Dun Aengus Inis Mór, Aran Islands

Every nation tells the story of its creation and its mythic heroes. Unfortunately, due to America’s comparative newness, we don’t really have a lot to say in terms of magic and brute strength. I remember hearing stories when I was a kid about a young George Washington not being able to lie to his parents about chopping down a cherry tree, and Johnny Appleseed planting some trees, and Paul Bunyon chopping trees down. So we have a lot of stories about trees.

The Irish, on the other hand, have what seems to be a bottomless well of grand mythology.

Here is the story of the Leabhar Gabhala, the Book of Invasions of Ireland. I promise you this story relates to the Aran Islands.

Ireland, like many great things, was discovered by a woman…

Her name was Cesair, a descendant of Noah (from the Bible?). Forty days before the Flood, knowing she wouldn’t be let on the ark, she worshipped an idol to ask it for advice. The idol told her to make a ship and sail to Ireland. So Cesair, three men, and fifty maidens sailed to Ireland, and the three men divided up the fifty women among them to populate the land. Lucky guys, right? Well, apparently not, because two of the men died, one of them ran away, the women left, Cesair died of heartbreak, and the Flood drowned them all anyway. Lesson learned: don’t worship idols.

278 years or so later, Partholon, a Greek who was also a descendant of Noah, fled to Ireland after killing his parents. A lot of forts and such got built during Partholon’s time, but then his wife slept with his attendant and she blamed it on Partholon for being so busy and leaving her alone all the time. Out of revenge, Partholon killed her dog. (Partholon, the first fuming cuckold?) Ten years later Partholon won a small fight against a man and his mother who was named “Lot the Frisky.” I can only imagine what that means.

Soon after this fight was the first battle of Ireland, when a group of invaders called the Fomorians came to shore. Then another Greek man named Neimhedh came to Ireland. After another couple of battles the Fomorians won and began to tax the sons of Neimhedh heavily. Finally one of his sons, Ferghus Redside (aren’t these names fantastic?!) killed the king of the Fomorians. He burned the castle, took all the gold and killed the survivors. Then just when things were settling down, a huge wave came and killed almost everyone.

200 years later, the Fir Bolg showed up. They were the descendents of the children of Neimhedh and had come from Greece to escape from slavery. They made new weapons, using iron heads for spears.

Then came the Tuatha de Danann, a race of people who knew magic. Through wizardry they snatched the kingship from the Fir Bolg, who were banished to the outskirts of Ireland.

The last invasion came from Spain, from a group called the Sons of Mil who in some roundabout way were related to Cesair. The Tuatha de Danann tried to conjure a spell over the waves to wreck the Sons of Mil’s ships, but their magic didn’t work. The Sons of Mil invaded, banished the Tuatha de Danann to live underground, and populated Ireland.

During all these invasions, the invaders shaped the land. Lakes burst forth, forests were cleared, mountains were formed, fingernails dragged across the landscape to create rivers, and the first kingly forts and the first ale mill were built, not necessarily in that order.

Which brings us to

Aran.

Let’s revisit, for a moment, the “Fir Bolg” – our friends who escaped from Greece and were banished by the Tuatha de Danann to live in the outskirts of Ireland.

Yep, that’s right. As the mythology goes, the Fir Bolg relocated to Aran and built the forts. Dun Aengus. Dun Ducathair. Dun Eochla. Dun Conor. These were their strongholds during the reign of the Tuatha de Danann.

So when you visit Inishmore and trek up the hill to Dun Aengus, imagine the strong men from Greece, toiling to break up the limestone with axes, and fitting them meticulously together to form the thick walls that stand today.

Of course, there’s so much more to say in terms of actual archaeological findings regarding the forts of the Aran Islands – the many excavations, expeditions, restorations, assumptions, and arguments. But that’s a story for another day.

**A few notes:

1) I’m eager to hear from readers: is this a popular, well-known Irish myth, or is it more obscure? If this tale is old news to anyone, I apologize.

2) There are many different interpretations of the Leabhar Gabhala. I do not claim that this one, as I’ve presented it, is in any way definitive. I read one version from Columbia University’s library (I believe it was Leabhar gabhála: The book of conquests of Ireland. The recension of Micheál O’Cléirigh. Edited by R. A. Stewart Macalister and John MacNeill) and consolidated the main points of the story from it. If you have other interpretations, other versions, or if I’ve left anything out, please comment!

3) I love mythology, and love telling stories. I in no way consider this story to be fact. I also do not claim to know enough about the history of these myths to know exactly when they were written down or by whom or what agenda the authors had in writing them down, though if you have thoughts on any of this, please comment!**