Author: Ramsay Colles

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2016-08-24

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 9781333350109

Excerpt from The History of Ulster, Vol. 1: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day F mm the very slender evidence we possess, based chie y on antiquarian research in connection with the etymology of local names, it appears that the earliest inhabitants of Ireland were of Turanian origin and known as Fomorians. How long they held possession it is impossible to discover, but they gave way before a Belgic race bearing the not very euphonious name of Firbolgs, who in their turn were con quered by a fresh tribe of invaders, the tuatha-da-danaans, said to have been of Pelasgic origin, but who are now believed to have been an Aryan Celtic race, a branch of that great stock which dominated Gaul and Spain and a large part of Southern Europe. The Danaans are said to have held the country, which they completely conquered and occupied, for one hundred and ninety years. They are a Shadowy race of whom even less is known than of their predecessors the Firbolgs, but their deeds are held to be less adumbrative than their names, for forts of earth and stone and sepulchral monuments on the River Boyne in Meath are said, with some Show of truth, to be the work of their hands. But although they were strong men and great fighters the Danaans were themselves conquered by the Milesians or Scoti, a race of warlike Celts from Spain, of which land they had been rulers for generations. This Milesian conquest seems to have been a real occurrence, notwithstanding the fact that the statements made by Keating with regard to it savour too much of romance and severely tax the credulity of his readers. For instance, we are told that the Milesians were Scythians, and that one of their leaders, Niall, married Scota, daughter of Pharaoh, and be friended Moses and the Israelites. This friendliness to a persecuted race led Pharaoh to banish Niall and his fol lowers, and after many wanderings they landed in Spain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."