Bres’s Family Tree

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Relationships & Genealogy(10 connections)

About Bres

Family
  • Brigid(spouse),Ruadán(child)Marriage

    Brigid married Bres mac Elatha, the half-Fomorian king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and bore him a son, Ruadán, whose death at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired drew from her the first keening ever heard in Ireland.

  • Elatha(parent),Eriu(parent)Consort

    Ériu lay with Elatha mac Delbaith when the Fomorian king came to her from the sea in a silver vessel, and from their union Bres the Beautiful was born — half Tuatha Dé Danann, half Fomorian.

Enemy of
  • Bres's tyrannical reign over the Tuatha Dé Danann provoked the war that brought Lugh to power. After Bres was deposed and joined the Fomorians, Lugh led the campaign that defeated him at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired — but spared his life when Bres offered to teach the Tuatha Dé Danann when to plough, when to sow, and when to reap.

Rules over
  • Bres, half-Fomorian son of Elatha, was made king of the Tuatha Dé Danann while Nuada's arm healed, but his rule was so stingy and tyrannical that the Tuatha Dé Danann deposed him, sparking the war with the Fomorians.

Member of
  • Balor of the Evil Eye stood as the mightiest champion of the Fomorians, his single poisonous eye requiring four men to lift the lid, and all who fell under its gaze perished where they stood.

Associated with
  • Cairbre mac Étaíne, chief poet of the Tuatha Dé Danann, visited Bres's hall and received only a cramped dark room and dry bread without butter. He repaid the insult with the first satire ever composed in Ireland, and boils rose on the king's face, disqualifying Bres from kingship.

  • When Nuada lost his arm and his kingship, Bres the Beautiful seized the throne of the Tuatha Dé Danann and ruled as a tyrant, starving and shaming the gods until Nuada's silver hand restored him and the people rose to cast Bres out.

  • During Bres's tyrannical reign over the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Dagda was forced to build ramparts and dig trenches as a labourer. Bres's satirist Cridenbél also extorted the three best portions of the Dagda's food each night.

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