From Galway to Cong
What began as a fleeting, personal encounter over the Claddagh, soon opened onto a much larger canvas – one woven from myth, archaeology, and legend. The Salthill sighting connected, almost uncannily, with the old arrival stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the “Shining Ones” said to have come to Ireland in cloud-ships, bringing treasures and knowledge from beyond. If Martin Byrne’s Solas Atlantis artwork tied the landscape to that mythology, the next step is to trace the routes themselves: the paths by which the Tuatha were remembered to have entered Ireland.
This brings us to the Southern route tradition: through Galway Bay, inland to Lough Corrib, and north to Cong.
In a sense, the Salthill UFO sighting and connected events are a verification of the Southern route…
The legends of the Tuatha Dé Danann read less like an ordinary migration tale and more like the memory of an extraordinary descent. In ancient astronaut interpretations, these figures are seen as otherworldly beings whose arrival reshaped Ireland’s landscape and whose legacy survives in the great stone monuments scattered across the island. Where later ages saw impenetrable cairns and massive tombs, the myth supplied an answer: they were built by gods who came from the sky.
The manuscripts describe them arriving in “ships that flew through the air,” a phrase that resonates uncannily with modern visions of spacecraft. They brought with them shining artifacts of immense power – tools or technologies that early chroniclers could only describe as magical treasures. Their arrival story functions as a mythic technology-transfer: beings descending from above, demonstrating feats of construction and energy beyond the scope of any human community of the time.
The Southern Route through Galway
(under construction)
In this retelling, their landing at Galway Bay takes on the quality of a controlled descent. The Claddagh becomes a liminal zone, the chosen beachhead for their craft. From there, they did not disperse aimlessly; instead they advanced inland in formation, following the River Corrib into the vast inland sea of Lough Corrib (Oirbsean). Each landmark became etched with their presence: Galway linked to a maiden of their retinue, Maigh Cuilinn named for their navigator, the lake consecrated to the sea-lord Manannán, perhaps remembered as a commander.
Knockma as a Signal Hill
The imposing limestone mass of Knockma (Cnoc Meadha) rises along their route. Crowned with ancient cairns, it becomes in this reading a natural command post, a hilltop transformed into a beacon or observation point. Later folklore remembered it as the seat of Fionnbharr, king of the fairies, but in the ancient astronaut perspective it recalls the elevated stations from which the newcomers might have surveyed or directed their activities.
Cong and the Cairns of Moytura
The culmination of their advance is at Cong, the battlefield of Moytura. Here the legends place their great war with the Fir Bolg. Ballymacgibbon Cairn, massive and unopened, could be read as a repository or installation; Ecohy’s Cairn, bound to a fallen king, may in fact mark a burial with cosmic significance; Daithi’s Cairn, vast like the monuments of Sligo, forms part of a great terrestrial network. These are not random tombs but nodes in a prehistoric system, aligned with myth and memory.
A Landscape Reforged
What emerges is a cognitive map transformed into a sacred grid. Galway Bay, Corrib, Knockma, and Cong become stages in a procession of beings from beyond. Their story sanctifies the land, but it also encodes memory of technology and power beyond ordinary human means. Whether remembered as gods, fairies, or ancestors, the Tuatha Dé Danann fit within the wider pattern of ancient astronaut lore: those who descended from the skies, forged landscapes into symbols, and left behind monuments too great to forget.
In a more modern context, the Claddagh, Galway’s oldest district, was selected as the site for the “Solas Atlantis” environmental art project, which created geoglyphs and Medicine Wheels inspired by Irelands megalithic designs, highlighting its role as a nexus. From the Claddagh beach, one can see both the cairn-dotted landscape of the Burren and the ancient stone forts of the Aran Islands, making it a symbolic bridge connecting the urban present to the monumental past.
Creating map of the arrival of the Tuatha DeDanaan,
Name,Latitude,Longitude,Type
Claddagh (Galway),53.269037,-9.056382,Landing
Cong,53.555384,-9.289087,Battlefield
Poulnabrone Dolmen,53.0426,-9.1373,Neolithic
Knockma (Cnoc Meadha),53.48186,-8.96054,Cairn
Knocknarea (Maeve’s Cairn),54.2589,-8.5746,Cairn
Heapstown Cairn,54.095,-8.34855,Cairn
Labby Rock,54.090495,-8.312838,Portal Tomb
Shee Lugh (Moytura),54.089,-8.345,Cairn
Sliabh an Iarainn,54.092275,-7.973237,Landing
Lough Arrow,54.05656,-8.33593,Lake
Lough Allen,54.096,-8.075,Lake
The Arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann – Southern Tradition (Galway → Cong)
1. Galway Bay / Claddagh — First Sight of Ireland
- Coordinates: 53.269037, –9.056382
- Event: The fleet of the Tuatha Dé Danann appears out of sea-mist, entering Galway Bay and beaching near the Claddagh.
- Mythic detail: Here they perform the ritual burning of their great ships — symbolically severing ties to the Otherworld.
- Interpretation: This act need not mean the destruction of every vessel; rather, it marks their irrevocable settlement. Smaller craft (or magically preserved ships) could still carry them inland.
- Archaeological echo: Across the bay, the Poulnabrone Dolmen (53.0426, –9.1373) and other Burren tombs anchor this landfall in a Stone Age landscape.
2. The Passage Inland — River Corrib and Lough Oirbsean
- Coordinates (southern Lough Corrib): ~53.45, –9.33
- Event: After their landing ritual, the Tuatha Dé Danann move inland via the River Corrib into the vast expanse of Lough Corrib (anciently called Oirbsean, linked to Manannán mac Lir).
- Mythic detail: This inland voyage is described as a fleet moving through an inland sea, carrying the host of gods toward battle.
- Archaeological echo: Shores of Corrib are dotted with cairns, crannogs, and megaliths — prehistoric staging points.
3. Knockma (Cnoc Meadha) — The Fairy Hill of Connacht
- Coordinates: 53.48186, –8.96054
- Event: En route northward, the Tuatha are tied to Knockma, the limestone hill later famed as the seat of Fionnbharr, king of the Connacht fairies.
- Mythic detail: Cairns atop Knockma (including Cesair’s Cairn) link this site to the earliest layers of invasion lore.
- Archaeological echo: Neolithic cairns at the summit, later reused in fairy lore.
4. Cong — Plains of Moytura (First Battlefield)
- Coordinates: 53.555384, –9.289087
- Event: The Tuatha Dé Danann reach Cong, the narrow neck between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. Here they meet the Fir Bolg.
- Mythic detail: The First Battle of Moytura unfolds across the plains; Nuada loses his arm, King Eochaid of the Fir Bolg is slain.
- Archaeological echo:
- Ballymacgibbon Cairn (~53.530, –9.280): vast unopened passage grave, linked to the slain of Moytura.
- Ecohy’s Cairn (Carn Eochaid) (~53.568, –9.270): said to be the burial mound of King Eochaid.
- Daithi’s Cairn (~53.628, –9.225): immense cairn further north, reinforcing the sacred battlefield landscape.
- Stone circles, standing stones, and other cairns cluster around Cong and Cross.
Map 2: The Northern Tradition (Sligo)
This tradition is based on 20th-century scholarly analysis, which argues that a mistranslation moved the site of the First Battle of Moytura to Cong. This perspective holds that both great battles occurred in County Sligo, a region with an unparalleled concentration of Neolithic monuments that provide a fitting backdrop for a race of master builders.
Route and Key Locations:
Arrival Point: Sligo Bay While not explicitly stated as a landing point, the concentration of the most significant and earliest Neolithic sites around Sligo Bay, such as Carrowmore and Knocknarea, makes it the logical entry point for this tradition.
Heartland of Danann Activity: Instead of a linear route, this tradition proposes that the entire Sligo region was the primary center of the Tuatha Dé Danann’s power and the locus of their conflict with the Firbolg.
Key Archaeological and Mythological Sites:
The traditional site of the Second Battle of Moytura is located on the plain of Kilmactranny, east of Lough Arrow and in the shadow of Carrowkeel. The geographical coherence of the Second Battle’s location lends strong support to the argument that the First Battle also took place in Sligo.
Myth and Mystery: The Arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann
The story of the Tuatha Dé Danann arriving in ships that landed on a mountain is most prominently featured in the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland). This collection of poems and prose recounts the mythical origins of the Irish people.
According to these accounts, the Tuatha Dé Danann – a race of god-like beings with mastery over magic and craftsmanship – arrived in Ireland under a shroud of mystery. The texts describe them coming in “dark clouds” or “flying ships,” which enveloped the land in shadow for three days. The striking image of a people making their initial appearance on a mountaintop enhances the mythical nature of their arrival.
Reclamation, Not Refuge
Their journey is best understood as a reclamation of ancestral lands rather than a flight to asylum. Some scholarly interpretations draw parallels between the story of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the biblical narrative of the Israelites returning from exile.
The Book of Invasions
§55-64: The Tuatha de Dannan
https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html
The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann
https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/jewels.html
… and the lasting folklore of the Tuatha Dé Danann is that they will return. In fact, some folk prophecy states that they will return for one last great battle, some end-of-the-world scenario, some apocalypse, and that they will be victorious.
