The Round Towers of Ireland; or, The History of the Tuath-De-DanaansO'Brien, Henry
Religion
The Round Towers of Ireland; or, The History of the Tuath-De-Danaans
O'Brien, Henry
Ireland -- Antiquities; Round towers -- Ireland
The scriptural allegory of the “Fall of Man,” involving, as it does, the
history of Cain, has an intimate bearing upon the ancestry of the
_Tuath-de-danaans_. Cain had a son, Enoch, whose name connotes as usual a
twofold meaning, signifying first, _Initiation in sacred rites_; secondly,
_an assembly of congregated multitudes_. The son of Enoch was named
_Irad_, i.e. _consecrated to God_ (_Budh_); hence the region where he
dwelt was called _Iran_, meaning _the land of those so consecrated_; from
which it is argued that in that precise region the Budhists first
established the insignia of their empire. Now, the _Dabistan_ records
declare that although _Kaimours_ was generally regarded as the first king
of Persia (Iran), he had many predecessors; and that long before the time
of Zoroaster the Persians venerated a prophet called _Mahabad_ or
_Maghabad_ (the Great, or Good, _Abad_), whom they considered as “the
Father of men,” and who had thirteen successors of his own family, all
styled _Abad_. This _Abad_, or _Maghabadean_, dynasty eventually became so
corrupt that it was banished to _the woods and mountains_, when _Kaimours_
was called to the throne. For various reasons the author is persuaded that
the Maghabadeans were the direct descendants of Cain. Their name had the
usual twofold signification: first, The unity of the Godhead; secondly, a
sacerdotal institution; and _Tuath-de-danaan_ is simply a translation or
ampliative rendering of the latter--_Tuath_ being a modification of
_Budh_, and also signifying _magic_; _De_, the vernacular term for the
Deity; and _Danaan_ signifying Almoners--the whole thus meaning
_Magician-god-almoners_, or the Almoner-magicians of the Deity.
CHAPTER XIX
(PP. 252-263)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account