were buried in a Brugh (so Dagda with his three sons and Ollam and Ogma). According to Acallam na Senórach, three sons of Lugaid Menn came to the Brugh of Boyne and fasted; Bodb Derg (Dagda's son) came out of the Brugh and said: "It was revealed to the Túatha Dé Danann that ye would come to fast here to-night for lands and great fortune." They went into the Brugh, and remained there for three days. Another old burial place, Cruachan, is the abode of the Síde of Connaught. This proves that the síde are really connected with the old burial places. Now these síde are identical—as we have already seen—with the chiefs of the Túatha Dé Danann. We find the same in the old Irish sages; so Lug mac Ethlenn says to Cúchulinn (Táin bó Cúailnge, ed. Strachan, ll. 1805–6): Is messe do athair a ssídib. The composer of Fiacc's Hymn uses the word síde to denote the pagan gods (v. 41): For tuaith h-Érenn bai temel tuatha adortais síde. One might, however, suppose that this identification of síde is later, and that originally the Túatha Dé Danann were a race of gods. But what we know about the Túatha De Danann conveys a rather different idea; they were superhuman beings whose power was due to their knowledge of magic, and they differ very little from powerful magicians. It is, at least for me, a question whether the insular Celts had any idea of gods in the same sense as the Greeks and Romans. Neither does the name of Túatha Dé Danann suggest that the bearers of this name were real gods.[1] According to the Lebor Gabála, the Túatha Dé Danann preceded the Milesians, who deprived them of the possession of the land. Now, some Irish tribes only are of true Milesian origin, others derive their origin from the Túatha Dé Danann, and others again from the Fir Bolg.
- ↑ Cf. Cath Maige Tuired Cunga, § 20. "Imthusa Tuaithe De Danann (N.B. singular number), roforbredur co clos a scela fa (th)irib in talman. Robi dia drai[d]echta acu fen Eochaid Ollathir .i. in Dagda mor, uair ba daigdia é. Robadur ta(isig) trena talchara acu 7 fir caineladnacha gacha ceirde."
