In Goidelic mythology

Celtic mythology

Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...

, and especially in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Brian was a pompous man who helped Cailleach

Cailleach

In Irish and Scottish mythology, the , also known as the Cailleach Bheur, is a divine hag, a creatrix, and possibly an ancestral deity or deified ancestor...

 rescue Deò-ghrèine

Deò-ghrèine

Deò-ghrèine or Deò-grèine meaning “ray of sunshine” can refer to the following:# Fionn mac Cumhaill's famous banner, also known as “Deò-ghrèine Mhic Cumhail” after him....

. He was a son of Tuireann

Tuireann

In Irish mythology, Tuireann was the father of Creidhne, Luchtaine and Giobhniu by Brigid.His other sons, by his daughter Danand, included Brian, Iuchar and Iucharba, who killed Lugh's father Cian...

, and brother to Iuchar

Iuchar

In Irish mythology Iuchar was one of the sons of Tuireann, of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and Danand. He and his two brothers Brian and Iucharba murdered Cian, the father of Lugh, one of the greatest of the Tuatha Dé Danann. They also dismembered his body and tried to cover up their crime...

 and Iucharba

Iucharba

In Irish mythology, Iucharba was one of the sons of Tuireann, of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and Danand. He and his two brothers Brian and Iuchar murdered Cian, the father of Lugh, one of the greatest of the Tuatha Dé Danann. They also dismembered his body and tried to cover up their crime...

 (these have many variant spellings).

In Irish mythology

Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...

, the sons of Tuireann and Danand

Danand

In Irish mythology, Danand, the daughter of Delbáeth, son of Ogma, is often confused with the similarly named Danu, the primordial mother. This confusion is set straight in the following passage from Mythical Ireland:...

 murdered Cian

Cian

In Irish mythology, Cían , son of Dian Cecht of the Tuatha Dé Danann, is best known as the father of Lug by the Fomorian princess Ethniu.He was born with a caul on his head, and was turned into a pig as a boy when struck by a druid's wand. Thereafter he could transform into a pig at will...

, the father of Lugh

Lugh

Lug or Lugh is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past. He is known by the epithets Lámhfhada , for his skill with a spear or sling, Ildánach , Samhildánach , Lonnbeimnech and Macnia , and by the...

, one of the greatest of the Tuatha Dé Danann

Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....

. They also dismembered his body and tried to cover up their crime. In recompense, Lugh made them quest all around the known world as far as Persia fetching magical weapons, which Lugh planned to use at the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh. They succeeded in obtaining all that Lugh demanded, but returned to Ireland desperately injured, pleading for Lugh to heal them; but the latter refused.

In at least one version of this tale, Brian is actually the clever and subtle one, while his brothers Iuchar and Iucharba are bumbling and easily overawed by Brian. This tale of the Sons of Tuireann has sometimes been likened to an Irish Argonautica.