This is truly fascinating! So how do the Celts fit into the Irish history? I'm only curious because it was always said that the area of Northern Italy my dad is from was said to be originally settled by the Celts in the BC times. Concetta On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 2:51 PM, Ralph Taylor via <[email protected]> wrote: > Penny asked: "So, were the Fomorians the same as the Firbolgs?" > > No. According to the "Book of Invasions” (Lebor Gabála Érenn), the > Fomorians > and Fir Bolg were separate peoples. See > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebor_Gab%C3%A1la_%C3%89renn. The book > counts > six "invasions" or settlements of Ireland, of which the last was by the > Gaels or Milesians (sons of Milesius). > > The Fomorians were a supernatural race, like the Dannan, but monstrous -- > bringers of chaos, blight and drought. The Fir Bolg (translation, "men of > bags") ancestors had left Ireland for Greece but were enslaved, then they > returned. Some scholars associate the Fir Bolg with the Celtic tribe known > to the Romans as the Belgae. > > I'm not clear on The order of invasion by the Fomorians and Fir Bolg, but > they were apparently both occupying Ireland when the Dannan arrived. On > losing, the Fomorians were banished to the Aran Islands and the Fir Bolg to > Tory Island. > > Some legends have the Milesians spotting Ireland from a tower at A Coruna, > Spain. But this is impossible, due to the distance and the curvature of the > earth; the tower would have to be 15,000+ feet high. > > Apropos of the "daughters of Noah", the first group to arrive in Ireland > was > said to be the people of Cessair (a grand-daughter of Noah) denied a place > on the Ark. They were, except a lone male, wiped out by the Flood. > > Descent from Noah seems to be a unifying theme in medieval genealogies. > They > postulate that Noah was 10 generations removed from Adam and Eve and that > only his family survived the cataclysm. Also, they don't seem to account > for > the times before the Bronze Age -- which, coincidentally, is when writing > was invented. > > What we do know from paleontological evidence is that humans inhabited the > British Isles before our human species existed and left 800,000 year-old > footprints in Norfolk, as well as other evidence in Suffolk and Sussex > dating back several hundred millennia; these were Neanderthals or other > archaic humans. > > Modern humans were in the British Isles as early as 33 kya (1,000 year ago) > but died out or were forced to leave when the glaciers came (23-14.7 kya). > Only the southern tips of Ireland and England were ice-free, but the > now-submerged Doggerland connected to the Continent and provided a > resource-rich environment. More evidence of modern human settlement in > England & Wales appears in the 13 to 11.8 kya time frame. It's fair to > conclude that the British Isles have been continuously inhabited by various > peoples since the Mesolithic Age, the past ~12,000 years or 350+ > generations. > > In short, the myths may contain some grains of truth but seem mostly at > odds > with tangible evidence. > -rt_/) > > > > > > > :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: > > Buy or sell family research items on the GEN-MAT-UKI mailing list. No > fees! > > The list's administrator can be contacted at [email protected] > > :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >