In Irish mythology, Cessair (or Ceasair) was the leader of the first inhabitants of Ireland before the Biblical Flood, in what may be a Christianisation of a legend that pre-dates the conversion, but may alternatively be the product of post-conversion pseudohistory. Although many of the manuscripts containing texts relating to Irish mythology have failed to survive, and much more material was probably never committed to writing, there is enough remaining to enable the identification of four distinct, if overlapping, cycles: the Mythological Cycle, The Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the... The Bible (From Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, plural of βιβλιον, biblion, book, originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material), is a word applied to sacred scriptures. ... This article is on mythology involving great floods. ...

She was daughter of Noah's son Bith and his wife Birren. According to legend, when her father was denied a place in the ark by Noah, Cessair advised him to build an idol. This idol advised them that they could escape the Deluge in a ship. Cessair, along with three men, Bith, Fintan and Ladra, and fifty women, set off and sailed for more than seven years. They landed in Ireland at Dún na mBarc (Donemark, on Bantry Bay in County Cork), forty days before the Flood, in 2958 BC according to the Annals of the Four Masters, 2361 BC according to Seathrún Céitinn's chronology. Noah or Nóach (Rest, Standard Hebrew נוֹחַ Nóaḥ, Tiberian Hebrew נֹחַ Nōªḥ; Arabic نوح Nūḥ), is a character from the Book of Genesis and the Quran who builds an ark to save his family and the worlds animals from the Deluge, the universal flood. ... In Irish mythology, Bith was the father of Cessair and the husband of Birren. ... Fintan is known in Goidelic mythology as the Wise. ... Bantry Bay is a natural harbour at the County Cork town of Bantry in the Republic of Ireland. ... County Cork (Contae Chorcaí in Irish) is the most southwesterly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. ... Signature page from the Annals of the Four Masters Entry for A.D. 432 The Annals of the Four Masters or the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. ... Seathrún Céitinn, known in English as Geoffrey Keating, was a 17th century Irish clergyman, poet and historian. ...

The three men shared out the women as wives between them. Cessair and sixteen others went with Fintan. seventeen, including Barann, went with Bith and sixteen, including Balba, with Ladra, but Ladra died and his wives were shared between Fintan and Bith. Then Bith died. Fintan found himself with all the women, and fled. Six days before the flood, Cessair died of a broken heart at Cuil Ceasrach in Connacht. Connaught redirects here. ...

The rest of Cessair's people were wiped out in the Flood, with the exception of Fintan, who turned into a salmon. After a series of animal transformations he eventually became a man again and told his people's story. The Chinook or King Salmon is the largest salmon in North America and can grow up to 58 long and 126 pounds. ...

A variant version of the legend, apparently contained in the Book of Druimm Snechta, says that it was Banba who came to Ireland with three men and fifty women, two hundred and forty years before the Flood (2490 BC by his chronology). Her people lived in Ireland for forty years and died of plague. In the usual scheme Banba is numbered among the Tuatha Dé Danann, who lived in Ireland much later. In Irish mythology, Banba, sometimes spelled Banbha, was the patron spirit of Ireland, wife of King MacCuill, and a goddess of war and fertility. ... This article is about a mythical people of Ireland. ...

Seathrún Céitinn also refers to a legend that three fishermen from Spain, Capa, Laigne and Luasad, were driven to Ireland by a storm a year before the flood. They liked it, so they went home to get their wives, returned shortly before the Flood, and were drowned.

Cessair is also the name of a daughter of the king of Gaul who married the High King of Ireland, Úgaine Mor, in the 5th or 6th century BC. Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... The office of High King of Ireland (Irish: Ard Rí Érenn) was in origin a pseudohistorial construct of the eighth century that placed a king of all Ireland atop the fragmented pyramid of kingship that actually existed at that time. ... Úgaine Mor was a legendary High King of Ireland of the 7th century BC. He was the foster-son of Macha Mong Ruad. ... (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Demotic becomes the dominant script of ancient Egypt Persians invade Greece twice (Persian Wars) Battle of Marathon (490) Battle of Salamis (480) Athenian empire rises and falls Peloponnesian War... (7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC - other centuries) (600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Cyrus the Great conquered many...

Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland) is the Middle Irish title of a loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of the Irish race from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages. ... Signature page from the Annals of the Four Masters Entry for A.D. 432 The Annals of the Four Masters or the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. ... Seathrún Céitinn, known in English as Geoffrey Keating, was a 17th century Irish clergyman, poet and historian. ... In Irish mythology Partholón was the leader of the second group of people to settle in Ireland, the first to arrive after the biblical Flood. ...

See also

• Lebor Gabála Érenn
• Early history of Ireland

Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland) is the Middle Irish title of a loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of the Irish race from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages. ... Newgrange, a famous Irish passage tomb built c3,200 BC The Mesolithic (8000 BC - 4500 BC) What little is known of pre-Christian Ireland comes from a few references in Roman writings, Irish poetry and myth, and archaeology. ...

References

• John O'Donovan (ed) (1848-1851), Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters Vol 1 [1] (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100005A/index.html)
• D. Comyn & P. S. Dineen (eds) (1902-1914), The History of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating [2] (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/index.html)
• James MacKillop (1998), Dictionary of Celtic Mythology