Cessair

Here is the so-called Cessair part of the Book of Invasions.

Contents

§26. Let us leave there the stories of the Goidels, in order to speak of the seven peoples who conquered Ireland after them. Cessair, daughter of Bith f. Noah conquered it forty days before the Flood. Partholon f. Will be three hundred years after the Flood. Nemed f. Agnomain of Greeks of Scythia, after thirty years after Partholon. The Fir Bolg thereafter. The Fir Domnann afterwards. The Gailioin afterwards, with them. The Tuatha De Danann thereafter. The sons of Mil thereafter,

As Fintan says,
Ireland - people ask me -
I know jokingly,
All the grips she takes
Since the beginning of the melodious world.
Cessair came from the East,
The woman was the daughter of Bith;
With her fifty young girls,
With her three men.
The Flood defeated Bith in his mountain,
It's not a secret;
Ladra en Ard Ladrand,
Cessair in his retirement.

But as for me, he buried me,
The Son of God, above men;
He kept the Flood away from me
Above the top Tul Tuinde.
I spent a year under the Flood
In the solid Tul Tuinde;
I did not find anything for my sustenance,
Uninterrupted sleep was better.
I was here in Ireland,
My journey was interminable,
Until Partholon reached him,
From the east, from the land of the Greeks.
I was here in Ireland
And Ireland was deserted
Until Agnomain's son reached him
Nemed, his pace dazzling.
The Fir Bolg and Fir Gailians came,
It was a long time ago;
The Fir Domnanns came,
They landed on a cape to the west.
Then the Tuath Dé came,
In their mass of fog,
So that there was food for me
Even though it was a long life.
The sons of Mil came from Spain,
From the south, so that there was
For me food from their hands,
Even though they were strong in battle.
A long life has been my fate,
I'm not going to hide it;
Until the faith reached me
From the King of the Clouds Sky.
I am Fintan the White, son of Bochna,
I'm not going to hide it;
After the Flood here I am
A great and noble sage.

§27. Subsequently, Cessair daughter of Bith f. Noah conquered it, so says the poet, forty days before the Flood. This is the reason for his coming, his flight from the Flood, for Noah said to them: Arise, he said, and go to the western end of the world, perhaps the Flood will not reach him.

§28. The crew of three ships arrived at Dun na mRarc in the territory of Corco Daibne. Two of these ships were wrecked. Cessair with the crew of his ship escaped, fifty women and three men: Bith f. Noah, eponymous of Sliab Betha - this is where he was buried, under the great cairn of Sliab Betha; Ladra the pilot, eponymous of Ard Ladrand - he was the first dead man to go under the soil of Ireland; Fintan f. Bochra, eponymous from "the Tomb of Fintan" on Tul Tuinde. Cessair died in Cul Cessrach in Connachta, with his fifty maids.

§29. Here are their names, so Fintan says it
A fair distribution was concluded between us,
Myself and Bith and the daring Ladra;
For peace and reason it was done,
In the case of the fifty beautiful young girls.
Seventeen women I took, including Cessair -
Lot, Luam, Mall, Mar, Froechar, Femar, Low, Foroll,
Cipir, Torrian, Tamall, Tam, Abba, Alla, Baichne, Sille:
Such is the account of those that we were.
Bith took seventeen, with Bairrfhind -
Sella, Della, Duib, Addeos, Fotra, Traige, Nera, Buana,
Tamall, Tanna, Nathra, Leos, Fodarg, Rodarg, Dos, Clos:
Let it be understood, these were also of our people.
Sixteen then with Ladra:
Alba, Bona, Albor, Garlic, Gothiam, German, Aithne, India,
Rodarg, Rinne, Inchor, Ain, Irrand, Espa, Sine, Samoll:
It was our pleasant company.

None of Adam's descendants took Ireland before the Flood except these.