Lebor Gabála Érenn, also called The Book of Invasions in English, is a collection of poems and stories written in the Irish language. It was created to describe the history of Ireland and the Irish people from the beginning of the world until the Middle Ages. The earliest version was written by an unknown person in the 11th century. This work combined stories that had been shared for many years before. The Lebor Gabála describes how Ireland was settled by six groups of people: the people of Cessair, the people of Partholón, the people of Nemed, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the Milesians. The first four groups were either destroyed or left the island. The fifth group represents Ireland’s ancient gods, and the sixth group represents the Irish people, known as the Gaels.
The Lebor Gabála was very important and was considered a reliable history by poets and scholars until the 19th century. Today, scholars believe it is mostly a myth rather than a true history. It was based on stories from medieval Christian writings but also included parts of Ireland’s older pagan beliefs. The writers likely aimed to create a history for Ireland that could match the histories of Rome or Israel while also aligning with Christian teachings. The Lebor Gabála became one of the most well-known and influential works in early Irish literature. Mark Williams said it was "written to connect Christian ideas about time with the early history of Ireland."
The Lebor Gabála is usually called The Book of Invasions or The Book of Conquests in English. In Modern Irish, it is known as Leabhar Gabhála Éireann or Leabhar Gabhála na hÉireann.
Origin and purpose
The writers of Lebor Gabála Érenn aimed to create a detailed written history of the Irish, similar to the history of the Israelites in the Old Testament of the Bible. This history was meant to place Ireland within the timeline of Christian history, connecting the Irish to events in the Old Testament and comparing them to the Israelites. The text describes ancestors of the Irish as people who were enslaved, exiled, wandered, or saw the "Promised Land" from a distance. It also included stories from before Christianity and tried to match them with medieval Christian beliefs.
The Lebor Gabála Érenn (LGE) was influenced by four major Christian works. However, pre-Christian elements remained in the text. For example, one poem in the LGE mentions goddesses from the Tuatha Dé Danann marrying men from the Gaeil when they arrived in Ireland. The pattern of repeated invasions in the LGE is similar to the account by Timagenes of Alexandria, which was later mentioned by the 4th-century historian Ammianus Marcellinus. Timagenes described how the ancestors of the Gauls were driven from their homeland in eastern Europe by wars and floods.
Stories about Ireland’s past are found in writings from the 7th and 8th centuries. In 1861, Eugene O’Curry, a professor of Irish history and archaeology, wrote about different types of historical tales in Irish manuscripts. One type, called Tochomladh, described the arrival of groups like the Parthalon, Nemedh, Firbolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann, and Milesians in Ireland. These stories were likely the basis for the early parts of the Books of Invasions.
R. A. Stewart Macalister believed the LGE combined two separate works: one that told the history of the Gaedil, modeled after the Israelites’ story in the Old Testament, and another that described earlier groups living in Ireland before the Gaedil. Macalister thought the first part might have come from a Latin text called Liber Occupationis Hiberniae ("The Book of the Taking of Ireland").
The earliest known written account of Irish origins is in the Historia Brittonum ("History of the Britons"), written in Wales around the 9th century. This story likely came from an earlier Irish source. It says Ireland was settled by three groups from the Iberian Peninsula. The first group, the Partholón, died from a plague. The second, the Nemed, later returned to Iberia. The third group was led by three sons of a warrior from Hispania, who sailed to Ireland in thirty ships. They saw a glass tower in the sea and tried to capture it, but most of their ships sank. Only one ship survived, and its passengers became the ancestors of the Irish.
By the 11th century, the story of three waves of settlers had grown to six. Joseph Lennon suggests these six waves may have been added to explain many oral stories about Irish origins. Some scholars also think the six waves match the "Six Ages of the World."
Throughout the 9th century, Irish historian-poets expanded these stories. In the 10th and 11th centuries, long historical poems were written and later included in the LGE. Most of these poems were written by four poets.
Toward the end of the 11th century, an unknown scholar collected these poems and others, arranging them into a detailed written story. Some parts were his own creation, while others were based on older sources that no longer exist. This became the earliest version of the LGE, written in Middle Irish, a form of Gaelic used between 900 and 1200.
Versions
Within about 100 years after it was created, many copies and changes of Lebor Gabála existed. These copies included as many as 136 poems. It is "somewhat misleading" to call Lebor Gabála one single story because no two versions are exactly the same, even though some parts remain similar. There are five main versions of the text, found in more than a dozen medieval manuscripts:
A table lists the surviving manuscripts that contain versions of Lebor Gabála. Most of the abbreviations used in the table come from R. A. S. Macalister's critical edition of the work (see references for more details):
Lebor Gabála was translated into French in 1884. The first full English translation was completed by R. A. Stewart Macalister between 1937 and 1942. This translation included Macalister's own notes, an introduction, and a detailed analysis of the text. Macalister's work "combines different versions of a text that was already combined."
Contents
The text is divided into ten chapters:
The first chapter retells the Christian story of creation, the fall of humans, and early world history. The author uses the book of Genesis and other less-known sources, such as the Syriac Cave of Treasures, as well as four Christian works: City of God by St. Augustine, Histories by Orosius, Chronicle by Eusebius, and Etymologies by Isidore of Seville.
This section also includes a genealogy from the Historia Brittonum, which traces people back to a 6th-century Frankish list of nations. This list is partly based on Tacitus’s Germania, a 1st-century Roman account. It describes how major European groups descended from three brothers.
The third chapter explains that all humans come from Adam through Noah’s sons. It states that Japheth, one of Noah’s sons, is the ancestor of Europeans. Japheth’s son, Magog, is the ancestor of the Gaels and Scythians. Fénius Farsaid, a Scythian prince, is said to have helped build the Tower of Babel with 72 chieftains. His son, Nel, marries Scota, the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh. Their son, Goídel Glas, creates the Goidelic (Gaelic) language from the 72 languages that arose after the Tower of Babel. Goídel’s descendants, the Gaels, leave Egypt with the Israelites during the Exodus. After traveling for 440 years, they settle in the Maeotian marshes, then travel to Crete, Sicily, and Iberia. There, Goídel’s descendant, Breogán, builds a city called Brigantia and a tower from which his son Íth sees Ireland. Brigantia was the Roman name for Corunna in Galicia, and Breogán’s tower may be inspired by the Tower of Hercules, rebuilt by the Romans.
According to the Lebor Gabála, the first people to reach Ireland are led by Cessair, daughter of Bith, a descendant of Noah. They flee a coming flood and sail in three ships, but two are lost. They land in Ireland at Dún na mBárc on Bantry Bay, 40 days before the flood. Only Cessair, 49 women, and three men survive. The women are divided among the men, each taking one as a wife. After the flood, Fintán, the only survivor, becomes a salmon, then an eagle and a hawk, living for 5,500 years before returning as a man to recount Ireland’s history.
In an earlier version, the first woman in Ireland is Banba, one of three land goddesses: Banba, Fódla, and Ériu. Their husbands were Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Gréine. It is likely that Cessair and her group replaced these figures in a Christian version of the story. Fintán may be linked to the Salmon of Knowledge, which gains wisdom after eating nine hazelnuts. The women who accompany Cessair have names that represent ancestors of various groups, such as Alba (Britons), Espa (Spaniards), and German (Germans). Their arrival is seen as a representation of the world’s population in Ireland. Other names may reference ancient Irish goddesses.
Ireland is uninhabited for 300 years until a second group arrives, led by Partholón, a descendant of Noah through Magog. They travel through Gothia, Anatolia, Greece, Sicily, and Iberia before reaching Ireland. They clear land, build structures, and introduce farming and other skills. They defeat the Fomorians, a group led by Cichol Gricenchos. Eventually, Partholón and his people die of plague, leaving only Tuan mac Cairill, who survives for centuries in different forms. This chapter also mentions Delgnat, Partholón’s wife, committing adultery with a servant.
Partholón’s name may be inspired by Bartholomew, a figure in Christian histories. The Fomorians are believed to represent destructive natural forces, such as chaos, darkness, and drought.
Ireland is uninhabited for 30 years until a third group arrives, led by Nemed, also a descendant of Noah through Magog. They sail from the Caspian Sea in 44 ships, but only Nemed’s ship reaches Ireland. His group clears land, builds forts, and fights the Fomorians. After Nemed and many others die of plague, the Nemedians are oppressed by the Fomorians, Conand and Morc. They are forced to give two-thirds of their children, crops, and milk as tribute. Eventually, they rebel and defeat Conand. Morc attacks, and most Nemedians are killed or drown. Only one ship escapes, with some going to Britain, others to Greece, and some to the north.
Those who went to Greece were enslaved by the Greeks and made to carry soil. After 230 years, they return to Ireland as the Fir Bolg (men of bags), divided into two groups: Fir Domnann and Fir Gálioin. They divide Ireland into five provinces: Gann, Sengann, Genann, Rudraige, and Slanga. Nine High Kings rule Ireland for 37 years.
Those who went north are the Tuatha Dé Danann, supernatural beings representing Ireland’s main pagan gods. They arrive in dark clouds, landing on Sliabh an Iarainn. They bring the Four Treasures and fight the Fir Bolg in the First Battle of Mag Tuired. The Tuatha Dé Danann win, and Nuada, their king, loses his hand in battle. He is replaced by Bres, a half-Fomorian, who becomes High King but mistreats the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Modern analysis
For many centuries, the Lebor Gabála was considered a true and trustworthy record of Ireland's history. As recently as the 17th century, Geoffrey Keating used it when writing his book Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, and it was also used by the authors of the Annals of the Four Masters. However, in recent years, the work has been studied more carefully by scholars. One modern scholar called it part of "the tradition of making up history or fake history." Another described it as having "many false parts" but noted that it includes "some traditions that were popular." R. A. Stewart Macalister, an Irish archaeologist who translated the work into English, said, "There is not one true historical detail in the whole book."
The story of the Gaels arriving in Ireland is thought to have been created by Christian writers who wanted to compare the Gaels to the Israelites. The idea that the Gaels came from Scythia may have come from the similar names Scoti and Scythae. Other medieval fake histories did the same with other groups, such as the Goths. In his book History of the Goths, Isidore said the Goths and Getae were related because of their similar names and claimed they, along with the Scythians, descended from Magog. The claim that the Gaels had Iberian origins may have come from the similar names Iberia and Hibernia, Isidore calling Iberia the "motherland of the races," and Orosius saying Ireland lies "between Iberia and Britain." The idea that the Gaels lived in the Maeotian marshes may have come from the Book of the History of the Franks, and their travels to Crete and Sicily may have been inspired by the story of Aeneas. Other parts of the Lebor Gabála come from pagan Gaelic myths, such as the divine Tuath Dé and the demonic Fomorians, who are similar to the Æsir and Vanir of Norse mythology. Scholars say the Nemedians' battle with the Fomorians reflects a story from Norse myths, and the Fir Bolg are like the Fomorians but human.
Most scholars believe the Lebor Gabála is mostly myth rather than real history. However, some argue it may be loosely based on real events. In the 1940s, T. F. O'Rahilly proposed a model of Irish prehistory using the Lebor Gabála and early Irish language. He suggested four waves of Celtic migrations: the Cruthin (around 700–500 BC), the Érainn or Builg (around 500 BC), the Laigin, Domnainn, and Gálioin (around 300 BC), and the Gaels (around 100 BC). He said the first three groups spoke Brittonic languages. O'Rahilly believed some parts of the Lebor Gabála were based on these migrations but that others were made up. He also said many of Ireland's "pre-Gaelic" peoples continued to live there for centuries after 100 BC. O'Rahilly's theory has been challenged by historians and archaeologists and is no longer accepted.
In The White Goddess (1948), British poet and mythologist Robert Graves argued that myths brought to Ireland long before writing was introduced were passed down by word of mouth and later written down during the Christian era. He disagreed with Macalister, with whom he corresponded, and said some parts of the Lebor Gabála "seem possible based on evidence." However, The White Goddess has been criticized by archaeologists and historians.