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Bres

BRESH

A half-Fomorian king briefly imposed on the Tuatha Dé Danann, deposed for his stinginess, who returns leading a Fomorian invasion.

Bres is made king of the Tuatha Dé Danann as a peace gesture after Nuada loses his arm and, with it by law, his fitness to rule. Half Fomorian through his father, Bres proves a disastrous king — miserly, humiliating his nobles with menial tasks, and starving even the land's hospitality — until a poet's satire against him becomes, by tradition, the first satire ever composed in Ireland, and it costs him the throne. Deposed and stripped of authority, Bres flees to his father's people and returns leading a Fomorian invasion to reclaim the kingship by force, setting up the Second Battle of Moytired in which the Tuatha Dé Danann, now led by Lugh, defeat him.

As a name: Bres is still given to children today. See its meaning, pronunciation and popularity on NameCipher →

Connections

ally The Fomorians After being deposed for his stinginess as king, Bres allies with his father's people to reclaim the throne by force.
enemy Lugh Defeated by Lugh's forces at the Second Battle of Moytura after leading the Fomorian invasion to reclaim his throne.

The Four Cycles of Irish mythology
Cycle	Entries here	Focus
The Mythological Cycle	17	The oldest of the four cycles, telling of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the successive invasions of Ireland.
The Fenian Cycle	6	Tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors, the Fianna, set generations after the Ulster Cycle in a world of hunting, romance, and roaming adventure.
The Ulster Cycle	12	The heroic tales of Conchobar mac Nessa's court at Emain Macha, centered on Cú Chulainn and the great cattle raid of the Táin Bó Cúailnge.
The Historical Cycle	1	Also the Cycle of the Kings — legendary and semi-legendary tales of Ireland's High Kings, treated by medieval scribes as genuine national history.

Sources

Cath Maige Tuired (The Battle of Moytura)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Bres?

Bres is a king of the Tuatha Dé Danann of mixed parentage — his father was a Fomorian, his mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann — chosen as ruler partly to secure peace between the two peoples.

Why was Bres deposed as king?

Bres proved a stingy, humiliating ruler, most famously failing to offer proper hospitality to the poet Coirpre, who satirized him so effectively that the shame forced Bres from the throne — one of Irish mythology's clearest examples of a poet's satire as a real political weapon.

What did Bres do after losing the throne?

He fled to his father's people, the Fomorians, and helped raise the army that fought the Tuatha Dé Danann at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, where the Fomorians were ultimately defeated.