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Waterville in legend: Noah's children in Ireland
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Waterville and Ballinskelligs Bay form the setting for one of the more wayward Irish legends. When the biblical flood was imminent, so the story goes, Noah's son
Bith
and his daughter
Cessair
found that there was no room for them in the ark. So they and their retinue set sail for Ireland which, Cessair was advised, was uninhabited, free of monsters, reptiles and sin, and would therefore escape the flood. However, although 49 women survived to land along with Cessair in 2958 BC, only two men besides Bith made it. The three men divided the women between them, but when Bith and Ladra, the pilot, died, Fintan, the last man, was overwhelmed and, to his eternal shame, ran away - upon which Cessair, who loved him, died of sorrow. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Ireland,
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