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According to the Book of Invasions(Lebor Gabala) there were five separate invasions of Ireland beginning in about 3000 B.C.E.(some stories list six, to equate with the six ages of man)> The first people to arrive were the Partholans, who are said to have come from the West where beyoind the vast, unsailed Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Fairyland, the Land of the Living, also known as the Land of the Happy Dead, was placed. He came with his queen Dealgnaid(Dalny) and several companions of both sexes. According to the myth, there were, at that time but three lakes, nine rivers and one plain in Ireland. During the reign of the Partholians others were gradually added. After a span of time the Partholians died of a pestilance on the Old Plain(Senmag), where they had gathered for ease of burial, and Ireland was once again empty with the exception of a sole survivor, called Tuan the son of Starn who was the brother of Partholan (in other stories his name is given as Fintan). For twenty-two years Tuan wandered the land alone till the coming of the Nemedians. Of nine hundred and sixty Nemedians who set sail for Ireland, nine survived after a year and a half lost at Sea. Upon the arrival of Nemed, who was Taun's cousin, Tuan turned into a young stag and so lived until such time as the Nemedians, like the Partholians, perished. Tuan then becomes a boar as the Fir Bolgs arrive, as a sea eagle he witnesses the coming of the Tuatha De Danaan (Children of the Goddess{Danu}), and with the coming of the Milesians, Tuan is changed into a salmon and after many years is caught and eaten by the wife of Carell, who was the chief of the county. He was reborn from her womb and became known as Tuan, son of Carrell, but all his memories and experiences were intact so he was able to pass on the history of Ireland to the Christian monks.(1)
(to be continued!)
1.Rolleston, T.W. Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race. New York: Lemma Publishing Rev. 1974. pp. 94-101
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