O'Rahilly's Historical Model - The Bolgic or Ernean Invasion

The Bolgic or Ernean Invasion

Around 500 BC the Cruthin lost their dominant position in Irish society when the country was invaded by a second wave of P-Celtic speakers. These were the Builg or Érainn. The former name (originally Bolgi) identifies them as Belgae, a Celtic people mentioned by Julius Caesar in Commentarii de Bello Gallico. Their other name (originally Iverni) is probably the origin of several of the early Classical names for Ireland: the Greek Ιερνη; Ιουερνια and possibly also the Latin Hibernia. In Irish mythology the name Fir Bolg obviously refers to the same people. It appears that groups of these Belgae colonised Britain and Ireland in the late 6th or early 5th century. In both islands they absorbed and subjugated most of the previous inhabitants. According to their own traditions the Érainn arrived in Ireland from Britain, and there is no good reason to dispute this.

Among the more prominent Ernean tribes were the following:

• The Uluti (Middle Irish: Ulaid), after whom Ulster is named. For centuries the Uluti were the dominant tribe in the north of the country. They founded Emain Macha (Navan Fort), the traditional capital of Ulster, near Armagh. In later historical times their descendants were known as the Dál Fiatach and were confined to the eastern half of County Down.
• The Darini and Robogdii (or Reidodioi), two tribes whose territory was in Antrim and north Down. They were probably the ancestors of the historical Dál Riata or Dál Riada, who colonised Scotland in the 5th century of the common era and from whom the kings of Scotland were descended.
• The Iverni, the dominant Ernean tribe in Munster from whom the Érainn as a whole took their name. The Corcu Loígde of historical times were their descendants.
• The Ebdani, a tribe of the east coast whose name appears as Eblani in Ptolemy's description of Ireland in his Geographia. Their settlement, which Ptolemy calls Eblana, has often been mistakenly identified with the city of Dublin on account of the similarity of the two names.