Founding Ancestor of the Fir Bolg
Dela is the founding ancestor of the Fir Bolg — the third mythological people to settle Ireland. He didn’t come to Ireland himself. His five sons did that. But without Dela, there are no five sons, no return from Greece, no division of Ireland into five provinces, and no Fir Bolg age.
The Fir Bolg had been held as bondsmen in Greece, forced to carry clay in bags — bolg — to make the rocky hillsides fertile. They eventually escaped and sailed back to Ireland, the land their ancestor Nemed had once held before the Fomorians drove his people out. Dela was the link in the chain between Nemed’s defeat and the Fir Bolg’s return — the ancestor who connected the old claim to the new settlement.
His five sons — Slainge mac Dela, Gann mac Dela, Genann mac Dela, Rudraige mac Dela, and Sengann mac Dela — landed in Ireland and divided it between them: Leinster, Connacht, Ulster, and two portions of Munster. That division is the mythology’s first account of how Ireland came to have five provinces. Dela is the root from which all of it grew.
His name may mean “division” — which fits him exactly.
Key facts about Dela
- Names: Dela
- Rules over: No active domain; founding ancestor
- Weapons: Not recorded
- Animals: Not recorded
- Other Symbols: Not recorded
- Parents: Descended from Nemed (earlier mythological settler of Ireland)
- Siblings: Not recorded
- Spouse: Not recorded
- Children: Slainge, Gann, Genann, Rudraige, Sengann — the five sons who divided Ireland into provinces
- Greek equivalent: Not recorded
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Link will appear as Dela: https://irishgodsandgoddesses.net - Irish Gods & Goddesses, March 22, 2026