The Faerie Folk The Irish book of Invasions was compiled in the 12th century and alludes to several successful waves of mythical invasions of Ireland. During the Fifth wave , the Tuatha De Danaan came through the mists to invade Ireland. Little is known about hte Tuatha De Danaan before they invaded Ireland. It is known that they came from four cities somewhere in the north. They were students of occult knowledge, ancient lore, magic, witchcraft, sorcery and druidic arts. There were four cities they had studied these arts in, Falias, Gorias, Murias, and Finias. What caused them to flee these cities is uncertan. We do know however, that when they reached the shores of Ireland, they burned their boats so that they would have no thoughts of ever returning. (The smoke from the burning of their boats may account for the mist that they are said to have come through.) Shortly after settling in, they faught in two major battles. The first was the Battle of Magh Tuiredh which was faught against the previous invaders. The Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh was against the Formarians. During the first battle, the Tuatha defeated the Fir Bolg. Over one thousand of the Fir Bolg wer killed, including their King, Eocchaid MacEric. During that battle, the King of the Tuatha De Danaan, Nuada, lost his hand. Since the laws of the Tuatha De Danaan stated that no man could be King who was not in Perfect physical condition, Nuada lost the throne. Diancecht, the God of medicine, with the help of his two children, Miach and Airmid, forged Nuada a Silver hand, which moved and worked as well as any other hand. The Tuatha De Danaan has many powerful Gods, such as Diancecht, the God of Medicine; The Dagda (The Good God) who specialized in Druidic Arts; Goibhniu who knew Smithing; Lugh, a God of Arts and Crafts; and Oghma, the God of Communications. When the Milesians came upon the Island, there was a third great battle. The first of the Tuatha De Danaan to be sent to fight the Milesiand was Banbha. She tried to cast her powerful magic, however the Milesians ignored her. Then, the Tuatha De Danaan sent Fodhla, however her magic was also unable to stop the invading Milesians. Finally, the Tuatha De Danaan sent Eriu who sat atop a hill throwing mud balls down at the Milesians. When the balls smashed into the ground, they broke apart into thousands of warriors to fight the Milesians. After the Milesians won the battle, they were so impressed with Eriu's Magic that they decided to name the Island after her. Erin, a dative form of her name has been a synonym of Ireland for Centuries. After the Tuatha were defeated, The Dagda led them underground, where they still dwell to this day. This was taken from Corky McGraw's Faerie Page         A Bee bg