he king, Eochaid, sent a messenger to ask would they have
the battle every day or every second day. And it is what Nuada answered
that they would have it every day, but there should be just the same
number of men fighting on each side. Eochaid agreed to that, but he was
not well pleased, for there were more men of the Firbolgs than of the
Men of Dea.

So the battle went on for four days, and there were great feats done on
each side, and a great many champions came to their death. But for those
that were alive at evening, the physicians on each side used to make a
bath of healing, with every sort of healing plant or herb in it, the way
they would be strong and sound for the next day's fight.

And on the fourth day the Men of Dea got the upper hand, and the
Firbolgs were driven back. And a great thirst came on Eochaid, their
king, in the battle, and he went off the field looking for a drink, and
three fifties of his men protecting him; but three fifties of the Tuatha
de Danaan followed after them till they came to the strand that is
called Traigh Eothaile, and they had a fierce fight there, and at the
last King Eochaid fell, and they buried him there, and they raised a
great heap of stones over his grave.

And when there were but three hundred men left of the eleven battalions
of the Firbolgs, and Sreng at the head of them, Nuada offered them
peace, and their choice among the five provinces of Ireland. And Sreng
said they would take Connacht; and he and his people lived there and
their children after them. It is of them Ferdiad came afterwards that
made such a good fight against Cuchulain, and Erc, son of Cairbre, that
gave him his death. And that battle, that was the first fought in
Ireland by the Men of Dea, was called by some the first battle of Magh
Tuireadh.

And the Tuatha de Danaan took possession of Teamhair, that was sometimes
called Druim Cain, the Beautiful Ridge, and Liathdruim, the Grey Ridge,
and Druim na Descan, the Ridge of the Outlook, all those names were
given to Teamhair. And from that time it was above all other places, for
its king was the High King over all Ireland. The king's rath lay to the
north, and the Hill of the Hostages to the north-east of the High Seat,
and the Green of Teamhair to the west of the Hill of the Hostages. And
to the north-east, in the Hill of the Sidhe, was a well called Nemnach,
and out of it there flowed a stream called Nith, and on that stream the
first mill was built