In medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg (also spelt Firbolg and Fir Bholg) are the fourth group of people to settle in Ireland. They are descended from the Muintir Nemid, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. Those who went to Greece became the Fir Bolg and eventually return to Ireland, after it had been uninhabited for many years. After ruling it for some time and dividing the island into provinces, they are overthrown by the invading Tuatha Dé Danann. [1]
Lebor Gabála Érenn tells of Ireland being settled six times by six groups of people. The first three—the people of Cessair, the people of Partholón, and the people of Nemed—were wiped out or forced to abandon the island. The Fir Bolg are said to be descendants of the people of Nemed, who inhabited Ireland before them. All but thirty of Nemed's people were killed in warfare and disaster. Of this thirty, one group flees "into the north of the world", one group flees to Britain, and another group flees to Greece. Those who went into the north became the Tuatha Dé Danann (or Tuath Dé), the main pagan gods of Ireland.
Those who went to Greece became the Fir Bolg. Lebor Gabála Érenn says that they were enslaved by the Greeks and made to carry bags of soil or clay, hence the name 'Fir Bolg' (men of bags). The Cath Maige Tuired says that they were forced to settle on poor, rocky land but that they made it into fertile fields by dumping great amounts of soil on it. After 230 years, they leave Greece at the same time as the Israelites escaped from Egypt. In a great fleet, the Fir Bolg sail to Iberia and then to Ireland.
Led by their five chieftains, they divide Ireland into five provinces: Gann takes North Munster, Sengann takes South Munster, Genann takes Connacht, Rudraige takes Ulster, and Slánga takes Leinster. They establish the High Kingship and a succession of nine High Kings rules over Ireland for the next 37 years. The seat of the high-kings is established at Tara, a site with significance through Medieval times as a source of religious and royal power. [2] The last High King, Eochaid mac Eirc, is the example of a perfect king. The Fir Bolg are also said to have included two sub-groups known as the Fir Domnann and Fir Gáilióin.
After 37 years, the Tuath Dé arrive in Ireland. Their king, Nuada, asks to be given half the island, but the Fir Bolg king Eochaid refuses. The two groups meet at the Pass of Balgatan, and the ensuing battle—the First Battle of Mag Tuired—lasts for four days. During the battle, Sreng, the champion of the Fir Bolg, challenges Nuada to single combat. With one sweep of his sword, Sreng cuts off Nuada's right hand. However, the Fir Bolg are defeated and their king, Eochaid, is slain by the three sons of Nemid. Sreng saves them from total destruction, however. [3] According to some texts, the Fir Bolg flee Ireland. [4] According to others, the Tuath Dé offer them one quarter of Ireland as their own, and they choose Connacht. They are mentioned very little after this in the myths. [5]
The Historia Brittonum —which was written earlier than the Lebor Gabála—says there were only three settlements of Ireland: the people of Partholón, the people of Nemed, and the Gaels. However, it mentions that a leader called Builc or Builg and his followers had taken an island called Eubonia, believed to be the Isle of Man. [6] The Lebor Gabála adds the Fir Bolg into the scheme and increases the number of settlements to six. It has been suggested that this number was chosen to match the "Six Ages of the World". [7]
Today, most scholars regard the Lebor Gabála as myth rather than history. [1] It is believed the goal of its writers was to provide an epic origin story for the Irish, like that of the Israelites, which reconciled native myth with the Christian view of history. [8] [9] Ireland's inhabitants (in this case the Fir Bolg) are likened to the Israelites by escaping from slavery and making a great journey to a 'Promised Land'. The pagan gods (the Tuath Dé) are depicted as a group of people with powers of sorcery.
The name Fir Bolg is usually translated in the early literature as "men of bags". The Irish word fir means "men" and the word bolg/bolc can mean a belly, bag, sack, bellows, and so forth. Kuno Meyer and R. A. Stewart Macalister argue that the name comes from the term Fir i mBolgaib, meaning "breeches wearers", literally "men in (baggy) breeches", which could be interpreted as a term of contempt for the "lower orders". Macalister suggests this expression had fallen out of use by the time the Lebor Gabála was written, and the writers tried to make sense of it by creating a story about men with bags. [10] It has also been suggested that it originally meant men who were "bulging" or "swollen" with battle fury. [6]
The name may be based on, and cognate with, Belgae . [6] The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul. Some[ who? ] have suggested that the writers named a fictional race, the Fir Bolg, after a real group, the Belgae. T. F. O'Rahilly suggested that Fir Bolg, or Builg, was another name for the Érainn. He believed they were linked to the Belgae and settled Ireland around the 5th century BC. [11] O'Rahilly's theory has been challenged by historians and archaeologists, and is no longer accepted. [12] [13]
John Rhys and R. A. Stewart Macalister suggest that the Fir Bolg are the Fomorians (Fomoire) under another guise. [14] Macalister notes that the Fir Bolg are the only group of settlers who are not harried by the Fomorians. [10] The Tuath Dé fight two similar battles at Mag Tuired, one against the human Fir Bolg and one against the supernatural Fomorians. The Fir Bolg lead the Fomorians to the second battle. [10] The Fomorians seem to have represented the harmful or destructive powers of nature, while the Tuath Dé represented the gods of growth and civilization. [15] [16]
Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era. In the early medieval era, some myths were transcribed by Christian monks, who heavily altered and Christianised the myths. Irish mythology is the best-preserved branch of Celtic mythology.
Lugh or Lug is a figure in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of supernatural beings, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a saviour. He is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts. Lugh also has associations with oaths, truth and the law, and therefore with rightful kingship. Lugh is linked with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh, which bears his name. His most common epithets are Lámfada and Samildánach. This has sometimes been anglicised as "Lewy of the Long Hand".
The TuathaDé Danann, also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé, are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland.
In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu, known by the epithet Airgetlám, was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is also called Nechtan, Nuadu Necht and Elcmar, and is the husband of Boann. He is mostly known from the tale in which he loses his arm or hand in battle, and thus his kingship, but regains it after being magically healed by Dian Cécht. Nuada is thought to have been a god and is related to the British and Gaulish god Nodens, who is associated with hunting and fishing. His Welsh equivalent is Nudd or Lludd Llaw Eraint.
In Irish mythology, Goibniu was the metalsmith of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is believed to have been a smithing god and is also associated with hospitality. His name is related to the Welsh Gofannon and the Gaulish Gobannus.
In Irish mythology, the Badb, or in modern Irish Badhbh —also meaning "crow"—is a war goddess who takes the form of a crow, and is thus sometimes known as Badb Catha. She is known to cause fear and confusion among soldiers to move the tide of battle to her favoured side. Badb may also appear prior to a battle to foreshadow the extent of the carnage to come, or to predict the death of a notable person. She would sometimes do this through wailing cries, leading to comparisons with the bean-sídhe (banshee).
Macha was a sovereignty goddess of ancient Ireland associated with the province of Ulster, particularly the sites of Navan Fort and Armagh, which are named after her. Several figures called Macha appear in Irish mythology and folklore, all believed to derive from the same goddess. She is said to be one of three sisters known as 'the three Morrígna'. Like other sovereignty goddesses, Macha is associated with the land, fertility, kingship, war and horses.
The Fomorians or Fomori are a supernatural race in Irish mythology, who are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings. Originally they were said to come from under the sea or the earth. Later, they were portrayed as sea raiders and giants. They are enemies of Ireland's first settlers and opponents of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the other supernatural race in Irish mythology; although some members of the two races have offspring. The Tuath Dé defeat the Fomorians in the Battle of Mag Tuired. This has been likened to other Indo-European myths of a war between gods, such as the Æsir and Vanir in Norse mythology and the Olympians and Titans in Greek mythology.
Nemed or Nimeth is a character in medieval Irish legend. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn, he was the leader of the third group of people to settle in Ireland: the Muintir Nemid, Clann Nemid or "Nemedians". They arrived thirty years after the Muintir Partholóin, their predecessors, had died out. Nemed eventually dies of plague and his people are oppressed by the Fomorians. They rise up against the Fomorians, attacking their tower out at sea, but most are killed and the survivors leave Ireland. Their descendants become the Fir Bolg.
Ogma is a god from Irish and Scottish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is often considered a deity and may be related to the Gallic god Ogmios. According to the Ogam Tract, he is the inventor of Ogham, the script in which Irish Gaelic was first written.
In Irish origin myths, Míl Espáine or Míl Espáne is the mythical ancestor of the final inhabitants of Ireland, the "sons of Míl" or Milesians, who represent the vast majority of the Irish Gaels. His father was Bile, son of Breogan. Modern historians believe he is a creation of medieval Irish Christian writers.
Partholón is a character in medieval Irish Christian pseudo-history, who is said to have led one of the first groups to settle in Ireland. 'Partholón' comes from the Biblical name Bartholomaeus (Bartholomew), and may be borrowed from a character who appears in the Christian pseudo-histories of Saints Jerome and Isidore of Seville.
Lebor Gabála Érenn is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish from the creation of the world to the Middle Ages. There are a number of versions, the earliest of which was compiled by an anonymous writer in the 11th century. It synthesised narratives that had been developing over the foregoing centuries. The Lebor Gabála tells of Ireland being settled six times by six groups of people: the people of Cessair, the people of Partholón, the people of Nemed, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the Milesians. The first four groups are wiped out or forced to abandon the island; the fifth group represents Ireland's pagan gods, while the final group represents the Irish people.
Cath Maige Tuired is the name of two saga texts of the Mythological Cycle of Irish mythology. It refers to two separate battles in Connacht: the first in the territory of Conmhaícne Cúile Tuireadh near Cong, County Mayo, the second near Lough Arrow in County Sligo. The two texts tell of battles fought by the Tuatha Dé Danann, the first against the Fir Bolg, and the second against the Fomorians.
The Mythological Cycle is a conventional grouping within Irish mythology. It consists of tales and poems about the god-like Tuatha Dé Danann, who are based on Ireland's pagan deities, and other mythical races such as the Fomorians and Fir Bolg. It is one of the four main story 'cycles' of early Irish myth and legend, along with the Ulster Cycle, the Fianna Cycle and the Cycles of the Kings. The name "Mythological Cycle" seems to have gained currency with Arbois de Jubainville c. 1881–1883. James MacKillop says the term is now "somewhat awkward", and John T. Koch notes it is "potentially misleading, in that the narratives in question represent only a small part of extant Irish mythology". He prefers T Ó Cathasaigh's name, Cycle of the Gods. Important works in the cycle are the Lebor Gabála Érenn, the Cath Maige Tuired, the Aided Chlainne Lir and Tochmarc Étaíne.
Túathal Techtmar, son of Fíachu Finnolach, was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition. He is said to be the ancestor of the Uí Néill and Connachta dynasties through his grandson Conn of the Hundred Battles. The name may also have originally referred to an eponymous deity, possibly even a local version of the Gaulish Toutatis.
In Irish mythology, Cichol or Cíocal Gricenchos is the earliest-mentioned leader of the Fomorians. His epithet, Gricenchos or Grigenchosach, is obscure. Macalister translates it as "clapperleg"; Comyn as "of withered feet". O'Donovan leaves it untranslated.
In Irish mythology Conand was a leader of the Fomorians who lived in a tower on Tory Island. He oppressed the followers of Nemed, demanding a huge tribute of their produce and children. Eventually Nemed's people rose up and killed him, destroying his tower. After his death, Morc, another Fomorian massacred Nemed's surviving followers.
Mag Itha, Magh Ithe, or Magh Iotha was, according to Irish mythology, the site of the first battle fought in Ireland. Medieval sources estimated that the battle had taken place between 2668 BCE and 2580 BCE. The opposing sides comprising the Fomorians, led by Cichol Gricenchos, and the followers of Partholón.
In Irish mythology, Cian or Cían, nicknamed Scal Balb, was the son of Dian Cecht, the physician of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and best known as the father of Lugh Lamhfada. Cían's brothers were Cu, Cethen, and Miach.
T. F. O'Rahilly, whose historical conclusions have been questioned by archaeologists and historians. In particular, O'Rahilly's thesis on the chronology of the invasion has been subject to serious revision and, consequently, as explained in more detail below, his views on the ethnic makeup of early Ireland are no longer accepted.
He distinguished four successive immigrations: the Cruthin some time before 500 BC; the Érainn (Fir Bolg) perhaps in the fifth century; the Laigin (with Domnainn and Gálioin) in the third century; the Goidil who came c. 100 BC. ... O'Rahilly's most novel suggestion is that his first three groups spoke Brythonic dialects ... His demonstration is not convincing