Historical section: The Celtic races & inter strife...

There is little evidence of the existence of these different races. The Fir Bolgs and the Tuatha de Dananns seem to have been created in legends by those who came after them to explain their origins. These myths are called the Origin Legends. The Milesians may have been Celtic colonists who came to Ireland and lived here. They probably developed the myths of those who had gone before themselves. The expansion of the Celts in Europe was widespread. Celtic expansion is dealt with elsewhere in this site.

The sources of the quoted passages (quoted text is green script) are listed in the Bibliography.

INDEX

Topic 1 The Fir Bolgs.

Topic 2 The Tuatha de Dananns.

Topic 3 The Formorians.

Topic 4 The Milesians.

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Topic 1

The Fir Bolgs. Back to the Index.

 

"According to the old bardic legends, the first man who led a colony to Ireland after the Flood was Parthalon. Next came Nemed and his people; after these the Firbolgs..." -Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce (1920). (see Bibliography)

 

The earliest race of historical significance to arrive in and habitate Ireland were the Fir Bolgs who might have originally immigrated from the Eastern or Greek lands. These men are believed to have been "a small, straight haired, swarthy race" -Sir William Wilde, with a swarthy complexion and dark eyelashes, blue or blue-grey eyes and a prominent larynx. They were apparently hard working at need yet lazy whenever possible. Combative & feudal, they were loyal to their chiefs. They had tendencies towards the nomadic way of life.

The Fir Bolg was not advanced in knowledge (of metal working and invention), rather he worked on the land tending to domestic animals and agriculture. They had laws and a government which they setup at the hill of Tara.

 

It was from the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha de Danann that Irish fairy mythology was developed. The Fir Bolg and the Dananns were seen as a mysterious minority in the years that followed their downfall at the hands of the Milesians.

Topic 2

The Tuatha de Dananns. Back to the Index.

"the Dananns, in the course of their wanderings, spent some time in Greece, where they learned magic and other curious arts. From this they migrated to Lochlann, in the north of Europe, from where they came through Scotland to their final resting-place, Ireland" -Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce (1920). (Bibliography).

The Tuath de Danann were the second arrivals on the Island. Unlike the Fir Bolg, Sir William Wilde described them as "a large, fair-complexioned, and very remarkable race; warlike, energetic, progressive, skilled in metal work, musical, poetical, acquainted with the healing art, skilled in Druidism, and believed to be adepts in necromancy and magic". It is suggested that they were the product of a union between the gods and men: "...some of the best of both god and man mingled to form what later generations would call the Tuatha de Danann, the People of the Goddess Danu" -Michael Scott , Irish folk and fairy tales volume II (1983). The notion of their expertise in necromancy and magic could possibly have been the common peoples explanation for their advanced knowledge of "smelting and in the fabrication of tools, weapons, and ornaments".

 

The Tuath de Danann strove with those who had come before them, the Fir Bolg, for supremacy of the Island at the First Battle of Moytura. They were physically superior and were equipped with better weaponry. They prevailed and drove the Fir Bolg off the mainland and onto the coastal islands where they were forced to make their last stand. The Dananns took control of Tara. The arrival of another powerful and common enemy (the Milesians) entered the strife between the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha de Danann and threw them into a pact of coexistence. The Dananns ruled Ireland for a period of roughly 200 years, they were then conquered in turn by the Milesians.

The Tuath de Danann people were followers of the matriarchal goddess Danu, thence Tuatha meaning tribes, and de Danann meaning of Danu. She is also known as the Earth goddess, and existed as a tri-partite deity. In the ancient past, a Goddess was worshiped world-wide before the Patriarchal gods took over.

 

The Danann warriors took the heads of those they had slain in battle as trophies of their bravery and also to serve as a talisman against evil spirits. "...the Knights only now returning, slack-jawed and bulbous eyes heads dangling from their saddles." -Michael Scott, Irish folk and fairy tales volume I (1983).

 

Topic 4

The Formorians. Back to the Index.

In some legends, the Formorians are described as fearful demonic beings who thirst for human blood. The historical truth is that the Formorians were human raiders who plagued the Tuath de Danann people. For this reason, some tales give incredible descriptions of the Formor's demonic visage. Here is a lengthy quoted description of the daemon formors "A round head, no ears, no nose. A single eye set in the centre of its forehead surrounded by a ridge of bone. Its mouth a slit, its fangs enormous and pointed, and they seemed to lock into one another. Huge chest, long arms. Its skin was scaled like a serpent's. It had one leg and a claw like that of a hunting bird's, with talons to the front and one behind. It also had a long barbed tail." -Michael Scott, Irish folk and fairy tales volume II (1983). The birth of the Formors is also described in the same text by Michael Scott "...and in time there came forth new creatures that were nether man nor god, but something of both. And in some of the best of both god and man mingled to form what later generations would call the Tuatha de Danann... but in others, what was abhorrent to both the gods and men was brought forth from where it lurked deep within them both. And so the Formors were birthed, abominations shunned by both men and beasts and despised by the gods."

 

The meaning of the name 'Formor' is sea-robber. This comes from the Irish, 'Fo' -meaning on or along and 'muir' -meaning the sea. The Formorians were pirates and raiders who infested the Irish coasts and made inland incursions. They came from Lochlann (the region from whence the Danes came, alone the southern shores of the Baltic sea), yet originated from Africa. They claimed to be the direct descendants of Ham, the son of Noah.

 

For a time, the Formorians had a power over the Danann people and exacted from them various taxes to be paid each year on the hill of Usna, "and if any one refused to pay his part, his nose was cut off by the Formorian tyrants." the Dananns greatly feared the Formorians: "the whole Dedannan race stood in great dread of these Formorian tax-collectors" -The Fate of the Children of Tureen from Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce (1920).

 

The Formorians were lead by their King Balor of the Evil eye or also known as Balor of the Mighty blows. Balor reputedly had an evil eye which at a simple glance could turn an enemy to stone or strike dead any foe. Balor kept this eye covered except when he need it for use in combat. Balor was killed by his half-Danann grandson Luga of the long arm at the second battle of Moytura, after he had slain the Danann King Nuada of the silver hand.

The Formorians for a time kept a strong hold on Tory Island, where to this day, there remains a high towering rock known as Balor's Castle.

 

The appearance of the typical Formorian is described in the Quest of the sons of Tureen "...swarthy men, with dull eyes and lowering brows..." -Michael Scott, Irish folk and fairy tales volume I (1983), any again in the Fate of the Children of Tureen "grim and fierce and surly looking" -Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce (1920). The Formorians were sometimes described as Daemons of the sea.

 

Topic 4

The Milesians. Back to the Index.

"Every one who is white of skin, brown of hair, bold, honourable, daring, prosperous, bountiful in the bestowal of property, and who is not afraid of battle or combat, they are the descendants of the sons of Milesius in Erin" -The Mac Ferbis who lived circa 1400 (a genealogist from Galway who studied the races of Irish antiquity).

 

The Milesians defeated the Tuatha de Dananns upon their arrival in Ireland. They were also called the people of Miled or people of Milesius and are the ancestors of the great Irish families. They were the last and greatest colony of them all and their arrival heralded change for all of the Island.

 

The Milesians defeated the Tuatha de Dananns in two major battles. The battle at Tailltenn by the Blackwater river in Meath (present day name is Teltown), and the battle at Druim-Lighean in Donegal (now called Drumleene, near Lifford).

The defeat of the Dananns transformed the remnants of the Tuath into a reclusive people (and thus in the minds of the common folk, people of great archaic power and mystery). While they had held sway, the Dananns were known for their magical skills and abilities, now this factor combined with their apparent secrecy since their fall from power created the myth that the Tuatha de Dananns were fairies and god like characters.

 

"...for they were of the Tuatha de Danann and thus more akin to gods, and of the Fir Bolg and thus closer to daemons" -Michael Scott, Irish folk and fairy tales volume I (1983). In this passage, the sons of Tureen are battling with great warriors of Fir Bolg descent. The descendants of the conquering Milesians came to believe that these fairies lived in wonderful castles or inside the hills. In time, the Dananns were called the 'Daoine-sidhe' or People of the hills, and their great goddess Danu, became the Beanshee (the ghost woman who wails when a member of a haunted family will die. She was also tri-partite).