The Serpent’s Trail

God preserved Judah’s scepter in Ireland for centuries, yet the Irish are not primarily Jewish. They descend from a different tribe of Israel.

Genesis 49 records a remarkable incident: when the patriarch Jacob called his sons to his bedside to prophesy what would befall their descendants in the latter days. In this prophecy, Jacob said regarding Dan: “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward” (verses 16-17).

In The United States and Britain in Prophecy, Herbert W. Armstrong noted that the phrase “Dan shall be a serpent by the way” can be rendered “Dan shall be a serpent’s trail.” This is a prophecy that the Danites would set up waymarks by which their descendants could be tracked, like a scout tracks a snake through an arid region by the trail it leaves behind in the sand.

It is significant that the tribe of Dan named every place it went after their father Dan. Historians can use this fact to trace their migrations, which began around the time of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt.

The historian Diodorus of Sicily wrote about this in his famous Library of History: “All the foreigners were forthwith expelled, and the most valiant and noble among them, under some notable leaders, were brought to Greece and other places, as some relate; the most famous of their leaders were Danaus and Cadmus. But the majority of the people descended into a country not far from Egypt, which is now called Judea and at that time was altogether uninhabited.”

Even though a great multitude followed Moses out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38), not every Israelite chose to make the journey to the Promised Land. This record shows that many Israelites of the tribe of Dan followed a king named Danaus to the Argolis peninsula of Greece and became the Dananns.

These Dananns worshiped the sea god Potei Dan (meaning Lord Dan in Mycenaean Greek) and may have named the Dardanelles Strait. Homer references the Dananns 138 times in his famous Iliad.

But the Danites did not stay in the Aegean indefinitely.

One ancient Irish poem quoted by Geoffrey Keating says the famous Tuatha de Danann (the Gaelic expression for tribe of Dan) first visited Ireland 440 years before the Milesians (Jews of Zarah’s line) arrived there. Apparently, these Hebrews were merchants drawn by the vast tin deposits in the British Isles, and they began visiting Britain and Ireland. This poem, combined with the historical research of Irish historian Roderick O’Flaherty, suggests that the Danites dominated Ireland and the British Isles from the Exodus till the days of King David.

Archaeology also confirms that the inhabitants of Ireland had some contact with the Middle East around this time. According to carbon dating, sometime between 1800 and 1500 b.c. a young boy was buried in Tara. He wore a necklace of faience beads. When this necklace was discovered in 1955, it was believed these beads were made only in Egypt. Since then, over 350 beads have been found across Britain and Ireland. A new theory says these beads were made locally—but it could also be evidence of more widespread trade. Jet and amber on the boy’s necklace were certainly not local, and the annals say the Dananns came from Greece.

Though the Danites were active in Ireland for four centuries before the coming of the tribe of Zarah, Keating indicated that they established a monarchy only 197 years before the Zarahites arrived, likely becoming kings around 1200 b.c.

This date is corroborated by the biblical record. During the era of the judges, Barak and Deborah led a coalition of Israelite tribes against the Canaanite King Jabin. Deborah noted that Dan abode “in ships” rather than help fight the Canaanites (Judges 5:17). The Danites at this time were out at sea.

Keating noted in History of Ireland that about this time, “a great fleet came from the country of Syria to make war on the people of the Athenian district,” and it was this fleet that prompted the Danite migration to Ireland. This appears to be a general reference to the Trojan War and the Bronze Age Collapse of the 12th century b.c.

The Irish Mythological Cycle preserves a tradition that the Danite king Nuada Silver-Hand invaded Ireland with a fleet of 300 ships launched from four northern cities: Fáilias, Gorias, Murias and Finias. Keating added the detail that the Danites had only recently settled these cities after abandoning Greece.

Thus, it is abundantly evident that the Tuatha de Danann were Israelites who had descended into rank paganism. Once in Ireland, they set up more “waymarks,” including Dans-Laugh, Dan-Sower, Dun-dalk, Dun-drum, Don-egal Bay, Don-egal City, Dun-gloe, Din-gle, Dunsmor (meaning “more Dans”). Moreover, the name Dunn in Gaelic means the same as Dan in Hebrew: judge.

The Danites established their capital at the Hill of Tailtiu (modern-day Teltown) and instituted an assembly called the Fair of Tailtiu to honor their dead. This fair was held on the feast of Lughnasadh and marked the beginning of the harvest, whereas the feast of Samhain marked the end of the harvest. Keating noted that the Danites were “skilled in every trick of sorcery,” and both festivals were pagan. Many people still celebrate Samhain each year as Halloween.

Regarding the time of the judges, the Prophet Samuel would later record, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). This was true in Israel, where those who remained of the tribe of Dan instituted their own pagan priesthood in the city of Laish (Judges 18). It was also true in Ireland, where the Danites settled after the Exodus.

There, the Danite kings and their priests, called Druids or Oak Seers, reigned for two centuries until Israel transitioned to the rule of King David. Jewish kings from the line of Zarah invaded Ireland at this time and fought against this rank paganism. But overall, idolatry prevailed throughout most of Ireland’s history.