Cath Maige Tuired

Cath Maige Tuired (Battle of Mag Tuired), a saga of the mythological cycle dealing with the defeat of the malevolent Fomoiri by the gods of the Irish, known as the Tuatha Dé Danann [see Irish mythology] at Moytirra in Co. Sligo (near Lough Arrow).

Irish title for one of the key documents in the Mythological Cycle whose title in English is usually The Battle of Mag Tuired; the place-name ‘Mag Tuired’ has many variants: Mag or Magh Tuireadh, Tured, Tuireadh, etc.; Moytura, Moytirra, etc. There are actually two battles associated with Mag Tuired, and although their narratives are confused, they are not identical, nor were they fought in the same place. The second is by far the more important of the two battles, and is the one more likely intended if only one is cited. From commentary in other texts we judge that the battles were separated by twenty-seven years (a magical number, three times nine); the first took place on Beltaine (1 May, the first day of summer), while the second was on Samain (1 November, the first day of the Celtic year). The place-name Mag Tuired is usually translated ‘Plain of Pillars’ (W. B. Yeats preferred ‘Plain of Towers’), and is most often identified with an area still known as Moytirra near Lough Arrow, in south-east Co. Sligo near the Roscommon border. The area is filled with upright megalithic monuments, dating from 2000–2500 BC. The first battle should have taken place near Cong, Co. Mayo (Mag Tuired Conga). Other suggested sites include the Plain of Pillars north of Tuam, Co. Galway, and Ballysadsare, Co. Sligo.

The lengthy narrative preceding the action of the two battles of Mag Tuired is given in the pseudo-history or fictionalized history of the Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions]. That document details the successive invasions of Ireland by five groups: (1) under Cesair, a granddaughter of the biblical Noah; (2) the Partholonians, who perished in a plague; (3) the Nemedians; (4) the Fomorians, not a separate invasion but euhemerized deities characterized as demonic pirates who constantly prey upon settlers and appear in strength at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired; and (5) the Fir Bolg, mythologized extrapolations of the Belgae or Builg, the P-Celtic people who did indeed have some settlers in Ireland. The sixth invaders were the Tuatha Dé Danann, euhemerized deities who had learned the arts of heathendom in ‘the northern islands of the world’ before they arrived in Ireland.

The First Battle of Mag Tuired, or The Battle of Mag Tuired of Cong

. The focus of the First Battle is the invasion of Ireland by the Tuatha Dé Danann and their overcoming of the Fir Bolg. Although the text is later than for the Second Battle, the action is portrayed as happening twenty-seven years earlier. When the Tuatha Dé Danann land, they burn their ships on the beach to forbid retreat. They demand kingship from the Fir Bolg, who of course refuse, and enter into fierce battle. In the fighting the arm of Nuadu, king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, is severed at the shoulder by Sreng, a warrior of the Fir Bolg. To replace the loss, the physician Dian Cécht with the help of the smith Credne makes Nuadu a wonderful new arm of silver; henceforth the wounded king is known as Nuadu Airgetlám [of the Silver Hand, Arm]. With only one natural arm Nuadu is no longer fit to be king, and so the title passes to Bres, the son of a Tuatha Dé woman and the Fomorian king Elatha. The Tuatha Dé Danann sue for peace by offering the Fir Bolg half of Ireland, but this is refused. When the battle is renewed Eochaid mac Eirc, king of the Fir Bolg, is overcome by thirst, but the rivers and streams are hidden from his vision by the druids of the Tuatha Dé Danann. While he is in vain search of water, the hapless Eochaid is slain with three companions, setting back the Fir Bolg cause. The battle continues with great slaughter, greater for the Fir Bolg. At last Sreng, now king in Eochaid's place, agrees to a peace that will allow him only Connacht of all Ireland's provinces, while the rest of the Fir Bolg scatter to distant islands, Aran (or Arran, Scotland), Rathlin, Islay in the Inner Hebrides, etc.

Learned commentators have not agreed on the significance of the First Battle of Mag Tuired. John Rhŷs and Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville thought the First to be only a retelling of the Second Battle of Mag Tuired. T. F. O'Rahilly thought the First was mythologized history, i.e. that there was a historical correlative to the story, while the Second was rationalized (by antagonistic Christian scribes) mythology, i.e. a war of the Irish gods. See T. F. O'Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology (Dublin, 1946).

The Second Battle of Mag Tuired

. The focus of the Second Battle is between the now dominant Tuatha Dé Danann and the resurgent Fomorians [Irish Fomoire]. Two of the principal combatants were Lug Lámfhota of the Tuatha Dé Danann and Balor of the Fomorians. The text is found in Harleian MS 5280, but the language suggests composition in the 9th or 10th centuries. Cross-references to the narrative are found in Irish literature from the 12th century on.

The narrative begins with a recounting of some of the action from the First Battle of Mag Tuired, followed by the story of Bres's conception. Bres was an odd choice to replace Nuadu as king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He may have been ‘the Beautiful’, but his pedigree was strange. His father, Elatha, had been reared among the Tuatha Dé Danann, but he was king of the Fomorians. Once king himself, Bres proves oppressive, and the country falls under the sway of the alien Fomorians. The great Dagda is reduced to building a fort for Bres, and Ogma to fetching firewood. Worse, Bres lacks the most esteemed mark of a good king: generosity. The Danann chiefs complain that ‘their knives are not greased by him and however often they visit him their breath does not smell of ale’. There is no entertainment in the royal household. When the Danann poet Cairbre comes to visit, Bres accommodates him in an outhouse. The poet responds with a satire that causes Bres to break out in red blotches. At the request of Tuatha Dé Danann leaders, Bres renounces his kingship and sets out to muster a Fomorian army in his support.

Meanwhile the previous king, Nuadu, is reinstated, his silver arm seeming less of an obstacle now. One day a hero comes to his door, Lug Lámfhota, here called Samildánach [Irish, possessing many arts together]. When a doorkeeper tells Lug that he cannot enter unless he has an art, he describes himself as a carpenter, smith, champion, historian, sorcerer, physician, cupbearer, and brazier. When Lug passes a test of his merit at a board-game, Nuadu relinquishes his throne so that Lug may lead the Tuatha Dé Danann in battle. Under his direction the craftsmen fashion wondrous weapons, and sorcerers practise magic to be used in fighting.

Once the battle begins, the slaughter is great on both sides. The Tuatha Dé Danann gain an advantage when their dead are restored to life by Dian Cécht and his three children. Lug is able to use some of his magic to aid the armies when he assumes the characteristic posture of the sorcerer. Balor is a formidable enemy, as his baleful gaze can destroy an army. His eyelid is so mighty that it takes four men to lift it (cf. the eyelids of Ysbaddaden in Wales). Balor has made short work of Nuadu when he meets Lug on the battlefield. The resourceful Lug puts a slingstone through Balor's eye which goes crashing out through the back of his skull, killing twenty-seven Fomrians. The Fomorians are routed and expelled from Ireland forever. Bres is captured, but hopes to save his life by promising that the cattle will always be in milk and that there will always be good harvests. His offers are rejected, but he is spared in return for advice on the appropriate times for ploughing, sowing, and reaping. Mórrígan announces the end of the battle, and the text ends with the prophecy by Badb, the war-goddess, of the end of the world.

Bibliography

• Elizabeth Gray edited and translated the text for the Irish Texts Society, vol. 52 (Dublin, 1982)
• and published a study of it, Éigse, 18 (1981), 183–209; 19 (1982–3), 1–35, 230–62.
• also Kim McCone, “‘A Tale of Two Ditties: Poet and Satirist” in Cath Maige Tuired’, in Donnchadh Ó Corráin et al. (eds.), Sages, Saints and Storytellers (Maynooth, 1989), 122–43
• William Sayers, Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 34 (1976) 26–40
• J. Fraser, “‘The First Battle of Moytura’”, Ériu, 8 (1915), 1–63
• Henry Morris, “‘[On] The First Battle of Magh Turedh’”, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, 58 (1928), 111–27
• Padraic Colum, Moytura: A Play for Dancers (Dublin, 1963)