INVASION MYTH
Composition of Lebor Gabála
The ambitious aim of the compiler of Lebor Gabála
Érenn was to synthesize previously separate tradi-
tions and to create a continuous history of Ireland
from the beginning of the world down to his own
time. Most significantly, he merged two previously
separate accounts: one dealing with the history of
the Gaels and the other with the successive invasions
of Cessair, Partholón, etc. The latter was inserted
into the middle of the former, and the compiler was
forced to draw the attention of his readers to the
change in subject matter. He wrote mainly in prose
but included a large number of preexisting poems,
most of which were composed by four men: Eochaid
úa Flainn (d. 1004), Flann Mainistreach (d. 1056),
Tanaide (d. 1075?), and Gilla-Cóemáin mac Gilla-
Shamthainne (fl. 1072). The prose often summarizes
the poems and it is clear that the author is citing the
poems as authorities.
Lebor Gabála is concerned with origins. As we have
seen, the last three invasions supply the vassal tribes
and the dominant septs of medieval Ireland, as well as
the characters who appear elsewhere as gods, but are
here usually portrayed as earthly magicians (the
Túatha Dé Danann). The contemporary geography of
Ireland is explained by the actions of successive waves
of settlers. Each invader, save the antediluvian descen-
dants of Cessair and the Fir Bolg, builds great earth-
works and clears plains, and during their time lakes
burst forth. We are told that Partholón cleared four
plains and that seven lakes appeared, and that during
the time of Nemed four lakes were formed and twelve
plains cleared. The subsequent invasions, however,
begin to introduce social institutions. During the fourth
invasion, the country is divided into five provinces
(cóiced, “fifth”) and the Fir Bolg introduced the notion
of kingship and its sacred character. After the defeat
of the Túatha Dé Danann in the second battle of Mag
Tuired, they deprived the Gaels of corn and milk. As
a result, the country was divided into two with the
Túatha Dé Danann retiring to the fairy mounds and
hills while the Gaels inhabited the surface. Thus, the
origins of Ireland’s peoples, physical geography, and
social institutions are explored and set within an his-
torical framework provided by the Bible.
Lebor Gabála was an immediate success and many
copies and revised editions were made in great codices
such as the Book of Leinster, the Book of Ballymote
and the Book of Lecan. Interest in the text was stim-
ulated by the brief revival of native Irish history in the
seventeenth century. The Franciscan historian Mícheál
Ó Cléirigh produced his own version in 1631, and
Geoffrey Keating included a version in his For as Feasa
ar Éirinn (c. 1633–1638).
Other Accounts of Invasions
Lebor Gabála Érenn stands at the end of a long tradi-
tion of invasion myths. The earliest continuous account
of the peopling of Ireland is contained in the Historia
Brittonum (History of the Britons), which was written
in Wales in between 829 and 830 C.E. It is clearly
derived from Irish sources and tells of various inva-
sions of Ireland from Spain. The first invader is
Partholomus, recognizable as Partholón in Lebor
Gabála, but there is no mention of the prediluvian
Cessair. He is followed by Nimeth filius Agnominis
(Nemed in Lebor Gabála), the three sons of mils His-
paniae (Míl Espáine), and a certain Damhoctor (Irish
dám ochtair, “company of eight”). The arrival of the
Túatha Dé Danann is not included among the incur-
sions, and the Fir Bolg are represented only by a later
invader called Builc. This is followed by a separate
account attributed to “the most learned of the Irish,”
which tells of the arrival of the Irish. The latter are
said to be descendants of a Scythian noble who was
banished from Egypt following the drowning of the
pharoah’s men in the Red Sea. After a sustained period
in Africa, he settled in Spain, where his descendants
remained until they finally moved to Ireland.The Story of Tuán Mac Cairill
The Story of Tuán mac Cairill appears to have been
written in the ninth century, but was revised several
times under the influence of Lebor Gabála. Tuán is
pressed by the Ulster cleric Finnia to recount the his-
tory of Ireland. Tuán explains that Ireland had not been
settled before the Flood, and that he was the sole
survivor of the invasion led by his father, the son of
Agnoman. As time passed he took on various shapes:
a stag, a boar, a hawk, and a salmon, until he was
reborn to the wife of Cairell, king of Ulster. During
all this time he observed the invasions of Ireland from
his hiding place in the wilderness. The first of these
was led by another son of Agnoman, Nemed; the invad-
ers remained for a long time but eventually died out.
They were succeeded by the Fir Domnann and the Fir
Bolg, who were later ousted by the Gailióin and the
Túatha Dé and Andé (tribes of gods and idols?). These
in turn were defeated by the sons of Míl.Origin Legends
A large body of legend in prose and verse is concerned
with the origins and migrations of tribes and dynasties
in the early medieval period. They generally relate
how people came into possession of their lands, how
they assumed (or lost) kingship, and their relationship