In the Kingdom of Munster, King Ferdia Og Butler ap Gwydion, only recently released from a magical imprisonment in his capital, Cashel, has been slain. The Earl of Kerry, reputedly the last Unseelie King before the Shattering, is missing, presumed a defector to the Enemy. The new King, Ferdia’s nephew, Damien O’Meara ap Gwydion faces trials far beyond his imagining.

Chronological list of dates of Irish History (From the Changeling point of view)


c. 3000BC Megalithic tombs first constructed.

c. 700BC Celts arrive from parts of Gaul and Britain. Ireland divided into provinces.

c. AD350 Christianity reaches Ireland.

432 Traditional date for the arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland.

700-800 Irish monasticism reaches its zenith.

795 Full-scale Viking invasion.

1014 Brian Boru/ defeats Vikings at Clontarf, but is murdered.

1169 Dermot MacMurrough, exiled king of Leinster, invites help from 'Strongbow'.

1172 Pope decrees that Henry II of England is feudal lord of Ireland.

1366 Statutes of Kilkenny belatedly forbid intermarriage of English and Irish. Gaelic culture unsuccessfully suppressed.

1534-40 Failed insurrection by Lord Offaly.

1541 Henry VIII proclaimed king (rather than feudal lord) of Ireland

1558-1603 Reign of Elizabeth I. Policy of Plantation begins. System of counties adopted.

1595-1603 Failed uprising of Hugh O'Neill.

1607 Flight of the Earls; leading Ulster families go into exile.

1641 Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England.

1649 Cromwell invades Ireland.

1653 Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land.

1689-90 Deposed James II flees to Ireland; defeated at the Battle of the Boyne.

1704 Penal Code enacted; Catholics barred from voting, education and the military.

1775 American War of Independence foments Irish unrest.

1782 Grattans Parliament persuades British to declare Irish independence, but in name only.

1795 Foundation of the Orange Order.

1798 Wolfe Tone's uprising crushed.

1801 Ireland becomes part of Britain under the Act of Union.

1829 Catholic Emancipation Act passed after Daniel O'Connell elected as MP.

1845-48 The Great Famine.

1879-82 The Land War; Parnell encourages boycott of repressive landlords.

1914 Implementation of Home Rule postponed because of outbreak of World War I.

1916 Easter Rising. After the leaders are executed public opinion backs independence.

1920-21 War between Britain and Ireland; Irish Free State and Northern Ireland created.

1922 Civil war breaks out.

1932 De Valera elected.

1969 Rioting between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. British troops called in.

1971 Provisional IRA begins campaign to oust British troops from Ireland.

1972 UK and Republic of Ireland join European Community. 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry.

1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement signed.

1994 Peace Declaration and IRA cease-fire.

The Celts believed themselves to be descendants of the Goddess and God of the underworld, Dealgnaid and her consort Parthalon. They came to Ireland from the west, the recognized home of the dead. The Partholans were believed to have carved the face of Ireland out of the bareness and created the lakes, rivers, and green groves, and brought with them the animals and fish.

First came Formorians who brought a plague to Partholan and his legions. The Formorians, who were in essence sea creatures, soon left Ireland empty for further occupation; partially due to their conflict with Finn MacCool, a giant who inhabited and protected Ireland. Today the Formorians are sea monsters or faeries who rove the Irish coast.

The second invader race was the Nemed, named for their leader, a cousin of Partholan. The Nemed were a dark people who came to Ireland from the south (many scholars believe they may have been would-be invaders from the Iberian Peninsula in what is now Spain). Sadly for the Nemed, they were unsuccessful and the Formorians killed all but thirty men.

The Nemed's greatest contribution to Irish paganism was belief in the Morrigu, a fierce triple goddess which consisted only of crone aspects. The names of the Morrigu are Babd, Nemain, and Macha.

The Firbolghs came next. Another faery invader race they play a very small role in the mythological history of the Ireland, and are often considered inferior. The Firbolghs were inept warriors, and apparently failed so miserably in their endeavor that even the few remaining Formorians did not bother with them.

Then came the Tutha De Danann, the last faery race of Ireland, with them came most of the goddesses and gods of the Irish pantheon. Arriving at Beltaine, they had defeated the remaining Formorians and the inept Firbolghian fighters by the Summer Solstice.

Their goddess, Dana, became the first Great Mother goddess of Ireland. Dana, later renamed Brigid, was the goddess of childbirth, poetry, music, creative endeavors, smithing, crafting, metallurgy, animal husbandry, and agriculture.

Unlike the Partholand, Nemed, and Firbolghs, the Tutha De Danann came from the heavens, the direction of the elusive fifth element, spirit. In the form of a circle, the Tutha created four great cities, each presiding over a separate race of fey: Falias, Finias, Gorias, and Murias.

Eventually, they too were defeated and went underground where they remain today as the faery folk of Ireland. It was the Tutha who gave the right of ruler ship to the high kings. The Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, was stood upon by the kings at coronation. This stone did exist, and was used in Scotland as late as the tenth century to crown Scottish royalty; it can still be seen if one travels to Perth.

This myth implies the much earlier concept that it was Dana who was the true giver of royal authority. The idea that a king must have a queen to rule comes from the ancient belief that all things, living or inanimate, were born of the Great Mother deity.