Irish History
And
The Fighting Irish
And
The Fighting Irish
( Ireland and the Viking Invasion )
Though
his mother wove for him a " raven banner " with mighty spells which was to bring
victory to the host before whom it was flown but death to the man who bore it, it was against his own forebodings and those of his men that Sigurd was induced to take part in the expedition. Sitric next sought help from two Viking brothers who lived on the west coast of the Isle of Man. Ospak was a heathen and Brodar had been a Christian but apostatised, and was regarded as a king of magician. He was a very tall man with long black hair which he wore tucked in under his belt and he was clad in a coat of mail " which no steel could bite " He too stipulated that he would come with 20 ships provided that he should wed Gormlaith and become King of Ireland.
As Sitric was under instructions to get help at any price, he made no scruple to accept the terms on condition that the agreement was to be kept secret. Ospak who was dissatisfied with the arrangement, escaped from his brother during the night with his 10 ships, sailed round Ireland and up the Shannon where he joined Brian and became his ally.
By Palm Sunday in the year 1014 a great host of massed forces of the Norsemen assembled on the shore of Clontarf, a few miles north of Dublin. It consisted of 1,000 mail-clad Norsemen under Brodar, Vikings from Normandy, Flanders, England and Cornwall, and above all, fierce fighting men from the Orkneys, Shetlands, Hebrides, and other islands off the west coast of Scotland. All picked men and most conspicous for valour of the men of their time. With them also were the men of their race who had settled in and around Dublin, and the Ui Cinnselaigh ( Kinsellas ) from Wexford and the men of Leinster. These latter were under the command of their King Maolmordha. On the side of Brian and Ireland were, besides his own people from Munster, the men of Connaught and Meath and the Christianised Norsemen. He also had an auxiliary force from Scotland under Domhnall, Great Steward of Mar, but he got no help from Ulster. In spite of his 73 years of age, Brian wished to lead his army in person, but his advisers persuaded him to retire to a tent not far from the field and there to wait the issue. The real commander of the irish forces was Brian's son, Murchadh, a captain of outstanding ability, who stationed himself with a select corps of troops from Desmond and Thomond facing Brodar's mail-clad warriors.
Brian was unwilling to fight on Good Friday, but is had been prophesied to the Danes that if the battle was fought on that day Brian would certainly be slain, but if they fought on any other day, all would fall who were against him. So they forced the battle on Good Friday, which fell that year on April 23rd. the combat began at sunrise, when the tide was at full, and raged till sunset. This celebrated battle is known as the Battle of Brian, or the Battle of the Weir of Clontarf. But as a matter of fact, the scene of the battle was not at Clontarf at all, but near Clonliffe, between the Liffey and the Tolka, in what are now the outlying districts of Dublin north of the Liffey. In those days the tide flowed over the plains now occupied by Merrion Square, College green and up to the very walls of the Castle. The Norse battle line extended roughly from the Four Courts, Rutland Square and Montjoy Square. It was a faulty position, for all retreat was cut off by Tomar's Wood, a part of which is the Phoenix Park, stretching from Drumcondra towards the Liffey. The Irish positions lay to the north, their right flank at Drumcondra and their left flank in Clontarf. Both armies are estimated at 20,000 men, but the Danes were the better armed, many of them being clad in shirts of mail, whilst most of the Irish fought in tunics. Before the battle brian is said to have mounted his charger, and with a gold hilted sword in one hand and a crucifix in the other, urged on his men to meet the enemy. Sitric does not appear to have taken part in the battle, but to have held the garrison in reserve behind the walls on the hill of the city, where the Danish women, among them Brian's daughter looked on from the battlements.
As Sitric was under instructions to get help at any price, he made no scruple to accept the terms on condition that the agreement was to be kept secret. Ospak who was dissatisfied with the arrangement, escaped from his brother during the night with his 10 ships, sailed round Ireland and up the Shannon where he joined Brian and became his ally.
By Palm Sunday in the year 1014 a great host of massed forces of the Norsemen assembled on the shore of Clontarf, a few miles north of Dublin. It consisted of 1,000 mail-clad Norsemen under Brodar, Vikings from Normandy, Flanders, England and Cornwall, and above all, fierce fighting men from the Orkneys, Shetlands, Hebrides, and other islands off the west coast of Scotland. All picked men and most conspicous for valour of the men of their time. With them also were the men of their race who had settled in and around Dublin, and the Ui Cinnselaigh ( Kinsellas ) from Wexford and the men of Leinster. These latter were under the command of their King Maolmordha. On the side of Brian and Ireland were, besides his own people from Munster, the men of Connaught and Meath and the Christianised Norsemen. He also had an auxiliary force from Scotland under Domhnall, Great Steward of Mar, but he got no help from Ulster. In spite of his 73 years of age, Brian wished to lead his army in person, but his advisers persuaded him to retire to a tent not far from the field and there to wait the issue. The real commander of the irish forces was Brian's son, Murchadh, a captain of outstanding ability, who stationed himself with a select corps of troops from Desmond and Thomond facing Brodar's mail-clad warriors.
Brian was unwilling to fight on Good Friday, but is had been prophesied to the Danes that if the battle was fought on that day Brian would certainly be slain, but if they fought on any other day, all would fall who were against him. So they forced the battle on Good Friday, which fell that year on April 23rd. the combat began at sunrise, when the tide was at full, and raged till sunset. This celebrated battle is known as the Battle of Brian, or the Battle of the Weir of Clontarf. But as a matter of fact, the scene of the battle was not at Clontarf at all, but near Clonliffe, between the Liffey and the Tolka, in what are now the outlying districts of Dublin north of the Liffey. In those days the tide flowed over the plains now occupied by Merrion Square, College green and up to the very walls of the Castle. The Norse battle line extended roughly from the Four Courts, Rutland Square and Montjoy Square. It was a faulty position, for all retreat was cut off by Tomar's Wood, a part of which is the Phoenix Park, stretching from Drumcondra towards the Liffey. The Irish positions lay to the north, their right flank at Drumcondra and their left flank in Clontarf. Both armies are estimated at 20,000 men, but the Danes were the better armed, many of them being clad in shirts of mail, whilst most of the Irish fought in tunics. Before the battle brian is said to have mounted his charger, and with a gold hilted sword in one hand and a crucifix in the other, urged on his men to meet the enemy. Sitric does not appear to have taken part in the battle, but to have held the garrison in reserve behind the walls on the hill of the city, where the Danish women, among them Brian's daughter looked on from the battlements.
The Battle of Clontarf
At the first onset, Brian's men came in contact with the mail-clad men in the Danish centre and were cut to pieces, But the enemy's success was not lasting, and towards evening the efforts of the Irish were crowned with success and the day was saved by the arrival of Malachy's men who were fresh and unwearied. Part of the enemy fled to their ships at Clontarf, but the returning tide had carried away the boats and prevented the escape of most of them. Great numbers were drowned in the sea and heaps of them lay dead on the ground. Four thousand of them are said to have fallen in Brian's army, and 7,000 on his opponent's. Both parties lost their leaders, including the brave Earl Sigurd. During the battle Brian was guarded in his tent at Magduma, neat Tomar's Wood, by a " fence of shields " or " skjaldborg " as the Danes called it, composed of chosen warriors who surrounded him with their shields locked together. The King is said to have knelt on a cushion with his psalm-book open before him. News was falsely brought to him that his son had fallen. Then a spy or traitor in the Irish camp, said to be Tadhg O Ceallaigh
( O'Kelly ) king of Ui Maine ( Hy-many, counties Galway and Roscommon ) who afterwards fell in the battle, pointed out Brian's position to Brodar. The guard was overcome and, according to one account, Brian took his sword, slew the Norse invader and then killed himself; but the Norse account, is that Brian was slain by a blow from Brodar who was slain in turn by an unknown hand.
( O'Kelly ) king of Ui Maine ( Hy-many, counties Galway and Roscommon ) who afterwards fell in the battle, pointed out Brian's position to Brodar. The guard was overcome and, according to one account, Brian took his sword, slew the Norse invader and then killed himself; but the Norse account, is that Brian was slain by a blow from Brodar who was slain in turn by an unknown hand.
It was a costly victory for the Irish; the King himself, the heir-apparent ( his brave son Murchadh ) and the heir apparent's heir ( Turlough ) all fell in the battle. The bodies of the two former were brought to Armagh and interred honourably in a tomb nearby the sanctuary of St. Patrick. On the conclusion of the battle the troops disbanded, each clan returning to its own territory, and Donchadh, Brian's son, who had been away on a foraging expedition and had taken no part in the battle, took command.
But the days of Ireland's glory were depated. In the words of eulogist, " Brian was the last man of Erin who was a match for a hundred. He was the last man who killed a hundred in one day. His was the last step that true valour ever took in Erin! " He was a sovereign of whom any nation might justly be proud and one of the world's greatest monarchs. Had he or his family lived, the chance is that with the prestige of his name and the great victory at Clontarf, they would have founded an hereditary monarchy which would have put an end to disunion and demoralisation and provided one of the strongest bulwarks against the Norman invasion which was soon to fall upon the country. But his death and that of his eldest son brought about the displacement of the Dalcassians, and the restoration of Malachy to the throne. In the year after Clontarf, 1015, Malachy led an army against Dublin and suppressed the last attempts of the foreigners. He reigned for eight years and died in 1022. Brave, magnanimous, and inspired by a lofty patriotism and chivalry, he was the last Irish King to reign without opposition.
After him, as a consequence of Brian's unfortunate violation of the law of the realm, there were few Irish Kings who had not to fight for the throne instead of being chosen to it according to custom. Frequently two or more claimants assumed the title at the same time and desolated and distracted the country. These menm who are known for the most part as " Kings with opposition " because they were unable to secure general obedience to their administration of affairs, were weaker than their predecessors and their worthless and futile careers only emphasise the greatness of Brian and Malachy. For twenty years after Malachy's death, the chief government was invested in the hands of two men, neither of whom was a King, one being Cuan O' Lochan, the King's Chief poet and the other a religious of Lismore named Corcran.
But the days of Ireland's glory were depated. In the words of eulogist, " Brian was the last man of Erin who was a match for a hundred. He was the last man who killed a hundred in one day. His was the last step that true valour ever took in Erin! " He was a sovereign of whom any nation might justly be proud and one of the world's greatest monarchs. Had he or his family lived, the chance is that with the prestige of his name and the great victory at Clontarf, they would have founded an hereditary monarchy which would have put an end to disunion and demoralisation and provided one of the strongest bulwarks against the Norman invasion which was soon to fall upon the country. But his death and that of his eldest son brought about the displacement of the Dalcassians, and the restoration of Malachy to the throne. In the year after Clontarf, 1015, Malachy led an army against Dublin and suppressed the last attempts of the foreigners. He reigned for eight years and died in 1022. Brave, magnanimous, and inspired by a lofty patriotism and chivalry, he was the last Irish King to reign without opposition.
After him, as a consequence of Brian's unfortunate violation of the law of the realm, there were few Irish Kings who had not to fight for the throne instead of being chosen to it according to custom. Frequently two or more claimants assumed the title at the same time and desolated and distracted the country. These menm who are known for the most part as " Kings with opposition " because they were unable to secure general obedience to their administration of affairs, were weaker than their predecessors and their worthless and futile careers only emphasise the greatness of Brian and Malachy. For twenty years after Malachy's death, the chief government was invested in the hands of two men, neither of whom was a King, one being Cuan O' Lochan, the King's Chief poet and the other a religious of Lismore named Corcran.
