The Milesians

The Milesians were the people who, it is claimed, drove the Tuatha Dé Danann into the Underworld, where they resided in Burial Mounds. The account of the Tuatha Dé Danann and their arrival in Ireland from the Book of Invasions focuses on them as a people and less on their roles as gods and their use of magic, but it is said in early stories that the Tuatha Dé Danann were a people who were banished from heaven because of the knowledge that they had and as a result descended to Ireland on clouds of mist.

Throughout the stories of the people of the Mythological Cycle, there are links and connections to the stories of the people from the Old Testament of the Bible. Many scholars have looked into the connections and similarities, and it is thought by some that they reason for this is that the tales were put into written word by medieval Christian writers, namely monks. Pagan folklore and mythology stories were passed along in the oral tradition and so the monks had, in some ways, free range to change the stories as they saw fit. By linking the tales to stories from the Old Testament, it was a way to bring the old stories of the Pagan Celts in line with the stories that the Christians were preaching from the Old Testament.

It is impossible to tell the story of the Milesians without referencing the Old Testament, and although it runs through the earlier stories, for the early parts of the Milesian’s backstory it is impossible to avoid, which does suggest the heavy influence of the early Christian writers.

The Milesians were names after one of their early ancestors, a man called Mil Espaine which can be translated to mean Soldier of Spain. Many of the stories state that the Milesians invaded Ireland from Spain, but whilst this may be where they sailed towards Ireland from, this is not where their story starts. Their origins were further east.

Without looking too deeply at the reasons why their story links to Christianity, we cannot start their story without mentioning it. The Milesian’s story starts with the Scythian King, Fenius Farsiad, who was involved in building the Tower of Babel, found in the book of Genesis although just referred to as the tower. This tower was built following the floods which wiped out most of the world, except the people of Noah which Cesair’s people also fell victim to. King Fenius had a son name Nel who married Scota, the daughter of the Egyptian Pharoah and they had a son who they named Gaedil, who became the ancestor of the Gaels.

It is with Gaedil that the prospect of his people being destined to end up in Ireland began. When he was a young child, Gaedil was bitten by a venomous snake. In desperation, Gaedil’s father brought him to Moses who saved the child but also prophesied about the child’s future. Mose’s prophesised that Gaedil would survive, and his descendants would live in a land where there were no venomous snakes. He further stated that this place would be found by following the setting sun.

Time went on and the Exodus was recorded in the bible, where the Pharoah drowned trying to prevent the Israelites from fleeing. After this, it is said that Gaedil and his family also left to return the Scythia before he (or his descendants) began to wander across the land in search of the place that Mose’s prophesised would be their home. This ties in with the stories of the people of Isreal wandering the land in search of their ‘promised land.’

The descendants of Gaedil arrived in Spain and the stories states that one of Gaedil’s descendant’s names Breogan settled in Spain establishing the city of Brigantia. However, Spain was not to be the promised land for the Milesians. In Brigantia, Breogan built another tower, and one day his son, Ith climbed to the top of and looked out over the sea. It was then that he saw Ireland for the first time and realised that this may be the land that his father and his father’s ancestors had been told to find.

Ith decided he would set sail to discover if this was the land where his people were destined to live. When he arrived in Ireland, he found the Tuatha Dé Danann already living there. As a result, he was attacked and mortally wounded by them. Ith died on his boat whilst at sea and his body was returned to his family in Brigantia by his followers. The people of Brigantia were furious and vowed to avenge Ith’s death.

The three sons’ of Mil Espaine set sail to avenge Ith’s death. They were names Eber Donn (Brown Eber), Eber Finn (Fair Eber), and Eremon. However, only Eber Finn and Eremon made it to Ireland as, in punishment for his previous brutality, Eber Donn was prohibited from ever setting foot on the ‘promised land’ and he died before he was able to set foot on Ireland.

The Milesians did not find their journey to Ireland as easy as Ith had done on his voyage. They were, at first, unable to even find it as many times they thought they had seen land but as they approached it disappeared and there was nothing there. The Milesians agreed amongst themselves that this was proof that the Tuatha Dé Danann were using magic and hiding the land from the approaching ships. Time passed, and eventually the Milesians were able to land and set foot on their promised land. Once they had landed, they declared that under the rules of war the land was theirs. The Tuatha Dé Danann disagreed and said it was not a fair conquest as they had no army to oppose the Milesians and they should return to their ships, go back to sea, and then return. If they did this the Tuatha Dé Danann would recognise them as the new masters of Ireland.

The Milesians did not think this was a good idea and were sure that the Tuatha Dé Danann had suggested this so that they would have time to use their magic against them. Unable to decide, they went to their master poet, Amergin to ask him what he thought. Amergin said that the Milesians should do as requested and so the Milesians returned to their ships and went back to sea. As they did, a hurricane began and many of the Milesian’s ships were lost and the people were scattered. This was seen as yet more proof that the Tuatha Dé Danann were capable for magic and had used it to reduce the numbers of the invaders.

The Milesians who survived landed on various parts of Ireland and began their campaign to claim the land for their people. The Milesians succeeded in their campaign, killing many of the leaders of the Tuatha Dé Danann. The rest of the Tuatha Dé Danann fled to the Underworld, leaving Ireland to the Milesians who divided the land between Eber Finn and Eremon.

The arrival of the Milesians and the defeat of the Tuatha Dé Danann, showed the end of the times of magic and the beginning of the times of Celts. As a result, many of Irelands rulers claimed they could trace their roots back to the Milesians, including Niall of the Nine Hostages, Ugaine Mor, and Conn of the Hundred Battles.

This brings about the end of the Mythological Cycle.