The third “taking” of Ireland was that of Nemedh.  He came, according to the Annals,[32] A.M. 2859, and erected forts and cleared plains, as his predecessors had done.  His people were also afflicted by plague, and appeared to have had occupation enough to bury their dead, and to fight with the “Fomorians in general,” an unpleasantly pugilistic race, who, according to the Annals of Clonmacnois, “were a sept descended from Cham, the sonne of Noeh, and lived by pyracie and spoile of other nations, and were in those days very troublesome to the whole world."[33] The few Nemedians who escaped alive after their great battle with the Fomorians, fled into the interior of the island.  Three bands were said to have emigrated with their respective captains.  One party wandered into the north of Europe, and are believed to have been the progenitors of the Tuatha De Dananns; others made their way to Greece, where they were enslaved, and obtained the name of Firbolgs, or bagmen, from the leathern bags which they were compelled to carry; and the third section sought refuge in the north of England, which is said to have obtained its name of Briton from their leader, Briotan Maol.[34]

The fourth immigration is that of the Firbolgs; and it is remarkable how early the love of country is manifested in the Irish race, since we find those who once inhabited its green plains still anxious to return, whether their emigration proved prosperous, as to the Tuatha De Dananns, or painful, as to the Firbolgs.

According to the Annals of Clonmacnois, Keating, and the Leabhar-Gabhala, the Firbolgs divided the island into five provinces, governed by five brothers, the sons of Dela Mac Loich:—­“Slane, the eldest brother, had the province of Leynster for his part, which containeth from Inver Colpe, that is to say, where the river Boyne entereth into the sea, now called in Irish Drogheda, to the meeting of the three waters, by Waterford, where the three rivers, Suyre, Ffeoir, and Barrow, do meet and run together into the sea.  Gann, the second brother’s part, was South Munster, which is a province extending from that place to Bealagh-Conglaissey.  Seangann, the third brother’s part, was from Bealagh-Conglaissey to Rossedahaileagh, now called Limbriche, which is in the province of North Munster.  Geanaun, the fourth brother, had the province of Connacht, containing from Limerick to Easroe.  Rorye, the fifth brother, and youngest, had from Easroe aforesaid to Inver Colpe, which is in the province of Ulster."[35]

The Firbolg chiefs had landed in different parts of the island, but they soon met at the once famous Tara, where they united their forces.  To this place they gave the name of Druim Cain, or the Beautiful Eminence.

The fifth, or Tuatha De Danann “taking” of Ireland, occurred in the reign of Eochaidh, son of Erc, A.M. 3303.  The Firbolgian dynasty was terminated at the battle of Magh Tuireadh.  Eochaidh fled from the battle, and was killed on the strand of Traigh Eothaile, near Ballysadare, co.  Sligo.  The cave where he was interred still exists, and there is a curious tradition that the tide can never cover it.