The Fir Domnann were a people named in Irish legendary history.
The name Fir Domnann is based on the root dumno-, which means both 'deep' and 'the world'. The suffix -on- often occurs in Gaulish and British divine names. The tribal name Dumnonii, found in Britain, would therefore mean 'people of the god of the world'. Old Irish fir means 'men', and so Fir Domnann had the same meaning as the British tribal name, leading to conjecture that these tribes had a common origin. [1] For example, O'Rahilly's historical model proposed that the Domnann were a P-Celtic, pre-Goidelic people who, along with the Galeóin, invaded the south-east coast of Ireland from Britain. [2] O'Rahilly's theory of P-Celtic preceding Goidelic in Ireland is not widely accepted by experts today, but the idea of some connection between the British and Irish tribes of similar names remains. [3]
In early Irish literature, the Fir Domnann were located in Cóice Laigean (Leinster). A probably 7th-century Irish poem credits their ruler, Mess-Telmann, with the over-kingship of the province and with wielding power from the royal site of Leinster at Dún Áilinne. The place-name Inber Domnann, now Malahide Bay inlet in north County Dublin on the east coast of Ireland, preserves the tribal name. Yet the area with the strongest placename associations with the Fir Domnann is in north-west Mayo: the Iorrais Domnann, from which the historical barony of Erris takes its name, [4] and the nearby Mag Domnann and Dún Domnann. [5]
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.
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In medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg 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.
The Belgae were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth by Julius Caesar in his account of his wars in Gaul. Some peoples in southern Britain were also called Belgae and had apparently moved from the continent. T. F. O'Rahilly believed that some had moved further west and he equated them with the Fir Bolg in Ireland. The Roman province of Gallia Belgica was named after the continental Belgae. The term continued to be used in the region until the present day and is reflected in the name of the modern country of Belgium.
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The Cruthin were a people of early medieval Ireland. Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of Antrim, Down and Londonderry. They are also said to have lived in parts of Leinster and Connacht. Their name is the Irish equivalent of *Pritanī, the reconstructed native name of the Celtic Britons, and Cruthin was sometimes used to refer to the Picts, but there is a debate among scholars as to the relationship of the Cruthin with the Britons and Picts.
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Cían d'Fhearaibh Bolg, last King of the Senchineoil of Magh Senchineoil, now in County Galway, Ireland.
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Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a polytheistic religion, having many gods and goddesses. The mythologies of continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians, did not survive their conquest by the Roman Empire, the loss of their Celtic languages and their subsequent conversion to Christianity. Only remnants are found in Greco-Roman sources and archaeology. Most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples. They preserved some of their myths in oral lore, which were eventually written down by Christian scribes in the Middle Ages. Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed by Welsh mythology.
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