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The Firbolg

	F/ollowing brief mention of the Pathalons, Tuan suddenly comes alive
and plunges into his story. In great detail, he speaks of the coming of
the Firbolg, of their escape from harsh Greek masters. Further he now
gets very specific on dates and identifies the Year of the World 1738
(2276 BC) as the date of their arrival. Here mythology and science are
in lock step. Science has long identified the early Bronze Age of
Ireland as the 23rd through the 18th century BC, the exact period of
Firbolg domination of the land.

By definition, the Bronze Age was identified by the use of copper
and tin for making items of bronze. Ireland was fortunate in having a
successful farming community that could make available sufficient
quantities to feed the non-farming miners and metal craftsmen. Copper
was widely scattered throughout the land, but Bronze Age miners found
the most productive mining areas to be in the south-western counties of
Cork and Kerry. There, Galician stone inscriptions attest to
considerable contact with Iberia. For it was from Iberia and Cornwall
that the precious tin was exported as that was one commodity Ireland did
not possess.

This band of new-comers had some knowledge of international trade,
for it is following their settlement that the beginning international
trade began to expand. The Firbolg were also knowledgeable in metallurgy
and they brought the bronze age to Ireland. Though Ireland was rich in
copper and gold, she had no tin. It didn't take the Firbolg long to find
and begin the import of the required additional ingredient first from
nearby Cornwall, then later to Iberia, and establish the thriving bronze
trade that was to last for some 2000 years.

During the Early Bronze Age, the metal industry was stimulated by
the demands of her own population as well as overseas. An expanding
international trade brought contact with overseas artisans and Ireland
was quick to take advantage as her traders and traveling artisans plied
much of Europe. The style and quality of gold work made a quantum leap
forward. Irish and Irish-style products of this era such as the lunalas
and gold sundiscs, bronze knives, daggers and axes, and copper halberds
been found throughout western and central Europe, including Scandinavia,
Crete and Iberia. Return trade brought Portuguese daggers and axes,
Baltic amber, glass and faience beads from the eastern Mediterranean.

Though the numbers of the Bronze Age Firbolg were apparently
small, the pre-existing Neolithic farmers proved willing pupils and
adapted quickly. There was no sudden economic or cultural revolution.
Rather a gradual transition took place. As new tools became available
and new ideas were absorbed, the landscape and life itself seemed to
take on a new quality a new freshness. At first, Neolithic settlements,
with their pottery styles and burial traditions continued even as
metal-working spread through the country. However, it didn't take long
for a Bronze Age culture to begin flourishing. Mining, metal-working and
farming made increased demands on available resources. The growing
population increased the need for tillable soil and pasture. As a
result, the woodlands began to show considerable reduction in some
areas. At the same time, new metallurgical, pottery and jewelry
production and design techniques were being brought in through trade
contacts, while simultaneously, Irish bronze and gold manufactured items
began to be exported into a growing international market./ 	 

/Irish Mythology <irishmyth.html> / Irish Archaeology
<irisharchaeo.html> / Chronology of the Myth <chronol.html>
The Mesolithic <meso.html> / The Neolithic <neo.html> / The
Parthelonians <parth.html>
The Nemedians <nemed.html> / The Firbolg / The Tuatha de Danann
<tuatha.html> / The Milesians <mil.html>
Bibliography <biblio.html>/