The Fir Domnann were a people named in

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

legendary history. The name ''Fir Domnann'' is based on the root ''dumno''-, which means both ‘deep’ and ‘the world’. The suffix -''on''- often occurs in Gaulish and British divine names. The tribal name

Dumnonii The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a British tribe who inhabited Dumnonia, the area now known as Devon and Cornwall (and some areas of present-day Dorset and Somerset) in the further parts of the South West peninsula of Britain, from at least the Ir ...

, found in Britain, would therefore mean ‘people of the god of the world’. Old Irish ''fir'' means ‘men’, and so ''Fir Domnann'' had the same meaning as the British tribal name, leading to conjecture that these tribes had a common origin. For example, O'Rahilly's historical model proposed that the Domnann were a

P-Celtic The Gallo-Brittonic languages, also known as the P-Celtic languages, are a subdivision of the Celtic languages of Ancient Gaul (both '' celtica'' and '' belgica'') and Celtic Britain, which share certain features. Besides common linguistic in ...

, pre-Goidelic people who, along with the Galeóin, invaded the south-east coast of Ireland from Britain. O’Rahilly's theory of P-Celtic preceding

Goidelic The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically ...

in Ireland is not widely accepted by experts today, but the idea of some connection between the British and Irish tribes of the same name remains. In early Irish literature the Fir Domnann were located in ''Cóice Laigean'' (

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

). A probably 7th-century Irish poem credits their ruler Mess-Telmann with the overkingship of the province and with wielding power from the royal site of Leinster at

Dún Áilinne A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognate ...

. The place-name Inber Domnann, now

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000. Malahide Castle dates from th ...

Bay inlet in north

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

on the east coast of Ireland preserves the tribal name. Yet the area with the strongest place-name associations with the Fir Domnann is in north-west Mayo: the Iorrais Domnann, from which the modern barony of

Erris Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Er ...

takes its name, and nearby Mag Domnann and Dún Domnann.J.T. Koch, ''Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia'' (2006), p. 750.

References

Historical Celtic peoples Fir Bolg Tribes of ancient Ireland {{ethno-stub