The Invasion of Nemed

Author: Vernam Hull

An electronic edition

p. 121.

The Invasion of Nemed

‘..do battle against the descendants of Nemed and truly crush your
enemies. Behead and demolish them for their liability in respect of your
brothers .... and of all of your friends who perished on account of them.’

Then that host of the sea arose at the very savage speech of Morc mac Deiled,
and the men of Ireland and the descendants of the sons of Nemed rose up
in the same way. Thereupon a fierce battle reckless of consequences was
waged between them. Severe, indeed, was the fury and the rage of
each against the other. Such now was the obduracy of the encounter with
which they were engaging in battle on both sides that not one of them succeeded
in making any other use of his mind except for the purpose of fighting
and of combat so that they did not perceive anything there at all until
the violent, rude, and rushing torrent of the diluvian springtide and the front
breast of the exceedingly rough blue-crested wave came over them, and not
one of them escaped alive except the crew of one ship of the Fomorians and
thirty warriors of Nemed’s descendants. Now the crew of that boat attained

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the land whence they came and they related their tidings from beginning
to end so that the remnant of the Fomorians were disheartened at that
news.

But as regards now the thirty warriors of Nemed’s descendants who escaped,
they divided Ireland into three parts. [These were] the three leaders
which they had: Beothach mac Iarboineoil [namely, the prophet] meic Nemid
and Semon mac Sdairn meic Nemid and Britan Mæl mac Fergusa Lethdeirg
meic Nemid.

Beothach’s third, however, was the bit of Toirinis Muigi Ceidne [where
Conang’s tower was demolished and where that fighting was carried out]
as far as Boann shaped like a woman of the hundreds of harbors. Semon’s
third was from Boann to Bealach Conglais. Britan’s third was from Bealach
Conglais to Toirinis Muigi Ceidne in the north of Ireland.

Now Beothach first evacuated Ireland, and at the outset his followers attained
the territory of the world in the northeast of Scandinavia. There they
learnt the science of prophecy, druidism, witchcraft, and the knowledge of
every poetic art that was in the world, and thence they went into Greece.
After the mastery of many trades, they came from there toward Ireland in
the footsteps of their fathers and of their grandfathers and in respect to [their]
origin these were Túatha Dé Danann.

Britan Mæl mac Fergusa Lethdeirg landed in Mæn Conaing meic Fæbair.

p. 123.

As for Semon, he went to Greece, and every race that was sprung from
him was enslaved by the Greeks. From Semon originated the Gailiuin, the
Fir Bolg, and the Fir n-Domnann, and afterward they left the remnants
in Ireland and these did not go with them out of the country.

After great tribulation, he carried out the first fighting throughout Ireland
against them, that is the battle of Loch Seantuindi [was] its name
[which today is entitled Loch Feabail, for there it is that Feabal mac Fhind meic
Fhirmeand was slain, so that the lake is named after him] and the battle of
Mag Glais in the land of Bres mac n-Ealadan which nowadays is called Mag
Tiubhra. From Tibir, the daughter of Cas Clothach of the Túatha Dé Danann,
Mag Tiubra is designated, where Glas mac Rigbaird meic Fhir mBeand,
the king of the country fell, from whom Mag n-Glas is named, and
from here on then [follows] the martial career of the Túatha Dé Danann
against the race of the Fomorians. Concerning that event Fland, the poet,
composed this poem to commemorate the story:

‘The destruction of Conang’s tower with valor’ et reliqua.

The End of the Togail.

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