Various Traditions # 2 by Yair
Davidiy
THE ISRAELITE INVADERS OF IRELAND
The Immigrating Tribes to Ireland according to Tradition,
came in waves. Irish records speak of the
Fomorians, Nemedians, Dana, and Milesian Hiberii.
The Fomorians
Among the first settlers
of Ireland were the Fomorians. One
version says that they were Scandinavians but most accounts claim that
they
arrived from North Africa. There was always a connection between Ireland,
North Africa, and the Middle East. This is reflected in linguistic
factors.
The goddess of the
Fomorians was Domnu and their leader was
Balar5. They were sea-orientated, dominated by females, and piratical6.
Later Irish literature speaks of them in a negative fashion and
associates
them with the Irish landworking class7.
The Fir Bolg -Belgae
Either contemporaneously
with the Fomorians or shortly after them
arrived the Nemedians. The name NEMED means sanctified or separated
and is
synonymous with "Peresh" which name was given to the son of Gilead
from the
Tribe of Menasseh (1-Chronicles 7;16). The Nemedians were said to be
descendants of Sru, Sera, and Isru8. These names and "ISRU" especially
are
forms of the name ISRAEL. "Sera"(li) is how the Assyrians rendered
the name
Israel in at least one inscription.
The Nemedians split into three groups:
1. Britan who went to Britain:
2. Semion who fathered the Fir Bolg; and
3. Bethac who left Ireland and fathered the Tribe of Dana who later
returned.
According to some
versions Semion had never been in Ireland only
his descendants were. The name Semion equates the Hebrew Simeon son
of
Israel. Ptolemy recalled the Tribe of Semoni on the southeast coast
of
Britain. They adjoined the Iceni (Ikeni) whose name may be understood
to be
a Phoenician (or North Israelite) form of the appellation Jachin son
of
Simeon (Genesis 46;10). The Welsh in their own and in Irish Literature
were
referred to as Semoni.
The Fir Bolg (descendants
of Semion) in turn divided into three:
1. THE FIR BOLG PROPER:
"Fir" means men and
Bolg derived from the Hebrew Bela(g)h son of
Benjamin (Genesis 46;21). Bela(g)h was also a family head in the Tribe
of
Reuben (1-Chronicles 5;8).
The Fir Bolg are identified
by researchers with the Belgae9 who in
the 100s b.c.e. sent colonists from their base in North Gaul into southern
Britain where they were reported by Ptolemy. Ptolemy also records Belgae
in
Ireland. The Belgae gave their name to Belgium.
Aspects of their culture
possessed what are considered Phoenician traits10.
Within the Land of
Israel the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half
Menasseh at an early stage had formerly expanded their territories
up to
and perhaps even beyond the Euphrates River. Sections of other Israelite
tribes, including Benjamin, were also to be found in the Israelite
areas
between the Jordan and Euphrates Rivers. Ptolemy in his map of "Arabia"
records the existence of Israelite clan and territorial names in areas
adjoining the Euphrates. Amongst these names are BALAGEA and BELGINAEA
WHICH APPELLATIONS RELATE TO THE BELGAE DESCENDANTS OF BELA(g)H FROM
BENJAMIN (GENESIS 46;21) and/or REUBEN OF ISRAEL (1-Chronicles 5;8)..
2. GALIOIN:
The Galioin
were another section of the Fir Bolg and their name
is considered as cognate to that of the Gaels and Galli (Gauls)11.
These names in Hebrew connote both "exile" ("Goli", "Gali") and Galilee.
3.THE FIR DOMNU:
The people of Domnu
are somehow connected with the Fomorians who
are sometimes considered "gods of Domnu"12. Domnu was the Fomorian
goddess.
According to Ptolemy, Dumnonii were found in Devon, Cornwall, and Scotland
and in those areas ethnic names recalling DA
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