Tuatha Dé Danann, Dé Donann, de Danaan [Ir.
tuatha, people, tribe, nation;
dé, god;
danann, of Ana (?); cf.
trí dee dána, three gods of skill;
fir Tri nDéa, men of the three gods]. Name found in the pseudo-history
Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions] for the principal family of euhemerized pre-Christian deities in Old Irish tradition. They were described as excelling over all peoples of the earth in their proficiency in every art. The phrase Tuatha Dé pre-dates the
Lebor Gabála, describing both the Israelites in translations of the Bible (cf. L
Plebes Dei) and the old gods. The origin of Danann is still disputed. In English and Irish the group may be known as Tuatha Dé for short; Dédanann, Dedananns, etc., while commonly seen, are non-standard. Also called ‘the Ever-Living Ones’, they are often implied by the phrase
áes sídhe [Ir., people of the sídh].
Although individual members of the Tuatha Dé unquestionably pre-date the
Lebor Gabála, their literary characterization begins in that text, where they are synchronized with other invaders. The Tuatha Dé Danann arrive thirty-seven years after the
Fir Bolg, whom they displace, and 297 years before the
Milesians, who represent the
Q-Celtic,
Goidelic people, ancestors of the Irish. Overriding their conflicts with other invaders, the usual adversaries of the Tuatha Dé Danann are the other euhemerized deities, the
Fomorians. Glints of their divine origin persist in the literary portrayal of the Tuatha Dé Danann; unlike other invaders, who arrive by ship, the Tuatha Dé disembark from sombre clouds just before
Beltaine, settling on an obscure mountain in the west, causing a three-day eclipse. They are often associated with the west. A variant text has the Tuatha Dé arrive in ships, which were burned on the shore; the smoke from this conflagration also causes an eclipse. Descended through eleven generations from the
Nemedians, the Tuatha Dé were thought to have come from ‘Greece’ but to have learned magic and
druid lore,
draíocht, in remote northern lands. Their former homes were four magical cities:
Falias,
Findias,
Gorias, and
Murias. From them they take their principal treasures: from Falias
Fál or Lia Fáil, the stone of destiny, which cries out under a lawful king; from Findias the sword of
Nuadu, which allows no one to escape; from Gorias
Gáe Assail, the spear of
Lug Lámfhota, which guarantees victory; from Murias the
cauldron of the
Dagda, which leaves everyone satisfied. Shortly after their entry on the Irish scene, the Tuatha Dé defeat the Fir Bolg in the First Battle of Mag Tuired [Moytirra], near Lough Arrow, Co. Sligo;
see CATH MAIGE TUIRED. After forming three lakes and introducing pigs into Irish agriculture, the Tuatha Dé Danann need only to quell the hateful Fomorians before establishing a golden era of peaceful prosperity.
Also euhemerized deities, the Fomorians are not a part of the invasion sequence and are sometimes characterized as demonic pirates; they harass previous settlers, the
Partholonians and the
Nemedians, from their fortress on Tory Island, off
Donegal. Although they are adversaries, the Tuatha Dé Danann intermarry with the Fomorians. Thus when the Tuatha Dé king
Nuadu is made unfit by losing his hand, his successor,
Bres, is the son of a Fomorian father. The great champion of the Tuatha Dé Danann,
Lug Lámfhota, is the grandson of the Fomorian juggernaut
Balor. After an epic struggle, Lug and the Tuatha Dé Danann triumph, as described in
Cath Maige Tuired [The (Second) Battle of Mag Tuired], which, like the First Battle, takes place at Moytirra, near Lough Arrow, Co. Sligo. The text of
Cath Maige Tuired exists independently of
Lebor Gabála but is summarized in it. After the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, the Tuatha Dé Danann establish a capital at
Tara, which they call Cathair Crofuind. They are credited with building many of Ireland's (in fact) pre-Celtic ruins, including
Ailech.
The three sons of the Dagda,
Mac Cuill,
Mac Cécht, and
Mac Gréine, divide Ireland among themselves. Further, each takes wives who are eponyms for Ireland, Mac Cuill marrying
Banba, Mac Cécht marrying
Fódla, and Mac Gréine marrying
Eriu. Such
triplism is not only general in Irish myth but seems especially pertinent to the Tuatha Dé Danann, who are sometimes called Trí Dé Danann [the three gods of Danu/
Ana] and fir Trí nDéa [men of the three gods]. The phrase Tri Dée Dána [three gods of arts], from which Trí Dé Danann may be derived, describes
Brian (1),
Iuchair, and
Iucharba, who are also sons of Ana/ Danu and who appear in many episodes of
Lebor Gabála; they are leading characters in
Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann [The Tragic Story of the Children of Tuireann]. Three other sons of Ana/Danu are
Goibniu the blacksmith,
Credne the artificer or silversmith, and
Luchta the wright or carpenter.
Leading figures of the Tuatha Dé Danann include: the Dagda, the ‘good god’, a king who specializes in druidical magic;
Manannán mac Lir, the sea-god;
Dian Cécht, the principal healing god; Lug Lámfhota, not only an important champion but a master of arts and crafts;
Angus Óg, the god of poetry and music;
Brigid, the fire-goddess and patron of poets;
Boand, goddess of the
Boyne and lover of the Dagda; the triad of war-goddesses,
Badb,
Macha, and
Mórrígan;
Ogma, a god of eloquence who is also a strongman and warrior;
Donn (1), ruler of the dead; and
Bodb Derg, a son of the Dagda and a later king. Artists among the Tuatha Dé Danann include
Cas Corach, harper;
Féthnat, a female musician; Aillén mac Midgna, the
fairy musician; the poets
Abcán and
Aí mac Ollamon;
Eadon, the ‘nurse of poets’; the
druids Esras and
Figol; satirists
Cridenbél and
Cairbre mac Ethne. Other names often cited are:
Áed Minbhreac, the son of the Dagda wrongly accused of adultery;
Assal, original owner of the spear
Gáe Assail;
Bé Chuille, a witch-like woman;
Bé Téite, a beautiful woman;
Colum Cúaillemech, another smith;
Conarán, a Tuatha Dé chief mentioned in the
Fenian Cycle;
Delbáeth (2), a noble youth; Echtge, a beautiful lady commemorated in the place-name
Echtge;
Eochaid Iúil, a god of the underworld;
Étaín, the great beauty;
Finnbarr, who makes a lewd remark to
Eithne (1);
Ethal Anbúail, a
Connacht leader.
Flidais, the goddess of beasts, is sometimes included.
Although the mortal Milesians, under
Míl Espáine, defeat the Tuatha Dé Danann twice, at
Tailtiu and
Druim Ligen, their struggle is far from epic. The fate of the Tuatha Dé after this is not a subject of the
Lebor Gabála but rather of more popular materials that describe them surviving as immortals in the ancient barrows and cairns. The world is then divided in two, the surface going to the ordinary, mortal Milesians and their progeny while the Tuatha Dé live underground, the route to which is the
sídh. A war between immortals and mortals causes the Tuatha Dé to deprive the living of their milk and edible grain, for which restitution is later made. In some texts the Dagda is described as not having been killed at Mag Tuired so that he may now rule under the earth. Often his son
Bodb Derg is the king. Although mortals might consider ancient ruins to be places of fear, the underground Tuatha Dé are often portrayed as living in idyllic realms; one is
Mag Mell [Pleasant Plain]; another is
Emain Ablach [Fortress of Apples], a cognate of the Arthurian
Avalon; and the best-known is
Tír na nÓg [the Land of Youth]. A most important distinction was their power of
féth fíada, which could render them invisible, so that they could roam at will among mortals undetected. In many other respects, however, their world mirrors that of the mortals above. The Tuatha Dé Danann may have beauty and agelessness, but they still know quarrels, hierarchies, and intrigues. In time, the realm of the Tuatha Dé Danann becomes indistinguishable from that of the fairies or the
áes sídhe. A ‘king’ of the fairies,
Finnbheara, is described as having first been a king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, but the prominent figures from the
Lebor Gabála are not reduced to this status. A certain malevolence attributed to them may derive from a popular confusion with the predatory Fomorians. The reduced stature of such beings comes from living underground, away from the sun. Countless sites on the Irish countryside were thought to be their residences.
Bibliography
See also: John Carey , ‘The Name “Tuatha Dé Danann” ‘, Éigse, 18 (1981), 291–4;
‘A Tuath Dé Miscellany’, Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 39 (1992), 24–45;
Vernam E. Hull , ‘The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann’, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, 18 (1930), 73–89;
Gustav Lehmacher , ‘Tuatha Dé Donann’, Zeitschrift für celtische. Philologie, 13 (1921), 360–4.
