[b]THE TUATHA DE DANAAN - THE FAIRY FOLK[/b]

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THE TUATHA DE DANAAN - THE FAIRY FOLK

The Irish book of Invasions was compiled in the 12th century and alludes to
several successful waves of mythical invasions of Ireland. During the Fifth wave
, the Tuatha De Danaan came through the mists to invade Ireland.

Little is known about the Tuatha De Danaan before they invaded Ireland. It is
known that they came from four cities somewhere in the north. They were students
of occult knowledge, ancient lore, magic, witchcraft, sorcery and druidic arts.
There were four cities they had studied these arts in, Falias, Gorias, Murias,
and Finias.

What caused them to flee these cities is uncertain. We do know however, that
when they reached the shores of Ireland, they burned their boats so that they
would have no thoughts of ever returning. (The smoke from the burning of their
boats may account for the mist that they are said to have come through.)

Shortly after settling in, they fought in two major battles. The first was the
Battle of Magh Tuiredh which was fought against the previous invaders. The
Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh was against the Formarians.

During the first battle, the Tuatha defeated the Fir Bolg. Over one thousand of
the Fir Bolg were killed, including their King, Eocchaid MacEric. During that
battle, the King of the Tuatha De Danaan, Nuada, lost his hand. Since the laws
of the Tuatha De Danaan stated that no man could be King who was not in Perfect
physical condition, Nuada lost the throne. Diancecht, the God of medicine, with
the help of his two children, Miach and Airmid, forged Nuada a Silver hand,
which moved and worked as well as any other hand.

The Tuatha De Danaan has many powerful Gods, such as Diancecht, the God of
Medicine; The Dagda (The Good God) who specialized in Druidic Arts; Goibhniu who
knew Smithing; Lugh, a God of Arts and Crafts; and Oghma, the God of
Communications.

When the Milesians came upon the Island, there was a third great battle. The
first of the Tuatha De Danaan to be sent to fight the Milesiand was Banbha. She
tried to cast her powerful magic, however the Milesians ignored her. Then, the
Tuatha De Danaan sent Fodhla, however her magic was also unable to stop the
invading Milesians. Finally, the Tuatha De Danaan sent Eriu who sat atop a hill
throwing mud balls down at the Milesians. When the balls smashed into the
ground, they broke apart into thousands of warriors to fight the Milesians.
After the Milesians won the battle, they were so impressed with Eriu's Magic
that they decided to name the Island after her. Erin, a dative form of her name
has been a synonym of Ireland for Centuries.

After the Tuatha were defeated, The Dagda led them underground, where they still
dwell to this day.