Irish / Celtic Mythology: The Tuatha Dé Danann and Cath Maige

The Mythological Cycle is the first of the four major cycles of Irish mythology, and is so called because it represents the remains of the pagan mythology of pre-Christian Ireland, although the gods and supernatural beings have been euhemerised into historical kings and heroes.

The Mythological Cycle traces the supposed history of Ireland from its earliest inhabitants before the Biblical flood, through a series of invasions to the arrival of the Goidelic-speaking Milesians or Gaels. Some of these invaders probably represent genuine historical migrations; others, like the Tuatha Dé Danann with their magical powers, are unquestionably degraded gods. The primary text of this tradition is the Lebor Gabála Érenn (“Book of Invasions of Ireland”). Elements of the tradition are expended in saga texts such as the two Battles of Mag Tuired, and in early modern compilations such as the Annals of the Four Masters and Geoffrey Keating’s Foras Feasa ar Éireann.

Cath Maige Tuired (“The Battle of Mag Tuired”) is the name of two saga texts of the Mythological Cycle of Irish Mythology. The name Mag Tuired (modern Irish Magh Tuireadh) means “the plain of pillars” and is anglicised as Moytura or Moytirra. It refers to two separate places, both in Connacht: the first near Cong, County Mayo on the border with County Galway; the second by Lough Arrow in County Sligo. The two texts tell of battles fought by the Tuatha Dé Danann, the first against the Fir Bolg, the second against the Fomorians.

Tuatha de Dannan – “peoples of the goddess Danu”, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland. They were the mysterious god-like people of ancient Ireland, and were the race most closely connected with the ancient megalithic sites of Ireland such as Brú na Bóinne.