The Tuatha de Danann (or the people of the goddess Dana) is a mythical race found at the origins of the ancient Celts. In the Irish saga known as “The Cycle of Invasions,” there are several stories about the earliest inhabitants of the islands.
One of the traditional stories about the origin of the Celts tells that in very ancient times, there was a war between the Fomoré and the Nemeds, two tribes that dominated the British Isles. Finally, in a bloody battle on the island of Tory, the Fomoré emerged victorious, annihilating the Nemeds, save for thirty men.
The thirty surviving warriors then divided into three groups. One of them, under the command of Britan, settled in what would become Great Britain. The second group returned to Ireland under the name of Fir Bolg. But some time later, Ireland was invaded by a people who called themselves “The people of the goddess Dana.” It is quite possible that these people were the descendants of the third group of Nemeds who had survived the battle of Tory. Yet some legends tell extraordinary tales about them: the origin of the Tuatha de Danann was divine, and they were set down by a magic cloud in the north of the island, near what is now County Connacht.