Milesians- Celtic RaceRace

The Voyage to Ireland

The Lebor Gabála Érenn recounts how the sons and followers of Míl Espáine (Míl of Spain) set sail from Iberia to take Ireland. The expedition was prompted by the death of Íth mac Breogain, Míl's uncle, who had sailed to Ireland on a scouting voyage and been treacherously killed by the three kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann. When Íth's body was returned to Iberia, Míl's sons swore vengeance and assembled a fleet.

The Milesians arrived at the feast of Beltaine. As they made landfall, they encountered in succession the three goddesses of sovereignty: Banba, Fótla, and Ériu, each of whom asked that the island bear her name. The poet Amairgin mac Míled promised each goddess her wish, but it was Ériu's name that endured as the primary designation for Ireland (Éire). These encounters established the Milesians' conquest as more than military: it required negotiation with the land's divine powers.

At Tara, the Milesians met the three kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann: Mac Cuill, Mac Cécht, and Mac Gréine. The kings asked that the invaders withdraw nine waves from shore and return, giving the Tuatha Dé Danann a fair chance to defend their land with sorcery. The Milesians agreed, but when they retreated beyond the ninth wave, the druids of the Tuatha Dé Danann raised a magical storm to destroy the fleet.

Conquest and the Division of Worlds

The storm shattered ships and drowned several of Míl's sons, including Érannan and Ír. But Amairgin, standing in the prow, spoke a famous invocation: "I am the wind on the sea, I am the wave of the ocean..." His poem calmed the waters and broke the enchantment, allowing the surviving Milesians to make landfall a second time.

Two decisive battles followed at Sliab Mis and Tailtiu. At Tailtiu the Milesians defeated the Tuatha Dé Danann decisively, and the three kings and three queens of the old gods fell in the fighting. The victorious Milesians claimed the surface of Ireland, while the Tuatha Dé Danann withdrew into the sídhe, the hollow mounds and otherworldly places beneath the land. This division, brokered between the Dagda and the Milesian leaders, established the cosmological boundary that defined Irish mythology: mortals ruled the visible world while the old gods persisted in the invisible one beneath it.

Amairgin divided Ireland between Míl's two surviving sons: Éber Finn took the southern half and Éremón the north. The brothers soon quarreled and went to war, with Éremón killing Éber and claiming the whole island. From these brothers descended the Gaelic dynasties that Irish genealogical tradition traced through the medieval period, anchoring historical kingship in the mythological conquest.