Book of Invasions
Also known as: Lebor Gabála Érenn, Lebor Gabala Erenn, The Taking of Ireland, Book of Conquests
A medieval Irish pseudo-history narrating successive settlements of Ireland—from Cessair and Partholón to the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians—synchronised with biblical and classical chronologies. It forges a mythic genealogy linking Gaelic rulers to a universal sacred past.
Description
The Book of Invasions (Lebor Gabála Érenn) is a Middle Irish compilation that arranges Ireland’s origins as a sequence of arrivals, catastrophes, and renewals. Shaped by monastic scholars, it integrates native saga cycles with Christian salvation history, aligning Irish lineages with Adam, the Flood, and post-Exodus wanderings. The narrative progresses through the settlements of Cessair, Partholón, Nemed, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and finally the Milesians—ancestors of the Gaels—whose poet-judge Amergin arbitrates their taking of the land. Euhemerized deities, place-name lore, and king-lists serve to legitimize dynasties and sacral geography while preserving mythic memory.
Historiography
Lebor Gabála Érenn survives in multiple medieval recensions, notably in the 12th-century Book of Leinster and later compilations such as the Books of Ballymote and Lecan. Its redactors Christianized indigenous traditions, synchronizing them with biblical and world chronologies to craft a universal history. R. A. S. Macalister’s five-volume edition and translation (1938–56) remains foundational though often critiqued; modern scholarship treats the work as a learned synthesis of myth, genealogy, dindshenchas, and political legitimation rather than factual annalistic history.
Date Notes
Composite Middle Irish redactions (A–M) drawing on earlier materials; principal witnesses include Book of Leinster (12th c.), later copies in Book of Ballymote (14th c.) and Book of Lecan (15th c.).
Themes
Archetypes
Symbols
Major Characters
- Partholón
- Nemed
- Tuatha Dé Danann
- Dagda
- Lugh
- Nuada
- The Morrígan
- Amergin
- Míl Espáine
Myths
- Cessair’s First Settlement
- Partholón’s People and the Plague
- The Battles and Fate of Nemed’s Folk
- The Arrival of the Fir Bolg
- The Coming of the Tuatha Dé Danann
- The Second Battle of Mag Tuired
- The Milesian Conquest of Ireland
Facts
- Structures Irish prehistory as six principal invasions culminating in the Milesians.
- Euhemerizes the Tuatha Dé Danann as ancient human rulers endowed with wonder-working skill.
- Employs synchronisms to align Gaelic origins with the Flood and post-Exodus wanderings.
- Amergin’s adjudication frames poetic speech as juridical authority in taking the land.
- Preserves early provincial divisions and sacral topography, notably the Hill of Tara and Lia Fáil.
- Fintan mac Bóchra functions as an immortal witness linking cycles across ages.
- Redactional layers reveal monastic scholastic aims and dynastic legitimation.
- Key manuscript witnesses include the Book of Leinster, later Books of Ballymote and Lecan.
- R. A. S. Macalister’s edition (5 vols., 1938–56) remains standard but critically reassessed.
- Interweaves dindshenchas, genealogies, and saga motifs within a universal-historical frame.