flood, arrives with three sons, Rughruidhe, Slainge, and Laighlinne, and after their death he divides Ireland between four sons, Er, Orba, Fearann, and Feargna. The second colonist, Nemead, has a wife, Macha, from whom Ardmacha or Armagh takes its name, thus signifying the principal seat of the race; and he has three sons, Iarbheineoil, Fergus Leithdearg, and Starn, and Ireland is divided into three parts between Beothach son of Iarbheineoil, Briotan son of Fergus Leithdearg, and Simon son of Beoain son of Starn. The people of Nemead are then driven out of Ireland by the Fomoraigh or sea pirates, and depart in three bodies. One under Beothach goes to the north of Europe, another under Briotan to the north of Britain, and the third under Simon to Greece. The third colonists, the Firbolg, come from Greece under Dela, a descendant of Simon, and by him Ireland is divided into five districts between his five sons, Slainge, Gann, Seangan, Geannan, and Rughruidhe; and these were the five provinces of Ireland—Leinster, possessed by Slainge; Thomond and Desmond, the two divisions of Munster, by Gann and Seangan; Connaught by Geannan, and Ulster by Rughruidhe. Here we have a reproduction of two of the sons of Partholan in Slainge and Rughruidhe. We have again a threefold division of Ireland under the fourth colonists, the Tuatha De, supposed to be the descendants of Beothach, son of Iarbheineoil; and the three sons of Cearmadha Milbeoil their king—MacCuil, MacCeacht, and MacGreine—have three queens, Eire, Fodla, and Banba, which are simply the three oldest names in Ireland. Milesius too has three sons, Eber, Heremon, and Ir, of whom the former possessed the two Munsters, Heremon Leinster and Connaught, and Ir Ulster; and here again we find the same reproduction of previous names, for Eber has the same four sons, Er, Orba, Fearann, and Feargna,[107] who are attributed to Partholan, and the descendants of Ir who occupied Ulster were termed the race of Rughruidhe from a descendant of that name. We also find that this filiation from the same parents does not imply identity of race, for the descendants of Ir, to whom the name of Rughruidhe especially belongs, and who peopled the north of Ireland, appear throughout the Irish Annals under the name of Cruithnigh, and were no other than the Picts who were settled in Ireland. [Sidenote: Linguistic legends.]