An Chraobh Airgid
Under low grey cloud an ancient court cairn with a curve of upright stones stands in gorse above Lough Arrow, its wooded islands and the pale limestone ridges beyond.

Connachta · Connacht

Mag Tuired

Moytirra, above Lough Arrow · Co. Sligo

The high ground above Lough Arrow where the gods fought the Fomorians.

Open it on the full site There it is marked on the map of the five fifths, where the road of a tale can be traced.

Tradition places the second battle of Mag Tuired on the high ground east of Lough Arrow, in the parish of Kilmactranny, where the townlands of Moytirra, Maigh Tuireadh in Irish, keep the name. Here the Tuatha Dé Danann broke the Fomorians, and Lugh put out the eye of Balor. A Stone Age court tomb in Moytirra East is known as the Giant’s Grave, and was said to hold a giant killed in the battle; north of the lake, the great cairn at Heapstown has been identified with the cairn the Fomorians heaped over the well of Sláine. The first battle was fought at another Mag Tuired, by Cong in Mayo.

In the tales

  • The Second Battle of Mag Tuired A beautiful king who gives nothing, a stranger with every art, an eye no army can face, and a harp that plays sorrow, laughter and sleep.

See also

  • Balor The Fomorian champion whose evil eye no army could face; Lugh’s grandfather.
  • The Fomorians Old enemies of the gods. In folklore, giants.
  • Lugh The god of many skills.
  • Mag Tuired Cunga Moytura, by Cong. The plain by Cong where the Tuatha Dé fought the Fir Bolg.
  • Tuatha Dé Danann The old gods of Ireland.

Sources

Each tale above lists the sources it is retold from. Every source the site draws on is listed on the full site.