the place which is called Mondaca beside the river-mouth
of Verindo; and their reason for this opinion is that Milidh was king
of Biscay after he had been banished by the violence of many foreign
tribes from the very heart of Spain to Biscay, where there were many
woods, hills, and fastnesses protecting Biscay from the fury of
foreign races. This, however, is not the general opinion of the
seanchas. What they assert is that it was from the tower of Breoghan
in Galicia they came to Ireland, and this is the view I regard as the
most probable. For we read in the Book of Invasions that it was at
Breoghan's tower they resolved on sending Ioth son of Breoghan to
explore Ireland, and that it was to it Lughaidh son of Ioth came when
he returned from Ireland, and showed his father's dead body to the
sons of Milidh and to the sons of Breoghan; and accordingly I believe
that it was from the same place they proceeded to Ireland very soon
after the death of Milidh. And it was because of the death of Milidh
that Scota came to Ireland with her children, Spain being at that time
a bone of contention between the tribes who inhabited Spain itself and
the numerous foreign tribes who came from the north of Europe to
overcome them.

As to the sons of Milidh, they got together an army to come to Ireland
and avenge Ioth on the Tuatha De Danann and on the children of Cearmad,
and to wrest Ireland from them; and the full number of leaders they
had to rule the warriors was forty, as we read in the poem composed by
Eochaidh O'Floinn, beginning, "The Leaders of those over-sea ships":

The leaders of those over-sea ships
In which the sons of Milidh came,
I shall remember all my life
Their names and their fates:

Eibhle, Fuad, Breagha, excellent Bladh,
Lughaidh, Muirtheimhne from the lake,
Buas, Breas, Buaidhne of great vigour,
Donn, Ir, Eibhear, Eireamhon,

Aimhirgin, Colpa without annoyance,
Eibhear, Airioch, Arannan,
Cuala, Cuailgne, and generous Nay,
Muimhne, Luighne, and Laighne,

Fulman, Manntan, gentle Bile,
Er, Orba, Fearon, Feirghein,
En, Un, Eatan Goistean bright,
Seadgha, Sobhairce, Suirghe,

Palap son of noble Eireamhon,
And Caicher son of Manntan,
To avenge Ioth of the steeds
Ten and thirty leaders. The leaders.

Their fleet was thirty ships in all, with thirty warriors in each of
the ships, besides their women and camp-followers. The following are
their names: Breagha son of Breoghan, from whom Magh Breagh in Meath
is called; Cuala son of Breoghan, from whom Sliabh Cuala is called;
Cuailgne son of Breoghan, from whom Sliabh Cuailgne is called; Fuad
son of Breoghan, from whom Sliabh Fuaid is called; Muirtheimhne son of
Breoghan, from whom Magh Muirtheimhne is called; Lughaidh son of Ioth,
who came to Ireland to avenge his father, from him Corca Luighe in
West Munster is called; Eibhle son of Breoghan, from whom Sliabh
Eibhlinne in Munster is called; Buas, Breas, and Buaidhne, three sons
of Tighearnbhard son of Brighe; Nar from whom Ros Nair in Sliabh
Bladhma is called; Seadgha, Fulman, Manntan, Caicher, and Suirghe son
of Caicher; Er, Orba, Fearon, and Feargna, four sons of Eibhear; En,
Un, Eatan, and Goistean; Sobhairce, we do not know who was his father;
Bile son of Brighe, son of Breoghan; eight sons of Milidh of Spain, to
wit, Donn and Airioch Feabhruadh, Eibhear Fionn and Aimhirgin, Ir and
Colpa of the Sword, Eireamhon and Arannan the youngest, and four sons
of Eireamhon, to wit Muimhne, Luighne, and Laighne, and Palap, and one
son of Ir, that is Eibhear. These, then, are the forty leaders of the
sons of Milidh who came to Ireland. It was in Ireland itself that
Irial Faidh son of Eireamhon was born.

As regards the descendants of Milidh and their fleet there is no
account of them until they put into port at Innbhear Slainghe in the
lower part of Leinster, which place is called the harbour of Loch
Garman to-day. The Tuatha De Danann assembled and congregated round
them, and spread a magic mist above them, so that they imagined that
the island in front of them was a hog's back, and hence Ireland is
called Muicinis. Accordingly, the Tuatha De Danann, by means of magic,
drove the sons of Milidh out from the land, and so they went round
Ireland and put into port at Innbhear Sceine in West Munster; and when
they had landed, they proceeded to Sliabh Mis, where they met Banbha
with her women and her druids. Aimhirgin asked her her name. "Banbha
is my name," said she; "and it is from me that this island is called
Inis Banbha." Then they proceeded to Sliabh Eibhlinne where they met
Fodla, and Aimhirgin asked her her name. "Fodla is my name," said she;
"and it is from me that this land is called Fodla." They proceeded
thence to Uisneach in Meath, where they met Eire. The poet asked her
her name. "Eire is my name," said she, "and it is from me that this
island is called Eire." And as a record of the above events is this
stanza from the poem beginning, "Let us relate the origin of the Gaels
":

Banbha on Sliabh Mis, with hosts
Faint and wearied;
Fodla on Sliabh Eibhlinne, with groanings;
Eire on Uisneach.

These three queens were the wives of the three sons of Cearmad, and
some seanchas say that there was no division of Ireland into three
equal parts among the sons of Cearmad, but that each of the sons held
it for a year in turn; and the name the country bore each year was the
name of the wife of him who held the sovereignty that year. Here is a
proof of this alternation of sovereignty:

Every year by turns
The chiefs held the kingdom;
Eire, Fodla, and Banbha,
The three wives of the very strong warriors.

The sons of Milidh proceeded thence to Tara, where they met the three
sons of Cearmad, to wit, Eathur, Ceathur, Teathur, with their magic
host; and the sons of Milidh demanded battle or a right to the
sovereignty of the country from the sons of Cearmad, and these replied
that they would act towards them according to the judgment of
Aimhirgin, their own brother, and that if he delivered an unjust
judgment against them, they would kill him by magic. The judgment
Aimhirgin gave regarding his brothers and their host was that they
should return to Innbhear Sceine, and that they should embark with all
their host and go out the distance of nine waves on the high sea, and
if they succeeded in coming to land again in spite of the Tuatha De
Danann, they were to have sway over the country. And the Tuatha De
Danann were satisfied with this, for they thought that their own magic
would be able to prevent them from returning ever again to the country.



XXII.

As to the sons of Milidh, they returned to Innbhear Sceine, and went
out on the high sea, the space of nine waves, as Aimhirgin directed
them. When the druids of the Tuatha De Danann saw them on the sea,
they raised a terrific magic wind which caused a great storm at sea;
and Donn son of Milidh said that it was a druidical wind. "So it is,"
said Aimhirgin. Thereupon Arannan, the youngest of the sons of Milidh,
climbed the mainmast, and, by reason of a gust of wind, he fell to the
ship's deck, and thus was killed. And forthwith the rocking of the
tempest separated from the rest the ship in which Donn was, and soon
after he was himself drowned, and the ship's crew along with him,
twenty-four warriors in all, and five leaders, to wit, Bile son of
Brighe, Airioch Feabhruadh, Buan, Breas, and Buaidhne, with twelve
women and four servants, eight oarsmen, and fifty youths in fosterage;
and the place where they were drowned is Dumhacha, which is called
Teach Duinn, in west Munster. And it is from Donn son of Milidh, who
was drowned there, that it is called Teach Duinn. And it is the death
of Donn and of those nobles who were drowned with him that Eochaidh
O'Floinn narrates in the poem beginning, "The leaders of those over-
sea ships." Thus does he speak:

Donn and Bile and Buan, his wife, 
Dil and Airioch son of Milidh,
Buas, Breas, and Buaidhne, the renowned,
Were drowned at Dumhacha.

The ship in which was Ir son of Milidh was also separated from the
fleet by the storm; and it was driven ashore in the west of Desmond;
and there Ir was drowned, and he was buried at Sceilig Mhichil, as the
same author says:

Aimhirgin, poet of the men,
Was killed in the Battle of Bile Theineadh; 
Ir died in Sceilig of the warriors,
And Arannan died in the ship.

Eireamhon, accompanied by a division of the fleet, proceeded, having
Ireland on the left, to the mouth of Innbhear Colpa, which is called
Droichead Atha. Now, the river is called Innbhear Colpa, from Colpa of
the Sword, son of Milidh, having been drowned there as he was coming
ashore with Eireamhon son of Milidh. It is plain from this that five
of the sons of Milidh were drowned before they took possession of
Ireland from the Tuatha De Danann; hence some poet composed this 
stanza:

Five of these were drowned,
Of the swift sons of Milidh,
In the harbours of Ireland of the divisions,
Through the magic of the Tuatha De Danann:

these are Donn and Ir, Airioch Feabhruadh, Arannan, and Colpa of the
Sword; so that when these sons wrested Ireland from the Tuatha De
Danann, there were only three of them surviving, to wit, Eibhear,
Eireamhon, and Aimhirgin. As to the remainder of the descendants of
Milidh, to wit, Eibhear with his own division of the fleet, they
landed at Innbhear Sceine. They met Eire, wife of Mac Greine, on Sliab
Mis three days after they had landed, and there the Battle of Sliabh
Mis took place between them and the Tuatha De Danann, in which fell
Fas wife of Un son of Uige, and from her the name Gleann Fais is given
to the glen which is in Sliabh Mis, and is called at present Gleann
Fais; and it is to bear testimony to this that the poet composed this
stanza:

Gleann Fais, true is the derivation,
Without error or difficulty;
Fas the name of the woman I refer to
Who was killed in the great glen.

In the same battle fell Scota wife of Milidh; and it is in the north
side of that glen, beside the sea, she is buried; and as a proof of
her death and of her burial-place, we have the two following stanzas
from the same poem:

In this battle also, I will not deny,
Scota found death and extinction;
As she is not alive in fair form,
She met her death in this glen.

Whence there is in the north side
The tomb of Scota in the clear, cold glen,
Between the mountain and the sea;
Not far did she go from the conflict.

This was the first battle that took place between the sons of Milidh
and the Tuatha De Danann, as the same poem says:

The first battle of the famed sons of Milidh,
On their coming from Spain of renown,
At Sliabh Mis there was cause of woe;
It is certain history and true knowledge.

The two women we have mentioned, to wit, Scota and Fas and their two
most accomplished druids, that is, Uar and Eithiar, were the most
celebrated of the race of Gaedheal who fell in that battle. But though
three hundred of them were slain, still they slew ten hundred of the
Tuatha De Danann, and thus routed them; and Eire wife of Mac Greine
followed in their wake, and proceeded to Taillte, and related her
story to the sons of Cearmad. Now, the sons of Milidh remained on the
field of battle, burying those of their people who were slain, and in
particular burying the two druids. It is with reference to this that
the poet composed the following historical stanzas:

In the morning we left Sliabh Mis;
We met with aggression and defiance
From the sons of the noble Daghadh,
With strong battle-spears.

We stoutly won a battle
Over the sprites of the isle of Banbha,
Of which ten hundred fell together,
By us, of the Tuatha De Danann.

Six fifties of our company
Of the great army of Spain,
That number of our host fell,
With the loss of the two worthy druids:

Uar and Eithiar of the steeds,
Beloved were the two genuine poets;
A stone in bareness above their graves,
In their Fenian tombs we leave them.

Eight also of the leaders of the host fell at sea through the magic of
the Tuatha De Danann, as we have said above, namely, Ir at Sceilig
Mhichil; Arannan, from the mainmast; Donn with his five leaders, who
were drowned at Teach Duinn. Eight royal ladies also fell there, two
of them with Donn, namely, Buan wife of Bile, and Dil daughter of
Milidh of Spain, wife and kinswoman of Donn. There were also drowned
Sceine wife of Aimhirgin, in Innbhear Sceine, and from her the name
Innbhear Sceine is given to the river which is in Kerry. Fial wife of
Lughaidh son of Ioth died of shame on her husband seeing her naked as
she returned from swimming; and from her that river has ever since
been called Innbhear Feile; Scota and Fas were also slain in the
Battle of Sliab Mis, as we have said above. Two others of them also
died, namely, the wife of Ir and the wife of Muirtheimhne son of
Breoghan. These then are the eight princesses and the eight leaders
that perished out of the host of the descendants of Milidh from their
coming into Ireland up to the Battle of Taillte. Here are the names of
the seven principal women who came to Ireland with the sons of Milidh,
according to the Book of Invasions: Scota, Tea, Fial, Fas, Liobhra,
Odhbha, and Sceine. It is in the following manner the seancha sets
forth this, and states who was married to each of the women whose
husband was alive on their coming to Ireland:

The seven chief women who came thither
With all the sons of Milidh,
Tea, Fial, Fas, to our delight,
Liobhra, Odhbha, Scot, Sceine;

Tea wife of Eireamhon of the steeds,
And Fial too, the wife of Lughaidh, 
Fas wife of Un the son of Oige next,
And Sceine wife of Aimhirgin,

Liobhra wife of Fuad, noble her renown,
Scota the marriageable, and Odhbha
These were the women who were not giddy,
Who came with the sons of Milidh.

As to the descendants of Milidh, the company of them who landed with
Eibhear and fought the Battle of Sliab Mis went to meet Eireamhon to
the mouth of Innbhear Colpa; and when they came together there, they
gave warning of battle to the sons of Cearmad and to the Tuatha De
Danann in general. It was then that the Battle of Taillte took place
between them; and the sons of Cearmad were defeated by the sons of
Milidh, and there fell Mac Greine by Aimhirgin, Mac Cuill by Eibhear,
and Mac Ceacht by Eireamhon, as the seancha says:

The bright Mac Greine fell
In Taillte by Aimhirgin,
Mac Cuill by Eibhear of the gold,
Mac Ceacht by the hand of Eireamhon.

Their three queens also fell, namely,Eire, Fodla, and Banbha. Hence,
and to state by whom they fell, the seancha composed this stanza:

Fodla slain by Eatan the proud;
Banbha by Caicher the victorious;
Eire then slain by Suighre
These are the fates of this trio.

Now the greater part of the host of the Tuatha De Danann also fell;
and while the host of the sons of Milidh were in pursuit of them
towards the north, two leaders of the Milesian host were slain, namely,
Cuailgne son of Breoghan on Sliabh Cuailgne, and Fuad son of Breoghan
on Sliabh Fuaid.



XXIII.

When they had expelled the Tuatha De Danann, and brought Ireland under
their own sway, Eibhear and Eireamhon divided the country between
them; and, according to some historians, the division made between
them was this: Eireamhon to have the northern half from the Boyne and
from the Srubh Broin northwards, and Eibhear from the same boundary
southwards to Tonn Cliodhna. Thus does the seancha speak of this
division -- "Eireamhon and noble Eibhear" is the beginning of the
poem:

On the northern side, an event without sorrow, 
Eireamhon took sovereignty
From the Srubh Broin, noble the division,
Over every tribe to Boyne.

Eibhear, the prosperous son of Milidh,
Possessed the excellent southern half
He obtained from the Boyne, strong the division,
To the wave of Geanann's daughter.

Now, five of the principal leaders of the host of the sons of Milidh
went with Eireamhon to his division, and received territory from him;
and each of them built a stronghold in his own portion of the
territory. The five leaders who went with Eireamhon are Aimhirgin,
Goistean, Seadgha, Sobhairce, and Suirghe. Here follow the royal forts
that Were built by Eireamhon and by his five leaders. In the first
place he himself built Raith Beitheach in Airgeadros, on the brink of
the Feoir in Osruighe. Then Aimhirgin built Turloch of Innbhear Mor;
Sobhairce built Dun Sobhairce; Seadgha built Dun Deilginse in the
territory of Cuala; Gostean built Cathair Nair; Suirghe built Dun
Eadair.

The following are the five who went with Eibhear, namely, Caicher,
Manntan, En, Oige, and Fulman, and each of them similarly built a fort.
First, Eibhear himself built Raith Eoamhain, in Laigheanmhagh; Caicher
built Dun Inn, in the west of Ireland; Manntan built the stronghold of
Carraig Bladhruidhe; En son of Oige built the fort of Ard Suird, and
Fulman the fort of Carraig Feadha.

From Eibhear to Adam there were thirty-five generations, as the poet
says:

With good upbringing, fifteen
And twenty generations,
The tribe of brave men lavish of herds
Up from Eibhear to Adam.

Other seanchas are of opinion that the division of Ireland made by
Eibhear and Eireamhon was this: Eibhear to have the two provinces of
Munster; Eireamhon the province of Connaught and the province of
Leinster; and Eibhear son of Ir, son of Milidh, and others of the
leaders who came with the sons of Milidh, to have the province of
Ulster; and the cantred of Corca Laighdhe, in south Munster, they gave
to Lughaidh son of Ioth, the son of their grandfather's brother. This
opinion I am the more disposed to accept as true, as it was in
Leinster that Eireamhon's chief stronghold was situated, namely, Raith
Beitheach in Airgeadros beside the Feoir, and also because the
descendants of Eibhear originally settled in Munster, the descendants
of Eireamhon in Connaught and Leinster, and the descendants of
Rudhruidhe son of Sithrighe, who sprang from Eibhear son of Ir, son of
Milidh, in Ulster. It is from this Rudhruidhe that the name Clann
Rudhruidhe is given to the real Ultonians, and to every section of
their descendants who went into each other's provinces to seize upon
land and to make conquests, such as the coming of the children of
Rudhruidhe to Leinster to wit, the descendants of Conall Cearnach to
Laoighis, and the descendants of Fearghus son of Rogh to Conmhaicne of
Connaught, and to Corca Moruadh and Ciarraidhe in Munster and the
family of Duibhidhir of the race of Cairbre Cluitheachar son of
Cuchorb of the progeny of Labhraidh Loingseach, and the family of Rian
of the race of Cathaoir Mor, who came from Leinster to Munster. It was
long after this division which Eibhear and Eireamhon made of Ireland
that these tribes went from their own territories into other districts
in Ireland. It is also well known that it was in the time of
Muireadhach Tireach that the three Collas with their kinsmen left
Connaught to win conquests from the Ultonians, and wrested by force
from them a large portion of the province of Ulster, namely, Modhairn,
Ui Mac Uais and Ui Chriomhthainn; and many of their descendants hold
possession of these to-day, as Raghnall son of Samhairle, Earl of
Antrim, or Aondrom, descended from Colla Uais; Mag Uidhir, Mag
Mhathghamhna and O Hannluain descended from Colla Da Chrioch.

In the time of Cormac son of Art, also, the Deisigh, a tribe of the
race of Eireamhon, came to Munster and acquired territory there. And
it was while Fiachaidh Muilleathan son of Eoghan Mor, son of Oilill
Olum, was king of Munster, that Cairbre Musc, a nobleman of the race
of Eireamhon, brought a poem to Fiachaidh, and obtained all the land
that lies between Slighe Dhala, that is, Bealach Mor Osruighe and Cnoc
Aine Cliach, as a reward for his poem, as we read in the Book of Ard
Macha; and it is from this Cairbre Musc that the name Muscruidhe Tire
is given to the two Ormonds. And soon after this, some of the race of
Eibhear came to Connaught, namely, the descendants of Cormac Gaileang,
that is, the Gaileanga and the Luighni, of whom are O Headhra and O
Gadhra in the northern half. And so it was with every family and tribe
who migrated to another district in Ireland, it was not because of the
division made by Eibhear and Eireamhon they migrated; and hence I
consider the last-mentioned opinion correct; for it is not likely that
it was in the portion which fell to Eibhear in which Airgeadros is
situated that Eireamhon would build his first royal fort, that is,
Raith Beitheach in Airgeadros. Hence I think that it was in his own
portion he built it, and that therefore the province of Leinster
belonged to Eireamhon's portion, as the last opinion states.

A learned poet and a melodious harper, the name of the poet being Cir
son of Cis, and that of the harper Onaoi, were amongst those who came
with the sons of Milidh to Ireland. And Eibhear said that he should
have them, while Eireamhon maintained that they should be his. Now the
arrangement made between them was to share them with one another by
casting lots for them, and the musician fell by lot to Eibhear and the
poet to Eireamhon. And as a setting forth of this contest are the
following stanzas from the Psalter of Cashel:

They cast lots fairly
For the noble poetic pair,
So that to the man from the south fell
The correct dextrous harper;

To the man from the north fell, too,
The poet of great powers;
And hence came sway
Over honour and learning,

String-harmony of music, beauty, quickness,
In the south and lower part of Ireland:
Thus shall it be for evermore,
As is recorded in the seanchus.

There came to Ireland with the sons of Milidh twenty-four slaves who
cleared twenty-four plains from wood after they had come into the
country; and it is from themselves these plains are named. Here are
the names of these men: Aidhne, Ai, Asal, Meidhe, Morbha, Midhe, Cuibh,
Cliu, Ceara, Reir, Slan, Leighe, Lithfe, Line, Lighean, Trea, Dula,
Adhar, Airiu, Deise, Deala, Fea, Feimhean, and Seara; and these names 
are precisely the names of these plains in Ireland at this day.

Moreover, Tea daughter of Lughaidh son of Ioth, the wife of Eireamhon,
got a fortress built for herself in Liathdhruim which is now called
Teamhair; and it is from Tea daughter of Lughaidh that this hill is
called Teamhair, that is, the mur or house of Tea.

The sons of Milidh ruled Ireland jointly for a year, when a dispute
arose between them about the possession of the three best hills in
Ireland, namely, Druim Clasaigh in the territory of Maine, Druim
Beitheach in Maonmhaigh, and Druim Finghin in Connaught. On that
occasion a battle was fought between Eibhear and Eireamhon in Ui
Failghe at Bru Bhriodain, at a pass between two plains in the district
of Geisill. Eibhear was defeated in that battle; and he himself was
slain, together with three leaders of his followers, namely, Suirghe,
Sobhairce, and Goistean. The poet treats of this event, setting forth
the cause of the dispute, as follows:

Banbha without grief shared
Eibhear and Eireamhon,
Till pride seized their wives,
A year without foray, without war.

The wife of Eibhear of the battles said
That unless she owned the fair Druim Clasach,
Druim Beithech, Druim Finghin bright 
She would not remain a night in Erin.

Eibhear fell, great the man,
By Eireamhon son of Milidh;
He got his death-wound in the land of Geisill
In the morning on Magh Smearthoin.

The poet Tanuidhe, agreeing with the same statement, speaks thus:

Ye bards of renowned Banbha,
Know ye, or can ye tell,
Why the great battle was fought
Against Eibhear by Eireamhon?[445]

I myself will tell you that
The reason why he committed the fratricide,
Because of three low-lying hills,
The best that were in Erin:

Druim Finghin, fair Druim Clasaigh,
Druim Beitheach in Connaught;
In struggling for these, not bright the tale,
This slaughter was wrought, O bards.



XXIV.
Of the kings of the children of Milidh before the Faith and of the
length of their sovereignty in Ireland as follows.

Eireamhon, after being a year in the joint sovereignty of Ireland with
Eibhear, held the full sovereignty for fourteen years after Eibhear
was slain in the Battle of Airgeadros, according to some seanchas, as
this stanza says:

Fourteen years, I know it,
Did Eireamhon hold chief sovereignty
After the Battle of Airgeadros with valour,
Where Eibhear fell outright.

However, the common opinion of seanchas is, that it was not in the
Battle of Airgeadros that Eibhear was slain, but in the Battle of
Geisill, as we have stated above. It was in the time of Eireamhon that
the following events took place. The Battle of Cuil Caicheir, a year
after the death of Eibhear, it was there that Caicher, leader of the
followers of Eibhear, fell by Aimhirgin son of Milidh; a year after
that Aimhirgin was slain by Eireamhon in the Battle of Bile Theineadh
in Cuil Breagh; and in that year also the nine Brosnas of Eile and the
three Uinnses of Ui nOiliolla burst over land in Ireland. The third
year after that Fulman and Manntan, two leaders of the followers of
Eibhear, fell by Eireamhon in the Battle of Breoghan in Freamhainn.
Eight lakes burst over land in Ireland in the reign of Eireamhon,
namely, Loch Cime, Magh Sreing being the name of the plain over which
the lake burst, Loch Buadhaigh, Loch Bagha, Loch Rein, Loch
Fionnmhaighe, Loch Greine, Loch Riach, Magh Maoin being the name of
the plain over which it burst; Lough Da Chaoch in Leinster, and Loch
Laogh in Ulster. The fourth year after this, li n, En, and Eatan were
slain by Eireamhon in the Battle of Comhruire in Meath, and their
graves were made there. In the same year the three Sucas burst over
land in Connaught.

Some seanchas assert that it was Eireamhon who portioned the five
provinces of Ireland among some of the leaders who were with him after
the death of Eibhear. First he gave the province of Leinster to
Criomhthann Sciathbheal of the Domhnanncha, a noble of the relicts of
the Fir Bolg. He gave, moreover, the two provinces of Munster to the
four sons of Eibhear, to wit, Er, Orba, Fearon, and Feargna. He gave
besides the province of Connaught to Un son of Oige and to Eatan, two
leaders who had come with him from Spain. Similarly he left the
province of Ulster to Eibhear son of Ir, his own brother's son.

It was in the reign of Eireamhon also that the Cruithnigh, or Picts, a
tribe who came from Thrace, arrived in Ireland; and according to
Cormac son of Cuileannan, in his Psaltair, the reason of their leaving
Thrace was that Policornus, king of Thrace, designed to force a
beautiful marriageable daughter of Gud, chief of the Cruithnigh, while
these latter were at free quarters in the country. When, however, Gud
and his Cruithnigh suspected that the king was about to force the
maiden, they slew him, and accordingly quitted the country, and went
from country to country till they reached France, where they were
quartered and got lands from the king of the French, and there they
built a city called Pictavium, from the Picts or Cruithnigh who built
it. And when the king of the French heard of the fame of the maiden's
beauty, he sought to have her as a concubine. When Gud heard this, he
fled with all his people to Ireland with the maiden; and while they
were on the sea the maiden died in their midst; and they themselves
afterwards put into port at Innbhear Slainghe. Beda agrees with this,
except that he says that it was in the north of Ireland they landed,
in the first chapter of the first book of the History of the Saxon
Church, where he says: "The Pictish race came from Scythia, as is
stated, in a small fleet of long vessels over the ocean, and being
driven by the force or blowing of the winds outside all the boundaries
of Britain, came to Ireland; and on finding the Scotic race before
them, they asked for a place of abode there for themselves, but
obtained it not."[446] However, it was not in the north of Ireland
they landed, but at the mouth of Innbhear Slainghe in the harbour of
Loch Garman, as we have said. And Criomhthann Sciathbheal, who held
the sovereignty of Leinster from Eireamhon at that time, came to meet
them there, and entered into friendship with them.

The leaders of that fleet were Gud and his son Cathluan; and the
reason why Criomhthann entered into friendship with them was because
some British nobles, who were called Tuatha Fiodhgha, were making
conquests in the Fotharta on either side of the mouth of the Slaney.
Such were these people that the weapons of every one of them were
poisoned, so that, be the wound inflicted by them small or great, no
remedy whatever availed the wounded man, but he must die. Criomhthann
heard that there was a skilful druid called Trostan amongst the
Cruithnigh who could furnish himself and his people with an antidote
against the poison with which the weapons of the Tuatha Fiodhgha were
wont to be charged; and he asked Triostan what remedy he should use
against the poison of the weapons of those people we have mentioned.
"Get thrice fifty white hornless cows milked," said Trostan, "and let
the milk got from them be placed in a hollow in the middle of the
plain in which you are wont to meet them in battle, and offer them
battle on that same plain; and let each one of your followers who
shall have been wounded by them go to the hollow and bathe, and he
will be healed from the venom of the poison." Criomhthann did as the
druid had advised, and fought the Battle of Ard Leamhnachta against
the Tuatha Fiodhgha. He defeated and executed great slaughter on them
in that place. From this event, and from the battle which took place,
the battle has been called the Battle of Ard Leamhnachta ever since.
And in proof of this account the poet has composed the following
historic poem:[447]

Ard Leamhnachta in the southern country
Each noble and bard may inquire
Whence is derived the name of the land
Which it has borne from the time of Criomhthann;

Criomhthann Sciaithbheal it was who fought,
To prevent the slaughter of his warriors,
Protecting them from the sharp poison of the weapons
Of the hateful, horrid giants.

Six of the Cruithnigh, God so ordained,
Came from the land of Thrace,
Soilen, Ulpia, Neachtain the noble,
Aonghus, Leathan, and Trostan.

God granted them, through might
To heal them from the sharp poison of the wounds,
And to protect them from the bitter venom of the weapons
Of the powerful, very fierce giants.

The true knowledge obtained for them
By the druid of the Cruithnigh, at once, was
That thrice fifty hornless cows of the plain
Be milked in one deep hollow.

The battle was pressingly fought
Around the hollow where the new milk was,
And the battle went strongly against
The giants of high Banbha.

Now as to the Cruithnigh, that is, Gud and his son Cathluan, they
resolved to invade Leinster; and when Eireamhon heard this, he
assembled a numerous army, and went to meet them. When the Cruithnigh
saw that they were not strong enough to fight Eireamhon, they entered
into peace and friendship with him. Eireamhon told them that there was
a country to the north-east of Ireland, and bade them go and occupy it.
Then, according to Beda, in the first chapter of the first book of the
History of Sacsa, the Cruithnigh asked Eireamhon to give them some of
the noble marriageable ladies he had with him, some of the wives of
the leaders who had come with him from Spain, and whose husbands were
slain; and they bound themselves by the sun and moon that the
possession of the kingdom of Cruitheantuath, which is now called Alba,
should be held by right of the female rather than by that of the male
progeny to the end of the world. Upon these conditions Eireamhon gave
them three women, namely, the wife of Breas, the wife of Buas, and the
wife of Buaidhne; and Cathluan, who was their supreme leader, took one
of these women to wife; and after that they proceeded to
Cruitheantuath; and Cathluan conquered that country, and was the first
king of Alba of the race of the Cruithnigh. There were seventy kings
of the Cruithnigh or Picts on the throne of Alba after him, as we read
in the Psalter of Cashel in the poem beginning: "All ye learned of
Alba." Thus it speaks on this matter:[448]

The Cruithnigh seized it after that,
When they had come from the land of Erin;
Ten and sixty very noble kings
Of those ruled the land of the Cruithnigh.

Cathluan, the first of these kings,
I will tell you briefly;
The last king of them was
The stout champion Constantin.

But Trostan the Druid and the five other Cruithnigh mentioned in the
above poem, remained in Ireland after Cathluan, and got lands from
Eireamhon in the Plain of Breagh in Meath. The fourteenth year after
the death of Eibhear, Eireamhon died in Airgeadros at Raith Beitheach,
beside the Feoir, and there he was buried. The same year the river
called the Eithne burst over land in Ui Neill; and the river called
Freaghobhal burst over land between Dal nAruidhe and Dal Riada.



XXV.

The three sons of Eireamhon held the sovereignty of Ireland after him
three years. These were Muimhne, Luighne, and Laighne. They held the
sovereignty jointly for three years till the death of Muimhne in Magh
Cruachan, and till Luighne and Laighne were slain by the sons of
Eibhear in the Battle of Ard Ladhrann.

The four sons of Eibhear, Er, Orba, Fearon, and Feargna, held the
sovereignty of Ireland a part of a year, when they were slain by Irial
Faidh son of Eireamhon, to avenge his two brothers Luighne and Laighne.

Irial Faidh son of Eireamhon held the sovereignty of Ireland ten years,
for his three elder brothers had no issue. Besides, when Irial had
assumed the sovereignty and attained to greatness and power, he slew
Eibhear's four sons -- namely, Er, Orba, Fearon, Feargna -- to avenge
his two brothers who had been killed by them.

Sixteen plains were freed from wood in Ireland in the reign of Irial.
The following are their names:-- Magh Reichead in Laoighis; Magh
Neiliu in Leinster; Magh Comair, Magh Seiliu in Uibh Neill; Magh
Sanais in Connaught; Magh nlnis, in Ulster; Magh Midhe; Magh Luinge in
Ciannachta; Magh Teacht in Ui Mac Uais; Magh Fearnmhuighe in
Oirghialla; Magh Foithin in the west; Magh Cobha in Ui Eachach; Magh
Cuma in Ui Neill; Magh Cuile Feadha, Magh Riada, Magh nAirbhrioch, in
Fotharta Airhbrioch, in Leinster.

Irial Faidh son of Eireamhon built seven royal forts in Ireland in his
time, namely, Raith Ciombaoith in Eamhain; Raith Croichne in Magh
Inis; Raith Bachaill in Lotharna; Raith Coincheadha in Seimhne; Raith
Mothaigh in Deaghcharbad; Raith Buireach in Sleachta; Raith Lochaid in
Glascharn.

The year after that the three rivers called the three Fionns burst
over land in Ulster. The following year Irial won four battles. The
first battle was the Battle of Ard Ionmhaith in Teathbha, where Stirne
son of Dubh, son of Fomhor fell; the second battle was the Battle of
Teannmhagh, which Irial fought against the Fomoraigh, where the
Fomorian king, who was called Echtghe Ethcheann, fell; the third
battle was the Battle of Lochmhagh, where Lughroth son of Mogh Feibhis
fell; the fourth battle was the Battle of Cuil Marta, where he
defeated the four sons of Eibhear. Hence, and to narrate these events,
is the poem which begins with this stanza:

Irial, the youngest of the children,
Son of the king of Fodhla of curled hair,
King of Sliabh Mis, king of Macha, 
Won four hard battles.

The second next year after this Irial Faidh son of Eireamhon died at
Magh Muaidhe, and was buried there.

Eithrial son of Irial Faidh, son of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of
Ireland for twenty years. In the time of this Eithrial seven plains
were cleared of wood in Ireland, namely, Teannmhagh in Connaught; Magh
Lioghat and Magh mBealaigh in Ui Tuirtre; Magh Geisill in Ui Failghe;
Magh Ochtair in Leinster; Lochmhagh in Connaught; Magh Rath in Ui
Eachach; and after he had been twenty years on the throne of Ireland
he was slain by Conmhaol son of Eibhear in the Battle of Raoire in
Leinster.

Conmhaol son of Eibhear held the sovereignty of Ireland thirty years;
and he was the first king of Ireland of the race of Eibhear. Now this
Conmhaol defeated the descendants of Eireamhon in twenty-five battles.
The following are nine of these battles: to wit, the Battle of Ucha;
the Battle of Cnucha; the Battle of Eile; the Battle of Sliabh Beatha;
and the Battle of Geisill, where Palap son of Eireamhon fell; the
Battle of Sliabh Modhairn, where Samhra son of Ionbhoth fell; the
Battle of Loch Lein, where Mughroth fell; the Battle of Beirre; and
the Battle of Aonach Macha, where Conmhaol himself fell by Eibhear son
of Tighearnmhas of the race of Eireamhon; and he was buried on the
south side of Aonach Macha in the place which is called Conmhaol's
Mound at this day.

Tighearnmhas son of Follach, son of Eithrial, son of Irial Faidh, son
of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland fifty years, or
according to others sixty years; and this monarch won twenty-seven
battles over the descendants of Eibhear, namely, the Battle of Eille,
in which Rochorb son of Gollan fell, and the Battle of Cumar, the
Battle of Magh Teacht, the Battle of Lochmhagh, in which fell
Deighiarna son of Goll son of Gollan, the Battle of Cuil Ard in Magh
Inis, the Battle of Cuil Fraochain, the Battle of Athghart in Seimhne,
the Battle of Ard Niadh in Connaught, and the Battle of Cam
Fearadhaigh, in which Fearadhach son of Rochorb, son of Gollan, fell,
the Battle of Cluain Cuasa in Teathbha, the Battle of Comhnuidhe in
Tuath Eibhe, the Battle of Cluain Muirisc in the north of Breithfne,
the Battle of Cuil Fabhair on Earbhus, and seven battles in Lughlachta
on Loch Lughdhach in one day, and the two battles of Cuil in
Airgeadros, and the Battle of Reibh, where the greater part of the
descendants of Eibher were slain by Tighearnmhas.

The year after that nine lakes burst over land in Ireland, namely,
Loch Cé, and it was over Magh Sulchair it burst; Loch Aillinne in
Connaught; Loch nIairn, Loch nUair, Loch Saighlionn, Loch Gabhair in
Meath and in Breagh; Loch Feabhail in Tir Eoghain, over Feabhal of the
son of Lodan it burst, and Magh Fuinnsighe is the name of the plain
over which the lake came; Dubhloch of Ard Ciannachta and Loch Da
Bhaill in Oirghialla, and the three black rivers of Ireland, namely,
Fobhna, Toronn, and Callonn.

It is the same Tighearnmhas who first found a mine of gold in Ireland;
and Uchadan was the name of the artificer who used to refine the gold
for him; and it was in Fotharta east of Lithfe he used to smelt it. It
was in the time of Tighearnmhas that clothes were first dyed purple,
blue, and green in Ireland. It was also in his time that embroidery,
fringes, and filigree were first put on mantles in Ireland. It was he
in the same way that introduced into Ireland the custom of having but
one colour in the dress of a slave, two colours in the dress of a
peasant, three in the dress of a soldier or young lord, four in the
dress of a brughaidh, five in the dress of a district chief, six in
the dress of an ollamh and in the dress of a king or queen. And it was
at Magh Sleacht that Tighearnmhas himself died and three quarters of
the men of Ireland with him on the eve of Samhain while they were in
the act of worshipping Crom Cruaidh, the chief idol of Ireland. For it
was this Tighearnmhas who first instituted the worship of Crom Cruaidh
(as Zoroastres did in Greece) about a hundred years after they had
come to Ireland; and it was from the prostrations of the men of
Ireland before this idol that that plain in Breithfne is called Magh
Sleacht. Some seanchas state that Ireland was seven years without a
king after the death of Tighearnmhas at the convention of Magh Sleacht,
and that it was Eochaidh Faobharghlas son of Conmhaol who held the
sovereignty of Ireland after him. But they are in error in this; for
the Reim Rioghruidhe states that it was Eochaidh Eadghothach of the
race of Lughaidh son of Ioth who held it.

Eochaidh Eadghothach son of Daire, son of Conghal, son of Eadhaman,
son of Mal, son of Luighaidh, son of Ioth, son of Breoghan, son of
Bratha, held the sovereignty of Ireland four years, and he fell by
Cearmna son of Eibric.

Cearmna and Sobhairce, two sons of Eibric son of Eibhear, son of Ir,
son of Midlih of Spain, held the sovereignty of Ireland forty years,
and were the first Ultonian kings of Ireland; and they divided the
sovereignty of Ireland between them; and the boundary of this division
extended from Innbhear Colpa at Droichead Atha to Luimneach of Munster.
Sobhairce obtained the northern part, and built a dun on his own
division, namely, Dun Sobhairce. Cearmna obtained the southern
division, and built a dun beside the southern sea, namely, Dun
Cearmna; and it is now called Dun Mic Padraig in the Courcys' country.
Sobhairce fell by Eochaidh Meann, son of a Fomorian king. Cearmna fell
by Eochaidh Faobharghlas son of Conmhaol in the Battle of Dun Cearmna.

Eochaidh Faobharghlas son of Conmhaol, son of Eibhear Fionn, son of
Milidh of Spain, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty years. He was
called Eochaidh Faobharghlas, for his two spears were bluish-green and
sharp-edged; and it was he who defeated the race of Eireamhon in the
following battles, namely, the Battle of Luachair Deaghaidh in
Desmond; the Battle of Fosadh Da Ghort; the Battle of Cumar na dTri
nUisce; the Battle of Tuaim Dreagan in Breithfne; and the Battle of
Drom Liathain. He cleared seven plains from wood in Ireland, namely,
Magh Smeathrach, in Ui Failghe; Magh Laighne and Magh Luirg in
Connaught; Magh Leamhna, Magh nIonair, Magh Fubhna, and Magh Da
Ghabhal, in Oirghialla. And this Eochaidh fell by Fiachaidh Labhruinne
son of Smiorghull, son of Eanbhoth, son of Tighearnmhas, in the Battle
of Carman.

Fiachaidh Labhruinne son of Smiorghull, son of Eanbhoth, son of
Tighearnmhas, son of Follach, son of Eithrial, son of Irial Faidh, son
of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-four years, or,
according to others, thirty-seven years; and he was called Fiachaidh
Labhruinne, for in his time Innbhear Labhruinne burst over land in
Ireland; and it was in his time the three following rivers burst
forth; namely, Innbhear Fleisce, Innbhear Mainge, and Innbhear
Labhruinne, from which he is named Fiachaidh Labhruinne. It was in his
time also. that Loch Eirne burst over land, and Magh Geanainn is the
name of the plain over which it came.

It was the son of this Fiachaidh, namely, Aonghus Ollbhuadhach, who
defeated the Cruithnigh and the old Britons who were in Alba in
several battles, and who first placed Alba under the full sway of the
Gaels, though from the time of Eireamhon son of Milidh the Gaels
claimed a tribute from them (the Albanians). About two hundred and
fifty years after the sons of Milidh came to Ireland, Alba was brought
under sway and tribute by Aonghus Ollbhuadhach son of Fiachaidh
Labhruinne; and this Fiachaidh Labhruinne fought four battles against
the race of Eibhear, namely, the Battle of Fairrge, the Battle of
Gallach, the Battle of Sliabh Feimhion, and the Battle of Sliabh
Bealgadain, in which he himself fell by Eochaidh Mumho son of Mo
Febhis.

Eochaid Mumho son of Mo Febhis, son of Eochaid Faobharglas, son of
Conmhaol, son of Eibhear Fionn, son of Milidh of Spain, held the
sovereignty of Ireland twenty-one years; and he fell by Aonghus
Olmucaidh in the Battle of Cliu.



XXVI.

Aonghus Olmucaidh son of Fiachaidh Labhruinne, son of Smiorgull, son
of Eanbhoth, son of Tighearnmhas, son of Follach, son of Eithrial, son
of Irial Faidh, son of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland
eighteen years, and according to others twenty-one years. He was
called Olmucaidh from the word oll, that is 'great,' and muca, 'hogs,'
since he had the largest hogs that were in Ireland in his time; and it
was he who fought the following battles: The Battle of Cleire; the
Battle of Sliabh Cailge, where Baiscionn fell; and the Battle of Magh
Einsciath in Connaught; and the Battle of Glaise Fraochain, where
Fraochan Faidh fell; and fifty battles against the Cruithnigh and the
Fir Bolg, and the inhabitants of the Orcades. Three lakes burst forth
in his time -- Loch Einbheithe in Oirghialla, Loch Sailgheadain, and
Loch Gasain in Magh Luirg. It was in his time that the following
plains were cleared of woods, namely: Magh Glinne Dearcon in Cineal
Conaill; Magh nEinsciath in Leinster; Magh Cuile Caol in Boghaine;
Aolmhagh in Callruidhe; Magh Mucruimhe in Connaught; Magh Luachra
Deaghaidh, and Magh Archaill in Ciarraidhe Luachra. And it was in the
Battle of Sliabh Cua that Aonghus Olmucaidh was slain by Eanna son of
Neachtain, a Munsterman; and others say that it was Eanna Airgthioch
who slew him in the Battle of Carman; and this latter opinion is the
more probable, according to the poem which begins, "Aonghus Olmucaidh
died." And moreover the Reim Rioghruidhe agrees with the same opinion.

Eanna Airgthioch son of Eochaidh Mumho, son of Mo Feibhis, son of
Eochaidh Faobharghlas, son of Conmhaol, son of Eibhear Fionn, son of
Milidh of Spain, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-seven years;
and it was he who, at Airgeadros, first made silver shields in
Ireland; and he bestowed them on the men of Ireland; and he fell in
the Battle of Raighne by Roitheachtaigh son of Maon, son of Aonghus
Olmucaidh.

Roitheachtaigh son of Maon, son of Aonghus Olmucaidh, son of Fiachaidh
Labhruinne, son of Smiorgholl, son of Eanbhoth, son of Tighearnmhas,
son of Follach, son of Eithrial, son of Irial Faidh, son of Eireamhon,
held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-five years; and this
Roitheachtaigh fell by Seadna son of Art, son of Airtre, at Raith
Cruachan.
Seadna son of Art, son of Airtre, son of Eibric, son of Eibhear, son
of Ir, held the sovereignty of Ireland five years; and he was slain by
his own son on the coming of 'a black fleet'[449] to Cruachain.

Fiachaidh Fionscothach son of Seadna, son of Art, son of Airtre, son
of Eibric, son of Eibhear, son of Ir, son of Milidh of Spain, held the
sovereignty of Ireland twenty years; and he was called Fiachaidh
Fionscothach, for in his time there were wine flowers that used to be
pressed into goblets; and this Fiachaidh was slain by Muineamhon son
of Cas Clothach.

Muineamhon son of Cas Clothach, son of Fear Arda, son of 
Roitheachtaigh, son of Rossa, son of Glas, son of Nuadha, son of
Eochaidh Faobharghlas, son of Conmhaol, son of Eibhear Fionn, held the
sovereignty of Ireland five years; and this Muineamhon was the first
to decree that collars or chains of gold should be worn round the neck
by the nobles in Ireland; and he died of the plague at Magh Aidhne.

Ailldeargoid son of Muineamhon, son of Cas Clothach, son of Fear Arda,
son of Roitheachtaigh, son of Rossa, son of Glas, son of Nuadha
Deaghlaimh, son of Eochaidh Faobharghlas, son of Conmhaol, son of
Eibhear Fionn, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland seven
years; and it was in his time that gold rings were first put on the
fingers of the nobles in Ireland; and he was slain by Ollamh Fodla in
the Battle of Tara.

Ollamh Fodla son of Fiachaidh Fionscothach, son of Seadna, son of Art,
son of Airtre, son of Eibric, son of Eibhear, son of Ir, son of Milidh
of Spain, held the sovereignty of Ireland thirty years, and died in
his house. He was called Ollamh Fodla, as he was an ollamh in wisdom
and in knowledge for the establishing of laws and regulations in
Ireland in his time; and it was he first established the Feis of Tara,
as the poet says:

Ollamh Fodla of furious valour
Built the hall of ollamhs;
The first noble king, happy his reign,
Who assembled the Feis of Tara.

Now the Feis of Tara was a great general assembly like a parliament,
in which the nobles and the ollamhs of Ireland used to meet at Tara
every third year at Samhain, where they were wont to lay down and to
renew rules and laws, and to approve the annals and records of Ireland.
There, too, it was arranged that each of the nobles of Ireland should
have a seat according to his rank and title. There, also, a seat was
arranged for every leader that commanded the soldiery who were in the
service of the kings and the lords of Ireland. It was also the custom
at the Feis of Tara to put to death anyone who committed violence or
robbery, who struck another or who assaulted another with arms, while
neither the king himself nor anyone else had power to pardon him such
a deed. It was also their custom to pass six days in feasting together
before the sitting of the assembly, namely, three days before Samhain
and three days after it, making peace and entering into friendly
alliances with each other. In the following historical poem Eochaidh
Eolach describes the customs that were in vogue at the Feis of Tara:

The Feis of Tara every third year,
For the fulfilment of laws and rules,
Was convened at that time mightily
By the noble kings of Erin.

Cathaoir of many alliances assembled
The beauteous Feis of Royal Tara;
There came to him, it was a pleasure,
The men of Ireland to one place.

Three days before Samhain, according to custom,
Three days thereafter, good the practice,
Did that high-spirited company
Pass in constant feasting, a week.

Robbery, personal wounding,
Were forbidden them all that time;
Assault at arms, cutting,
Proceedings by litigation:

Whoever did any of these things
Was a wicked culprit of much venom;
Redeeming gold would not be accepted from him,
But his life was at once forfeit.

Fionnachta son of Ollamh Fodla, son of Fiachaidh Fionscothach, son of
Seadna, son of Art, son of Airtre, son of Eibric, son of Eibhear, son
of Ir, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty years;
and he was called Fionnachta, that is, Finshneachta, because it rained
showers of wine-snow in his reign; and he died in Magh Inis.

Slanoll son of Ollamh Fodla, son of Fiachaidh Fionscothach, son of
Seadna, son of Art, son of Airtre, son of Eibric, son of Eibhear, son
of Ir, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland fifteen years;
and he was called Slanoll, for oll means 'great,' and everyone in
Ireland had great health during his reign, for none of the men of
Ireland suffered from plague or disease in his reign. And it was in
the banqueting-hall at Tara that he died; and others say that the
disease that seized him is unknown.

Geidhe Ollghothach son of Ollamh Fodla, son of Fiachaidh Fionscothach,
son of Seadna, son of Art, son of Airtre, son of Eibric, son of
Eibhear, son of Ir, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland
seventeen years; and he is called Ollghothach, for great was the voice
of everyone in Ireland in his reign. And he was slain by Fiachaidh son
of Fionnachta.

Fiachaidh son of Fionnachta, son of Ollamh Fodla, son of Fiachaidh
Fionscothach, son of Seadna, son of Art, son of Airtre, son of Eibric,
son of Eibhear, son of Ir, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of
Ireland thirty years; and he fell by Bearnghal son of Geidhe
Ollghothach.

Bearnghal son of Geidhe Ollghothach, son of Ollamh Fodla, son of
Fiachaidh Fionscothach, son of Seadna, son of Art, son of Airtre, son
of Eibric, son of Ir, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twelve years; and he fell by Oilill son of Slanoll.

Oilill son of Slanoll, son of Ollamh Fodla, son of Fiachaidh
Fionscothach, son of Seadna, son of Art, son of Airtre, son of Eibric,
son of Eibhear, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland sixteen
years, and he fell by Siorna son of Dian.

Siorna Saoghlach son of Dian, son of Roitheachtaigh, son of Maon, son
of Aonghus Olmucaidh, son of Fiachaidh Labhruinne, son of Smiorghull,
son of Eanbhoth, son of Tighearnmhas, son of Follach, son of Eithrial,
son of Irial Faidh, son of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twenty-one years; and he was called Siorna Saoghlach, from the length
of life granted to him above his contemporaries; and he fell by
Roitheachtaigh son of Roan, in Aillinn, as says the poem beginning,
"Noble Eire, island of kings ":

Siorna passed in government 
The length of thrice seven noble years;
The cutting off of Siorna with slaughter
Was in Aillinn by Roitheachtaigh.

Roitheachtaigh son of Roan, son of Failbhe, son of Cas Ceadchaingneach,
son of Ailldeargoid, son of Muineamhon, son of Cas Clothach, son of
Fear Arda, son of Roitheachtaigh, son of Rossa, son of Glas, son of
Nuadha Deaghlaimh, son of Eochaidh Faobharghlas, son of Conmhaol, son
of Eibhear Fionn, son of Milidh of Spain, held the sovereignty of
Ireland seven years; and he was burned by a flash of lightning in Dun
Sobhairce.

Eilim son of Roitheachtaigh, son of Roan, son of Failbhe, son of Cas
Ceadchaingneach, son of Ailldeargoid, son of Muineamhon, son of Cas
Clothach, son of Fear Arda, son of Roitheachtaigh, son of Rossa, son
of Glas, son of Nuadha Deaghlaimh, son of Eochaidh Faobharghlas, son
of Conmhaol, son of Eibhear Fionn, son of Milidh, held the sovereignty
of Ireland one year, till he fell by Giallchaidh son of Oilill
Olchaoin.

Giallchaidh son of Oilill Olchaoin, son of Siorna Saoghlach, son of
Dian, son of Roitheachtaigh, son of Maon, son of Aonghus Olmucaidh,
son of Fiachaidh Labhruinne, son of Smiorghull, son of Eanbhoth, son
of Tighearnmhas, son of Follach, son of Eithrial, son of Irial Faidh,
son of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland nine years; and he
fell in Magh Muaidhe by Art Imleach.

Art Imleach son of Eilim, son of Roitheachtaigh, son of Roan, son of
Failbhe, son of Cas Ceadchaingneach, son of Ailldeargoid, son of
Muinemhon, son of Cas Clothach, son of Fear Arda, son of
Roitheachtaigh, son of Rossa, son of Glas, son of Nuadha Deaghlaimh,
son of Eochaidh Faobharghlas, son of Conmhaol, son of Eibhear Fionn,
son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-two years; and
he fell by Nuadha Fionn Fail.

Nuadha Fionn Fail son of Giallchaidh, son of Oilill Olchaoin, son of
Siorna Saoghlach of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of
Ireland twenty years, or according to others sixty years, till he fell
by Breisrigh son of Art Imleach.

Breisrigh son of Art Imleach, son of Eilim, son of Roitheachtaigh, son
of Roan, son of Failbhe, son of Cas Ceadchaingneach, son of
Ailldeargoid, son of Muineamhon of the race of Eibhear, held the
sovereignty of Ireland nine years; and in that time he defeated the
Fomorians in several battles; and he himself fell at last by Eochaidh
Apthach at Carn Connluain.

Eochaidh Apthach son of Fionn, son of Oilill, son of Flann Ruadh, son
of Rothlan, son of Mairtine, son of Sithcheann, son of Riaghlan, son
of Eoinbhric, son of Lughaidh, son of Ioth, son of Breoghan, held the
sovereignty of Ireland one year; and he was called Eochaidh Apthach
because of the number who died in Ireland in his time; for the plague
or other disease seized upon the men of Ireland each month, from which
many of them died; hence the name Eochaidh Apthach clung to him; for
apthach means 'fatal'; and he himself fell by Fionn son of Bratha.

Fionn son of Bratha, son of Labhraidh, son of Cairbre, son of Ollamh
Fodla, son of Fiachaidh Fionscothach, son of Seadna, son of Art, son
of Airtre, son of Eibric, son of Eibhear, son of Ir, son of Milidh,
held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty years, or according to others
thirty years; and he fell by Seadna Ionnarraidh.

Seadna Ionnarraidh son of Breisrigh, son of Art Imleach of the race of
Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty years; and he is
called Seadna Ionnarraidh, that is, Seadna of the Wages, for he is the
first king who gave pay to fighting men in Ireland; for ionnarraidh
means 'wages.' And his limbs were torn asunder by Simeon Breac, and so
he died.

Simeon Breac son of Aodhan Glas, son of Nuadha Fionn Fail, son of
Giallchaidh, son of Oilill Olchaoin, son of Siorna Saoghlach of the
race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland six years, till he
fell by Duach Fionn to avenge his father, and the tearing asunder of
him which he had done.

Duach Fionn son of Seadna Ionnarraidh, son of Breisrigh, son of Art
Imlioch of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland five
years; and he fell by Muiredhach Bolgrach.

Muiredhach Bolgrach son of Simeon Breac, son of Aodhan Glas, son of
Nuadha Fionn Fail, son of Giallchadh, son of Oilill Olchaoin, son of
Siorna Saoghalach, of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of
Ireland four years; and he fell by Eanna Dearg son of Duach Fionn.

Eanna Dearg son of Duach Fionn, son of Seadna Ionnarraidh, son of
Breisrigh, son of Art Imleach of the race of Eibhear, held the
sovereignty of Ireland twelve years; he was called Eanna Dearg, for
his oineach, that is his countenance, was red. It was in his time that,
at Airgeadros, money was first coined in Ireland. And he died of the
plague on Sliab Mis, and a large multitude with him.



XXVII.

Lughaidh Iardhonn son of Eanna Dearg, son of Duach Fionn, son of
Seadna Ionnarraidh, son of Breisrigh, son of Art Imleach of the race
of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland nine years. He was called
Lughaidh Iardhonn, for iardhonn means 'dark-brown'; hence through his
dark-brown locks he got the name Lughaidh Iardhonn; and he was slain
by Siorlamh at Raith Clochair.

Siorlamh son of Fionn, son of Bratha, son of Labhraidh, son of Cairbre,
son of Ollamh Fodla of the race of Ir, son of Milidh, held the
sovereignty of Ireland sixteen years. He is called Siorlamh, for sior
means 'long'; and he had long hands, for when in a standing posture
his hands reached the ground; and he was slain by Eochaidh Uaircheas.
Eochaidh Uaircheas son of Lughaidh Iardhonn, son of Eanna Dearg, son
of Duach Fionn, son of Seadna Ionnarraidh, son of Breisrigh, son of
Art Imleach of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twelve years. He was called Eochaidh Uaircheas, for he used to have
bare canoes for a fleet, and ceasa means 'canoes' or 'coctaoi'; and as
he was two years on sea in exile from Ireland, he used to put a party
of his followers in these canoes to plunder the borders of every
country he passed by, and to bring the booty in these canoes to the
fleet; and it was from these canoes that the name Eochaidh Uaircheas
clung to him; and he fell by Eochaidh Fiadhmhuine and by Conuing
Beigeaglach.

Eochaidh Fiadhmhuine and Conuing Beigeaglach, two sons of Duach
Teamhrach son of Muireadhach Bolgrach, son of Simeon Breac, son of
Aodhan Glas, son of Nuadha Fionn Fail, son of Giallchaidh, son of
Oilill Olchaoin, son of Siorna Saoghlach of the race of Eireamhon,
held conjointly the sovereignty of Ireland five years. Eochaidh
Fiadhmhuine was so called, for he used to hunt and chase amidst
thickets or in woods; and this Eochaidh fell by Lughaidh Laimhdheargh
son of Eochaidh Uaircheas.

Lughaidh Laimhdhearg son of Eochaidh Uaircheas, son 	of Lughaidh
Iardhonn, son of Eanna Dearg, son of Duach Fionn, son of Seadna
Ionnarraidh, son of Breisrigh, son of Art Imleach of the race of
Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland seven years. He was called
Lughaidh Laimhdhearg, as there was a red ti or spot on his hand; and
he fell by Conuing Beigeaglach.

Conuing Beigeaglach son of Duach Teamhrach, son of Muireadhach
Bolgrach, son of Simeon Breac, son of Aodhan Glas, son of Nuadha Fionn
Fail, son of Giallchaidh, son of Oilill Olchaoin son of Siorna
Saoghlach of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland
ten years. He is called Conuing Beigeaglach, for he never felt a qualm
of fear in battle or contest, and, moreover, he was a brave man in an 
onslaught; and hence the poet composed this stanza:

Conuing of the fights of the bright spears, 
Who never quailed before wight,
Passed a decade ruling over each Half
Till Art son of Lughaidh slew him.

Art son of Lughaidh Laimhdhearg, son of Eochaidh Uaircheas, son of
Lughaidh Iardhonn, son of Eanna Dearg, son of Duach Fionn, son of
Seadna Ionnarraidh, of Breisrigh, son of Art Imleach of the race of
Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland six years; and he fell by
Duach Laghrach son of Fiachaidh Tolgrach and by Fiachaidh himself.

Fiachaidh Tolgrach son of Muireadhach Bolgrach, son of Simeon Breac,
son of Aodhan Glas, son of Nuadha Fionn Fail, son of Giallchaidh, son
of Oilill Olchaoin, son of Siorna Saoghlach of the race of Eireamhon,
held the sovereignty of Ireland seven years; and he fell by Oilill
Fionn.

Oilill Fionn son of Art, son of Lughaidh Laimhdhearg, son of Eochaidh
Uaircheas, son of Lughaidh Iardhonn, son of Eanna Dearg, son of Duach
Fionn, son of Seadna Ionnarraidh, son of Breisrigh, son of Art Imleach
of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland nine years;
and he fell by Argeadmhar and by Fiachaidh and by Duach son of
Fiachaidh.

Eochaidh son of Oilill Fionn, son of Art, son of Lughaidh Laimhdhearg,
son of Eochaidh Uaircheas of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty
of Ireland seven years; and he did not yield the kingdom to Argeadmhar,
but made peace with Duach Lagrach; and Duach slew him at a meeting.

Airgeadmhar, son of Siorlamh, son of Fionn, son of Bratha, son of
Labhraidh, son of Cairbre, son of Ollamh Fodla of the race of Ir son
of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-three years, or
according to others thirty-eight years; and he fell by Duach Laghrach
and by Lughaidh Laighdhe.

Duach Laghrach, son of Fiachaidh Tolgrach, son of Muireadhach Bolgrach,
son of Simeon Breac, son of Aodhan Glas, son of Nuadha Fionn Fail, son
of Giallchaidh of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of
Ireland ten years. He was called Duach Laghrach, for ladhgra is the
same as luathagra, 'swift retribution'; and he used to give respite to
no one who had committed injustice, but exacted retribution from such
on the spot, and hence he was called by the name of Duach Laghrach.

Lughaidh Laighdhe son of Eochaidh, son of Oilill Fionn, son of Art,
son of Lughaidh Laimhdhearg, son of Eochaidh Uaircheas of the race of
Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland seven years; and he fell by
Aodh Ruadh, son of Badharn. The Coir Anmann states that this Lughaidh
was one of the five Lughaidhs, the children of Daire Doimhtheach. The
same book relates that a certain druid revealed prophetically to Daire
Doimhtheach that he would have a son who would be called Lughaidh who
would obtain the sovereignty of Ireland; and after this five sons were
born to him in succession, and he called each of them Lughaidh. When
the sons grew up, Daire had recourse to the same druid, and asked him
which of the five Lughaidhs would get the sovereignty of Ireland. "Go
to-morrow to Taillte," said the druid, "with thy five sons, and there
will come to-morrow a beautiful fawn into the fair, and everyone, and
thy children with the rest, will run in pursuit of it, and whichever
of thy children shall outrun the fawn and kill it will be king of
Ireland." The fawn came into the fair on the morrow; and the men of
Ireland and the children of Daire pursued it till they reached Beann
Eadair. A druidical mist separated the sons of Daire from the men of
Ireland. The sons of Daire proceeded to hunt the fawn from thence to
Dal Maschorb of Leinster, and Lughaidh Laighdhe overtook and slew it;
and it was from that fawn that he was called Lughaidh Laighdhe, that
is, Lughaidh Laoghdha.

Of this Lughaidh there is a curious romantic story, in which it is
said that, when he was engaged in hunting in a desert place, he met a
hideous hag who wore a magic mask; that he went into her bed, and took
off her magic mask, and dreamt that she would be a beautiful young
lady thereafter; and by this hag, with whom Lughaidh lay, Ireland is
allegorically meant; for at first he endured toil and torment on her
account, but afterwards enjoyed pleasure and delight. 	Although
the Coir Anmann states that Lughaidh Laighdhe was a son of Daire
Doimhtheach, I do not think that this is the Lughaidh Laighdhe the
Coir Anmann refers to who was king of Ireland, notwithstanding that
the druids foretold that Lughaid Laighdhe son of Daire Doimhtheach
would become king of Ireland.

Aodh Ruadh son of Badharn, son of Airgeadmhar, son of Siorlamh, son of
Fionn, son of Bratha, son of Labhraidh, son of Cairbre, son of Ollamh
Fodla of the race of Ir son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twenty-one years; and he was drowned at Eas Ruaidh.

Diothorba son of Deaman, son of Airgeadmhar, son of Siorlamh, son of
Fionn, son of Bratha, son of Labhraidh son of Cairbre, son of Ollamh
Fodla of the race of Ir son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twenty-one years; and he fell in Corann by the Cuans, that is Cuan
Mara, Cuan Muighe, and Cuan Sleibhe.

Ciombaoth son of Fionntan, son of Airgeadmhar, son of Siorlamh, son of
Fionn, son of Bratha, son of Labhraidh, son of Cairbre, son of Ollamh
Fodla of the race of Ir son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twenty years, or according to others twenty-eight years; and he died
of the plague in Eamhain Mhacha.



XXVIII.

Macha Mhongruadh, daughter of Aodh Ruadh son of Badharn, son of
Airgedmhar, son of Siorlamh, son of Fionn, son of Bratha, son of
Labhraidh, son of Cairbre, son of Ollamh Fodla, held the sovereignty
of Ireland seven years, till Reachtaidh Righdhearg slew her. And it
was in her time that Eamhain Mhacha was built. Now the reason why it
is called Eamhain Mhacha is this: three kings out of Ulster held the
sovereignty of Ireland, namely, Aodh Ruadh son of Badharn, from whom
is named Eas Ruaidh, and Diothorba son of Deaman of Uisneach in Meath,
and Ciombaoth son of Fionntan from Fionnabhair; and it was with this
Ciombaoth that Ughaine Mor son of Eochaidh Buadhach was brought up.
And each of these kings reigned seven years in succession, until each
had held the sovereignty of Ireland thrice. And the first of them to
die was Aodh Ruadh; and he left no issue but one daughter named Macha.
Macha demanded the sovereignty in her turn after her father's death;
and Diothorba and his children said that they would not cede
sovereignty to a woman; and a battle was fought between themselves and
Macha; and Macha triumphed over them in that battle, and held the
sovereignty of Ireland seven years; and Diothorba died and left five
sons, namely, Baoth, Bedach, Bras, Uallach, and Borbchas. These
demanded the sovereignty of Ireland for themselves, as it was held by
their ancestors before them. Macha said she would only give them
battle for the sovereignty. A battle was fought between them, and
Macha defeated them. The children of Diothorba fled for safety to dark
and intricate woods; and Macha took Ciombaoth son of Fionntan as her
husband, and made him leader of her warriors, and went herself in
pursuit of the sons of Diothorba in the guise of a leper, having
rubbed her body with the dough of rye, and found them in an intricate
forest in Burenn, cooking a wild boar. The sons of Diothorba asked
news of her, and gave her a portion of the meat. She told them all the
news she had.

And then one of the men said that the leper had a beautiful eye, and
that he desired to lie with her. Thereupon he and Macha retired into
the recesses of the wood, and Macha bound this man and left him there,
and returned to the rest. And they questioned her, "Where didst thou
leave the man who went with thee?" said they. "I know not," said she;
"but I think he feels ashamed to come into your presence after
embracing a leper." "It is not a shame," said they, "since we will do
the same thing." Thus she went into the wood with each of them in
turn; and she bound them all, and so took them bound together before
the men of Ulster at Eamhain; and she asked the Ulster nobles what she
should do with them. They all said with one accord that they should be
put to death. "That is not just," said Macha, "for that would be
contrary to law; but let them be made slaves of, and let the task be
imposed on them of building a fort for me which shall be the capital
of the province for ever." Thereupon Macha undid the gold bodkin that
was in the mantle on her breast, and with it measured the site of the
fort which the sons of Diothorba were obliged to build. Now, the fort
is called Eamhain eo being a word for 'a bodkin,' while muin means the
neck,' and hence the fort is called Eamhain, that is, eo mhuin. Or, it
is called Eamhain from Eamhain Mhacha, that is, the wife of Cronn son
of Adhnaman. Now this woman was forced against her will to run with
the horses of Conchubhar, king of Ulster; and she, though pregnant,
outran them; and at the end of the race she gave birth to a son and a
daughter; and she cursed the men of Ulster, whence they were visited
with the pangs of labour; and these pangs continued to afflict them
during nine reigns, that is, from Conchubhar to the reign of Mal son
of Rodhruidhe. Eamhain accordingly is the same as amhaon, amh denying
that it was but one, it being two, Macha gave birth to on that
occasion. And hence it was called Eamhain Mhacha, according to this
opinion. After this, Macha Mhongruadh was slain by Reachtaidh
Righdhearg.

Reachtaidh Righdhearg son of Lughaidh Laighdhe, son of Eochaidh, son
of Oilill Fionn, son of Art, son of Lughaidh Laimhdhearg, son of
Eochaidh Uaircheas of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of
Ireland twenty years. He was called Reachtaidh Righdhearg from his
having a red fore-arm, that is, the end of a red fore-arm; and he was
slain by Ughaine Mor to avenge his foster-mother.

Ughaine Mor son of Eochaidh Buadhach, son of Duach Laghrach, son of
Fiachaidh Tolgrach, son of Muireadhach Bolgrach, son of Simeon Breac,
son of Aodhan Glas, son of Nuadha Fionn Fail, son of Giallchaidh, son
of Oilill Olchaoin, son of Siorna Saoghlach of the race of Eireamhon,
held the sovereignty of Ireland thirty years, or according to others
forty years. He was called Ughaine Mor, as his reign was great, since
he held sway over the islands of western Europe; and this Ughaine had
twenty-five children, namely twenty-two sons and three daughters. When
these children grew up, each of them had a special retinue; and when
they went on free circuit round Ireland, where one of the sons stayed
at night, another son stayed on the morrow. Thus they went on in
succession, so that wherever they directed their steps they exhausted
all the food and provisions in the district. And when the men of
Ireland observed this, they went to complain of this injury to Ughaine,
the king. And it was mutually agreed on to divide Ireland into twenty-
five parts, and to give each of these children his own part, and not
to permit any one of them to be a burden to another's portion. Hence
some poet composed this stanza:

Ughaine the proud, the noble,
Whose victorious dwelling was Banbha
His children divided rightly
Erin into twenty-five portions.

And it was according to these divisions that rents and duties used to
be paid to every king who reigned in Ireland for three hundred years,
that is, from the time of Ughaine to the time of the provincials who
lived when Eochaidh Feidlioch was king of Ireland, as the poet says in
this quatrain:

Three hundred years lasting the reproach,
Until the provincials arose,
Five without faith in their hearts,
Shared between them Ughaine's Erin.

It was Eochaidh Feidhlioch who divided the provinces of Ireland
amongst the following. He gave the province of Ulster to Fearghus son
of Leide; he gave the province of Leinster to Rossa son of Fearghus
Fairrge; he gave the two provinces of Munster to Tighearnach
Teidbheannach son of Luchta, and to Deaghaidh son of Sin; similarly he
gave the province of Connaught to three, namely, to Fidhic son of Feig,
to Eochaidh Allad, and to Tinne son of Connraidh, as we shall
hereafter set forth when we are treating of Eochaidh Feidhleach's own
reign. Still this division of Ireland among the children of Ughaine
held good until the children of Ughaine had died without issue, except
two, namely, Cobhthach Caol mBreagh and Laoghaire Lorc, from whom come
all that survive of the race of Eireamhon. And Ughaine Mor himself was
slain by Badhbhchaidh son of Eachaidh Buadhach his own brother in
Tealach an Choscair. But Badhbhchaidh held the sovereignty of Ireland
only a day and a half when he was slain by Laoghaire Lorc to avenge
his father.



XXIX.

Laoghaire Lorc son of Ughaine Mor, son of Eochaidh Buadhach, son of
Duach Laghrach, son of Fiachaidh Tolgrach, son of Muireadhach Bolgrach,
son of Simeon Breac, son of Aodan Glas, son of Nuadha Fionn Fail, son
of Giallchaidh, son of Oilill Olchaoin, son of Siorna Saoghalach of
the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland two years,
Ceasair Chruthach, daughter of the king of the French, wife of Ughaine
Mor, was the mother of Laoghaire Lorc and Cobhthach Caol mBreagh. And
he was called Laoghaire Lorc, for lorc means 'murder of a kinsman';
and Laoghaire treacherously slew Badhbhchaid, son of Eachaidh Buadhach,
whence he got the name Laoghaire Lorc. Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, his own
brother, slew Laoghaire Lorc at Dionn Riogh on the brink of the
Bearbha.

It happened that Cobhthach Caol mBreagh had been pining through envy
of Laoghaire Lorc on account of his holding the sovereignty of
Ireland; and when Laoghaire heard that he was sick, he came with an
armed force to visit him. When Cobhthach saw him, he said it was sad
that his brother always had a suspicion of him and would not come into
his presence without an escort. "Not so," said Laoghaire; "I will come
peacefully into thy presence the next time unattended by an armed
escort." Thereupon, Laoghaire bade farewell to Cobhthach. Now
Cobhthach took the advice of a druid who was with him as to how he
could lay hold on his kinsman to kill him. "What thou hast to do,"
said the druid, "is to feign death, and go into a bier as a corpse,
and to send word of this to Laoghaire; and he will come to thee with
only a small escort; and when he will come into thy presence, he will
lie on thy body lamenting thee, and do thou stab him in the abdomen
with a dirk, and thus kill him." When Cobhthach had in this manner
finished the killing of Laoghaire, he slew also Oilill Aine son of
Laoghaire; and he recovered his health after he had done these deeds.
He also commanded a young lad whose name was Maon, the son of Oilill
Aine, to be brought into his presence, and made him eat a portion of
his father's and grandfather's hearts, and to swallow a mouse with her
young. But the child lost his speech from the disgust he felt, and
when he became speechless Cobhthach let him go. The child proceeded to
Corca Dhuibhne, where he resided for a time with Scoiriath, who was
king of that country, and thence went to France with a party of nine,
though some seanchas say that it was to the country of Armenia he went.
And the party who accompanied him declared that he was heir to the
kingdom of Ireland; and from this it came to pass that the king of the
French made him leader of his household guards; and he became very
successful, and so was much talked about, and his fame was great in
Ireland; and consequently many Irishmen followed him to France. And he
remained there a long time of his life.

Cobhthach Caol mBreagh son of Ughaine Mor, son of Eachaidh Buadhach of
the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland thirty years,
or, according to others, fifty years. Ceasair Chruthach, daughter of
the king of the French, was his mother. He was called Cobhthach Caol
mBreagh, for a severe disease afflicted him through envying his 
brother Laoghaire Lorc, who was king of Ireland before him, so that he
got into decline, and his blood and flesh melted away, so that he was
thin; and Magh Breagh is the name of the place in which he lay sick,
and hence he was called Caol mBreagh; and this Cobhthach was slain by
Labhraidh Loingseach, son of Oilill Aine, at Dionn Riogh, on the eve
of greater Christmas, to avenge his father and grandfather whom he had
slain. On this some poet composed this stanza:

Labhraidh Loinseach, sufficient his army,
He slew Cobhthach in Dionn Riogh;
With the lance-armed host beyond the sea-water,
It was from these that the Lagenians were named.

Labhraidh Loingseach son of Oilill Aine, son of Laoghaire Lorc, son of
Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland
ten years; and he fell by Meilge son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh. And
the way in which he was allured from France to Ireland was that
Moiriath daughter of Scoiriath, king of the territory of Feara Morc in
west Munster, conceived a violent passion for him on account of the
greatness of his name and fame. She equipped Craiftine the harper, a
musician who was in Ireland at the time, that he might go after him to
France with many love-presents, together with a love-lay in which she
set forth the intensity of her passion for Maon; and when Craiftine
arrived in France, he played a very sweet tune on his harp when he
came to where Maon was, and sang the love-lay which Moiriath daughter
of Scoiriath had composed for Maon. He was so delighted with
Craiftine's playing that he said he considered the song and the tune
melodious; and when his followers and Craiftine had heard this, they
besought the king of the French to give him an auxiliary force so that
he might go and regain his own territory; and the king gave him a
fleetful, that is, two thousand two hundred, and they put out to sea;
and no tidings whatever are given of them till they put into harbour
at Loch Garman; and when they came ashore, they learned that Cobhthach
Caol mBreagh was in Dionn Riogh and many of the Irish nobles with him,
and thereupon they. marched day and night, and attacked his fortress,
and slew Cobhthach together with these nobles. It was then that a
druid who was in the fortress inquired who had executed that slaughter.
"The mariner" (An loingseach), replied the man outside. "Does the
mariner speak?" asked the druid. "He speaks" (Labhraidh), said the
other. And hence the name Labhraidh Loingseach clung to Maon ever
since. And it was he who first made in Ireland spears with broad
greenish blue heads; for laighne means spears having wide green-blue
iron heads; and from these spears the name Laighin is given to the
people of the province of Gailian, which is now called the province of
Leinster. And the poet proves this, and sets forth the number of the
host which came with Labhraidh Loingseach from France, in the
following stanza:

Two hundred and twenty hundred foreigners,
With broad spears they came over;
From these spears without flaw
The Leinstermen are called Laighin.

Now when Labhraidh Loingseach had slain Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, and
had taken possession of Ireland, he went along with Craiftine to visit
Moiriath daughter of Scoiriath, king of the territory of Feara Morc,
the lady-love who sent Craiftine to France to visit him. Labhraidh
married her, and she was his queen during life.

Now the reason why Maon who was called Labhraidh Loingseach went to
France was his relation to the king of the French. For a daughter of
the king of the French called Ceasair Chruthach was the wife of
Ughaine Mor and mother of his children, namely, Laoghaire Lorc and
Cobhthach Caol mBreagh; and Labhradh Loingseach is a son's son to that
Laoghaire Lorc. And it was on account of his relation to the French
that he sought their protection.

Another reason why he went to France rather than to another country is
that there was a special friendly understanding between the
Leinstermen and the French. Indeed every province in Ireland had
formed a special friendly alliance beyond the sea, as the alliance
between clann Neill and the Albanians, between the Munstermen and the
Saxons, between the Ultonians and the Spanish, between the people of
Connaught and the Welsh, as John son of Torna O Maolchonaire, chief
professor of seanchus in Ireland, says in the following stanzas:

Each is allied to its like,
Though they be not of the same stock;
The Ui Neill and the Albanians;
The Saxons and the Munstermen;

The Ultonians and the Spaniards,
The battle-stay of every district;
The Connaughtmen and the Welsh;
The Leinstermen allied to the French.

From this alliance between the provinces and the above-named countries
they became mutually assimilated in manners according to their
friendship and affection for one another.

Know, O reader, that all true Leinstermen that survive of the race of
Eireamhon are descended from this Labhraidh Loingseach, except O
Nuallain who sprang from Cobhthach Caol mBreagh. The following are the
principal families that sprang from the Leinstermen, namely, O
Conchubhar Failghe with his family branches, O Caomhanaigh, O
Tuathalaigh, O Branaigh, Mac Giolla Phadraig, O Duinn, O Diomasaigh, O
Duibhidhir, muinntear Riain, and every branch that sprang from these
families. It was from Cathaoir Mor that most of the Leinster families
sprang. But it was not from him that Mac Giolla Phadraig sprang, since
Mac Giolla Phadraig and himself separated in pedigree from one another
at Breasal Breac son of Fiachaidh Foibhric, the fourteenth ancestor
from Cathaoir upwards. Now this Breasal had two sons, namely, Lughaidh
Loithfhionn and Connla: and the province of Leinster was divided
between these two: thus Lughaidh and his descendants obtained from the
Bearbha eastward, and Connla and his descendants from the Bearbha
westwards. These sons and these divisions are set forth in the
following stanza from the poem which begins, 'The sacred history of
the saints of Inis Fail':

Lughaidh and Connla without vexation,
Two sons of Breasal Breac the noble;
The Ossorians sprang from Connla of the wounds,
Lughaidh is ancestor of the Lagenians.

From Lughaidh also sprang O Duibhidhir; and they separated from
Cathaoir in pedigree at the fifth ancestor from Cathaoir upwards. Now,
Cathaoir Mor was son of Feidhlimidh Fiorurghlas, son of Cormac Gealta
Gaoth, son of Nia Corb, son of Cu Chorb. And a son of this Cu Chorb
was Cairbre Cluithiochair, from whom is O Dubhidhir; and from Nathi
son of Criomhthann, son of Eanna Cinnsealach, the seventh in descent
from Cathaoir Mor, came muinntear Riain.

Now, the second son of Ughaine Mor who had issue was Cobhthach Caol
mBreagh. From him sprang all the race of Conn, both the descendants of
Fiachaidh Sraibhtheine and of Eochaidh Doimhlen. and every other
branch that sprang from Conn, as we shall set down hereafter in the
genealogy of the sons of Milidh.



XXX.

We read of Labhraidh Loingseach that his ears were like those of a
horse; and hence he used to kill on the spot everyone who cut his hair,
lest he or anyone else might be aware of this blemish. Now he was wont
to have his hair cropped every year, that is, to have cut off the part
of his hair that grew below his ears. It was necessary to cast lots to
determine who should crop the king each year, since it was his wont to
put to death everyone who cropped him. Now it happened that the lot
fell on the only son of a widow who approached the close of her life,
and who lived near the king's stronghold. And when she heard that the
lot had fallen on her son, she came and besought the king not to put
her only son to death, seeing he was her sole offspring. The king
promised her that he would not put her son to death, provided he kept
secret what he should see, and made it known to no one till death. And
when the youth had cropped the king, the burden of that secret so
oppressed his body that he was obliged to lie in the bed of sickness,
and that no medicine availed him. When he had lain long in a wasting
condition, a skilful druid came to visit him, and told his mother that
the cause of his sickness was the burden of a secret, and that he
would not be well till he revealed his secret to some thing; and he
directed him, since he was bound not to tell his secret to a person,
to go to a place where four roads met, and to turn to his right and to
address the first tree he met, and to tell his secret to it. The first
tree he met was a large willow, and he disclosed his secret to it.
Thereupon the burden of pain that was on his body vanished; and he was
healed instantly as he returned to his mother's house. Soon after this,
however, it happened that Craiftine's harp got broken, and he went to
seek the material for a harp, and came upon the very willow to which
the widow's son had revealed the secret, and from it he took the
material for his harp; and when the harp was made and set to tune, as
Craiftine played upon it all who listened imagined that it sang, 'Da o
phill ar Labhraidh Lorc,' that is, Labraidh Loingseach, meaning, 'Two
horse's ears on Labhraidh Lorc'; and as often as he played on that
harp, it was understood to sing the same thing. And when the king
heard this story, he repented of having put so many people to death to
conceal that deformity of his, and openly exhibited his ears to the
household, and never afterwards concealed them. I think this part of
the story is a romantic tale rather than history. This Labhraidh fell
by Meilge son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh.

Meilge Molbhthach son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of
the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland seven years;
and he fell by Mogh Corb son of Cobhthach Caomh.

Mogh Corb son of Cobhthach Caomh, son of Reachthaidh Ridhearg, son of
Lughaidh Laighdhe, son of Eochaidh, son of Oilill Fionn, son of Art,
son of Lugaidh Lamhdhearg, son of Eochaidh Uaircheas of the race of 
Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland seven years. He was called
Mogh Corb, because, as his son was one day in a chariot, a portion of
the chariot got broken, and Mogh Corb repaired it, and through having
done this service for his son whose name was Corb he was called Mogh
Corb. He fell by Aonghus Ollamh.

Aonghus Ollamh son of Oilill, son of Labhraidh Loingseach, son of
Oilill Aine, son of Laoghaire Lorc, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of
Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland eighteen years, and fell by
Iarainnghleo son of Meilge.

Iarainnghleo Fathach son of Meilge Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol
mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland seven years; and he was called Iarainnghleo
Fathach because he was wise, skilful, accomplished; and at length he
fell by Fear Corb son of Mogh Corb.

Fear Corb son of Mogh Corb, son of Cobhthach Caomh, son of Reachtaidh
Righdhearg of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland
eleven years; and he fell by Connla son of Iarainnghleo Fathach.

Connla Cruaidhchealgach son of Iarainnghleo Fathach, son of Meilge
Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of the
race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty four years; and he fell at
Tara.

Oilill Caisfhiaclach son of Connla Cruaidhchealgach, son of
Iarainnghleo Fathach, son of Meilge Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol
mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland twenty-five years, till he fell by Adhamair
Foltchaoin.

Adhamair Foltchaoin son of Fear Corb, son of Mogh Corb, son of
Cobhthach Caomh, son of Reachtaidh Righdhearg of the race of Eibhear,
held the sovereignty of Ireland five years; and fell by Eochadh
Foiltleathan.

Eochaidh Foiltleathan son of Oilill Caisfhiaclach, son of Connla
Cruaidhchealgach, son of Iarainnghleo Fathach, son of Meilge
Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of
Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland eleven years, and fell by
Fearghus Fortamhail.

Fearghus Fortamhail son of Breasal Breac, son of Aonghus Gaileann, son
of Oilill Bracan, son of Labhraidh Loingseach, son of Oilill Aine, son
of Laoghaire Lorc, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held
the sovereignty of Ireland twelve years; and he was called Fearghus
Fortamhail, for he was warlike, strong, vigorous in his own time; and
he fell by Aonghus Tuirbheach.

Aonghus Tuirbheach son of Eochaidh Foiltleathan, son of Oilill
Caisfhiaclach, son of Connla Cruaidhchealgach, son of Iarainnghleo
Fathach, son of Meilge Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son
of Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of
Ireland thirty years, or, according to others, sixty years; and he was
called Aonghus Tuirbheach, for he felt ashamed (tuirbheach) of the son
he had by his own daughter through drunkenness. This son was called
Fiachaidh Fear Mara; and he was called Fiachaidh Fear Mara because he
was abandoned, being put on the sea in a canoe with precious valuables
around him, such as befitted the son of a king; and fishermen came
upon him and brought him ashore, and put him to nurse. Aonghus
Tuirbheach had also a son by his wedded wife, and his name was Eanna
Aighneach, and from him came the entire race of Conn; and Aonghus
Tuirbheach himself was slain at Tara; and it is from his having been
slain at Tara that he is called Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach.

Conall Collamhrach son of Eidirsceol Teamhrach, son of Eochaidh
Foiltleathan, son of Oilill Caisfhiaclach, son of Connla
Cruaidhchealgach, son of Iarainnghleo Fathach, son of Meilge
Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor, held
the sovereignty of Ireland five years, and fell by Nia Seaghamain.

Nia Seaghamain son of Adhamair Foltchaoin, son of Fear Corb, son of
Mogh Corb, son of Cobhthach Caomh, son of Reachtaidh Righdhearg of the
race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland seven years; and he
was called Nia Seaghamain, that is, seachmhaoineach 'surpassing in
wealth,' as his wealth far exceeded that of all others, for the wild
does used to come and yield their milk kindly like any cow in his
reign in Ireland through the magic of his mother, whose name was
Fliodhais; and this Nia Seaghamain fell by Eanna Aighneach.

Eanna Aighneach son of Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach, son of Eochaidh
Foiltleathan, son of Oilill Caisfhiaclach, son of Connla
Cruaidhchealgach, son of Iarainnghleo Fathach, son of Meilge
Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of the
race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-eight years.
He was called Eanna Aighneach, for aghneach is the same as ogh oineach,
that is, 'perfect generosity,' for he used to give away whatever came
to his hand; and he fell by Criomhthann Coscrach.

Criomhthann Coscrach son of Feidhlimidh Foirthriun, son of Fearghus
Fortamhail, son of Breasal Breac, son of Aonghus Gaileann, son of
Oilill Bracan, son of Labhraidh Loingseach, son of Oilill Aine, son of
Laoghaire Lorc, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland seven years. He is called Criomhthann Coscrach
from the frequency with which he was victorious in slaughter and
contest in every battle in which he was engaged; and he fell by
Rudhruighe son of Sithrighe.

Rudruighe son of Sithrighe, son of Dubh, son of Fomhor, son of
Airgheadmhar, son of Siorlamh, son of Fionn, son of Bratha, son of
Labhraidh, son of Cairbre, son of Ollamh Fodla of the race of Ir son
of Mileadh, held the sovereignty of Ireland thirty years, or,
according to others, seventy years; and he died of the plague at
Airgeadros.

Ionnadmhar son of Nia Seaghamain, son of Adhamair Foltchaoin, son of
Fear Corb, son of Mogh Corb, son of Cobhthach Caomh, son of Reachtaidh
Righdhearg of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of Ireland
three years; and he fell by Breasal Boidhiobhadh.

Breasal Boidhiobhadh son of Rudhruighe, son of Sithrighe, son of Dubh,
son of Fomhor, son of Airgeadmhar, son of Siorlamh of the race of Ir
son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland eleven years. He was
called Breasal Boidhiobhadh, for a great cow-plague occurred in
Ireland in his time. This Breasal fell by Lughaidh Luaighne.

Lughaidh Luaighne sin of Ionnadmhar, son of Nia Seaghamain, son of
Adhamair Foltchaoin, son of Fear Corb, son of Mogh Corb, son of
Cobhthach Caomh, son of Reachtaidh Righdhearg of the race of Eibhear,
held the sovereignty of Ireland five years, and fell by Conghal
Clairingneach.

Conghal Clairingneach son of Rudhruighe, son of Sithrighe, son of Dubh,
son of Fomhor, son of Airgeadmhar, son of Siorlamh of the race of Ir
son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland fifteen years, and fell
by Duach Dallta Deaghaidh.



XXXI.

Duach Dallta Deaghaidh son of Cairbre Lusc, son of Lughaidh Luaighne,
son of Ionnadmhar, son of Nia Seaghamain, son of Adhamair Foltchaoin,
son of Fear Corb, son of Mogh Corb, son of Cobhthach Caomh, son of
Reachtaidh Righdhearg of the race of Eibhear, held the sovereignty of
Ireland ten years. He was called Duach Dallta Deaghaidh, for Cairbre
Lusc had two sons, namely Duach and Deaghaidh, and they disputed the
sovereignty of Ireland with one another, for each of these sons was a
fit person for the kingship as regards shape, make, action, and valour.
But Deaghaidh, the youngest of the sons, sought to supplant his elder
brother Duach. When Duach perceived this, he sent messengers for his
brother Deaghaidh; and Deaghaidh came to the place where Duach was;
and when he came into his presence, Duach seized him, and took out his
eyes, so that he was really a blind man; hence the name Duach Dallta
Deaghaidh, 'Duach who blinded Deaghaidh,' clung to him. To set forth
this deed some poet composed this stanza:

Deaghaidh was seized in his house
By Duach, by his brother;
And blinded by violence was
This Deaghaidh, though sorry was the deed.

This Duach fell by Fachtna Fathach son of Cas.

Fachtna Fathach son of Cas, son of Rudhruighe, son of Sithrighe, son
of Dubh, son of Fomhor, son of Airgeadmhar, son of Siorlamh of the
race of Ir son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland sixteen
years; and he fell by Eochaidh Feidhlioch.

Eochaidh Feidhlioch son of Fionn, son of Fionnlogh, son of Roighnen
Ruadh, son of Easaman Eamhna, son of Blathacht, son of Labhraidh Lorc,
son of Eanna Aighneach, son of Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach, son of
Eochaidh Foiltleathan, son of Oilill Caisfhiaclach, son of Connla
Cruaidhchealgach, son of Iarainnghleo Fathach, son of Meilge
Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of the
race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland twelve years. Benia
daughter of Criomhthann was mother of Eochaidh Feidhlioch. He was
called Eochaidh Feidhlioch, for he suffered long from sighing, for
feidhil means 'long,' and uch means 'a sigh,' hence Feidhlioch means
'a long sigh.' For his heart was never without a sigh since he slew
his sons in the Battle of Drom Criaidh until his own death. These
three sons were called the three Finneamhnas. And they were called
Eamhna, from the word amhaon, denying that any one of them was born
alone, they being all born together. And Cloithfhionn daughter of
Eochaidh Uichtleathan, wife of Eochaidh Feidhlioch, was their mother,
and she gave birth to them together. Their names were Breas and Nar
and Lothar. And this Eochaidh Feidhlioch it was who first divided
Ireland into provinces and instituted provincials. For he divided the
province of Connaught into three parts, between three, namely, Fidheac
son of Feig, Eochaidh Allad, Tirane son of Connraidh. He gave to
Fidheac Fir na Craoibhe, from Fidheac to Luimneach; he gave to
Eochaidh Allad Iorrus Domhnann, from Gaillimh to Dubh, and to
Drobhaois; he gave to Tinne son of Connraidh, Magh Sainbh and Sean-
tuatha Taidhean, from Fidheac to Teamhair Bhrogha Niadh; he gave,
moreover, the province of Ulster to Fearghus son of Leide; he gave the
province of Leinster to Rossa son of Fearghus Fairrge; he gave the two
provinces of Munster to Tighearnach Teadbhannach and to Deaghaidh; so
that he brought all Ireland under his own sway and rule during his
reign.

After this, however, Eochaidh went into Connaught; and the three kings
and the people of the three divisions of Connaught came to meet him.
Eochaidh asked of them the site of a royal fortress for himself in
Connaught. Eochaidh Allad and Fidheac said they would not grant him
this, and that they preferred to send him his rent and dues to Tara.
Tinne son of Connraidh, however, the third king, consented to
Eochaidh's having the site of a fortress. Eochaidh gave his own
daughter Meadhbh to wife to Tinne; and they formed a friendly alliance
with one another. Eochaidh Feidhlioch inquired of his druids where he
should build the fortress; and they told him to build it at Druim na
nDruadh, which is called Cruachain. The fort was then begun by the
Gamhanruidh from Iorrus Domhnann; and they made the rampart of that
fort of Eochaidh in one day, as the poet says:

He enjoined on the tribe of Domhnann, in one day
To make and shape the rampart;
The king of Fail of the feasts gave not
Pay to the men for the work.

A residence was then built within it; and Eochaidh gave the kingdom of
Connaught to Tinne son of Connraidh, and gave him his own daughter,
Meadhbh, in marriage. After this Tinne slew Eochaidh Allad, and gave
the kingdom of Domhnann to Oilill Fionn. Now Meadhbh gave the
government of Raith Eochach to Crochain Croidhearg, her own mother;
and it is from this Crochain that the name Cruachain is now given to
Raith Cruachan, as the poet says in this quatrain:

Druim na nDruadh and Tulach Oichne,
And then Raith Eochach was it called;
Raith Cruachan from Crochain Croidhearg,
Who sped great wrath on the plain.

Meadhbh continued for a long time afterwards to be the wife of Tinne
son of Connraidh, till he fell at Tara by the hand of Monuidhir, who
was called;Mac Ceacht. Now Meadhbh held for ten years the sovereignty
of Connaught after Tinne without living with any man publicly, but
living privately with whatever man pleased her fancy. After this
Meadhbh took for her husband Oilill Mor son of Rossa Ruadh, a
Leinsterman. Mada Muirisc, a Connaughtwoman, was his mother. And
Meadbh bore to Oilill seven sons, namely, the seven Maines. And it was
Conall Cearnach who when at Cruachain, in his old age, slew Oilill by
a cast of a javelin; and the men of Connaught followed and slew him to
avenge that deed.

There were war and strife for a long time between the people of
Connaught and those of Ulster while Meadhbh held sway over Connaught,
and Conchubhar was king of Ulster. And in order that thou mayest know,
O reader, the cause of the enmity that existed between them, I shall
set down here how the children of Uisneach were slain in violation of
the guarantee or protection of Fearghus son of Rogh, of Cormac
Conluingeas, and of Dubthach Daol Uladh. The pith of the story is
briefly as follows.



XXXII.

One day Conchubhar, king of Ulster, went to partake of a feast to the
house of Feidhlimidh son of Dall, storyteller to Conchubhar. In the
course of that feast the wife of Feidhlimidh gave birth to a beautiful
daughter; and Cathbhadh the druid, who was present at the assembly on
that occasion, foreboded and foretold of this daughter that great
misfortune and mischief would befall the province on her account. When
the warriors heard this, they sought to put her to death on the spot.
"By no means," said Conchubhar; "but I will take her and put her to
nurse so that she may become my wife." Deirdre was the name that
Cathbhadh the druid gave her. Conchubhar placed her in a dwelling
apart, with a tutor and a nurse to bring her up; and no one in the
province was permitted to go into her presence but her tutor, her
nurse, and Conchubhar's censorious woman, who was called Leabharcham.
She continued under these regulations until she was marriageable, and
until she excelled the women of her time in beauty. One snowy day it
chanced that her tutor killed a calf to prepare food for her; and when
the calf's blood was shed on the snow, a raven began to drink it. And
when Deirdre observed this, she said to Leabharcham that she would
like to have a husband having the three colours she beheld, namely,
his hair of the colour of the raven, his cheek of the colour of the
calf's blood, and his skin of the colour of the snow, "Such a man is
in the household with Conchubhar; he is called Naoise, son of
Uisneach." "Then," said she, "I beseech thee, O Leabharcham, send him
to speak to me in secret"; and Leabharcham informed Naoise of this.
Thereupon Naoise came secretly to visit Deirdre, who revealed to him
how greatly she loved him, and besought him to elope with her from
Conchubhar. Naoise consented to this with reluctance, as he feared
Conchubhar. Himself and his two brothers Ainle and Ardan, having
Deirdre and thrice fifty warriors with them, proceeded to Alba, where
they were maintained in service by the king of Alba till he was
informed of Deirdre's beauty, and asked her for his wife. Naoise and
his brothers became enraged at this, and fled with Deirdre from Alba
to an island in the sea, having previously had many conflicts with the
king's party. Now when the story ran in Ulster that the sons of
Uisneach were in this sad plight, many of the nobles of the province
said to Conchubhar that it was a pity that the sons of Uisneach should
be in exile on account of a wicked woman, and that they should be sent
for and brought back to the country. Conchubhar consented to this at
the request of the nobles; and he gave Fearghus son of Rogh, Dubhthach
Daol Uladh, and Cormac Conluingeas as sureties that he would act
towards them in good faith. Upon these conditions, Fearghus son of
Rogh sent his own son Fiachaidh to the children of Uisneach; and he
brought them and their followers to Ireland, and Deirdre with them;
and no tidings whatever of them are related till they reached the
green of Eamhain.

On the green they were met by Eoghan son of Durrthacht, prince of
Fearnmhagh, accompanied by a large host with intent to deal
treacherously with the children of Uisneach at the direction of
Conchubhar; and when the children of Uisneach arrived, Eoghan went to
bid Naoise welcome, and in welcoming him thrust a spear through him.
When Fiachaidh son of Fearghus saw this, he sprang between Eoghan and
Naoise; and Eoghan dealt his second thrust at Fiachaidh, and slew him,
together with Naoise; and forthwith Eoghan and his host fell upon the
children of Uisneach, and slew them, and made dreadful slaughter upon
their followers.

Now when Fearghus and Dubhthach heard that the children of Uisneach
had been slain in violation of their guarantee, they proceeded to
Eamhain, and came into conflict with the party of Conchubhar, and they
slew Maine son of warriors of his followers. They burned and plundered
Eamhain, and put Conchubhar's women to death; and they and Cormac
Conluingeas assembled their supporters from all sides; and their host
at that time numbered three thousand warriors; and they thence marched
into Connaught to Meadhbh and to Oilill, where they found welcome and
were taken into service. When they had arrived there, there was no
night that they did not send parties of plunderers to ravage and burn
Ulster. They continued to act thus till they ravaged the district of
Cuailgne -- a deed from which sprang much mischief and contention
between the two provinces; and in this manner they passed seven years
without an hour's truce between them. Within that time Fearghus knew
Meadhbh, and she conceived of him, and bore him three sons at one
birth, namely, Ciar, and Corc, and Conmhac, as the poet says:

Meadhbh conceived in fair Cruachain
Of Fearghus, who deserved not reproach,
And brought forth triplets faultless, strong,
Ciar and Corc and Conmhac.

From this Ciar is named Ciarraidhe in Munster, and O Conchubhair
Ciarraidhe is of his progeny. From Corc is named Corca Moruadh; and
from Conmhac is named every Conmhaicne in Connaught; and whoever reads
the poem composed by Lughair, Oilill's poet, beginning, "The children
of Fearghus, children beyond all," he will plainly find that these
three sons of Meadhbh wielded great power and authority in Connaught
and in Munster. This is proved by the territories that are named from
them in these two provinces.

Now as to Deirdre, who gave rise to the events we have narrated, she
remained with Conchubhar a year after the slaying of the children of
Uisneach; and little though it be to raise her head or let a smile
cross her lips, she did not do it during that time. When Conchubhar
saw that neither sport nor kindness had any effect on her, and neither
merriment nor pleasure raised her spirits, he sent for Eoghan son of
Durrthacht, prince of Fearnmhagh; and when Eoghan had come into his
presence, he said to Deirdre that, since he himself was unable to turn
away her mind from her sorrow, she must pass another space of time
with Eoghan; and she was thereupon placed behind Eoghan in his chariot.
Conchubhar went to accompany them; and as they went along, she cast
glances of rage at Eoghan in front of her and at Conchubhar behind
her; for there were no two on earth she hated more than these. And
when Conchubhar perceived her glancing by turns at himself and Eoghan,
he said to her in jest, "Deirdre," said he, "thy glancing at me and at
Eoghan is the glancing of a sheep between two rams." When Deirdre
heard this, she started at the words, and sprang lightly from the
chariot; and her head struck against a ledge of rock that stood before
her on the ground. Her head was broken into fragments, and her brain
straightway issued forth. Thus was brought about the banishment of
Fearghus son of Rogh, and of Cormac Conluingeas son of Conchubhar, of
Dubhthach Daol Uladh, and the death of Deirdre.

As it was in the time of Conchubhar and the heroes that Meadhbh held
the sovereignty of Connaught, and as she lived ten years after the
death of Tinne son of Connraidh, her first husband, and for eighty
years after that was the wife of Oilill Mor, and lived eight years
unmarried after the death of Oilill till she was slain by Forbhuidhe
son of Conchubhar, we shall briefly set down here the manner of death
and some account of the more celebrated of the heroes who lived in the
time of Meadhbh.



XXXIII.
Here follows first a brief summary of the adventure which led to the
death of Conchubhar.

Now at that time, in order to incite champions to be brave in conflict,
it was customary to give a champion's prize as a token of victory to
him who proved the stronger in single combat, and who vanquished his
adversary in the field of valour. From this custom there arose a
contest for the champion's prize between Conall Cearnach, and
Cuchulainn and Laoghaire Buadhach in Eamhain. And Conall asked for the
brain of Meisceadhra, a stout Leinster champion whom he had himself
slain in single combat; and when the brain of that valiant man was
exhibited, Laoghaire and Cuchulainn ceased from their contest with
Conall, as they judged that neither of them had ever done so great a
deed of bravery or valour. It was the custom at that time that when
any champion slew in battle another champion of great fame, he took
the brain out of his head and mixed it with lime, so that he had it in
the shape of a hard round ball to show at meetings and public
assemblies as a trophy of valour. And when two jesters whom Conchubhar
kept noticed how highly everyone prized the brain, they stole it the
next day from Conchubhar's Craobhdhearg. Now there were three
dwellings in Eamhain in Conchubhar's time, namely, Broin Bhearg and
Craobh Dhearg and Craobh Ruaidh. In the first house were their
wounded; and it was called Broin Bhearg, because the wounded who were
in it felt sorrow and distress from the piercing pain of the wounds,
and of the distempers from which they suffered therein. In the second
house, which was called Craobh Dhearg, were kept in safety the arms
and precious valuables; and accordingly Meisceadhra's brain was placed
there for security as any other precious valuable. The third house
that Conchubhar had was called the Craobh Ruaidh. It was in it himself
and all his warriors used to be served.

As to the two jesters, having carried off the brain of Meisceadhra
from the Craobh Dhearg as we have said, they went on the green of
Eamhain, and set to bandying the brain from hand to hand like a ball,
when a fierce wolf of evil to the Ultonians, to wit, Ceat son of Magha,
a valiant Connaughtman, came and coaxed the brain of Meisceadhra from
the jesters, and took it with him to Connaught; and as often as he
went to battle or contend against the Ultonians he was wont to have
the brain of Meisceadhra at his girdle in the hope of bringing
disaster on the Ultonians. For it was foretold that Meisceadhra would
avenge himself on the Ultonians after his death; and he thought it was
by means of the brain this prophecy would be fulfilled. Whence Ceat
was wont to carry the brain of Meisceadhra about with him in the hope
of slaying some one of the nobles of Ulster with it. Now Ceat,
accompanied by a large host, went to plunder Ulster, and carried off a
large herd of cattle from Feara Rois in Ulster; and he was pursued by
a large force of Ultonians; and the men of Connaught flocked eastward
to assist Ceat, and Conchubhar went westward to help the Ultonians.
And when Ceat heard that Conchubhar was in pursuit, he sent word to
the women of Connnaght who were on a hill watching the two hosts
asking them to entice Conchubhar to visit them, as he was a jovial,
affable man, for the Ultonians would not permit him to take part in
the battle against the men of Connaught.

Now when Conchubhar heard that the women wished to see him, he set out
alone from the height on which he was to visit them; while Ceat, on
the other hand, went secretly and got into the midst of the women
waiting in readiness to kill Conchubhar. When, therefore, Conchubhar
was approaching the women, Ceat arose and arranged the brain of
Meisceadhra in his sling to slay Conchubhar. But when the latter saw
Ceat, he retreated to the midst of his own people; and as he was
proceeding to Doire Da Bhaoth, Ceat hurled the brain of Meisceadhra
after him from his sling, and struck him on the crown; and his brain-
pan was broken by that cast, and the brain of Meisceadhra clung to his
skull; and thereupon his followers came up to protect him against Ceat.
They then sent for Finghin Faithliaigh; and when he arrived, he said
that if that ball were extracted from his head he would instantly die.
"We had rather," said they all, "that our king should have a blemish
than that he should die." Finghin cured him, and then told him not to
get into a passion, to avoid sexual intercourse, to avoid riding on
horseback, to abstain from violent exertion -- otherwise, that by the
repelling motion of his own brain, he would hurl the ball from his
head and die.

He was seven years in this state up to the Friday on which Christ was
crucified, according to some seanchas. And when he saw the unwonted
transformation of the elements and the darkening of the sun with the
moon full, he inquired of Bacrach, a Leinster druid who was with him,
what was the cause of that unwonted change in the luminaries of heaven
and earth. "It is that Jesus Christ the Son of God is being put to
death now by the Jews," replied the druid. "That is a pity," said
Conchubhar; "and if I were present, I would slay all that are around
my King putting Him to death." And with that he drew forth his sword,
and went into an oak-wood hard by, and set to cutting and felling it,
saying that, if he were amongst the Jews, he would treat them in the
same way; and through the strength of the fury that seized him the
ball bounded from his head, and a portion of his brain followed it,
and with that he died. Coill Lamhruidhe in Feara Rois is the name of
that wood-thicket.

After Conchubhar's death, the kingdom of Ulster was offered to whoever
should carry his body to Eamhain without resting. A servant of
Conchubhar's named Ceann Bearroide was present, and in the hope of
obtaining the kingdom, took up the body stoutly and carried it to
Ardachadh, in Sliabh Fuaid, but there his heart broke and he died. And
this event has given rise to the saw which says that one seeks the
kingdom of Ceann Bearroide when one aspires ambitiously to a rank
which it is beyond his power to attain.

But though authors relate this story of Conchubhar, alleging that he
was a contemporary of Christ, still, according to the truth of history,
Christ was not born for a long time after Conchubhar; and the truth of
this story is that Bacrach, a Leinster druid, foretold through
prophecy that Christ the Prophesied One, the Son of God, would be
conceived, that He would assume a body, and that the Jews would put
Him to death; and through Him the human race would be delivered from
the tyranny of the evil one. And when Conchubhar heard this, he became
enraged as we have said; and through sympathy with Christ, he set to
cut down the wood of Lamhruidhe as if the trees were the Jews; and he
died of that effort. And if anyone should deem it strange that Bacrach
or any other druid, being Pagan, should foretell the death of Christ,
how was it more fitting for the Sybils, who were Pagans, to have
foretold Christ before His birth than for Bacrach or any of his kind?
Hence the story is not to be thus discredited.



XXXIV.
Of the death of Ceat son of Magha, as follows.

This Ceat was a valiant man and during his life he was an enemy and
constant plunderer of the Ultonians. On a certain day this Ceat
proceeded to Ulster to wreak vengeance as was his wont; and there was
heavy snow at that time; and as he was returning with the heads of
three warriors whom he had slain on that expedition, Conall Cearnach
pursued him and seized him at Ath Ceit. They fought; and Ceat fell in
the conflict; and Conall was severely wounded, and lapsed into a
trance on the spot after he had lost a large quantity of blood.
Thereupon Bealchu of Breithfne, a Connaught champion, came up to the
place of conflict, where he found Ceat dead and Conall on the point of
death, and said that it was well these two wolves who had caused the
ruin of Ireland were in so sad a plight. "That is true," said Conall;
and in retribution for all the injury I have inflicted on Connaught do
thou kill me." Now he said this because he would give the kingdom of
Ireland that some other warrior should wound him so that a single
Connaught warrior should not have the renown of slaying him. "I will
not slay thee," said Bealchu, "since the plight thou art in is almost
as bad as death. However, I will take thee with me and apply remedies
to thee; and if thou recoverest from thy wounds, I will fight thee in
single combat, so that I may avenge on thee all the injury and
affliction thou hast brought on Connaught." Thereupon he placed him in
a litter and took him to his own house, and there applied remedies to
him, until his wounds were healed.

But when Bealchu saw that Conall was recovering and his natural
strength growing in him once more, he became afraid of him, and
arranged for three warriors, his own sons, to slay him treacherously
in bed by night. But Conall got a hint of this treacherous conspiracy;
and on the night for which it was arranged that the sons should come
to commit the murder, Conall said to Bealchu that he must exchange
beds with him, else he would kill him. And accordingly Bealchu lay
against his will in Conall's bed, and Conall lay in Bealchu's bed. And
those three warriors, the sons of Bealchu, came to the bed in which
Conall used to be and slew their father in mistake for Conall. Now
when Conall observed that they had slain their father in mistake for
himself, he sprang upon them and killed all three, and beheaded them
and their father; and on the following day he took their heads to
Eamhain in triumph, and in commemoration of this deed is the following
quatrain from the seanchus:

Among the feats of Conall Cearnach
Was the sack of Manainn, the spoiling of slaves,
And the slaying of the three sons of Bealchu of Breithfne, 
After he had slain Lughaidh son of three hounds.

So far the murder of Ceat son of Magha and of Bealchu of Breithfne and
his three sons. And there are many great deeds besides this that might
be laid to the credit of Conall which we shall leave untold on this 
occasion.

Of the event which led to the death of Fearghus son of Rogh, as
follows.

When Fearghus was in banishment in Connaught, it happened that he was
with Oilill and Meadhbh in Magh Ai, where they had a dwelling-
fortress; and one day, when they went out to the shore of a lake that
was near the lios, Oilill asked Fearghus to go and swim in the lake,
and Fearghus did so. Now, while Fearghus was swimming, Meadhbh was
seized by a desire of swimming with him; and when she had gone into
the lake with Fearghus, Oilill grew jealous; and he ordered a kinsman
of his called Lughaidh Dalleigheas who was, with him to cast a spear
at Fearghus which pierced him through the breast; and Fearghus came
ashore on account of the wound caused by that cast, and extracted the
spear from his body, and cast it in the direction of Oilill; and it
pierced a greyhound that was near his chariot, and thereupon Fearghus
fell and died, and was buried on the shore of the same lake. It was
this Fearghus who slew Fiachna son of Conchubhar, and the champion
Geirrgheann son of Mollaidh, and Eoghan son of Durrthacht, king of
Fearnmhuighe, and many heroes and warriors besides whom we shall not
mention here. It was he also who carried off the great spoil from
Ulster which caused much mischief and discord between Connaughtmen and
Ulstermen, so that the dubhloingeas that went with Fearghus into exile
from Ulster remained seven years in Connaught, or according to others
ten years, spoiling and plundering Ulster on account of the death of
the sons of Uisneach, while the Ulstermen were in the same way making
an onslaught on them and on the men of Connaught on account of the
spoil that Fearghus took from them, as well as every other injury
which the dubhloingeas -- that is, the exile host who went with
Fearghus to Connaught -- and the men of Connaught themselves had done
them; so that the injury and damage they inflicted on one another were
so great that books have been written about them which it would be
tedious to mention, and would take too long to describe here.

The cause which led to the death of Laoghaire Buadhach, as follows.

Conchubhar had a poet called Aodh son of Ainneann, who carried on an
intrigue with Maghain, Conchubhar's wife; and when Conchubhar
discovered this, the judgment he passed on the poet was that he be
drowned in Loch Laoghaire; and at the king's command a company went
with him to drown him. And when Laoghaire Buadhach's steward saw this,
he went to Laoghaire and said that there was no place in Ireland where
the poet could be drowned but at his own door.

Thereupon Laoghaire leaped out, and his poll struck against the upper
door-post of the house, and his skull was broken; after this he made a
sudden onslaught on the company, and slew them, and rescued the poet;
and he himself died on the spot. Such was the end of Laoghaire
Buadhach.



XXXV.
The cause of the death of Meadhbh of Cruachain, as follows.

When Oilill had been slain by Conall Cearnach, Meadhbh went to Inis
Clothrann on Lough Ribh to live; and while she resided there, she was
under an obligation to bathe every morning in the well which was at
the entrance to the island. And when Forbuidhe son of Conchubhar heard
this, he visited the well one day alone, and with a line measured from
the brink of the well to the other side of the lake, and took the
measure with him to Ulster, and practised thus: he inserted two poles
in the ground, and tied an end of the line to each pole, and placed an
apple on one of the poles, and stood himself at the other pole, and
kept constantly firing from his sling at the apple that was on the top
of the pole till he struck it. This exercise he practised until he had
grown so dexterous that he would miss no aim at the apple. Soon after
this there was a meeting of the people of Ulster and Connaught at both
sides of the Shannon at Inis Clothrann; and Forbuidhe came there from
the east with the Ulster gathering. And one morning while he was there,
he saw Meadhbh bathing, as was her wont, in the fore-mentioned well;
and with that he fixed a stone in his sling and hurled it at her, and
struck her in the forehead, so that she died on the spot, having been
ninety-eight years on the throne of Connaught, as we have said above.

Thus far we have digressed into accounts of the heroes who were
contemporaries of Meadhbh. We shall now return to Eochaidh Feidhlioch.
Now, Eochaidh had three sons and three daughters, namely, Breas and
Nar and Lothar, the three sons, and Eithne Uathach, Clothra, and
Meadhbh Cruachan, the three daughters, as the poet says in this
quatrain:

Three daughters had Eochaidh Feidhlioch,
Fame on a lofty seat:
Eithne Uathach, fair Meadhbh of Cruachain,
And Clothra.

We shall come back again to Conchubhar, and set down here part of his
story. His mother was the daughter of Eochaidh Salbhuidhe of Connaught,
who was called Neasa, and he was named from her. And his father was
Fachtna Fathach son of Cas, son of Rudhruighe of the race of Ir son of
Milidh; and when the provincial kings were demanding to have the
boundaries of each separate province fixed, Cairbre Nia Fear, king of
Leinster, in consideration of getting Conchubhar's daughter in
marriage, ceded to Ulster the tract of land that extends from Loch an
Chuighidh in Breagh and from Tara to the sea; and this tract consists
of three cantons, as the poet says:

In the division of Erin into fifths,
Between two seas, great the permission,
Three cantons with his portion
Took Conchubhar, no small, narrow tract.

The lady through whom he gained this increase was named Feidhlim
Nuachrothach; and through force of passion she eloped with Conall
Cearnach from the king of Leinster.

As to Conchubhar he had twenty-one sons; and in a fit of drunkenness
he committed incest with his own mother, and she bore him Cormac
Conluingeas. Now, Cormac is the same as Corbmac, an incestuous son;
for it was through corbadh or incest that Cormac was the offspring of
Conchubhar by his own mother, whose name was Neasa. And in punishment
of this misdeed all his sons died without issue except three, namely,
Beanna, from whom Beanntraighe is named; Lanna, from whom Lannraidhe
is named; and Glaisne, from whom Glasraidhe is named. But there is no
one to-day in Ireland descended from these.

It was this Conchubhar son of Fachtna Fathach and his kinsmen that
fought the Battle of Aonach Macha against Dabhall Dianbhuilleach son
of the monarch of Lochloinn. An innumerable host accompanied the son
of the king of Lochlainn on that occasion on an expedition to invade
Ireland. It was in the province of Ulster they landed, and after that
they proceeded to Magh Macha. The clan Rudhruighe rallied round
Conchubhar against the foreigners, and gave them battle. Then Geanann
Gruadhsholus son of Cathbhadh said to his followers: "Your host is
small, O men of Ulster," he said, "and ye are all young and
beardless." "What shall we do, then?" said they all. "Well," said
Geanann, "bring with you a large quantity of grey wool, and bind fast
the wool to your faces, so that the foreigners may hate and fear you
all the more for this, as if you were chosen warriors." All those who
were amhulchach, that is, those who had not beards, followed the
advice of Geanann. The battle was afterwards fought, and the
foreigners were defeated, and they were slaughtered there; and it was
from this Battle of Aonach Macha that they were called Ulaidh or
Ulstermen.

The death of Conlach son of Cuchulainn, as follows.

It was thus his death was brought about: Cuchulainn went to learn
feats of valour to Scathach, a female champion that lived in Alba; and
there was a fair lady in Scotland at that time called Aoife daughter
of Airdgheim, who cherished a longing affection for Cuchulainn because
of his great fame; and she came to visit him; and they had intercourse
with one another, and she conceived a son. Now, when Cuchulainn was
proceeding to Ireland after having learned the feats of agility from
Scathach, he paid a farewell isit to Aoife, and gave her an ornasc,
that is, a chain of gold, and told her to keep it till her son should
be fit for service; and when he would be fit for service, to send the
chain with him to himself, as a sure token by which to know him; or,
according to others, it was a gold ring, and he told her to send his
son to visit him to Ireland as soon as he should be so strong that his
finger would fill the ring. Furthermore he imposed three restrictions
on the son before his coming to Ireland. The first restriction was
that he should not give way to any hero or champion in the world; the
second restriction that he should not give his name through fear to
any warrior in the world; the third restriction that he should not
refuse single combat to any man on earth, however strong. Now, when
this youth grew up and waxed strong, and when he had learned exercises
of valour and championship from Scathach, the instructress of
champions, he set out for Ireland to visit Cuchulainn, his father; and
when the youth reached land, Conchubhar and the nobles of Ulster were
before him at Tracht Eise; and Conchubhar sent a champion called
Cuinnire to get an account of himself from him; and when he came into
the youth's presence, he asked his name. "I tell my name to no warrior
on earth," said Conlaoch. Then Cuinnire went back to Conchubhar, and
made known to him this answer. Thereupon Cuchulainn went to get an
account from him, but received only the same answer from Conlaoch; and
they engaged in a bloody encounter, and Conlaoch was overpowering
Cuchulainn, great as had been his valour and strength in every battle
up to that time, so that he was forced to go to the nearest ford and
direct Laogh son of Rian Gabhra to get ready the ga bolg for him,
which he sent through Conlaoch's body; and it was thus he died.



XXXVI.

Know, O reader, that if I were to relate here how Cuchulainn fell by 
the sons of Cailitin, and Fear Diadh son of Damhan by Cuchulainn, and
the death of the seven Maines sons of Oilill Mor and of Meadhbh, and
of many other stout heroes who are not mentioned here, a long
narrative would be needed concerning them. But if thou wishest to get
a lengthy account of them, read Brisleach Mhuighe Muirtheimhne;
Oidhidh na gCuradh; or Tain Bo Cuailgne; or Tain Bo Reaghamain; or
Deargruathar Chonaill Chearnaigh; or Feis Eamhnan; or Tain Bo
Fliodhais; or similar tales which are now to be seen in Ireland; and
thou shalt find therein a copious account of the above-mentioned
persons and of many other champions and warriors -- of their history
and adventures.

Nevertheless, I think I should not omit mention of Curaoi son of Daire
here, but should set down the cause of his death, as he was a valiant
man, and a contemporary of Conchubhar and of the heroes. Morann
Mhanannach was mother of Curaoi son of Daire, as the poet says in this
quatrain:

Morann Mhanannach of honour pure,
Daughter of Ir son of Uinnseach,
Sister of Eochaidh Eachbheoil was she,
Mother of Curaoi son of Daire.

There were three orders of champions in Ireland at the same time; and
there lived neither before their time nor ever since a body of the
sons of Milidh who were bigger, stronger, braver, more skilled, more
intrepid on the field of battle, and in exercises of valour and
bravery than they; for the Fian of Leinster were not to be compared
with them. The first order of these were the champions of the Craobh
Ruadh under Conchubhar; the second order the Gamhanruidh of Iorras
Domhnonn under Oilill Fionn; and the third order clanna Deaghaidh
under Curaoi son of Daire in west Munster.

It was thus that the death of Curaoi came about. The champions of the
Craobh Ruadh went to pillage an island in the ocean near Alba called
Manainn, where there was much gold and silver and wealth of various
kinds, and many precious valuables besides; and the lord of the island
had a comely, marriageable daughter who surpassed the women of her
time in form and beauty. Her name was Blanaid. And when Curaoi heard
that the champions were setting out on that expedition, he put on a
disguise by magic, and went with the party; and when they were about
to plunder the island in the guise of jugglers, they apprehended great
difficulty in seizing on the dun which was in the island in which was
Blanaid, and all the precious valuables of the island, both on account
of its strength and of the great skill in magic of those who were
defending it. Then Curaoi, who was disguised as a man with a grey
cloak, said that if he got his choice of the valuables in the dun he
would capture it for them. Cuchulainn promised him this; and thereupon 
they attacked the dun with the man in the grey cloak at their head. He
stopped the magic wheel that was in motion at the door of the fortress,
and enabled all to enter; and they plundered the dun, and took from it
Blanaid and all the precious valuables it contained. They thence set
out for Ireland and reached Eamhain; and as they were dividing the
valuables, the man in the grey cloak asked for the valuable he should
choose as was promised to him. "Thou shalt have it," said Cuchulainn.
"Well, then," said he, "Blanaid is my choice of the valuables." "Thou
mayst have thy choice of the other valuables excepting only Blanaid."
"I will not accept any but her," said the man of the grey coat.
Thereupon Curaoi sought an opportunity of carrying off Blanaid, and,
seizing her unperceived, he bore her off in an enchanted mask. When
Cuchulainn noticed that the lady was missing, he concluded that it was
Curaoi who carried her off, and he pursued them by direct route to
Munster, and overtook them at Solchoid; and the champions grappled
with one another and engaged in strong, valorous wrestling; and
Cuchulainn was brought to the ground by Curaoi, who inflicted on him
the binding of the five smalls[450], and left him there a bound
captive, having cut off his hair with his sword; and, leaving
Cuchulainn bound as we have said, he took Blanaid with him to west
Munster. But after this Laogh son of Rian of Gabhra came and unbound
Cuchulainn; and they proceeded thence to the north of Ulster, and
settled down beside Beanna Boirche for a year without coming to a
meeting of the men of Ulster until Cuchulainn's hair grew; and at the
end of that year Cuchulainn happened to be on Beanna Boirche, and he
saw a large flock of black birds coming southwards from the surface of
the ocean; and when they reached land he pursued them, and slew with
his sling, by the exercise called taithbheim or 'return-stroke,' a
bird out of each country, till he killed the last black bird of them
at Sruibh Broin in west Munster; and as he was returning eastwards, he
found Blanaid alone beside the Fionnghlaise in Ciarraidhe, where
Curaoi's dwelling-fortress stood at that time. A conversation then
took place between them; and she made known to him that there was not
on the face of the earth a man she loved more than him, and asked him
to come on the following Samhain with a full host and carry her off by
fraud or force; and that he might the more easily do this, she would
bring about that Curaoi should at that time have but few warriors and
attendants. Cuchulainn promised to come to fetch her at that time.
Thereupon he bade her farewell, and proceeded to Ulster, and gave
Conchubhar an account of the incident.

As to Blanaid, she told Curaoi that he ought to build a stone fortress
for himself which would excel all the royal fortresses of Ireland, and
that the way in which that could be done was to send the clanna
Deaghaidh to collect and bring together all the large stones that were
standing in Ireland for the purpose of making a stone fortress for
himself. And Blanaid's object in this was that clanna Deaghaidh might
be scattered through the distant regions of Ireland far from Curaoi
when Cuchulainn should come to carry her off. Now when Cuchulainn
heard that clanna Deaghaidh were thus dispersed throughout Ireland, he
set out secretly from Ulster with an army, and no tidings are recorded
of him till he reached the oak wood that lay beside Curaoi's fortress;
and when he arrived there, he sent word privately to Blanaid that he
was there with an army; and the sign she sent him was that she would
steal Curaoi's sword, and would thereupon pour a vat of new milk that
was in the lios into the stream which was flowing from the homestead
through the wood in which Cuchulainn was. Not long after he was
informed of this token he saw the stream become white from the milk;
and with that they attacked the fortress and sprang upon Curaoi in the
lios and slew him alone and unarmed as he was. And the river referred
to was called Fionnghlaise, through its having become white from the
milk.

Curaoi's poet, who was called Feircheirtne, went after Blanaid to
Ulster in the hope of getting an opportunity of slaying her to avenge
Curaoi; and on reaching Ulster he found Conchubhar and Cuchulainn and
Blanaid, with a large assembly round them, at Ceann Beara point; and
when the poet saw Blanaid standing there on the brink of a precipice,
he went towards her and twined his arms round her, and cast himself
and herself suddenly down the precipice, and thus they were both
killed.



XXXVII.

Eochaidh Airiomh son of Fionn, son of Fionnlogha, son of Roighnen
Ruadh, son of Easamhan Eamhna, son of Blathacht, son of Labhraidh Lorc,
son of Eanna Aighneach, son of Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach, son of
Eochaidh Foiltleathan, son of Oilill Caisfhiaclach, son of Connla
Cruaidhchealgach, son of Iarainnghleo Fathach, son of Meilge Molbthach,
son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of
Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland twelve years. He was called
Eochaidh Airiomh because it was he who first dug a cave in Ireland.
Now Airiomh is the same as ar uaimhe, that is, 'the ploughing or
digging of a cave'; and finally this Eochaidh fell by Siodhmall in
Freamhainn Teathbha.

Eidirsceol son of Eoghan, son of Oilill, son of Iar, son of Deaghaidh,
son of Sin, son of Roisin, son of Triun, son of Roithriun, son of
Airndil, son of Maine, son of Forga, son of Fearadhach, son of Oilill
Erann, son of Fiachaidh Fear Mara, son of Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach,
son of Eochaidh Foiltleathan, son of Oilill Caisfhiaclach, son of
Connla Cruaidhchealgach, son of Iarannghleo Fathach, son of Meilge
Molbhthach, son of Cobhthach Caol mBreagh, son of Ughaine Mor of the
race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland six years. and he
fell by Nuadha Neacht in Aillinn.

Nuadha Neacht son of Seadna Siothbhac, son of Lughaidh Loithfhionn,
son of Breasal Breac, son of Fiachaidh Foibhric, son of Oilill Glas,
son of Fearadhach Foghlas, son of Nuadha Fullon, son of Ealloit, son
of Art, son of Mogh Art, son of Criomhthann Coscrach, son of
Fearadhach Fionn, son of Feilimidh Foirthriun, son of Fearghus
Fortamhail, son of Breasal Breoghaman, son of Aonghus Ollamh, son of
Oilill Bracan, son of Labhraidh Loingseach, son of Oilill Aine, son of
Laoghaire Lorc, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland half a year. He was called Nuadha Neacht, from
the word nix, that is, 'snow'; for the whiteness of his skin was
likened to snow. And this Nuadha fell by Conaire Mor son of Eidirsceol.

Conaire Mor son of Eidirsceol, son of Eoghan, son of Oilill, son of
Iar, son of Deaghaidh, son of Sin, son of Roisin, son of Triun, son of
Roithriun, son of Airndil, son of Maine, son of Forga, son of
Fearadhach, son of Oilill Erann, son of Fiachaidh Fear Mara, son of
Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland thirty years, or, according to others, seventy
years.

This Conaire Mor was the first who exacted from the Leinstermen the
eiric of his father, Eidirsceol. The following exacted the same eiric
from the Leinstermen, namely, Oilill Olom, Eoghan son of Oilill,
Fiachaidh Muilleathan, Oilill Flann Beag, Lughaidh son of Oilill Flann
Beag, and Corc son of Lughaidh. The amount of this eiric was three
hundred white cows, three hundred mantles, three hundred hogs, and
three hundred golden swords; and they joined Osruighe with Munster,
that is, from Gabhran to Grian Airbh beside Moin Eile; and they gave
all the elements as guarantee that they would pay that eiric for ever,
as the seancha says in this stanza:

Osruighe from Gabhran to Grian
Was joined, on account of Eidirsceol's eiric,
With Munster, select her choice,
It was Conaire who made the agreement.

Understand, O reader, that the Earna of Munster, and the Dal Riada of
Alba, are descendants of this Conaire, and that it was in the time of
Duach Dallta Deaghaidh that the Earna came to Munster; and according
to Cormac, in his Psalter, it was the clanna Rudhruighe who banished
them to Munster after they had defeated them in eight battles; and
they acquired great power in Munster after that from the time of Duach
Dallta Deaghaidh to the time of Mogh Nuadhat; so that, according to
the Book of Munster, they drove the race of Eibhear back to the
territory of Ui Rathach to the borders and the islands of west Munster,
having acquired the sovereignty of the region for themselves, which
they held up to the time of Mogh Nuadhat, by whom they were expelled;
and finally this Conaire Mor fell in Bruighean Da Bhearg by Aingceal
Caoch son of the king of Britain.

Lughaidh Riabh nDearg son of the three Finneamhnas, son of Eochaidh
Feidhlioch, son of Fionn, son of Fionnlogha, son of Roighnen Ruadh,
son of Easamhan Eamhna, son of Blathacht, son of Labhraidh Lorc, son
of Eanna Aighneach, son of Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach of the race of
Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland twenty years, or, according
to others, twenty-six years. Dearbhorgaill daughter of Fargall, king
of Lochloinn, was wife of Lughaidh Riabh nDearg. He was called
Lughaidh Riabh nDearg because there was a red circle round his neck,
and another circle round his waist; for he was the offspring, in their
drunkenness, of the three Fionns by their sister who was called
Clothra daughter of Eochaidh Feidhlioch; and as a setting forth of
this deed is the following historical stanza from which it will be
understood that it was this Clothra who bore Lughaidh Riabh nDearg to
her brothers that also bore Criomhthann Nia Nar to this same Lughaidh
who was her own son. Here is the stanza:

Lughaidh Riabh nDearg to fair Criomhthann
Was father and was brother;
And Clothra of the comely form
Was grandmother to her son.

At that time it was believed that what was above the upper circle of
Lughaidh Riabh nDearg resembled the one of the youths who was called
Nar, and that what was between the two circles resembled Breas, and
that what was below the waist resembled Lotar. This Lughaidh died by
falling on his sword, which cut him through.

Conchubhar Abhradhruadh son of Fionn File, son of Rossa Ruadh, son of
Fearghus Fairrge, son of Nuadha Neacht, son of Seadna Siothbhac, son
of Lughaidh Loithfhionn, son of Breasal Breac, son of Fiachaidh
Foibhric, son of Oilill Glas, son of Fearadhach Foghlas, son of Nuadha
Fullon, son of Ealloit, son of Art, son of Mogh Airt, son of
Criomhthann Coscrach, son of Feilimidh Foirthriun, son of Fearghus
Fortamhail, son of Breasal Breoghaman, son of Aonghus Ollamh, son of
Oilill Bracan, son of Labhraidh Loingseach, son of Oilill Aine, son of
Laoghaire Lorc, son of Ughaine Mor of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland one year. And he was called Conchubhar
Abhradhruadh because he had red eyelashes; and in the end he fell by
Criomhthann Nia Nar.



XXXVIII.

Criomhthann Nia Nar son of Lughaidh Riabh nDearg, son of the three
Finneamhnas, son of Eochaidh Feidhlioch, son of Fionn, son of
Fionnlogha, son of Roighnen Ruadh, son of Easamhan Eamhna, son of
Blathacht, son of Laoghaire Lorc, son of Eanna Aighneach, son of
Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland sixteen years. He was called Criomhthann Nia
Nar, for nia is the same as 'champion' or 'brave man'; and he was
called Nar, 'ashamed,' for he felt ashamed of being the offspring of
his brother and mother. It was in the twelfth year of the reign of
Criomhthann Nia Nar that Christ was born. This Criomhthann met his
death by a fall from his horse, soon after which he expired.

Fearadhach Fionn Feachtnach son of Criomhthann Nia Nar, son of
Lughaidh Riabh nDearg, son of the three Finneamhnas, son of Eochaidh
Feidhlioch of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twenty years. Nar Tuathchuach daughter of Loch son of Daire of
Cruitheantuaith was the mother of Fearadhach Feachtnach. He was called
Fearadhach Feachtnach because justice and truth were maintained in
Ireland in his time. For feachtnach means 'truthful.' It was in his
reign that Morann son of Maon lived, the just judge who possessed the
Morann collar; and one of the virtues of this collar was that whoever
wore it round his neck while delivering an unjust judgment the collar
would close in tightly on his neck till he delivered a just judgment.
It behaved similarly as regards one who came to give false testimony
until he had confessed the truth. From this collar comes the old saw,
that is, when one orders that Morann's collar be round the neck of one
giving evidence so that he might tell the truth; and Fearadhach
Feachtnach died in Liath Druim.

Fiatach Fionn, a quo the Dal bhFiatach, son of Daire, son of Dluthach,
son of Deitsin, son of Eochaidh, son of Sin, son of Roisin, son of
Triun, son of Roithriun, son of Airndil, son of Maine, son of Forga,
son of Fearadhach, son of Oilill Earann, son of Fiachaidh Fear Mara,
son of Aonghus Tuirbheach Teamhrach of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland three years; and he fell by Fiachaidh
Fionnoladh.

Fiachaidh Fionnoladh son of Fearadhach Fionn Feachtnach, son of
Criomhthann Nia Nar, son of Lughaidh Riabh nDearg, son of the three
Finneamhnas, son of Eochaidh Feidhlioch of the race of Eireamhon, held
the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-seven years. He is called Fiachaidh
Fionnoladh, for oladh is a name for a cow, and most of the cows of
Ireland were white (fionn) in his time; hence he was called Fiachaidh
Fionnoladh. Know that, according to Stowe's Chronicle, there were
Scots residing in Alba in the year of the Lord 73, very soon after
Fiachaidh Fionnoladh held the sovereignty of Ireland, and that was
before Cairbre Riada lived. And this Fiachaidh was treacherously slain
by the rustic tribes of Ireland.

Cairbre Chinn Chait son of Dubhthach, son of Rudhruighe, son of
Diochun Uairiodhnach, son of Tat Teadhmannach, son of Luaighne
Laidhcinn, son of Oiris Eachlonnach, son of Earndolbh, son of Rionnal
Dagharmagh, son of the king of Lochloinn, who came with Labhraidh
Loingseach to the fortress of Tuaim Teannbhaoth, and others say that
he was of the Fir Bolg, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland; he reigned
five years, and died of the plague. And he was called Cairbre Chinn
Chait because his ears were like the ears of a cat, as the poet says
in this stanza:

Thus was Cairbre the hardy,
Who ruled Ireland south and north:
Two cat's ears on his fair head,
Cat's fur upon his ears.

Cairbre obtained the sovereignty of Ireland in this manner. The serfs
or rustic tribes of all Ireland devised a treacherous plot against the
king and the nobles of the country; and they resolved to carry out
this plot by getting ready a feast to be given to the kings and the
nobles of Ireland; and the place in which that feast was given was
Magh Cru in Connaught; and they were three years preparing it, and
during that time they set apart a third of their crops with a view to
the feast; and the free tribes of Ireland came to partake of it; and
with them came three kings, namely, Fiachaidh Fionnoladh, king of
Ireland, whose wife was Eithne daughter of the king of Alba; Feig son
of Fidheic Caoch, king of Munster, whose wife was Beartha daughter of
Goirtniad, king of Britain; Breasal son of Firb, king of Ulster, whose
wife was the daughter of the king of Sacsa; her name was Aine, and her
father's name was Cainneall. The rustic tribes had three chiefs,
namely, Monach, Buan, and Cairbre Gaitcheann; and this Cairbre was
chief of them all. They had been partaking of the feast for nine days
when at length the rustic tribes sprang upon the free tribes of
Ireland and slew them, so that they all fell by them on the spot,
except the three unborn children who were in the wombs of the three
wives of the three kings we have mentioned. Now
 the women fled to Alba, and there gave birth to three sons, namely,
Tuathal Teachtmhar, Tiobraide Tireach, and Corb Olom. As to Ireland
great famine and failure of crops and much adversity came upon that
country. And this continued to be her lot till the three sons of the
three kings they had treacherously slain were able to bear arms. And
when the men of Ireland heard that the three sons of these kings were
living, they sent envoys to them asking them to assume the sovereignty
which their ancestors had held before them; and they gave the sun and
moon as surety or guarantee that they would yield them obedience and
be faithful to them evermore. Upon this the youths came, and accepted
the inheritance of their fathers; and this brought back again her 
usual prosperity to Ireland. And Cairbre Chinn Chait died of the
plague.

Eilim son of Connra, son of Rossa Ruadh, son of Rudhruighe, son of
Sithrighe, son of Dubh, son of Fomhor, son of Airgeadmhar, son of
Siorlamh, son of Fionn, son of Bratha, son of Labhraidh, son of
Cairbre, son of Ollamh Fodla of the race of Ir son of Milidh, held the
sovereignty of Ireland twenty years; and he fell by Tuathal Teachtmhar
in the Battle of Aichill.



XXXIX.

Tuathal Teachtmhar son of Fiachaidh Fionnoladh, son of Fearadhach
Fionn Feachtnach, son of Criomhthann Nia Nar, son of Lughaidh Riabh
nDearg, son of the three Finneamhnas, son of Eochaidh Feidhlioch of
the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland thirty years.
He was called Tuathal Teachtmhar, as every good came in his time. Now
Fiachaidh Fionnoladh left no issue but one son, who was called Tuathal
Teachtmhar; and that son was in the womb of Eithne daughter of the
king of Alba, who escaped by flight from the destruction of Magh Cru
in Connaught, when the Athachthuaith slew Fiachaidh Fionnoladh and the
free tribes of Ireland. And after the birth of Tuathal in Alba he was
brought up and educated in politeness there till he had reached the
age of twenty-five years; and during that time Ireland had been in
adversity; and the Athachthuaith being in a great difficulty went and
consulted their druids as to the cause and origin of the adversity in
which Ireland was at that time, and as to the way in which she might
be freed from it. The druids replied that the cause of her adversity
was that they had acted treacherously towards the kings and the free
tribes of Ireland, and added that her wonted prosperity would not come
back to Ireland until some one of the descendants of those kings who
were slain assumed the sovereignty of the country; And it was about
this time that the Athachthuaith heard that there was in Scotland a
son of Fiachaidh Fionnoladh, whose name was Tuathal Teachtmhar; and a
large party of the Athachthuaith took counsel together, and they
agreed to send envoys to Tuathal to Alba. There were also companies of
the remnant of the free races of Ireland, namely, clann an Duinn Deasa
of Leinster, Fiachaidh Casan and Fionnbhall his brother, and six
hundred pirates with them, devastating Ireland to avenge the treachery
of the Athachthuaith towards the kings and free tribes of Ireland.

When Tuathal Teachtmhar heard these tidings, he set out for Ireland
with his mother, Eithne daughter of the king of Alba, accompanied by a
large host. Tuathal was twenty-five years of age at that time. And
they put into port at Iorrus Domhnann, where they met Fiachaidh Casan
with his brother. Thence they proceeded to Tara, and there assembled
their supporters from all parts of Ireland to meet Tuathal, and they
proclaimed him king of Ireland. Eilim son of Connra, who at that time
held the sovereignty of Ireland, having been elected by the
Athachthuaith after the death of Cairbre Chinn Chait, came and fought
the Battle of Aichill against Tuathal. In that battle Eilim and the
Athachthuaith were defeated, and himself and the greater part of his
army slain. Then Tuathal and his supporters went against the
Athachthuaith throughout Ireland, and defeated them in twenty-five
battles in Ulster, and twenty-five battles in Leinster, and twenty-
five battles in Connaught, and thirty-five battles in Munster.

When Tuathal had won these battles, and rescued the free races of
Ireland from the tyranny of the Athachthuaith, he convened the Feis of
Tara; as it is customary for every king in the beginning of his reign
to convene and bring together a great general assembly to regulate the
laws and customs of the country. Then the nobles of the Gael from
every province in Ireland came to him, and accepted him as their king,
as he had delivered them from the slavery of the serfs and the
Athachthuaith; and they pledged themselves by the elements, that they
would leave the sovereignty of Ireland to himself, and to his children,
as had formerly been promised to Ughaine Mor.

It was then, too, that he was given four portions of the provinces,
out of which he made the present Meath, as the peculiar territory of
the successive high kings of Ireland. For, although Meath was the name
of the territory which is beside Uisneach from the time of the
children of Neimhidh to the time of Tuathal, still Meath was not the
name of the portions that were taken from the provinces until the time
of Tuathal, and he made it into a territory distinct from the
provinces.

Now, when Tuathal had put these four parts together and made them into
one territory called Meath, he built therein four chief fortresses,
that is, a fortress in each of the portions. Accordingly he built
Tlachtgha in the portion of Munster which goes with Meath; and it was
there the Fire of Tlachtgha was instituted, at which it was their
custom to assemble and bring together the druids of Ireland on the eve
of Samhain to offer sacrifice to all the gods. It was at that fire
they used to burn their victims; and it was of obligation under
penalty of fine to quench the fires of Ireland on that night, and the
men of Ireland were forbidden to kindle fires except from that fire;
and for each fire that was kindled from it in Ireland the king of
Munster received a tax of a screaball, or three-pence, since the land
on which Tlachtgha is belongs to the part of Munster given to Meath.

On the portion he had acquired from the province of Connaught he built
the second fortress, namely Uisneach, where a general meeting of the
men of Ireland used to be held, which was called the Convention of
Uisneach, and it was at Bealltaine that this fair took place, at which
it was their custom to exchange with one another their goods, their
wares, and their valuables. They also used to offer sacrifice to the
chief god they adored, who was called Beil; and it was their wont to
light two fires in honour of Beil in every district in Ireland, and to
drive a weakling of each species of cattle that were in the district
between the two fires as a preservative to shield them from all
diseases during that year; and it is from that fire that was made in
honour of Beil that the name of Bealltaine is given to the noble
festival on which falls the day of the two Apostles, namely, Philip
and James; Bealltaine, that is Beilteine, or the fire of Beil. The
horse and the trappings of every chieftain who came to the great
meeting of Uisneach were to be given as a tax to the king of Connaught,
as the place in which Uisneach is belongs to the part of the province
of Connaught given to Meath.

The third fortress which Tuathal built, called Taillte, is in the
portion of the province of Ulster joined to Meath; and it was here the
fair of Taillte was held, in which the men of Ireland were wont to
form alliances of marriage and friendship with one another. And a most
becoming custom was observed in that assembly, namely, the men kept
apart by themselves on one side, and the women apart by themselves on
the other side, while their fathers and mothers were making the
contract between them; and every couple who entered into treaty and
contract with one another were married, as the poet says:

The men must not approach the women,
Nor the women approach the fair bright men,
But every one modestly biding apart
In the dwelling of the great fair.

Although it was Lughaidh Lamhfhada that first instituted the fair of
Taillte as a yearly commemoration of his own foster-mother, Taillte
daughter of Maghmor, king of Spain, who was the wife of Eochaidh son
of Earc, the last king of the Fir Bolg, as we have said above -- now
when Taillte had been buried by Lughaidh in that mound he inaugurated
the fair of Taillte as a nasadh or commemoration of her; it was for
that reason that the name of Lughnasa, that is the gracious nasadh or
commemoration, was given to the first day of August, on which is now
held the feast of the Chains of Peter -- although the mound and fair
of Taillte existed from the time of Lughaidh Lamhfhada, still Taillte
was not .a royal fortress till the time of Tuathal Teachtmhar. Now
since the place in which Taillte is belongs to the part that was taken
from the province of Ulster, the tax on the fair of Taillte went to
the king of Ulster. This was the amount of that tax, namely, an ounce
of silver for each couple that got married there.

The fourth royal fortress, Tara, is situated in the part of Leinster
given to Meath, and there the Feis of Tara was held every third year
after the sacrifice had been offered to all the gods at Tlachtgha (as
we have said) as a prelude to that royal assembly called the Feis of
Tara, at which they were wont to institute laws and customs, and to
confirm the annals and the records of Ireland, so that the ardollamhs
might inscribe all that was approved of them in the Roll of the kings,
which was called the Psalter of Tara; and every custom and record that
was in Ireland that did not agree with that chief book were not
regarded as genuine. We shall not give here in detail the laws or the
customs that were severally ordained at the Feis of Tara, for the
books of the Breithemhnas Tuaithe are full of them. I shall only give
here the custom that was instituted at the Feis of Tara regarding the
placing of the nobles and warriors for meals in the banquet-halls when
they met for a feast.

There was indeed no doctor of seanchus in Ireland who did not write in
the Roll of Tara the names of the nobles who were lords of territories,
each according to his rank and title as regulated at the Feis of Tara,
and every leader of those bands of warriors who had free quartering
for the defence and protection of the lands of Ireland, had his name
similarly inscribed by the ollamh; and there was none of these, either
territorial lords or leaders of bands of warriors, who was not
accompanied by a shield-bearer. Moreover, the banquet-halls they had
were narrow and long, with tables along the side-walls. Along each of
these side-walls there was placed a beam in which there were numerous
hooks above the seats on which the company used to sit, with only the
breadth of a shield between each two of the hooks, and on these hooks
the seancha hung the shields of the nobles and of the warriors before
they sat down, each under his own shield, both nobles and warriors.
But the territorial lords had the choice of a side, and the leaders of
warriors had the other side; the upper end of the hall was occupied by
the ollamhs, and the other end by the attendants who waited on the
company.

It was also their custom that no one should sit immediately opposite
to another, but that all, both territorial lords and leaders of
warriors, should have their backs to the wall and sit each under his
own shield. It was their custom also not to have women in the banquet-
halls, but they were given a separate apartment in which they were
served. It was, moreover, their custom, before the company were served,
to clear out or empty the banquet-hall, so that only three remained in
it, namely, a seancha, a bollsaire, that is a marshal of the house,
and a trumpeter who had a trumpet or horn to call all the guests to
the banquet-hall. He sounded his trumpet three times. The first time
he sounded it, the shield-bearers of the nobles assembled at the door
of the banquet-hall; and the bollsaire took the shield of each noble
according to his title, and placed, according to the direction of the
seancha, each of the shields in its own appointed place. The trumpeter
sounded his trumpet a second time, and the shield-bearers of the
leaders of warriors assembled at the door of the banquet-hall; and the
bollsaire took the shields from them and placed each shield, according
to the direction of the seancha, at the other side of the house, over
the warriors' table. Then the trumpeter sounded his trumpet the third
time; and thereupon the nobles and warriors assembled in the banquet-
hall, and each of them sat beneath his own shield, so that there was
no contention or disagreement



XL.
It was this Tuathal Teachtmhar of whom we are speaking who imposed the
'Boraimhe' on the people of Leinster, as a tax to avenge the death of
his two daughters, whose names were Fithir and Dairine. Now, there was
a king over Leinster whose name was Eochaidh Aincheann, and he married
Dairine, daughter of Tuathal Teachtmhar, and took her to Leinster to
his own fortress, that is to Magh Luadhat; and some time after that he
went to Tara, and told Tuathal that Dairine had died, and asked him to
give him his other daughter, that is Fithir, and Tuathal gave her to
him, and he took her to Leinster to his own fortress; and when Fithir
saw her sister Dairine alive before her, her soul quitted her body
suddenly through shame; and Dairine having come to lament her died of
her grief on the spot. And it was to relate this that the poet
composed the following stanza:

Fithir and Dairine
Two daughters of princely Tuathal;
Fithir died of shame,
Dairine died of her grief.

Now when Tuathal heard of the death of the two ladies he became
enraged, and sent out messengers in all directions to the nobles of
Ireland to complain of the treachery which the king of Leinster had
practised against him; and accordingly the nobles of Ireland gave aid
in warriors and auxiliaries to Tuathal with a view to avenge this
outrage; and when Tuathal resolved to plunder and despoil the people
of Leinster though they were unable to meet him in the field, they
agreed to pay a tribute, themselves and their descendants after them,
to Tuathal, and to each king who should succeed him, as a retribution
for the death of these ladies.

The following is the amount of the tribute that was paid every second
year by the Leinstermen to the kings of Ireland as a penalty for the
death of the children of Tuathal, namely, three score hundred cows,
three score hundred ouunces of silver, three score hundred mantles,
three score hundred hogs, three score hundred wethers, three score
hundred bronze caldrons. And this tribute was thus divided:-- a third
part of it to the men of Connaught, a third to the Oirghialla, and a
third to the Ui Neill. The tract entitled Boraimhe Laighean speaks
thus in the following verses:

Three score hundred kine with spancels,
Gifts without fault,
With three score hundred ounces
Of silver in addition,

With three score hundred fine mantles
Of largest measure,
With three score hundred large hogs
Of lusty strength,

With three score hundred wethers,
Generous gift,
With three score hundred brazen caldrons
As a bright ornament.

A third part to the men of Connaught,
The ancient law,
A third part to the Oirghilla,
A third to the Ui Neill.

This was the tribute called Boraimhe Laighean, and it was in force
during the reigns of forty kings who ruled Ireland, that is from the
time of Tuathal Teachtmhar to the time that Fionnachta held the
sovereignty of Ireland, as the poet says in this stanza:

There were forty kings
Who carried off the Boromha
From the time of Tuathal Tlachtgha
To the time of Fear Fionnachta.

It was Moling who got it remitted by means of the respite until Monday
which he got from Fionnachhta; but the Monday Moling meant was the
Monday of thee Day of Judgment. The Leinstermen paid this tribute
submissively at times, but at other times they would not consent to
pay it, whence arose much strife and conflict between both parties, in
which a great number of the nobles of Ireland fell on either side. And
Tuathal Teachmthar fell by Mall son of Rochruidhe.

Mal son of Rochruidhe, son of Cathbhadh, son of Giallchaidh Fionn, son
of Fionnchadh, son of Muireadhach, son of Fiachna Fionnamhnas, son of
Irial Glunmhar, son of Conall Cearnach, son of Aimhirgin Iairghiunach,
son of Cas Trillseach, son of Cas, son of Fachtna, son of Capa, son of
Gionga, son of Rudhruighe Mor from whom clanna Rudhruighe are called,
of the race of Ir son of Milidh, held the sovereignty of Ireland four
years, and he fell by Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar.

Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar son of Tuathal Teachtmhar, son of Fiachaidh
Fionnoladh, son of Fearadhach Fionn Feachtnach, son of Criomhthain Nia
Nar, son of Lughaidh Riabh nDearg, son of the three Finneamhnas, sons
of Eochaidh Feidhlioch of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty
of Ireland nine years. Baine daughter of Scal Balbh, wife of Tuathal
Teachtmhar, was the mother of Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar, and he was
called Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar through the excellence of the legal
judgments delivered in Ireland in his time. Now, the law Feidhlimidh
ordained in his own time in Ireland resembled the law which is called
in Latin lex talionis; this means that when one injures or wounds
another a similar infliction would be visited on himself in
retribution; thus trespass for trespass, a cow for a cow, a hand for a
hand, a leg for a leg, an eye for an eye, and so on for every other
injury beginning from these. And the result of this lawwas that the
men of Ireland improved in their behaviour in the time of Feidhlimidh,
whence he was called Feidhiimidh Reachtmhar. And at length this man
died on his pillow.

Cathaoir Mor son of Feidhlimidh Fiorurghlas, son of Cormac Gealta
Gaoth, son of Nia Corb, son of Cu Corb, son of Mogh Corb, son of
Conchubhar Abhradhruadh, son of Fionn File, son of Rossa Ruadh, son of
Fearghus Fairrge, son of Nuadha Neacht, son of Seadna Siothbhac, son
of Lughaidh Loithfhionn, son of Breasal Breac, son of Fiachaidh
Foibhric, son of Oilill Glas, son of Fearadhach Foghlas, son of Nuadha
Fullon, son of Ealloit, son of Art, son of Mogh Airt, son of
Criomhthann Coscrach,son of Feidhlimidh Foirthriun, son of Fearghus
Fortamhail, son of Breasal Breodhamhan, son of Aonghus Ollamh. son of
Oilill Bracain, son of Labhraidh Loingseach of the race of Eireamhon,
held the sovereignty of Ireland three years. Now Cathaoir had thirty
sons, as the poet says in this stanza:

Thirty sons, good the progeny,
Sprang from Cathaoir of Cuala;
Thrice ten -- a beauteous company,
A troop of champions with stout spears.

But twenty of these children went without issue, and the other ten had
issue. Here are the names of the sons who had issue:-- Rossa
Failgheach senior of the sons who had issue, Daire Barrach, Breasal
Einiochghlas, Fearghus, Oilill, Criomhthann, Deargmhosach, Eochaidh
Teimhin, Aonghus, and Fiachaidh Aiceadha, the youngest of the children,
although it was his descendants who mostly held the sovereignty of
Leinster. From Fiachaidh Aiceadha son of Cathaoir Mor sprang O Broin
and O Tuathail; from Breasal Bealach son of Fiachaidh Aiceadha sprang
Mac Murchadha; from Rossa Failgheach son of Cathaoir Mor sprang O
Conchubhair Failghe and O Diomasaigh and O Duinn and clan Colgan, as
we shall afterwards state when we are giving the genealogy of the sons
of Milidh. And this Cathaoir Mor fell by Conn Ceadchathach in the
Battle of Magh hAgha.

Conn Ceadchathach son of Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal
Teachtmhar of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland
twenty years, and was treacherously slain in the district of Tara,
being found alone there by Tiobraide Tireach son of Mal, son of
Rochruidhe, king of Ulster. Indeed Tiobraide sent fifty warriors
disguised as women to slay him; and it was from Eamhain they set out
to do that treacherous deed. Una daughter of the king of Lochloinn was
the mother of this Conn. Mogh Nuadhat wrested half of Ireland from
this Conn, having defeated him in ten battles. Sioda daughter of Flann
son of Fiachaidh, one of the Earna, was the mother of Mogh Nuadhat.
The contest between Mogh Nuadhat and Conn arose in this way: The Earna
of the race of Fiachaidh Fear Mara of the race of Eireamhon had gained
supremacy in Munster over the race of Eibhear, so that three of them
held conjointly the sovereignty of all Munster, namely, Lughaidh
Eallaightheach, Daire Dornmhar, and Aonghus. And when Mogh Nuadhat saw
the race of Eireamhon holding the sovereignty of Munster, he proceeded
to Leinster, where he had been brought up by Daire Barrach son of
Cathoir Mor, and brought thence a numerous host from Daire to assist
him in recovering the kingdom of Munster, which was his birthright. He
first turned to Ui Liathain in the south of Munster, where the above-
mentioned Aonghus had established his sway, and Mogh Nuadhat defeated
him, and drove him from the territory, so that he went to seek the aid
of Conn, who gave him five battalions, that is, fifteen thousand
fighting men. With this host he proceeded to the territory of Ui
Liathain, where Mogh Nuadhat fought against him the Battle of Ard
Neimhidh, in which he defeated him with great slaughter of his
followers.

After this Mogh Nuadhat expelled the Earna from Munster, as many of
them as would not submit to him, whence arose a great war between Mogh
Nuadhat and Conn, and Mogh Nuadhat defeated him in ten battles: namely,
the Battle of Brosnach and the Battle of Samhpait; the Battle of
Sliabh Musach; the Battle of Gabhran; the Battle of Suama and the
Battle of Grian and the Battle of Ath Luain; and the Battle of Magh
Croich, wherein fell Fiachaidh Rioghfhada son of Feidhlimidh
Reachtmhar; the Battle of Asal and the Battle of Uisneach; and this
conflict lasted till Mogh Nuadhat wrested half of Ireland from Conn,
that is, the part of Ireland to the south of Gaillimh and Ath Cliath,
Eiscir Riada being the boundary between them; and that half is called
Leath Mogha, from Eoghan who was called Mogh Nuadhat; and the northern
half is called Leath Cuinn, from Conn Ceadchathach. In declaration of
this division some poet composed this stanza:

Eoghan Mor, great was his success,
Was as exalted as Conn Ceadchathach.
These two, noble was their fame,
Shared Ireland between them.

Another reason, also, why Mogh Nuadhat wrested half of Ireland from
Conn is that there was a great famine in Ireland for seven years in
his time; and, before the time of this famine came, Eoghan's druid
foretold, long before the coming of the famine, that it would come
upon all Ireland; and Eoghan, to make provision for the famine, used
venison and fish for food, and stored the corn, and, moreover, he
spent on corn all the rents and tributes he received, so that he
filled his granaries; and, when the time of scarcity arrived, many of
the men of Ireland came to him from all sides, and laid themselves
under rent and tribute to Eoghan for his supporting them during that
time of distress, as we read in the poem which begins, Eoghan Mor,
great was his success:

Eoghan transcended Conn,
Not in number of battles and conflicts
More plenteously the food of adventurous Eoghan
Was being distributed according to laws of peace.

Lean famine rained on them
Its visitation was good for Eoghan --
So that men eat their kind
Throughout distressful Erin.

When men heard -- far it spread
That Eoghan had ale and food in plenty,
They bound themselves as vassals -- good the custom --
To Eoghan for their sustenance.

Mogh Nuadhat had four names, namely, Eoghan Fidhfheacach, Eoghan Mor,
Eoghan Taoidhleach, and Mogh Nuadhat, as the poet says in this stanza:

Four names without grief
Had Eoghan Mor,
Eoghan Fidhfheacach the generous, the hospitable,
Eoghan Taoidhleach, Mogh Nuadhat.

Now, if thou desirest to learn the reason of each of these names
mentioned in this stanza, read the Coir Anmann and thou wilt find it
there. Eoghan Mor's wife was Beara daughter of Eibhear Mor son of
Modhna, king of Castile, and she bore him a son and two daughters; the
son's name was Oilill Olom, and the two daughters' names Scoithniamh
and Coinneal. Here is the seancha's proof of this:

Beara daughter of great Eibhear
Was mother of Oilill Olom,
And mother of the two pure ones,
Coinneal and Scoithniamh.

Moreover, Conn Ceadchathach slew Mogh Nuadhat in his bed, having
treacherously, according to some seanchas, attacked him at early
morning, as they were on the point of engaging in battle against each
other on Magh Leana. This king of whom we are treating was called Conn
Ceadchathach, from the hundreds of battles he fought against the
provincial kings of Ireland, as this stanza sets forth:

A hundred battles against great Munster
Won Conn Ceadchathach the just,
A hundred battles against Ulster with valour,
Sixty battles against the Leinstermen.

Conn was treacherously slain by Tiobraide Tireach at Tara. Conaire son
of Mogh Lamha, son of Lughaidh Allathach, son of Cairbre Cromcheann,
son of Daire Dornmhar, son of Cairbre Fionnmhor, son of Conaire Mor,
son of Eidirsceol of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of
Ireland seven years, and fell by Neimhidh, son of Sraibhgheann. This
Conaire's mother was Eithne daughter of Lughaidh son of Daire. From
this Conaire are descended the Dal Riada of Alba and of Ulster, the
Baiscnigh from Leim Chon gCulainn, and the Muscruidhe, as the poet
says in this stanza:

The Albanians of Riada from the promontory,
The Baiscnigh from Leim Chou gCulainn,
The Muscruidhe beyond, without reproach,
Sprang from the fair Conaire.



XLI.

Art Aoinfhear son of Conn Ceadchathach, son of Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar,
son of Tuathal Teachtmhar of the race of Eireamhon, held the
sovereignty of Ireland thirty years; and his wife was Meadhbh
Leithdhearg daughter of Conan Cualann, and from her is called Raith
Meadhbha beside Tara. He was called Art Aoinfhear, for of his father's
sons he alone survived, as his two brothers, namely, Connla and
Crionna were slain by Eochaidh Fionn brother of Conn. For Conn had two
brothers, namely, Eochaidh Fionn and Fiachaidh Suighdhe, and by them
were slain Art's two brothers; and in testimony of this are these two
quatrains from the seanchus:

The two brothers of Conn without faults
Were Eochaidh Fionn and Fiachaidh Suighdhe;
They slew Connla and Crionna,
Conn's two sons, two fair youths;

Art hated Eochaidh Fionn
After the two sons had been slain;
He took the name of Art Aoinfhear
After his two brothers were slain.

Conn, indeed, had six children, namely, Art Aoinfhear, Connla, and
Crionna, Maoin, Sadhbh, and Saruit, as we read in the poem which
begins with the following stanza:

I can name Conn's six children:
Maoin, Sadhbh, Saruit, mother of the race of Olom;
The fair, valiant, bright-skinned men,
Connla, Crionna, Art Aoinfhear.

As we have said, Connla and Crionna were slain by Eochadh Fionn and by
Fiachaidh Suighdhe. Saruit was married to Conaire son of Mogh Lamha,
and she bore him the three Cairbres, namely, Cairbre Rioghfhada and
Cairbre Baschaoin and Cairbre Musc. It was the descendants of Cairbre
Rioghfhada who went to Alba; and it is they who are called Dal Riada.
For Eochaidh Muinreamhar, a descendant of Cairbre Rioghfhada, had two
sons, namely, Earc and Olchu. From Earc are descended the Dal Riada of
Alba, and from Olchu the Dal Riada of Ulster, from whom the Ruta is
called. Similarly Sadhbh daughter of Conn was married to Maicniadh son
of Lughaidh of the race of Lughaidh, son of Ioth, and she bore him a
son called Lughaidh, that is, Mac Con son of Maicniadh. And after the
death of Maicniadh she was married to Oilill Olom, and bore him nine
sons, namely, the seven who fell in the battle of Magh Muchruimhe, as
Oilill Olom himself says in this stanza:

Mac Con has slain my seven sons; 
Pitiful is my bitter, grievous cry,
Eoghan, Dumbhmearchon, Mogh Corb,
Lughaidh, Eochaidh, Diochorb, Tadhg,

and the two sons of Oilill who returned from the Battle of Magh
Muchruimhe, namely, Cormac Cas and Cian. Now, although Oilill Olom had
nineteen sons, that is nine by Sadhbh daughter. of Conn, and ten by
other women, still only three of them left issue, as the poet says in
this stanza:

Nineteen pleasant sons had the chief
The beauteous Oilill Olom;
Of one sole trio the race did not decay,
From whom have sprung the progeny of the freeborn.

These three who left issue were children of Sadhbh daughter of Conn.
The first of them, Eoghan Mor son of Oilill, fell in the Battle of
Magh Muchruimhe, by Beinne Briot, son of the king of Britain; and
Fiachaidh Muilleathan, from whom clann Charrthaigh and the tribe of
Suilleabhan, with their branches, are sprung, was the son of this
Eoghan; and his mother was Moncha daughter of Dil son of Da Chreaga
the druid; and he was born at Ath Uiseal on the Siuir, and was called
Fiachaidh Fear-da-Liach. For liach means 'sad event'; and sad were the
two events that took place with regard to him, namely, the slaying of
his father in the Battle of Magh Muchruimhe very soon after his
conception in the womb, and the death of his mother immediately after
his birth. Hence the name Fiachaidh Fear-da-Liach clung to him. Thus
does Oilill Olom himself refer to this matter as we read in the Battle
of Magh Muchruimhe --

A two-fold woe to thee their death
Together, and a great disaster,
Thy father and thy mother --
Grief has overwhelmed thee.

Thy father and thy mother,
Two great permanent losses:
The man in battle was struck down,
Died the wife at thy birth.

Moreover he was called Fiachaidh Muilleathan, because when the time of
his birth arrived his grandfather the druid said to Moncha that if she
delayed the birth of her son for twenty-four hours, he would be a
king; but if she brought
him forth within that time, he would be only a druid.

"Then," said Moncha, "in the hope that my son may become a king, I
will not bring him forth for twenty-four hours unless he come through
my side." And then she went into the ford of the Siuir that was beside
her father's dun, and there sat upon a stone, and remained twenty-four
hours seated on the stone. And at the end of that time she came out of
the river and gave birth to a son, and she herself died immediately
after having brought him forth. It was this son, then, that was called
Fiachaidh Muilleathan; and he was called Muilleathan from the crown of
his head being broad. For while his mother was sitting on the flag-
stone in the ford, on the point of bringing him forth, the child's
crown grew broad by the pressure of the flag-stone on which his mother
sate in the ford; hence the name Fiachaidh Muilleathan clung to him.

The second son of Oilill Olom who left issue was Cormac Cas, from whom
sprang the Dal gCais and siol Aodha, that is, clan Mac na Mara and
siol Flannchuidhe. It was to this Cormac Cas that Oilill Olom had left
the inheritance of Munster, until he was informed that Fiachaidh
Muilleathan had been born to Eoghan Mor; and when he heard this, he
directed that the sovereignty be left after him to Cormac during his
life, and that it belong after Cormac's death to Fiachaidh Muilleathan
during his life; and in this way that the sovereignty belong
alternately in each succeeding reign to the descendants of Cormac Cas
and those of Fiachaidh Muilleathan for ever. And for some generations
they held the sovereignty of Munster according to this arrangement.

This Cormac Cas son of Oilill Olom was the fifth best champion in
Ireland in his own time; the other four were Lughaidh Lamha, Fionn son
of Cumhall, Lughaidh Mac Con, Cairbre Gailin, the fifth champion being
Cormac Cas; and there was no one in Ireland fit to fight with any of
them outside of their own number. This Cormac Cas was the first to
impose a rent-tax on the districts of Munster. He gave in one day nine
ounces and five hundred ounces of silver to bards and learned men for
praising him. He brought thirty preys from Britain when he was in
exile, stirring up war against the Leinstermen; and the Leinstermen
submitted to him.

The third son of Oilill who left issue was Cian. From this Cian are
descended O Cearbhaill and O Meaghair, O hEadhra and O Gadhra and O
Cathasaigh and O Conchubhar of Ciannachta.

Oilill Olom was the first king of the race of Eibhear who is named in
the Reim Rioghruidhe as having held the sovereignties of the two
provinces of Munster. Oilill held the sovereignty of Munster twenty-
three years. For before Oilill banished Mac Con there were two races
holding sway over Munster, namely, the descendants of Dairine of the
race of Lughaidh son of Ioth, from whom sprang Mac Con, and the
descendants of Deirgthine of the race of Eibhear, from whom sprang
Oilill Olom. And whenever the sovereignty of Munster was held by the
descendants of Dairine, the brehonship and tanistship were held by the
descendants of Deirgthine; and when the descendants of Deirgthine held
supreme power, the descendants of Dairine held the other offices,
until Mac Con transgressed the command of Oilill Olom, as may be
understood from what we are about to say. For Oilill ordered him not
to take sides with Neimhidh son of Sraibhgeann against Eoghan son of
Oilill, his own kinsman, and the three Cairbres. And in order that the
cause of Mac Con's banishment may be better understood, I shall set
down here the event that led to Mac Con's expulsion from Ireland,
namely, the fall of Aingceal son of Deigheall, who was with Neimhidh
son of Sraibhgheann; and by Neimhidh, in his struggle for the
possession of Ireland, Conaire son of Mogh Lamha was slain; and it was
because of Aingceal that the three Cairbres slew Neimhidh son of
Sraibhgheann, the husband of their own mother, Saruit daughter of Conn.
For it was Neimhidh who slew Conaire, their father. On account of this
Conaire's three sons were with Art son of Conn.

Cairbre Riada went to Munster, to the house of Neimhidh and Saruit
daughter of Conn, his own mother, for she married Neimhidh after
Conaire son of Mogh Lamha, and Aingceal happened to be in Neimhidh's
house at that time; and there was a strong wrestler there with him,
called Dartadha, and whenever a party who were not known came to the
house of Neimhidh, one of their men was forced to engage in wrestling
with Dartadha. And as Cairbre Riada was going to the house of Neimhidh
to visit his mother, he engaged in wrestling with Dartadha, and laid
him on the great caldron of the house, and thus he slew him. Thereupon
he returned to Tara; and on his relating his adventure to Art
Aoinfhear, Art said that it was on a quick errand that he went
westward yesterday, seeing that he returned eastward to-day, and hence
he is called Cairbre Riada.

When the other two Cairbres, namely, Cairbre Musc and Cairbre
Baschaoin, heard that Aingceal, with whom they were at enmity, was at
the house of Neimhidh, they exclaimed, "That is pleasanter than to
pursue him to Britain." And upon this the three Cairbres set out for
Munster with a company of warriors; and when they came to the house of
Eoghan Mor son of Oilill Olom, Eoghan and themselves marched against
Neimhidh, and Neimhidh approached in the company of Ma: Con, and the
Battle of Feabhra then took place between them. Cairbre Musc wounded
Mac Con in that battle, and Aingceal was slain there, and Neimhidh
fled till he came to where Saruit was. "Protection, O my sons," said
Saruit, extending her arms round Neimhidh. "As much of him as is
within thy arms will be protected," said Cairbre Musc; and forthwith
he dealt him a blow that cut off his head, and dealt him a second blow
by which he cut off his legs. "That is a great disgrace, O Cairbre,"
said she; and hence he used to be called Cairbre Musc, that is,
greater his disgrace than that of his brethren, for it was he who slew
his mother's husband.

And on account of Mac Con's forming an alliance of friendship with
Neimhidh son of Sraibhgheann, and because of his opposing Eoghan Mor
and his kinsmen, namely, the three Cairbres, he was banished out of
Ireland by Oilill, and was for a time in exile; and in the course of
his exile he gained supporters and made friends for himself, so that
himself and Beinne Briot, son of the king of Great Britain, and many
other foreigners with them, came to Ireland and declared war on Art
Aoinfhear king of Ireland, because of his having helped Oilill Olom;
and the Battle of Magh Muchruimhe was arranged between them, to which
Art came with all his host and the nine sons of Oilill with the seven
battalions of Munster to help Art, while Mac Con with his foreigners
were against them on the other side; and the Battle of Magh Muchruimhe
was fought between them, and Art and his host were beaten, and Art
himself slain by the hand of the champion Lughaidh Lamha, kinsman of
Oilill Olom, who was taking part with Mac Con; and seven of the
children of Oilill Olom fell there.

Oilill Olom's first name was Aonghus, and he was called Oilill Olom
because he had intercourse with Aine daughter of Eoghabhal, and as she 
slept with Oilill she bit his ear off his head in retribution for his
rape of her and for his having slain her father. Hence he was called
Oilill Olom, that is ear-cropped. He was called Oilill also, because
Oilill is the same as oil oll, 'a great blemish'; and he had three
deforming blemishes which clung to him till death, namely, he was ear-
cropped, his teeth had become black, and his breath was foul, which
blemishes he thus came by: when he had lost his ear through the means
of Aine, as we had said, he got enraged, and forthwith he drove his
spear through her body into the earth, and the point of the spear
struck against a stone and got bent, and he put the point between his
teeth to straighten it, and the venom of the spear's point got into
his teeth and blackened them at once, and thence foulness of breath
came upon him, which clung to him till death, for he had violated the
three geasa that were upon that spear, namely, not to allow its point
to come against a stone, not to put its point between the teeth, and
not to slay a woman with it. And it was from the violation of these
geasa that the forementioned blemishes came upon him, and it was from
these great blemishes that he was called Oilill -- that is, oil oll,
or great blemish. And Art Aoinfhear was slain in the Battle of Magh
Muchruimhe.



XLII.

Lughaidh, that is, Mac Con son of Maicniadh, son of Lughaidh, son of
Daire, son of Fear Uillne, son of Eadbholg, son of Daire, son of
Siothbholg, son of Fear Uillne, son of Deaghamhrach, son of Deaghaidh
Dearg, son of Deirgthine, son of Nuadha Airgtheach, son of Luchtaire,
son of Logha Feidhlioch, son of Eireamhon, son of Eadaman, son of
Gosaman, son of Sin, son of Maitsin, son of Logha, son of Eadaman, son
of Mal, son of Lughaidh, son of Ioth, son of Breoghan, held the
sovereignty of Ireland thirty years. Sadhbh daughter of Conn was Mac
Con's mother, as we have said above. Lughaidh son of Maicniadh was
called Mac Con because Oilill Olum had a hound called Eloir Dhearg,
and when Mac Con was an infant in the house of Oilill, the child used
to creep on his hands to the hound, and the hound used to take him to
her belly, and he could not be prevented from going constantly to
visit her, whence he was called Mac Con.

When Mac Con had become powerful and had returned from his exile, and
had fought the Battle of Magh Muchruimhe, as we have said above in
treating of Art Aoinfhear, he obtained for himself the sovereignty of
Ireland in a single week, and kept it for thirty years, as we read in
the poem which begins "Cnucha, a hill over Lithfe." It thus speaks in
these two stanzas:

In the space of seven days, no slight cause of joy,
Lughaidh became ruler of the land of Erin;
He came to his strong kingdom
The ruler of Erin in one week.

Thirty years without flagging
Was Mac Con in supreme sovereignty,
Till the nimble champion fell
With his supremacy unimpaired.

This Mac Con of whom we are treating was not of the descendants of
Eanna Munchaoin of the race of Eibhear, as is stated in the poem which
begins "Fair Conaire, son-in-law of Conn," but of the race of Lughaidh
son of Ioth, son of Breoghan. Now Lughaidh son of Ioth, son of
Breoghan, and Milidh of Spain, who is called Golamh son of Milidh, son
of Breoghan, were sons of two brothers, so that, though the
descendants of Lughaidh son of Ioth are of the race of Gaedheal, still
they are not of the progeny of Milidh, but only kinsmen to them, as
the poet says, speaking of three branches of the descendants of
Lughaidh son of Ioth in this stanza:

O Cobhthaigh of the feast-serving goblets,
O Floinn of Ard, O hEidirsceoil,
A trio who beheld not the land of their ancestors,
A trio not sprung from the sons of Milidh.

Here follow some of the other families who sprang from Lughaidh son of
loth,namely, O Laoghaire of Ros, O Baire of Ara in Rinn Muinntire
Baire in Cairbreacha, and O Cuirnin and Mac Ailin in Alba, who was
descended from Fathadh Canann son of Mac Con, son of Maicniadh. This
Mac Con was the third king of the race of Lughaidh son of Ioth who
held the sovereignty of Ireland. The first of these kings was Eochaidh
Eadghothach son of Daire, son of Conghal, son of Eadaman, son of Mal,
son of Lughaidh, son of Ioth, son of Breoghan, who held the
sovereignty of Ireland four years till he fell by Cearmna son of
Eibric; the second was Eochaidh Apthach son of Fionn, son of Oilill,
who held the sovereignty of Ireland nine years, when he fell by Fionn
son of Bratha; the third of the race of Lughaidh son of Ioth who held
the sovereignty was this Mac Con of whom we are now speaking. And it
is in testimony of this that we have this stanza from the seanchus:

Three kings sprung from the proud son of Ioth,
Two Eochaidhs, the ferocious Lughaidh,
It is not a deed that displeases us,
The way in which pleasant Ioth was avenged.

Feircheas son of Coman Eigeas, at the command of Cormac son of Art,
slew, with the spear called ringcne, Mac Con, as he stood with his
back against a pillar-stone at Gort-an-oir, beside Deargraith in Magh
Feimhean, to the west of Ath na gCarbad, while he was there
distributing gold and silver to bards and ollamhs. When Feircheas son
of Coman Eigeas, who resided at Ard na nGeimhleach, which is now
called An Chnocach, he came to the meeting among the rest, having the
ringcne; and when he had come into the presence of Mac Con, he drove
that spear through him into the pillar-stone against which his back
rested, and this caused his death without delay. From that time to
this the plain on which Mac Con was slain is called Gort-an-Oir, from
the quantity of gold he there bestowed on bards and ollamhs. The
reason why Mac Con came to Munster was that his druids foretold to him
that he would not live half a year on the throne of Ireland unless he
left Tara. Hence he came to Munster, to seek the aid of his kinsmen --
that is, the descendants of Oilill Olom; but they remembered their old
grudge against him, namely, that he had slain Eoghan Mor and his
kinsmen in the Battle of Magh Muchruimhe. And it thus happened that he
was returning to Leinster when he was slain.

Fearghus Duibhdheadach son of Fionnchaidh, son of Oghaman, son of
Fiatach Fionn, son of Daire, son of Dluthach, son of Deitsin, son of
Eochaidh, son of Sin, son of Roisin, son of Triun, son of Roithriun,
son of Airndil, son of Maine, son of Forga, son of Fearadhach, son of
Oilill Earann, son of Fiachaidh Fear Mara, son of Aonghus Tuirbheach
Teamhrach of the race of Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland a
single year. He was called Fearghus Duibhdheadach, as he had two large
black teeth. This Fearghus came inside Cormac son of Art in the
sovereignty of Ireland, when Cormac was expelled by the Ultonians to
Connaught, after they had taken his hostages, and he had made the
feast for them in the north of Magh Breagh, whereat an attendant on
the king of Ulster held a lighted candle to Cormac's hair, and
scorched him severely.

Now, it was the three sons of Fionnchaidh son of Oghaman, son of
Fiatach Fionn, namely, Fearghus Duibhdheadach, Fearghus Caisfhiaclach,
and Fearghus Fuiltleabhair, who committed this outrage on Cormac; and
Cormac went to ask the help of Tadhg son of Cian, who was powerful in
Eile at that time. Tadhg said to him that he would give his help if he
got territory from him. "I will give thee," said Cormac, "as much of
Magh Breagh as thou canst go round with thy chariot on the day on 
which thou shalt have overcome the three Fearghuses in battle."
"Then," said Tadhg, "I can tell you where you will find the champion,
Lughaidh Lamha, my grandfather's brother, who, if you bring him to the
battle, will in all likelihood slay the three Fearghuses; and the
place where you will find him is in Eatharlach beside Sliabh gCrot.
Upon this Cormac set out for Eatharlach, where he found Lughaidh Lamha
lying down in a hunting-booth. Cormac stuck his javelin through the
hunting-booth and wounded Lughaidh in the back. "Who wounds me?" asked
Lughaidh. "Cormac son of Art," replied the other. "It is well thou
didst wound me," said Lughaidh, "for it was I who slew thy father,
that is, Art Aoinfhear." "Give me an eric for him," said Cormac. "A
king's head in battle for thee," said Lughaidh. "Then," said Cormac,
"give me the head of the king of Ulster, namely, Fearghus
Duibhdheadach, who is coming between me and the sovereignty of
Ireland." "It shall be given thee," said Lughaidh. Upon this Cormac
proceeded to Eile to Tadhg son of Cian, and himself and Tadhg marched
with their full forces to Brugh-Mic-an-Oigh at Crionna Chinn Chomair,
where the Battle of Crionna was convened between Cormac and the three
Fearghuses.

Tadhg had, moreover, another reason for going against Ulster, as it
was this Fearghus Duibhdheadach who slew his father in the Battle of
Samhain. But Tadhg did not permit Cormac to go into the battle, but
left him on a hill to the rear of the battle, and an attendant with
him there. Now, Tadhg and Lughaidh Lamha attacked the three Fearghuses
and their host; and Lughaidh Lamha slew Fearghus Fuiltleabhair and
beheaded him, and took the head to the hill on which Cormac was. Now,
Cormac, when all were on the point of going to the battle, clothed
himself in the garments of Deilionn Druit, his attendant, and put his
own clothes on the attendant; for he was certain that when his warrior
frenzy should come upon Lughaidh, and when the rage of battle should
seize him, he could not be trusted by anyone.

As to Lughaidh, he came with the head which he had into the presence
of the attendant who was disguised as Cormac, and asked him whether
that was not the head of Fearghus Duibhdheadach. "It is not," said the
attendant; "it is the head of his brother." Upon this Lughaidh went
into the battle again, and cut off the head of Fearghus Caisfhiaclach,
and took it in his hand to the hill on which was the attendant
disguised as Cormac. "Is this the head of the king of Ulster?" asked
Lughaidh. "It is not," said the attendant, "it is the head of his
other brother." He went the third time into the battle and brought the
head of Fearghus Duibhdheadach with him, and he asked the same
question of the attendant. The attendant answered and said that it was
the head of the king of Ulster. Upon this Lughaidh aimed a blow at the
attendant with the head and struck him in the chest, and the attendant
died on the spot; and Lughaidh himself fell into a swoon because of
the quantity of blood he had lost through his many wounds.

As to Tadhg, son of Cian, he defeated the Ulster host so that he
routed them seven times in the same day between Crionna and Glas Neara
on the side of Drom Ineasclainn, as the poet Flannagan says in the
following stanza:

Tadhg son of Cian in Raith Cro in the north
Won seven battles in one day,
Against Ulster, with brilliant success,
From Ath Crionna to Ard Cein.

After this Tadhg went into his chariot, having three wounds from three
spears; and he told his attendant to direct the chariot towards Tara,
so that he might include the walls of Tara within the circuit made by
his chariot on that day. They drove straight on, though Tadhg fainted
several times through loss of blood from his wounds; and as they were
approaching Ath Cliath, Tadhg asked the attendant if they had included
Tara in that circuit. "We have not," replied the attendant. Upon this
Tadhg struck him dead; and when the attendant had been slain, Cormac
son of Art came up, and seeing Tadhg's three great wounds, he ordered
the physician who was with him to put an ear of barley into one of his
wounds, and a live worm into another of them, and a splinter of a
javelin-head into the third wound, and to heal the wounds externally,
so that Tadhg was a year in a wasting condition from this treatment,
until Lughaidh Lamha went to Munster to fetch the surgeon. The surgeon
came with his three pupils, and they heard Tadhg's moaning as they
approached the dun. The surgeon asked the first of the three pupils
when they had heard from Tadhg a moan arising from the first wound,
what was the cause of that moan. "This is the moan caused by a prickle,
as there is a barley-prickle in his wound." On hearing a moan caused
by the second wound, he asked the second pupil what was the cause of
that moan. "This is the moan caused by a live creature," said he, "for
a live worm has been put into the second wound." When the surgeon
heard the third moan, he inquired of the third pupil what was the
cause of that moan. "This is the moan caused by a weapon-point," said
the third pupil. And when the surgeon reached the house in which Tadhg
was, he placed an iron coulter in the fire until it became red hot,
and then got it in readiness in front of Tadhg. When Tadhg saw the
red-hot iron put in readiness for the purpose of thrusting it into his
body, his heart trembled greatly; and, as a result of the terror that
seized him, he violently ejected from his wounds the ear of barley,
the worm, and the splinter of javelin-head, and thereupon the surgeon
completely healed his wounds; and after that Tadhg was well without
delay.

This Tadhg made large conquests in Leath Cuinn afterwards. For Tadhg
son of Cian, son of Oilill Olom, had two sons, namely, Connla and
Cormac Gaileang. From Iomchaidh son of Connla comes O Cearbhaill, and
from Fionnachta son of Connla comes O Meachair. From Cormac Gaileang
son of Tadhg, son of Cian, comes O Eadhra and O Gadhra and O
Conchubhair Ciannachta. The following are the territories they
acquired, namely: Gaileanga, east and west; Ciannachta, south and
north; Luighne, east and west.
Moreover, another company of the race of Eibhear took possession of
other territories in Leath Cuinn: these are the descendants of Cochlan
son of Lorcan, son of Dathan, son of Treachuire, son of Trean, son of
Sidhe, son of Ainbhile, son of Beag, son of Aodhan, son of Dealbhaoth,
son of Cas, son of Conall Eachluath, son of Lughaidh Meann (who
reduced to swordland the territory between Luimneach and Sliabh
Echtghe), son of Aonghus Tireach, son of Fear Corb, son of Mogh Corb,
son of Cormac Cas, son of Oilill Olom. Here are the territories,
namely, the seven Dealbhnas, that is Dealbhna Mhor, Dealbhna Bheag,
Dealbhna Eathra, Dealbhna Iarthair Mhidhe, Dealbhna Shithe Neannta,
Dealbhna Chuile Fabhair, and Dealbhna Thire da Loch in Connaught. To
describe these the poet sets down the following stanzas taken from the
seanchus:

The seven Dealbhnas of brown spears,
The race of Dealbhaoth of brown aims,
They are in Leath Cuinn of the feasting,
Where there is great honour for ollamhs:

Dealbhna Mhor, Dealbhna Bheag of Breagha,
Dealbhna of Eathra of strong headlands;
A race of pleasant customs,
Dealbhna of the tall-peaked Brugh;

Dealbhna of the brilliant Sith Neannta,
Dealbhna of harmless Nuadha;
Dealbhna of fair bright Cul Fobhair,
Which never was without good lakes.

Know that it was Lughaidh Lamha, by the direction of Cormac son of Art,
who slew this Fearghus of whom we are treating, and that it was at the
Battle of Crionna he was slain.



XLIII.

Cormac Ulfhada son of Art Aoinfhear, son of Conn Ceadchathach, son of
Feilimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal Teachtmhar of the race of
Eireamhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland forty years. He is called
Cormac Ulfhada, for he had a long ulcha, that is a long beard, or from
the word Ulfhada, meaning Ultonians afar; for he sent Ultonian chiefs
into exile for sixteen years out of Ulster, on account of the injury
they had done him before he attained the sovereignty of Ireland. And
the mother of this Cormac was Eachtach daughter of Uilceathach the
smith; and it was when the Battle of Magh Muchruimhe was on the point
of being fought that Art Aoinfhear became the father of Cormac by the
smith's daughter, who was then his dowered mistress. For it was a
custom at that time in Ireland, that whatever king or king's son
coveted the daughter of a farmer or biadhtach, desiring to have her as
a mistress or paramour, should get her, provided he gave her a
marriage portion or dowry of cattle. And it was in this manner that
Art obtained Cormac's mother, for it was not she who was his wedded
wife,. but Meadhbh Leithdhearg, daughter of Conan of Cuala, and from
this latter Raith Meadhbha near Tara is named.

Strange was the vision which this Eachtach, that is, the mother of
Cormac, beheld. She imagined, indeed, as she lay asleep beside Art,
that her head was severed from her body, and that a great tree grew
out of her neck which extended its branches over all Ireland, and the
sea came over this tree and laid it low; and after this another tree
grew out of the roots of the first, and a blast of wind came from the
west and felled it; and at the sight of this vision the woman started
and awoke from her sleep, and she told the substance of the vision to
Art. "That is true," said Art, "the head of every woman is her husband,
and I shall be taken from thee in the Battle of Magh Muchruimhe; and
the tree that will grow out of thee is a son which thou wilt bear to
me, who will be king of Ireland; and the sea that will overwhelm him
is a fish-bone which he will swallow and he will be choked on that
occasion. And the tree that will grow out of the roots of the first is
a son that will be born to him who will be king of Ireland; and the
blast of wind from the west that will overthrow him is a battle that
will be fought between himself and the Fian; and he will fall by the
Fian in that battle. But the Fian will not prosper thenceforth. And
this vision was fulfilled in Cormac and his son Cairbre Lithfeachair,
since the demons choked Cormac as he was swallowing a fish-bone, and
Cairbre Lithfeachair fell by the Fian at the Battle of Gabhra.

Some seanchas state that Cormac's wife was Eithne Thaobhfhada daughter
of Cathaoir. But this cannot be true, seeing that she was the mother
of Cairbre Lithfeachair. Since there were eighty-eight years from the
death of Cathaoir till Cormac assumed the sovereignty o f Ireland,
namely, the twenty years Conn Ceadchathach held the sovereignty of
Ireland, and the seven years Conaire son of Mogh Lamha held it, and
the thirty years of Art Aoinfhear, the thirty years of Mac Con, and
the one year of Fearghus Duibhdheadach in the sovereignty of Ireland
up to the time Cormac assumed the supreme rule of that country.

It is, however, true that Eithne Ollamhdha daughter of Dunlaing son of
Ean na Nia was the mother of Cairbre Lithfeachair; and it is she who
was the foster-child of Buicead, a farmer with hundreds of kine, who
lived in Leinster, who kept a hospitable pot over a fire to give food
to everyone of the men of Ireland who visited his house. Now this
Buicead was thus circumstanced: he had vast wealth, for he had seven
herds, and seven score kine in each herd, together with a
corresponding number of horses and cattle of every other description, 
so that the nobles of Leinster, with companies of their followers,
used to frequent his house, and some of them took away from him a
number of his kine, and others some of his brood-mares, others again a
number of his steeds, and thus they despoiled him of all his wealth,
so that there remained to him only seven cows and a bull; and he fled
by night with his wife and Eithne, his foster-child, from Dun Buicead,
to an oak grove near Ceanannus na Midhe, where Cormac used to reside
at that time; and Buicead built a hut, in which himself and his wife
and foster-child then resided. And Eithne used to serve or wait upon
her foster-father and her foster-mother as a maid-servant.

Now on a certain day Cormac went out alone on horseback to travel
through the lands that surrounded the town, and he saw the fair maiden,
Eithne, milking these seven cows of Buicead. And this was her way of
doing it: she had two vessels, and she milked the first portion of
each cow's milk into the first vessel, and the second portion into the
second vessel, and she acted thus till she had milked the seven cows,
while Cormac kept watching her, through his great love for her. She
then went into the hut in which her foster-father was, and left the
milk there, and took out in her hand two other vessels and a cup to
the stream which was near the town or the hut, and with the cup filled
the first vessel from the water which was near the brink, and the
second vessel from the water which was in the middle of the stream,
and then she returned to the hut. She came out the third time, having
a reaping-hook to cut rushes; and as she cut the rushes she used to
put each long wisp of fresh rushes that she cut on one side, and the
short rushes on the other side. Now Cormac, through his great love for
her, was watching her during each of these practices; and Cormac asked
for whom she was making the special selection of the water, the milk,
and the rushes.

He, for whom I am making it," said she, "is worthy of a greater
kindness from me, were it in my power to do it." "What is his name?"
asked Cormac. "Buicead the farmer," she replied. "Is that Buicead, the
Leinster biadhthach, who is celebrated throughout Ireland?" asked
Cormac. "It is," said she. "Then," said Cormac, "thou art Eithne
daughter of Dunlaing, his foster-child?" "I am," replied Eithne. "It
is well," said Cormac; "for thou shalt be my wife." "It is not I who
can dispose of myself," said she, "but my foster-father." Upon this,
Cormac went with her to Buicead, and promised him presents if he got
Eithne as his wife. Buicead consented to give Eithne to Cormac as his
wife; and Cormac gave him the district of Odhran beside Tara, with its
stock of cattle, during his life. And then Cormac knew Eithne, and she
conceived of him; and after that she bore him an illustrious son, who
was called Cairbre Lithfeachair.

Now this Cormac was one of the wisest kings that ever ruled Ireland;
witness the Teagasc Riogh he wrote for Cairbre Lithfeachair; and many
laudable customs and laws devised by him, which are recorded in the
Breitheamhnas Tuaithe. Moreover, of all the kings that ever ruled
Ireland, Cormac was one of those who kept the most princely household,
and the largest number of attendants and followers. The truth of this
may be the more readily admitted from the account which Aimhirgin son
of Amhalghaidh son of Maoilrian, the filé of Diarmaid son of Cearbhall,
gives of the Teach Miodhchuarta, which Cormac himself renewed and
regulated, though it was long before Cormac the Teach Miodhchuarta was
built. For it was in it that Slanoll king of Ireland died, long before
Cormac's time. This is what we read in the book of Dinnseanchas, which
the above-mentioned Aimhirgin wrote, namely, that it was in Cormac's
time it was made into a banquet-hall. It was three hundred feet in
length, thirty cubits high, and fifty cubits in breadth. There was a
torch kept constantly lighting in it. It had fourteen doors; thrice
fifty beds, besides Cormac's bed; thrice fifty warriors in each bed.
Cormac had thrice fifty stewards. There were fifty warriors standing
in the king's presence as he sat at his meal. There were three hundred
cup-bearers in that dun, and thrice fifty goblets of carbuncle, of
gold, and of silver. The total number of that household amounted to
one thousand and fifty men; so that on the greatness and goodness of
Cormac, the poet composed this stanza:

Of children Art left
Only Cormac of the district of Corann.
In dispensing jewels he was not close-fisted;
Better Cormac than a hundred children.

Cormac had ten daughters, and three sons, as the poet says in this
stanza:

Ten daughters had gentle Cormac,
And three most prosperous sons, 
Plunderers of Claire of the spoils,
Daire, Cairbre, and Ceallach.

Daire was slain in Dubhros on the Boyne, in Breagha, and Ceallach was
slain by Aonghus Gaoibuaibhtheach, as the poet says:

It was Aonghus Gaoibuaibhtheach of fame
Who slew Ceallach son of Cormac:
Daire and noble Tadhg son of Cian died
In Dubhros of the Boyne in Breagha.

And that the sequence of these events may be better understood by
setting down here a short genealogical account of these persons, know
that Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar had three sons, namely, Conn Ceadchathach,
Eochaidh Fionn, and Fiachaidh Suighdhe, as we have said above. The
descendants of Conn were at Tara, and held the sovereignty; and the
second brother of Conn, namely, Eochaidh Fionn, went to Leinster, and
his descendants multiplied there; and it was his descendants that
possessed the seven Fotharta of Leinster. It was in his time that Cu
Chorb son of Mogh Corb held the sovereignty of Leinster. It was,
moreover, by this Eochaidh Fionn that Laoighseach Ceannmhor son of
Conall Cearnach was brought up and educated in politeness. It happened
at that time that the Munstermen gained great sway in Leinster, so
that they were in possession of Osruighe and Laoighis as far as
Mullach Maistean.

Now, when Cu Chorb saw the Munstermen gaining I power in Leinster, he
asked Eochaidh Fionn to help I him in expelling them from Leinster.
Eochaidh consented to this; and he assembled his friends from all
sides, and thus brought together a large army, and made his foster-son
Laoighseach Ceannmhor leader of the host; and he himself and Cu Chorb
king of Leinster, with their hosts, marched against the Munstermen,
having Laoighseach Ceannmhor as commander-in-chief of the forces; and
they drove the Munstermen from Mullach Maistean to the Bearbha, and
routed them at Ath Troistean, which is called Ath I, on the Bearbha;
and they followed up this rout till they defeated them a second time
at Coirtheine in Magh Riada, which is called Laoighis Riada; and they
continued the rout thence till they overthrew them a third time at
Slighe Dhala -- that is, Bealach Mor Osruighe; and thus they delivered
the province of Leinster from the 11 bondage of the Munstermen; and,
in consideration of this, Eochaidh obtained the seven Fotharta of
Leinster for himself and his descendants; and, similarly, his foster-
son got the seven Laoighises for himself and for his descendants as a
handsel in consideration of his leadership in expelling the Munstermen
from the places we have mentioned.

Moreover, the king of Leinster ordained on his own behalf and on
behalf of every king who should succeed him that the back of every
beef and the ham of every hog slaughtered in the, house of the king of
Leinster be given as a champion's portion to the king of Laoighis, and
that an axe-man should be in the house of the king of Leinster
constantly, at the expense of that king, to receive that tribute for
the king of Laoighis. Besides, the king of Laoighis belonged to the
council of the king of Leinster; and he took the fourth next place to
the king at a general assembly; and it was to him was given in charge
every present made by the king of Leinster for distribution to nobles
and to ollamhs; and it was to the king of Laoighis that every gift
made to the king of Leinster was given to be presented to the king of
Leinster.

In addition to this, there were seven of the king of Laoighis's men in
the pay of the king of Leinster; and they always attended the king to
dress his body. And when the king of Leinster went on tour with his
host, the only provision the king of Laoighis was bound to give him
was seven beeves which he sent to the king's own camp. But the king of
Laoighis was bound to maintain seven score warriors at his own expense
for the king's host, and he had also the right of leading the van of
the king of Leinster's host when entering hostile territory and in
positions of danger. Again, the king of Laoighis was bound to make
muster at general assemblies along with the king of Fotharta, because
Eochaidh Fionn son of Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar, ancestor of the king of
the Fotharta, was tutor to Laoighseach Ceannmhor, from whom sprang the
king of Laoighis. And this custom was ever observed by them till the
Norman Invasion.



XLIV.

As to Conn's other brother, namely, Fiachaidh Suighdhe, he got land
near Tara, namely, the Deise Teamhrach; and he did not become king of
Ireland.

Now he had three sons, namely, Rossa and Aonghus, called Aonghus
Gaoibuaibhtheach, and Eoghan, the third son. But Aonghus
Gaoibuaibhtheach surpassed his contemporaries in valour. And Cormac at
that time was at enmity with a powerful personage, and no one
protected him from Cormac but Aonghus Gaoibuaibhtheach; and the king
gave Aonghus to him as a security. Aonghus took this nobleman under
his protection. But after this, Ceallach son of Cormac took this
nobleman prisoner in violation of the security of Aonghus, and took
out his eyes without the king's permission. When Aonghus
Gaoibuaibhtheach heard this, he proceeded to Tara, accompanied by a
numerous host, and slew Ceallach by a cast of his spear, as he stood
behind king Cormac in the court, and wounded the king himself in the
eye, leaving him with only one eye. Cormac assembled a large host and
banished Aonghus and his kinsmen.

These descendants of Fiachaidh Suighdhe involved Cormac in much
fighting. However, Cormac drove them into Leinster, and they remained
there a year; and thence they went to Osruighe, and thence they came
to Oilill Olom, whose wife, Sadhbh daughter of Conn, was their
kinswoman. Oilill Olom gave them the Deise in Munster, for their
native territory was the Deise Teamhrach, before they were banished by
Cormac.

These three sons of Fiachaidh Suighdhe divided that territory between
them into three parts; and they are called the descendants of Oilill
Earann, and the Earna. However, they are not the Earna, but the
descendants of Conaire son of Mogh Lamha it is these that were styled
the Earna. It is Corc Duibhne son of Cairbre Musc who was chief over
the descendants of Fiachaidh Suighdhe who came to Munster; and it was
these descendants that were called the Deise; and Aonghus son of
Eochaidh Fionn son of Feidhlimidh Reachtmhar was their leader when
coming to Munster, and with him were the three sons of Fiachaidh
Suighdhe, namely, Rossa, Eoghan, and Aonghus. About that time Cairbre
Musc had acquired great power in Munster; and in his time adversity
and crop-failure had come upon Munster. Nor was this strange, for it
was by incest and crime that he became father of Corc by Duibhfhionn,
his own sister; for they were the children of Conaire son of Mogh
Lamha and of Saruit daughter of Conn Ceadchathach. When the Munster
nobles observed the adversity that came with Cairbre's reign, they
asked him what had deprived the country of its produce and its
prosperity. Cairbre replied that it was because he had committed
incest with his sister Duibhfhionn, and she had borne him two sons, to
wit Corc and Cormac; and when the Munster nobles heard this, they
demanded the sons, in order to destroy them -- to burn them, and let
their ashes go with the stream. "Act in that way towards Cormac," said
Dinneach the Druid; "but do not kill Corc, but let him be given to me,
that I may take him out of Ireland." This was granted to him; and he
took him with him to sea, to Inis Baoi; and he found a house on the
island in which was a crone called Baoi; and the druid placed Corc
under her protection, and he remained with her for a year, and at the
end of the year the druid took Corc and placed him under the
protection of Saruit daughter of Conn, who was grandmother to the
child, both on his father's and mother's side.

As to the Deise, they inquired of their filés whether they were fated
to have rest or dwelling in Munster; and the filés told them in reply
to stay in the country, and that the wife of Criomhthann son of Eanna
Cinnsealach, king of Leinster, whose name was Congain, was pregnant,
and that it was a daughter she would bring forth, and that they should
ask the daughter in fosterage, and give a fee in order to obtain her.
After this the daughter was born; and she was fostered by the Deise.
The daughter's name was Eithne Uathach, and she was fed by the Deise
on the flesh of infants that she might grow up the more quickly; for a
certain druid had foretold that they would get territory from the man
whose wife she would be. And when she was of age to wed, she was
married to Aonghus son of Natfraoch, king of Munster. And Aonghus gave
them, in consideration of getting her to wife, Magh Feimhean, that is,
Trian Chluana Meala, and the Trian Meadhonach after the expulsion of
the Osruighigh from these territories. And a long time after this
Aonghus and Eithne were slain by the Leinstermen in the Battle of
Ceall Osnadh, four miles east of Leithghlinn.

These descendants of Fiachaidh Suighdhe, who are called the Deise,
possessed only the district known as Deise Dheisceirt, that is, from
the Siuir southwards to the sea, and from Lios Mor to Ceann Criadain,
up to the time when Eithne Uathach was married to Aonghus son of
Natfraoch, king of Munster. For it was about that time that Aonghus
gave them Deise Thuaisceirt, that is, from the same Siuir to Corca
Athrach, which is called the Plain of Cashel. And O Faolain, who came
from that stock, was king of Deise Thuaisceirt; and the place in which
his residence was situated was on the brink of the Siuir to the west
of Inis Leamhnachta; and Dun Ui Fhaolain is the name it is called to-
day. Another kinsman of his occupied Deise Dheisceirt, and he was
called O Bric; and he had his stronghold beside the sea, in the south,
in the place which is now called Oilean Ui Bhric. And the Deise were
divided thus between these two races until the race of O Bric became
extinct; and O Faolain obtained the chieftainship of the two
territories, and held it for a long period afterwards, until the race
of Eibhear took Deise Thuaisceirt from him; and so he possessed only
Deise Dheisceirt on the coming of the Foreigners to Ireland.

Understand that it was Aonghus Osruighe and his followers that
obtained sway over Magh Feimhean, which is called Deise Thuaisceirt,
and that it was this sept of Fiachaidh Suighdhe who expelled Aonghus
Osruighe and his followers from Magh Feimhean; and from the defeat
they inflicted on Aonghus are named Baile Orluidhe, and Mullach
Inneona in Magh Feimhean at this day; Baile Orluidhe from the urlaidhe
or long hair of the warriors in the battle, and Mullach Inneona from
the Osruighigh having been driven from it to Leinster against their
will.

About this time Cormac son of Art, king of Ireland, felt a scarcity of
meat, having spent the rents of the provinces because of the extent of
his household staff; and he took counsel with his high-steward, how he
could obtain supplies for his staff until the time of his rent-taking;
and the steward advised him to assemble a large host, and go into
Munster to levy the head rent of the king of Ireland. "For they only
pay thee," said he, "the rent of one province, while there are two
provinces in Munster, and each of these provinces should pay the rent
of a province to the king of Ireland." Cormac acted on that advice,
and sent envoys to Fiachaidh Muilleathan, who was then king of Munster,
demanding from him the rent of the second province. Fiachaidh answered
the envoys, and said that he would not pay a higher rent to Cormac
than was paid to the kings who preceded him. And when this answer
reached Cormac, he assembled a large host, and marched with them, and
halted not till he reached Druim Damhghaire in Munster, which place is
now called Cnoc Luinge. And there he fixed his tent or camp; and
Fiachaidh Muilleathan, king of Munster, came on the other side against
him front to front.

At that time Cormac was thus circumstanced: he had druids from Alba
with him there, who practised much magic against the king of Munster
and his followers, and in particular, not a drop of water was left
near the camp of the king of Munster, and so people and cattle were on
the point of death through want of water, and the king of Munster was
obliged to send for Mogh Ruith, a druid, who was in Ciarraidhe
Luachra; and this Mogh Ruith lived in the time of nineteen kings, as
the poet says in this stanza:

The reign of nineteen successive kings 
Was the life of Mogh Ruith with much fighting,
From Roth son of Rioghall, great the fame,
To Cairbre Lithfeachair the strong.

And when Mogh Ruith came, the king was obliged to give him two
cantreds of Feara Muighe, which are called the country of the Roistigh
and the country of the Condunaigh. And thereupon Mogh Ruith removed
the barrier that had been put to the water withholding it, and at the
same time threw up into the air a magic spear which he had, and in the
place in which the spear fell there burst forth a well of spring water
which relieved the men of Munster from the thirst that afflicted them;
and hereupon the king of Munster with his host made a sudden onset on
Cormac and his followers, and expelled them from Munster, without
their having fought a battle or carried off a spoil. And they pursued
them to Osruighe, so that Cormac was forced to give pledges and
securities that he would send hostages from Tara to Raith Naoi, which
is called Cnoc Rathfonn, to Fiachaidh Muilleathan, as a guarantee that
he would make compensation for all the injury he had done to Munster
in that expedition; and as a declaration of this, the poet composed
this stanza:
Fiachaidh Muilleathan, good the king,
From the land of Aibhle in Leitre Craoi,
Hostages from great Tara were sent him
To bright Rathfonn to Raith Naoi.

This Fiachaidh had two sons, to wit, Oilill Flann Mor and Oilill Flann
Beag. Oilill Flann Mor had no issue, and it is from Oilill Flann Beag
that all who survive of the race of Fiachaidh Muilleathan are
descended. And hence the poet indites this stanza:

The sons of great Fiachaidh Muilleathan
Were Oilill Flann Mor of the mead-drinking,
And Oilill Flann Beag of the hosts;
His progeny are great in Munster.

Now, as Oilill Flann Mor was without issue, he adopted his brother
Oilill Flann Beag as a son, and left him his personal effects and his
inheritance on condition that he and his descendants should place his
name in the genealogy between his own name and that of Fiachaidh
Muilleathan; and so it is in the Psalter of Cashel, and in other
ancient books. It is not, however, to be inferred from them that
Oilill Flann Mor was the father of Oilill Flann Beag. But the reason
why the chroniclers used to put the name of Oilill Flann Mor in the
genealogical tree of Fiachaidh Muilleathan was to commemorate the
compact that existed between himself and Oilill Flann Beag, as we have
said above. Fiachaidh Muilleathan was treacherously slain by Connla
Clamh son of Tadhg, son of Cian, ancestor of the siol Cearbhaill and
of the siol Meachair at Ath Uiseal, which is called Ath Aiseal on the
Siuir at the present time. And the reason why he did that deed of
treachery was that when Connla was a youth with Cormac son of Art,
learning manners and accomplishments, leprosy or mange came upon him,
and no medical treatment whatever availed him. Cormac told him on that
occasion that there was no cure destined for him, until he should wash
himself in the blood of a king, and that were he to do that he would
be healed of his mange. Soon after this Connla took his leave of
Cormac, and went into Munster to visit his kinsman, Fiachaidh
Muilleathan, who was then king of Munster. And at that time Fiachaidh
Muilleathan resided at Raith Rathfainne, which is now called Cnoc
Rathfonn, with his foster-mother, whose name was Rathfonn; and when
Connla came into his presence, he bade him welcome.

Now, on a certain day soon after this, Fiachaidh went out beside the
Siuir with all his household, attended by Connla, who carried his
spear; and he went as far as Ath Aiseal, and proceeded to swim in the
stream; and Connla bethought him of Cormac's instructions. And
thereupon he went to the verge of the bank, and stabbed Fiachaidh with
his spear as he swam, and thus slew him. Fiachaidh, however, before he
died, protected Connla, and forbade his household to slay him. And he
died immediately after that. And it was in this way the life of
Fiachaidh Muilleathan ended.



XLV.

We said above, following the seanchus, that Cormac had ten daughters.
We shall, however, refer only to two of them here, to wit, Grainne,
who was wife of Fionn son of Cumhall, and Aillbhe daughter of Cormac,
who was wife of Fionn afterwards.

And whoever should say that Fionn and the Fian never existed, would
not be stating truth. For, to prove that the Fian existed we have the
three things that prove the truth of every history in the world except
the Bible, namely, oral tradition of the ancients, old documents, and
antique remains, called in Latin monumenta. For it has been delivered
to us from mouth to mouth that Fionn and the Fian existed; and,
moreover, there are numerous documents that testify to this. There are
also antique remains named after them, as Suidhe Finn on Sliabh na
mBan, called from Fionn descendant of Baoiscne, and Gleann Gharaidh in
Ui Faithche, called from Garaidh son of Morna, and Leabaidh Dhiarmada
Ui Dhuibhne agus Ghrainne at Poll Tighe Liabhain in Ui Fiachrach
Eidhne, which is now called the country of O Seachnasaigh, and so, too,
of many other places in Ireland. And should anyone say that much of
what has been written about the Fian is not to be believed, he would
certainly state the truth; for there was no kingdom in the world in
which there were not written tales called fabulæ in Pagan times, for
example, the Knight of the Sun, Bevis of Hamton, Huon of Burdex, and
other such like, which were written even in the time of the Faith. But
there is no country in the world in which also true and credible
histories have not been written. In the same manner, although many
imaginative romances have been written about Fionn and the Fian, such
as Cath Fionntragha, Bruighean Chaorthainn, and Imtheacht an Ghiolla
Dheacair, and others of a similar kind, for the sake of amusement,
still it is certain that true credible accounts of them were also
written. And it is also certain that their bodies were not abnormally
large, but only like those of their contemporaries; and they were
nothing more than hired warriors of the Kings of Ireland, to defend
and to protect the country for them, as every king has now captains
and soldiers to defend his own dominions.

Now the Fian used to be quartered on the men of Ireland from Samhain
to Bealltaine; and it was their duty to uphold justice, and to prevent
injustice, for the kings and the lords of Ireland; and also to guard
and preserve the harbours of the country from the violence of
foreigners; and from Bealltaine to Samhain to be engaged in hunting,
and the chase, and in every other duty the king of Ireland might
impose upon them, such as putting a stop to robbery, exacting the
payment of tribute, putting down malefactors, and so of every other
evil in the country. For this they had a certain pay, as every king in
Europe gives pay to the captains and to the generals who serve under
him. However, from Bealltaine until Samhain, the Fian were obliged to
depend solely on the products of their hunting and of the chase as
maintenance and wages from the Kings of Ireland; thus, they were to
have the flesh for food, and the skins of the wild animals as pay. But
they only took one meal in the day-and-night, and that was in the
afternoon. And it was their custom to send their attendants about noon
with whatever they had killed in the morning's hunt to an appointed
hill, having wood and moorland in the neighbourhood, and to kindle
raging fires thereon, and put into them a large number of emery
stones; and to dig two pits in the yellow clay of the moorland, and
put some of the meat on spits to roast before the fire; and to bind
another portion of it with suagans in dry bundles, and set it to boil
in the larger of the two pits, and keep plying them with the stones
that were in the fire, making them seethe often until they were cooked.
And these fires were so large that their sites are to-day in Ireland
burnt to blackness, and these are now called Fulacht Fian by the
peasantry.

As to the Fian, when they assembled on the hill on which was the fire,
each of them stripped off, and tied his shirt round his waist; and
they ranged themselves round the second pit we have mentioned above,
bathing their hair and washing their limbs, and removing their sweat,
and then exercising their joints and muscles, thus ridding themselves
of their fatigue; and after this they took their meal; and when they
had taken their meal, they proceeded to build their hunting-tents, and
so prepare themselves for sleep. Each of them made himself a bed of
three things: the tops of trees, moss, and fresh rushes; the tree-tops
at the bottom on the ground, the moss upon these, and the fresh rushes
on top; and it is these are called in the old books, the three
tickings of the Fian.

The following is an account of Fionn son of Cumhall, and of the branch
of the Gaels whence he sprang. Now, Campianus says, in his chronicle,
that some authors say that it was Fionn son of Cumhall who was called
Roanus. But this assertion of his is not true. Know that it was
Cumhall son of Treanmhor, the fourth in descent from Nuadha Neacht,
king of Leinster, who was his father, and that his mother was Muirn
Mhunchaomh daughter of Tadhg son of Nuadha, druid of Cathaoir Mor; and
Almha of Leinster was the native inheritance of Tadhg son of Nuadha;
and hence Alma of Leinster came to belong to Fionn in right of his
mother. However, it was the king of Leinster who gave him Formaoil na
bhFian in Ui Cinnsealaigh, where Luimneach Laighean is at this day.

Hector Boetius, in the History of Alba, unjustly calls Fionn son of
Cumhall a giant; and besides he falsely asserts that he was fifteen
cubits in height. For it is plain from the old books of the seanchus
that he was not of abnormal size as compared with his contemporaries;
and it is plain that there were some of the Fian of greater size,