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Boru's last costly victory

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Unlike the Vikings, who felt that any form of deceit, subterfuge or underhandedness simply proved the wisdom of a leader, the Irish disdained the use of stealth and guile, though ambushes were considered a normal form of warfare. The Irish often extended courtesies to their enemies, a practice that perplexed the Vikings. In the year 1002, for instance, Brian Boru marched to Tara (the Irish capital) to demand that the High King Malachi either submit or do battle. Malachi asked for a month's delay - time to muster his army, and Brian upholding the Irish tradition of honourable fairness in war, granted his request. The Irish sense of honour brought the grantor of such graces even greater glory in the end - provided that he was the victor!

Even though the Irish and Viking warriors were culturally similar, they retained their ethnic pride and prejudices. During the centuries before the battle of Clontarf, historical momentum was building toward a final cataclysmic battle that would decide whether Ireland would remain Celtic or become another Viking colony. To finally bring the issue to a bloody climax it only required an Irish leader who was sufficiently charismatic and physically powerful to unite the clans.

Brian mac Cenneidigh, born in the province of Munster around 941 AD, was the youngest of 12 brothers, all but two of whom would be killed in battle. Members of the Dal Caissan clan, the brothers fought continuous wars against the Danes and Irish rivals from Leinster. When his brother, Mahon, became King of Munster and eventually undertook a treaty with the Vikings of Ivar, who was the Norse king of Limerick, Brian Boru then waged guerrilla war against the Vikings from his base in the Thomond mountains. When the Vikings broke their treaty, Brian lead an army that defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Sulchoid in 968. (He then followed the Vikings back to Limerick. Where he was so angry to find large numbers of enslaved Irish children that he executed three thousand Vikings in revenge. )

Mahon assumed the mantle of provincial king in 968, but he was assassinated eight years afterward. Brian succeeded him. He caught and killed the assassins who had murdered Mahon and then proceeded to bring the southern half of Ireland under his rule. According to the ancient chronicle known as the Cogadh. "He was not a stone in place of an egg, nor a wisp of hay in place of a club; but he was a hero in place of a hero.

Civil war, an endemic element of Irish history, did not abate during the latter part of the 10th century. Malachi claimed the high kingship of Ireland in 980, after defeating the Danish Vikings at the Battle of Tara the year before. Brian and Malachi then proceeded to fight a 20-year war before being forced to join forces just before the turn of the century to defeat an invading Danish Viking army at Glenmama. They killed 7,000 of the enemy, sacked Dublin and ravaged Leinster in the process. Malachi, acknowledging Brian's military prowess and growing popularity, offered him the kingship of more than half the land, but Brian would be satisfied with nothing less than high king. By 1002, Brian's military strength proved overwhelming, and Malachi abdicated the throne. Brian wasted no time in occupying it.

Though contemporaries described Brian Boru as an idealised, fearless king who fostered Irish nationalism, the reality was that Brian, intelligent enough to know the value of "good press," generated political support with lavish liturgical patronage and used plenty of Viking-style cunning in his political dealings. In effect, he appeared to contemporaries as the mystical type of leader that King Arthur represented for the Britons.

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	Boru's last costly victory Page 3 of 10 << previous page Unlike the Vikings, who felt that any form of deceit, subterfuge or underhandedness simply proved the wisdom of a leader, the Irish disdained the use of stealth and guile, though ambushes were considered a normal form of warfare. The Irish often extended courtesies to their enemies, a practice that perplexed the Vikings. In the year 1002, for instance, Brian Boru marched to Tara (the Irish capital) to demand that the High King Malachi either submit or do battle. Malachi asked for a month's delay - time to muster his army, and Brian upholding the Irish tradition of honourable fairness in war, granted his request. The Irish sense of honour brought the grantor of such graces even greater glory in the end - provided that he was the victor! Even though the Irish and Viking warriors were culturally similar, they retained their ethnic pride and prejudices. During the centuries before the battle of Clontarf, historical momentum was building toward a final cataclysmic battle that would decide whether Ireland would remain Celtic or become another Viking colony. To finally bring the issue to a bloody climax it only required an Irish leader who was sufficiently charismatic and physically powerful to unite the clans. Brian mac Cenneidigh, born in the province of Munster around 941 AD, was the youngest of 12 brothers, all but two of whom would be killed in battle. Members of the Dal Caissan clan, the brothers fought continuous wars against the Danes and Irish rivals from Leinster. When his brother, Mahon, became King of Munster and eventually undertook a treaty with the Vikings of Ivar, who was the Norse king of Limerick, Brian Boru then waged guerrilla war against the Vikings from his base in the Thomond mountains. When the Vikings broke their treaty, Brian lead an army that defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Sulchoid in 968. (He then followed the Vikings back to Limerick. Where he was so angry to find large numbers of enslaved Irish children that he executed three thousand Vikings in revenge. ) Mahon assumed the mantle of provincial king in 968, but he was assassinated eight years afterward. Brian succeeded him. He caught and killed the assassins who had murdered Mahon and then proceeded to bring the southern half of Ireland under his rule. According to the ancient chronicle known as the Cogadh. "He was not a stone in place of an egg, nor a wisp of hay in place of a club; but he was a hero in place of a hero. Civil war, an endemic element of Irish history, did not abate during the latter part of the 10th century. Malachi claimed the high kingship of Ireland in 980, after defeating the Danish Vikings at the Battle of Tara the year before. Brian and Malachi then proceeded to fight a 20-year war before being forced to join forces just before the turn of the century to defeat an invading Danish Viking army at Glenmama. They killed 7,000 of the enemy, sacked Dublin and ravaged Leinster in the process. Malachi, acknowledging Brian's military prowess and growing popularity, offered him the kingship of more than half the land, but Brian would be satisfied with nothing less than high king. By 1002, Brian's military strength proved overwhelming, and Malachi abdicated the throne. Brian wasted no time in occupying it. Though contemporaries described Brian Boru as an idealised, fearless king who fostered Irish nationalism, the reality was that Brian, intelligent enough to know the value of "good press," generated political support with lavish liturgical patronage and used plenty of Viking-style cunning in his political dealings. In effect, he appeared to contemporaries as the mystical type of leader that King Arthur represented for the Britons. next page >>
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