

Some
carnage from the 2000 AD version of Moytura, Slaine - The Horned God.
During the Second Battle, the combatants were described as wading knee-deep
in blood and gore. |
Balor at work! by Simon Bisley. |
The First Battle of Moytura To recount matters briefly in relation to the First Battle of Maigh Tuireadh, it is said to have been fought on the Plain of Cong at the northern end of Lough Corrib, on the border of counties Galway and Mayo. The combatants were the invading tribes of the Túatha Dé Danann led by Núada the High King, and the defending tribes of the Firbolg led by Eochy the High King of Ireland. After a gory hurling match in which the losers were decapitated in an Aztec fashion and three days of bloody warfare, the Túatha Dé Danann won the battle and possession of Ireland. However Núada lost his arm to Streng, a champion of the Firbolg, and had to step down as High King; Breas the Beautiful was chosen in his place. A treaty was agreed between the two tribes. The Firbolg agreed to withdraw and settle in Connaught and on the islands off the west coast. The Túatha Dé Danann took possession of Ireland and ruled from the ancient capital of Tara, where they set up the Lia Fail beside the ancient Mound of The Hostages.
Nuada of the Silver Arm, King of the Tuatha Dé Danann, by Jim Fitzpatrick. The plain of Cong is a very interesting place. There are several caves in the fissured limestone, four stone circles at Nymphsfield - in fact the only stone circles in Connaught apart from those at Carrowmore. There are two massive cairns remaining out of a possible total of five. Ballymacgibbon Cairn and Ecohy's Cairn are two large, mysterious and as yet unopened structures. A few miles to the east of Cong is the mysterious hill of Knockma, said to be the first hill in Ireland to be given a name. Noah's granddaughter Caesir landed there after the Biblical flood, and the great unopened cairn on the summit is said to be her grave, though others say Queen Maeve is buried there. There are five more cairns on the smaller hills to the east and west. |

Eochy's Cairn, between Cong and Ballinrobe, Co Mayo.
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