The Irish used to know that the great Irish king, Brian Boru, saved Ireland on Good Friday 1014, defeating the heathen vikings. The truth is more complicated.

“…ignorant, barbarous, thoughtless, irreclaimable and unsociable foreigners” (Cogadh Gáedhel re Gallaibh, 12^th century)

On Good Friday 1014 the battle of Clontarf on the East Coast of Ireland took place between the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru of Munster and Máel Mórda mac Murchada, king of Leinster, whose party was swollen by Norsemen led by Sigtrygg Silkbeard from Dublin and contingents of Vikings from Orkney (led by Sigurðr) and the Isle of Mann

The background of the battle was the on-going strife between the Irish warlords, Brian Boru from Munster and Máel Mórda mac Murchada from Leinster, but also the interest amongst the Norsemen to consolidate and expand their holding of Dublin and South Eastern Ireland.

The battle is said to have lasted a whole day from sunrise to sunset. It is estimated between 7 – 10.000 men were killed, amongst whom were the chief protagonists. The battle of Clontarf is often commemorated as a ground-breaking event, which in the end (post 1052) secured the independence of the Irish from the Norsemen, who had carved out an existence in Dublin and elsewhere during the preceding two centuries.

In fact, it was probably more complicated. It seems to have been a very bloody affair, which weakened both the Irish and the Norsemen (who anyway at this point were heavily interrelated). Another distinguishing factor was that so many of the leaders of the two factions and their sons and family members seem to have perished in the battle.

Commemorating the battle this year is a temporary exhibition at The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, which aims to “explode” the myths and present the evidence. Viking and Irish weapons, typical of those used in the battle, features alongside hoards of precious silver objects and religious treasures. Much more recent artefacts will bring the story of Brian Boru and Clontarf right into modern times.

In April this exhibition was accompanied by a Battle of Clontarf Conference designed to – once and for all –

“establish the truth of what really happened at Clontarf for a twenty-first century audience, to re-evaluate the role of Brian Boru in the light of the latest cutting-edge research, and to bring recent investigations of the subject of the high-kingship of Ireland and of the role of the Vikings in medieval Ireland into the realm of public discourse, dispelling (or perhaps reconfirming) myths, shedding new light, raising public awareness, and promoting new synergetic fields of research by adopting a methodology that is explicitly interdisciplinary.”

We eagerly await the publication of the proceedings. Until then students at The University have very kindly provided a website with short introductions and links to the relevant sources.

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Battle of Clontarf

National Museum of Ireland

 

…ignorant, barbarous, thoughtless, irreclaimable, unsociable foreigners of the Orc Islands.”