The Conquest of Nemed

This takes place at the beginning, before Ireland was Ireland, when it was inhabited only by a tribe known as the Fomorians. Their name is translated from Celtic to mean 'those who live under the sea'.

Nemed and his people left Greece to make the westward journey, looking for a new home. They left in thirty-four oared boats with thirty people in each. Thirty years before Nemed and his followers left for Ireland a plague swept through the land leaving much of Ireland desolate.

The journey was going well with calm seas and favourable winds, until a golden tower was sighted. It had smooth yellow walls that glistened in the seas mist and it was so tall that its top was lost in the clouds.

The fleet rowed towards it, hoping to find treasure, but the sea around it surged with treacherous currents that capsized some of the fleet and drove the rest into the jagged rocks. Only Nemed's boat survived, but most of those travelling with him drowned.

The survivors sailed away from there and came to the shores of Ireland. Here they settled.

But their troubles were not over. Twelve days after they landed Macha, Nemed's wife, was the first to die of the plague that was still ravaging Ireland.

The Fomorians also wanted to settle Ireland but Nemed and his men were to strong and made them work as slaves. They built two great forts and carved out twelve fields from the forested land. They were not the only things changing the look of the landscape. Natural causes were also making changes. Four mighty cloudbursts created four great lakes (that can still be seen today).

While Nemed lived the Fomorians were under his control. In three battles he lost many men but he subdued them nonetheless. That was until he too died of the plague that still lurked in dark corners of Ireland.

Now the Fomorians saw their chance to turn the tables on the Children of Nemed. Without Nemed his children were defeated.

The Fomorians were cruel and harsh. Every year at the festival of Samain (Today's Halloween - 1 November) the Children of Nemed were forced to give up two-thirds of their corn, two-thirds of their mil produce and two-thirds of their new born infants.

The Children of Nemed sent messengers to Greece, asking for assistance. Many people set sail from Greece, including druids and druidesses and many vicious animals.

The fleet laid siege to the king of the Fomorians, Conann, in his glass tower, until he was forced to battle the army.

First the druids and druidesses of each army battled, but they were evenly matched, countering every spell the others cast. Then the warriors battled and many men were lost but eventually the Children of Nemed were victorious.

However Conann was still safe in his tower, so the Children of Nemed let loose the vicious animals - wolves and poisonous pigs - and most people fled, but Conann was still safe.

Then, Fergus, con of Nemed, challenged Conann to single combat and so Conann was killed.

But this was not the end as more Fomorians arrived and as they left their ships the Children of Nemed were waiting for them and fierce fights broke out, so filled with battle fury was everyone that no one noticed a tidal wave headed towards them. It was higher than the tower itself and moving faster than any hawk and it broke over the people fighting there on the beach killing all but thirty Children of Nemed and a boatload of the Fomorians.

After this the Children of Nemed couldn't settle down, being in constant fear for their lives. Eventually they scattered, some returning to Greece and others to Britain. Except for the Formorians, Ireland was empty again for another 200 years.

The Conquest by the Fir Bolg

This was the second invasion of Ireland. It was done by a people known as the Fir Bolg, descendants of the Children of Nemed, from Greece.

They had grown into a strong tribe again causing the Greeks to fear them. The Greeks made them slaves to work on the hardest task of turning rocky plains into clover filled fields by carrying the soil from far away. It was work that broke their spirits and exhausted their strength until they banded together to escape.

They sewed together curraghs out of skin and made them more seaworthy with the hempen sacks that they used for transporting soil. With these they set out for Ireland, the home of their ancestors.

The Fir Bolg were the first to establish a social and political order to Ireland. They divided up the country into five provinces of today: Ulster, Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Meath.

They also established the order of kingship: obeying one's king instead of the warlords of the past.

They lived in Ireland for many generations.

The Conquest by the Gods

The Tuatha De Danann was the third group to invade Ireland. This third conquest is one of the most mysterious and probably most important of the all the invasions.

The Tuatha De Danann, Children of Danu, is remembered today as the gods of Ireland. There is also evidence to support that they were also the old gods of the greater Celtic community in prehistoric Europe. They were also direct descendants of Nemed, who had left Ireland and settled in the northern islands of Greece. There they had learnt the arts of druidism in which they had become very skilled.

They had fought on the side of the Athenians against the Philistines and had amazed everyone with their feats of magic, but eventually the Philistines became to great to overcome and the Tuatha De Danann fled.

Among the possessions they took with them there were four sacred objects: the Lia Fail, a stone which uttered a shriek at the inauguration of a rightful king; the invincible sword of Lugh; the deadly sword of Nuada and the ever-plentiful cauldron of the Dagda.

First the landed in Scotland but the land was so bleak that the life of the exiles was harsh, so the Tuatha De decided to claim the land they believed was rightfully theirs, Ireland.

They landed in secret at the festival of Beltain (1 May), the most sacred of all Celtic feasts. Once everyone had landed the boats were burnt so that, no matter what, they couldn't run.

They conjured a darkness around themselves and moved about the country unnoticed. At Connacht they surprised the Fir Bolg into battle.

There were many fierce battles until the Fir Bolg admitted defeat. The Fir Bolg who survived the battles fled to islands on the coast. The final battle between the Tuatha De and the Fir Bolg is known as the First Battle of Moytura.

The Tuatha De could not claim Ireland yet, for the Fomorians still lived on Ireland and had their own claim to voice. This battle is told in the tale of the Second Battle of Moytura.

The Second Battle of Moytura

In the First Battle of Moytura the king of the Fir Bolg was slain and Nuada, the king of the Tuatha De, was severely injured when his arm was cut off at the shoulder. Diancecht the physician fashioned him an arm of silver to replace the one he lost. Unfortunately the law of the Tuatha De states that a king must be whole and unblemished, so Nuada lost his throne to a man named Eochaid Bres or Eochaid the Beautiful. Eochaid's mother was of the Tuatha De but his father was a Fomorian, their chief. Eochaid knew nothing of this and was brought up by the Tuatha De.

When he was made king a wedding was arranged between him and Tailltiu, the widow of the dead Fir Bolg king. At the same time a marriage between Cian, son of Diancecht the physician, and Ethne, daughter of the great Fomorian warrior Balor.

Bres was made king on the condition that if the people were not happy with his rule he would abdicate.

It was not long before he began to favour the Fomorians and began to oppress the Tuatha De. Eventually the Tuatha De rebelled and reminded Bres of the condition. He agreed but begged to remain for seven years.

His request was granted and he used this time to gather the forces of the Fomorians to destroy the Tuatha De. It was during this time that he learnt who his father was, when his mother took him to the Fomorians and their chief acknowledged him.

It was also during this time that Nuada was healed. The skin around the false arm began to fester and so Nuada sent for Miach, another son of Diancecht, who was known to have great powers of healing. Miach examined Nuada and called for the flesh arm to be found. It was found and was put in place of the silver arm. Miach chanted, "Let this be joined sinew to sinew and nerve to nerve so that there is movement and feeling in every joint." Nuada was healed in three days.

Diancecht became so jealous of Miach's healing powers that he hit his son in the head with his sword. Miach was able to heal himself. Diancecht struck him again cut him to the bone and again Miach healed himself. Again Diancecht struck, this time to the brain and again he struck, destroying Miach brains too badly that even his powers were defeated. This was not the end for Miach's powers though. When he was buried 365 herbs grew from his grave. His sister Airmid gathered them and sorted them, but again Diancecht's jealousy got the better of him and he mixed them up. If it had not been for Diancecht's jealousy the cure for every illness would be known.

As Nuada was healed, he was reinstated as king of the Tuatha De Danann. To celebrate this he held a feast at Tara. During the feast the doorkeeper saw a company approach led by a fair, young warrior in regal robes.

"Who are you and what is your purpose here?" asked the doorkeeper.

"Lugh Long Arm is here to see the king. Son of Cian, son of Diancecht and of Ethne, daughter of Balor. Tell the king that I am here to see him and that I can help him."

"What do you practise? No one can enter Tara without qualifications."

"Questions me doorkeeper, I am a carpenter," Luch Long Arm said.

"We have no need of a carpenter, Luchta is our carpenter," the doorkeeper replied.

"Questions me doorkeeper, I am a smith."

"We have a smith, we have no need of another."

"I am a champion warrior," Luch said.

"Ogma is our champion and we have more warriors of our own."

"I am skilled in playing the harp."

"We have a harpist," the doorkeeper replied.

"I am a strategist."

"We have them."

"I am a historian and a poet."

"We have one."

"I am skilled in the arts of sorcery."

"We have the most powerful druids in all the land."

"I am a physician," Lugh said.

"Daincecht is our physician," the doorkeeper replied.

"I am a cupbearer."

"We have plenty."

"I am a metalworker."

"Credne is our metalworker," the doorkeeper replied.

"Then go and ask the king if he has anyone who has all these skills and learning. If he has I will not enter."

In response to this message from his doorkeeper, Nuada sent his best chess-player to test Lugh's mental skills. Lugh defeated him easily. The king invited him into Tara and gave him the seat reserved for the wisest of them all.

Ogma was eager to prove his strength to the newcomer. He picked up on the flagstones of the palace. He heaved it through a wall and threw it right outside the fort. In response to this challenge Lugh picked up the stone and threw it back inside and in an instant he repaired the damage to the wall.

Nuada knew that Lugh was a true champion and he made him responsible for Ireland's defence against the Formorians.

A great conference took place as he Tuatha De Danann tried to decide what to do about the Fomorians. Under Lugh's leadership everyone agreed to use what skill they had to help in the fight against the Fomorians. Lugh, the Dagda and Ogma agreed to go to the three warrior goddesses and to learn from them how the battle should be planned. The Dagda met the Morrigan at Samain and he persuaded her to reveal the Fomorians' plans and to fight on the side of the Tuatha De.

It took the full seven years to prepare for the battle and by the end the Tuatha De were still not quite ready so the Dagda went to the Fomorians to seek a truce to gain more time.

Knowing that Dagda loved porridge, the Fomorians made a large amount and poured it into a huge cauldron sized pit. They threatened the Dagda with death if he did not finish every last scarp because they did not want to be accused of not being hospitable. They spoke with such sincerity that the Dagda seized his ladle, which was big enough for a man and a woman to lie in, and finished every scrap of porridge even using his fingers to scrape the bottom of the pit. He as so full that he fell asleep and the Fomorians laughed at him. When he awoke and left he could hardly walk because his stomach was the size of a cauldron. He leaned on his weapon, a great-wheeled club that as he walked left a track so deep and enduring that it served as a boundary mark for the province.

The Fomorians mocked him but the Dagda had done what he had set out to do and the Tuatha De had the time they needed to complete their preparations.

The Tuatha De decided that Lugh was to valuable to be lost in the battle so when the army assembled he was surrounded by nine of his warriors. He was in charge of strategy but he would not fight in the battle.

On the eve of Samain the to armies met with champions facing each other in single combat. Mostly the Tuatha De was victorious but occasionally a Fomorian was victorious. The Fomorians noticed that unlike their injured the Tuatha De Danann's injured were well and ready to fight the following day and that their weapons were mended. They sent a spy, Ruadan, to find out the Tuatha De's secret.

He went into the Tuatha De's camp and found Goibniu, the smith; Luchta, the carpenter and Credne the metalworker working as a powerful team to mend the weapons. He saw how Diancecht and his sons cast spells over a well and when the wounded and the dead where thrown into its waters they were healed and restored to life. Ruadan grew angry and he attacked Goibniu with his spear. Goibniu removed the spear and sent it into Ruadan and sent him to die among his own people.

His mission was not a complete failure though, because with his dying breath he told the Fomorians about the well and that night they went and filled it with stones.

Now the two armies battled each other and as they confronted one another the Fomorians saw a shining figure at the front of the Tuatha De. Lugh had escaped his guards and was now inciting the Tuatha De to victory.

The battle was fast a furious with people falling on both sides. Then Balor, the king of the Fomorians, killed Nuada Silver Arm and so Lugh fought to the front of the line to confront his grandfather.

Balor was also known as Balor Evil Eye because once, when his father's druids had been brewing an evil potion, some of the fumes from the brew had wafted into his eye and the poison from the charm had entered it. One glance from the now poisonous eye could destroy armies.

As Lugh confronted his grandfather he shouted a challenge so Balor ordered his eye to be opened so that he could see him. Four men holding wooden pegs were used to lift the heavy lid covering the evil eye.

Before the eye was half open Lugh used his slingshot to cast a stone at the eye. It passed through the eye and carried it to the back of his head where it killed 27 Fomorians standing there.

With Balor dead, the Tuatha De fought with renewed vigour and with the help of the warrior goddesses they drove the Fomorians into the sea and Bres fled with them.

When the battle was over, there were more dead than could be counted. It is said that the standing stones on the plain of Carrowmore, near Sligo, mark the graves of those who died in the Second Battle of Moytura.

With the land free of the Fomorians and the Tuatha De restored to their former positions the Morrigan, war goddess of Ireland, climbed to the mountain tops to chant victory to all those in the land.

The Conquest by the Sons of Mil

This conquest is the most important for Celtic history because this was when the Gaels arrived in Ireland and they have since remained.

The Sons of Mil, originally of Spain, heard about the uncle, who after seeing a vision had travelled to Ireland, and had been killed by the Tuatha De Danann. They knew Ireland to be a good land, with good grazing and plentiful fish in rivers and lakes. So, bent on revenge, they gathered their families and belongings together and set sail for Ireland.

Donn, the eldest, was the commander of sixty-five ships and forty chieftains and their spiritual leader was Amergin, a poet skilled in all arts of magic.

As they reached Ireland the Tuatha De Danann protected Ireland by using druidic magic to make it disappear. The sailors stared in astonishment at the open sea. Amergin realised that magic was at hand. He advised Donn to sail around the land three times.

The island reappeared as soon as the ships finished the third circle and so the Sons of Mil landed on the eve of Beltain. They started marching inland.

As they headed inland they met the three goddesses of Ireland: Banba, Fodla and Erui (also known as Erin). They were the territorial goddesses and it was vital for the invaders to gain their co-operation. The first two goddesses didn't say much but Erui was full of praise for them. She told them that their arrival had been long awaited having been previously prophesied. She welcomed them and said that Ireland, the best island, was theirs to rule forever.

Donn replied, "If that happens it will not be due to you but to our gods and our fighting men."

Erin was angered by the arrogant answer and told him that his line would be forever cursed and would never rule Ireland.

The Sons of Mil left Erui and continued to Tara where they met the husbands of the three goddesses and kings of the Tuatha De Danann: Mac Cuill, Mac Cracht and Mac Greine. These three jeered at the Sons of Mil for being dishonourable by trying to take Ireland by surprise. The sons of Mil were given three options: leaving Ireland, submitting to the Tuatha De Danann or fighting. Donn really wanted to fight but Amergin had the final say in the matter.

He commanded them to retreat and leave the land for the Tuatha De until the Sons of Mil could take it honourably.

"Where shall we go then?" Donn asked.

Speaking the magical words of the druids, Amergin commanded them out to past the ninth wave.

Grudgingly the Sons of Mil obeyed and set sail until they were beyond the ninth wave.

In order to keep them from Ireland forever the Tuatha De conjured up a wild storm. The waves were so strong that even the seabed was lifted to the top and the sailors were terrified as they were driven out to the open sea.

Amergin knew that if the storm was druid-driven then the air above the mast would be calm. A sailor climbed the mast and he stuck his hand up above the mast. The air was clam. Before he could tell the others a sudden gust of wind blew him to his death on the deck below.

Amergin stood at the bow and chanted a poem to the goddess Erui, to appease her after what Donn had said to him. The storm calmed. However, Donn was still full of pride and he spoke arrogantly and showed disobedience to Amergin. This sealed his fate.

The storm blew up once again and his ship became separated from the others. Even as Donn defied the elements with his sword the boat was wrecked on the southwest coast and everyone aboard drowned, all but Amergin.

Emer and Eremon, the remaining brothers, shared the rest of the fleet between them. They landed on the shore and as Amergin set his right foot on the sand he uttered a poem claiming the land for the Sons of Mil.

The Tuatha De Danann's magic had been outwitted but it was many battles before the sons of Mil could claim victory.

However, the Tuatha De retained their supernatural powers and made life difficult for the newcomers. Eventually a truce was reached and there was peace between the two forces.

They divided the land between them, the underground going to the Tuatha De and the land above ground went to the sons of Mil. As a result the Tuatha De went to live underground. The Dagda gave a faery mound (known as a sidhe) to each of their chieftains and these mounds were to be the dwelling places of the faery folk of Ireland.

This was forever the agreement between the Tuatha De Danann and the Gaels.