The Book of Invasions

The Fourth Invasion

The Fir Bolg (the Men of the Bags)

The next group of people to arrive in Ireland was the Fir Bolg. The Fir Bolg were the descendants of the Nemedians, who had fled Ireland from both the war against the Fomorians and the plague that ravaged their population. Semion, great-great-grandson of Nemed had brought his followers to Greece. However, it was the five sons of Dela, the descendants of Semion, who took his people out of slavery in Greece and Thrace, brought them back to Inis Fail. Those who went to Greece had been enslaved by the Greeks and made to carry bags of soil and clay. They had thought long and hard about their predicament in Greece and concluded that they had been better off in Inis Fail. They were determined to find a way of living in peace with the Formorians. After 230 years, they escaped in the night, setting fire to the houses of their Greek masters. They sailed back to Inis Fail, where they were they would be henceforth known as the Fir Bolg (men of bags).

When they landed in Inis Fail the five sons of Dela met with Balor the monstrous Fomorian king. Though Balor was a huge and ugly creature with an evil, terrible eye, he had a mind as sharp or sharper than any man or god. Thus was his reasoning. The Fomorians were, he knew, very powerful and lived a very long time, but he also knew that they bred very slowly and had in the past so few children that their population barely kept pace with those who died. Because the Fomorians were also shape shifters he knew well they could interbreed with the humans and they had done so successfully already, many times. When they had produced children with humans previously the result had been Fomorians that bred faster and also became more intelligent like Balor himself. Indeed it occurred to Balor that the humans would eventually overcome them with sheer numbers despite their power. Unlike his predecessors he made a demand that he thought reasonable. This was the bargain that they struck: that the Fir Bolg would deliver unto them one fifth of their women and one fifth of their men to marry with the Fomorians. In return the Fir bolgs could rule over all of Inis Fail save those parts that were where the Fomorians lived.

So the five sons of Dela divided Inis Fail between themselves and became the chieftains of those divisions. They divided Inis Fail into five provinces: Gann took North Munster, Sengann took South Munster, Genann took Connacht, Rudraige took Ulster and Slanga took Leinster. Thus a succession of nine High Kings ruled over Ireland for the next 137 years.

Over time there came to be two sub-groups of the Fir Bolg. Many of those who had gone to marry with the Formorians had produced powerful hybrid children. While many of these had  stayed with the Formorians there were also many who came back to the Fir Bolg and these where known as the Fir Domnann. Those who stayed and had children only with their own people became known as the Fir Gálioin. These two peoples found they could work together well and soon there were children with Fir Domnann and Fir Gálioin parents. Thus it was the Fir Bolgs (the slave people) became a mighty force and prospered as had none before them. Click here to Continue.

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