The Tuatha Dé Danann — the peoples of Danu — descend from their divine mother, whose name they carry as the mark of their origin among the gods of Ireland.
⚠ Danu is reconstructed from the genitive 'Danann' in the tribal name; no surviving Irish narrative describes her directly. Sanas Cormaic identifies her with Anu, a goddess of prosperity.
Balor, champion of the Fomorians, stood against the Tuatha Dé Danann at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, his poisonous eye slaying all it gazed upon until Lugh drove a sling-stone through it.
The Tuatha Dé Danann met the Fir Bolg at the plain of Mag Tuired, and in four days of battle broke their power and slew their king Eochaid mac Eirc, though Nuada lost his arm in the fighting.
The Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians waged war across two ages of Ireland, their enmity reaching its climax at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired where the Tuatha Dé Danann shattered the Fomorian host and drove them from the land.
The Milesians invaded Ireland and defeated the Tuatha Dé Danann in the battles of Tailtiu and Druim Lígean, forcing the divine race to retreat beneath the hollow hills and cede the surface world to mortal rule.
After their defeat by the Milesians, the Tuatha Dé Danann withdrew beneath the hills of Ireland into the Otherworld, claiming Tír na nÓg as their ageless kingdom beyond the reach of mortal time.
After the Dagda's death, Bodb Derg was chosen as king of the Tuatha Dé Danann over the rival claim of Lir, ruling from his sídh at Lough Derg.
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.
After defeating the Fomorians at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, Lugh became king of the Tuatha Dé Danann and ruled Ireland for forty years until his death at the hands of the sons of Cermait.
Nuada led the Tuatha Dé Danann to Ireland and reigned as their first king until he lost his arm at the First Battle of Mag Tuired, for no blemished man could hold the sovereignty.
The Dagda ruled as king of the Tuatha Dé Danann for eighty years after the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, wielding his great club and cauldron as instruments of sovereignty until his death from Cethlenn's old wound.
The Tuatha Dé Danann descended through the sky in a dark cloud upon Ireland, bringing with them the arts of sorcery, druidry, and every craft — a divine race who conquered the Fir Bolg and ruled until the coming of the Milesians.
Lir is a chieftain of the Tuatha Dé Danann who was passed over for the kingship in favor of Bodb Derg after the defeat of the Fomorians, a slight that led to his isolation at Sídh Fionnachaidh.
After the Tuatha Dé Danann's defeat by the Milesians, the Dagda divided the síd mounds among his children and followers, distributing the underground realms that became the dwelling places of the fairy folk.
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