The
Settlement of Cessair - this book constitutes the first interpolation in the
Liber Occupationis. Cessair is the granddaughter of the Biblical Noah,
who advises her and her father, Bith, to flee to the western edge of the world
on account of the impending Flood.
They set out in three ships, but when
they arrive in Ireland two of the ships are lost. The only survivors are Cessair,
forty-nine other women, and three men (Cessair's husband Fintán Mac Bóchra,
her father Bith, and the pilot Ladra). The women are divided among the men, Fintán
taking Cessair and sixteen women, Bith taking Cessair's companion Bairrfhind and
sixteen women, and Ladra taking the remaining sixteen women.
Ladra, however,
soon dies (the first man to be buried on Irish soil). Forty days later the Flood
ensues. Fintán alone survives by spending a yeare under the waters in a cave
called "Fintán's Grave." The White Ancient, he lives for 5500 years
after the Deluge and witnesses the later settlements of the island in the guises
of a salmon, an eagle and a hawk.
