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                                                                                                                                                              Seanchus of Celtic Ireland - 1495    189            5                                                    18 - 1      

 1897 BC Nuadha, the Tuatha De Danann King, had suffered a severe blemish and he could no longer be their leader under their Celtic culture and he had to step down, and the Tuatha de Danann then decided that this would be an opportunity to try and form a political alliance with the overbearing Hamitic Fomorii Sea Pirates who still existed on Tory Island in the ocean off the north - west of Co. Donegal. To this end the now elected Breas as their King now until 1890 BC, whose father, Elathan was actually a Fomorian King and his mother from the Tuatha De Danann, and he was to hold onto the Kingship for 7 years, during which time he was to fail miserably to live up to what he initially promised. To cement relations between the two Peoples, Breas was to also marry Brigid the daughter of the Daghda Mor, and Cian the son of Diancecht their physician would have an encounter with Ethniu the daughter of Balor who was now the actual Fomorian King on Tory Island. Unfortunately Breas's Fomorian ancestry and upbringing soon began to show out, and although previously he was an outstanding warrior, as an administrator he was totally lacking in human relations. During the 7 years he ruled he was to continue to take any opportunity at all to oppress and humiliate the Tuatha De Danann, even to making Ogma their champion go out and gather firewood, and their patriarch the Daghda Mor physically build forts, and he continued to ration all of their food until they were nearly starving, and they were to increasingly become more and more desperate for real leadership.

     Gobhan - the Architect and his son were to also construct a palace for Balor - of the Blows who did not intend to allow them to return to Ireland and because of this he tried to kill them by removing the scaffolding while they were  still up on top of it so that they would starve to death and they began to destroy the roof until he finally let them come down. Gobhan then informed him that he could not repair the roof unless he had his special tools that were still in Ireland and Balor sent his own son to get them and he was captured by the Tuatha de Danann who then sent a message back to Balor that he would have to send Gobhan and his son back to Ireland before his son would be released and Balor released Gobhan and his son. Gobhan then informed Balor that he could get Gavidjeen Go to come to Tory Island and finish the roof for him, and when he did he advised him to only accept his grey cow as payment for his services, and on returning with the cow he had Cian watch over her but she escaped. Manannan, the son of Ler, came over and assisted him to find her and Cian lit a fire and cooked his food, which was unusual to the Fomorians as they eat their meat raw and Balor saw the fire and was invited to partake and he made Cian his cook and fire maker. Balor had a daughter, Ethniu and a Druid had informed Balor that one day her son would kill him so he kept her locked away in the Tower where she would have no contact with any man, but Cian later went to the Tower to explore and lit a fire for her and she told him to come again, which he did until she was with child, and she then gave the child to him to take away but Balor somehow found out about the child. Cian took the grey cow and the child to the shore of Tory Island  where he waited for Manannan who came to pick them up and they all got in the boat just as Balor came down after them but they still managed to get away and Manannan sought a reward for his intervention and Cian gave him his young son. He called the boy Ioldanach - the Master of Knowledge and this boy would later kill Balor - of the Evil Eye as predicted,

    Diancecht's son, Miach, and his daughter Airmid / Airmed, who were also physicians, went to see Nuadha their previously injured leader who was now living a reclusive life on his own, and on inspecting his severed hand they could see that it was highly infected where the silver hand had been joined onto the stub of his arm. They immediately set about treating his condition and he became well and strong again, and because of this their father Diancecht became terribly upset that his own son should out do him as a physician, and he was so angry during the discussion that he personally struck Miach with a sword inflicting a skin deep wound, which Miach was able to heal quickly. This too upset Diancecht who later on struck him again inflicting a wound that cut right into the bone, but once again Miach was able to heal himself quickly, and this too once again upset his father who struck him once again, this time cutting into his skull nearly to the surface of the Brain. Despite this Miach once again was able to heal himself. There seemed to be no end to Diancecht's fury now against his own son Miach over the matter, and Diancecht became completely out of control and struck him once again, this time cutting his Brain in two, which finally killed him. After Miach was to be interred, his sister, Airmid, laid her cloak over his grave to protect the 365 herbs that were then to be growing there and her father, Diancecht in another fit of parochial jealousy, then mixed up the knowledge of their real properties, and of their medicinal uses, which was to add to the confusion for their future individual therapeutic use.

1890 BC Breas who had now been the Tuatha De Danann King for 7 years was to go too far when he finally ill - treated Cairpre, the son of Ogma, who was the Tuatha De Danann's bard or poet, who were always held in high regard by the Celts, as learned men, being nearly equal to the Kings themselves ass it was the usual custom in Celtic culture for the bard to go about deliberating poetry that flattered the King. This time Cairpre expressed only satire against Breas, and a new type of negative influence and power was created in Ireland in the bards. Breas became so disconcerted and nervously upset about this that his nerves were on end and his face broke out in red blotches, which was in reality a blemish, and the Tuatha De Danann saw this as their opportunity to call on him to resign, and put Nuadha of the Silver Hand back in as their King until 1870 BC. Breas and his mother were now forced to return to his father, Elathan the Fomorii King with his nose well and truly out of joint.

     Nuadha was now the Tuatha De Danann King with his new silver arm supplied and fitted by his surgeons, Diancecht and Creidne, and 7 years had also elapsed since the Tuatha De Danann had defeated the Fir Bolg at Moytura and gained overall control in Ireland. Because of the sacking of Breas, their public relations with the Fomorii was now at an all time low and they were soon to also come directly up against the Fomorians themselves. Despite this they would be able to defeat them at Ballinafad (The Mouth of the Long Ford) Beal an Atha Fad in North Moytura in Co. Mayo in the mid - west of the Connacht Province, and again in Co. Galway in the south - west of Connacht in the region of the 12 Bens, (The Peaks of the Connemara Mountains), some of which are up to 2,000 feet high with forests of great Oak trees, which the Celtic Druids in Ireland were to hold so sacred).  

     Elathan, Breas' father, was the Great Chief of the Fomorians, who as Sea Rovers and Pirates often also raided the German Ocean and ruled the Shetland Islands and the Hebrides at this time. He had golden hair down to his shoulders, with a gold braid over a shirt made of golden threads and wore 5 golden necklaces around his neck and a gold brooch with a precious stone on his chest. He would give Breas (the Handsome) a fleet and a Fomorian army to seek his revenge and personally try and regain control over Ireland from the Tuatha De Danann, and he also recommended that  Balor - of the Evil Eye / of the Stiff Blows the Fomorian King of the Islands, and Indech, a son of Domnu support his son, Breas. Elathan was to gather together the Fomorian leaders, Balor, Indech and Tethra, who would decide that they would to combine their forces and back Breas to eventually besiege the Tuatha De Danann on the mainland in Ireland.

 1870 BC While Nuadha and the other aristocratic members of the Tuatha De Danann were engaged in a celebration, a stranger arrived at the entrance to Tara and told the sentinel there that he was Lew / Lugh Ioldanach - the Master of all Arts, who was the son of Cian and therefore a grandson of Diancecht, and his mother was Ethniu the daughter of Balor of the Stiff Blows. When they inquired as to his profession he told them that he was a carpenter, a smith, a warrior of skill, a harpist, a poet, a sorcerer, a physician and a bronze worker, and they advised him that they already had one each of these in Luchtaine, Gobhan / Goibniu Saer the Architect, Ogma, Diancecht and Creidne. In reply he said," I am master of all of these crafts, so ask the King if there is such a man within, and if there is then I will not stay at Tara, for there is no need of me." Nuadha was advised of Lugh's overall qualifications and fully realizing that trouble was on the horizon from the Fomorii, he decided to put him to the test to examine his intellectual capacity, which might soon be needed to outwit the Fomorians. He had him compete in a game of chess with his best chess player who Lugh then defeated, and Nuadha then invited him in to the hall at Tara and sat him in the Sage's seat that was always kept for their wisest man. He then tested him against Ogma for strength and he was successful once again, and when he asked him to play the harp he completed 3 glorious tunes that were so entertaining that the whole court was impressed. After further consultation with his counsel Nuadha being suitably impressed by this young warrior then also handed over his own position as the Tuatha De Danann King to Lugh initially for 13 days, so that Lugh might put in place whatever plans would be required to prepare for the fury of the Fomorians if they should immediately decide to attack, who then called all of the Tuatha De Danann together to discuss the various possibilities. They eventually decided from then on they would be more then ready to do battle against the Fomorii and to fully support Lugh to give them the right direction and preparation for such a battle.

 

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