thumb|"Tuan watches Nemed", an illustration of [[Tuan mac Cairill|Tuán watching the Nemedians arriving in Ireland, by Stephen Reid in T. W. Rolleston's Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race, 1911]]
Nemed or Nimeth () is a character in medieval Irish legend. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn (compiled in the 11th century), he was the leader of the third group of people to settle in Ireland: the Muintir Nemid (or Muintir Neimhidh, "people of Nemed"), Clann Nemid (Clann Neimhidh, "offspring of Nemed") or "Nemedians". They arrived thirty years after the Muintir Partholóin, their predecessors, had died out. Nemed eventually dies of plague and his people are oppressed by the Fomorians. They rise up against the Fomorians, attacking their tower out at sea, but most are killed and the survivors leave Ireland. Their descendants become the Fir Bolg.
Etymology
The word nemed means "privileged" or "holy" in Old Irish, and "seems to have been a designation of a druid". The reconstructed Proto-Celtic language root nemos means "sky" or "heaven". In the ancient Celtic religions a nemeton was a place of worship (which included temples, shrines and sacred natural places). Similar roots are found in place names across Celtic culture. the son of Piamp, son of Tait, son of Sera, son of Sru, son of Esru, son of Friamaint, son of Jobhath, son of Magog, son of Japheth, one of the sons of Noah.
Ireland had been uninhabited since the Muintir Partholóin died of plague. The Muintir Nemid set sail from the Caspian Sea in 44 ships, but after a year and a half of sailing, the only ship to reach Ireland is Nemed's. In one version, the fleet come upon a tower of gold in the sea. They try to take the tower, but all the ships except Nemed's are wrecked by the waves. These battles are at Ros Fraechain (in which Fomorian kings Gann and Sengann are killed), at Badbgna in Connacht, at Cnamros in Leinster (in which Artur, Nemed's first son born in Ireland, dies), and at Murbolg in Dál Riata (where his son Starn is killed by the Fomorian Conand).
However, nine years after arriving in Ireland, Nemed dies of plague, along with three thousand of his people. He is buried on the hill of Ard Nemid on Great Island in Cork Harbour. After many years, the Muintir Nemid rise up against the Fomorians and attack Conand's Tower with 60,000 warriors (30,000 on sea and 30,000 on land), defeating Conand. Morc then attacks, and almost all of the Nemedians are either killed in the fighting or swept away by the sea. Only one ship of thirty men escapes.
Irish mythology mentions another Nemed, namely Nemed mac Nama, who may or may not be the same as the Nemed mentioned in the Lebor Gabála. This Nemed is described as a famous warrior king who raised two horses with the Fairy Folk of Síd Ercmon. When the horses were released from the Síd, a stream called Uanob ("Foam River") or Oin Aub chased them from the Síd and released foam over the entire land for a year. Cúchulainn later referred to this river thus: "Over the foam of the two horses of Emain am I come".
Analysis
Dáithí Ó hÓgáin writes that Nemed himself "is probably drawn from genuine tradition" and that his name (and his wife's name) suggests "he originally belonged to the context of the divine pantheon known as the Tuatha Dé Danann". The Nemedians later battle the Fomorians at a tower by the sea, while the Tuath Dé battle the Fomorians at a place called the "plain of towers" or "plain of pillars" (the Battle of Mag Tuired).