Bres

Family: Tuatha de Danaan · Role: champion · First appears: The Gods · The Coming of the Tuatha de Danaan · The Fight with the Firbolgs · Part 1

At Magh Rein, Bres went out as champion of the Tuatha de Danaan to meet Sreng. They exchanged spears so each side could inspect the other’s weapons, and Bres offered the Firbolgs half of Ireland for peace, threatening battle if they refused. Whatever happened between their peoples, Bres and Sreng agreed that “they themselves would be friends.”

Chosen to replace Nuada as king, Bres was praised for his beauty, but his reign brought hardship. The Fomor began imposing tribute on his people, and Bres taxed every house for milk; he also ordered Dagda put to death after believing he had killed Cridenbel. After poor hospitality at Bres’s house, Corpre satirized the king, and the Tuatha de Danaan made Bres surrender the kingship and restored Nuada. Bres acknowledged that his own injustice and harshness had cost him the throne. When he asked his mother, Eri, about his lineage, she told him that his father was Elathan, a king of the Fomor; Elathan recognized his ring and learned that Bres was his son. Bres and Brigit were parents of Ruadan.

Later, Bres joined Elathan in seeking help from the Fomor against Lugh. He volunteered to lead seven battalions to Ireland and bring back Lugh’s head. The army landed at Eas Dara and destroyed West Connacht. At the Fomor’s gathering, Bres recognized Lugh’s radiance, but refused his demand to return Ireland’s milch cows. After the battle of Magh Mor an Aonaigh, Bres surrendered to Lugh’s protection and promised to bring the Fomor to fight; Lugh spared him, and Bres set out for his own country. In the later battle, Bres advised the men of Ireland when to plough, sow, and reap, and Lugh freed him.