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(926[?]–1014) law changed, and indeed as the itself changed. These glosses and commentaries date Fertas Camsa DAL RIATA CENÉL CENÉL mainly from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. Ráith M´or CONAILL nEÓGAIN The surviving legal manuscripts also date from this NORTHERN DAL nARÁIDE period. Assaroe UÍ NÉILL Tracht DÁL FIATACH NEIL MCLEOD Eothaile AIRGIALLA UÍ BRIÚIN BRÉIFNE Ferta Nime r o n SOUTHERN CORAILLE MUIRTSMORE n a UÍ NÉILL h Tara S References and Further Reading . Uisnech R Clontari (1014) Port Dá Binchy, Daniel, ed. Studies in . Dublin: Dublin Chainóc Glenn Mámia (999)

Institute for Advanced Studies, 1936. Breatnach, Liam. Uraicecht na Ríar: The Poetic Grades in Early Kincora Irish Law. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, DAL CAIS 1987. ———. “Lawyers in Early .” In , Serjeants & UÍ FIDGENTE DÉISI Belach Attorneys, edited by D. Hogan and W. N. Osborough, 1–13. DESMUMU Lechta (978) Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1990. ———. “Law.” In Progress in Medieval Irish Studies, edited by K. McCone and K. Simms, 107–121. Maynooth, Ireland: The Department of , Patrick’s College, 1996. Hancock, W. N., et al., eds. Ancient Laws of Ireland.Vols 1–6. The Age of Brian Boru. Dublin: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1865–1901. Kelly, Fergus. A Guide to Early Irish Law. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1988. ———. Early Irish Farming. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Career Advanced Studies, 1997. According to many , Brian was in the ———, and Charles-Edwards, Thomas. Bechbretha. An Old- Irish Law-Tract on Bee-Keeping. Dublin: Dublin Institute eighty-eighth year of his life when he was slain in for Advanced Studies, 1983. 1014, and thus was born in 926 or 927. His birth is McLeod, Neil. Early Irish Contract Law. Sydney: University also recorded retrospectively in 923 or 942. His mother of Sydney, Centre for Celtic Studies,1992. was Bé Bind, the daughter of Aurchad (d. 945), king Patterson, Nerys. Cattle Lords & Clansmen: The Social Struc- of West Connacht. He may have been called Brian ture of Early Ireland. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994. “Bóruma” from the territory of Bóruma near Killaloe Stacey, Robyn Chapman. The Road to Judgment: From Custom in , in the heartlands of the Dál Cais. His to Court in Medieval Ireland and . Philadelphia: Uni- epithet is also rendered “Bóraime,” meaning “of the versity of Pennsylvania Press, 1994. cattle-tribute,” but this is probably a later interpreta- See also Canon Law; ; tion. Brian was one of the twelve sons of Cennétig Law Schools, Learned Families; Law Texts; mac Lorcáin of the Dál Cais, who died as king of March Law Thomond in 951. The Dál Cais profited from the weak- ness of the divided Eóganachta, especially after the death of Cellachán Caisil, king of Cashel, in 954. Afterwards, the kingship of Cashel was occupied by BRIAN BORU (926[?]–1014) lesser men whose careers were cut short by violent Brian Boru was arguably the most famous medieval death. This situation gave Mathgamain mac Cennétig Irish king, due to his achievement in becoming the the opportunity to extend his domination to the south. undisputed king of Ireland and his death by the According to Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib (The War of Norsemen at Clontarf in 1014. Later tradition turned the Irish against the Foreigners), a text which dates him into the first true of the island and a from the reign of Brian’s great-grandson Muirchertach heroic fighter for Ireland’s freedom against the Ua Briain, he set up his camp near Cashel in 964. oppression of the heathen . Historians of the Mathgamain wanted to become king of Cashel in order modern era have regarded him as an upstart from to free Munster from its cruel Viking occupation. But Munster who broke into the domination that the stories about the subsequent liberation of Munster and kings of Tara had enjoyed over Ireland for centuries. the claim that the kingship of Cashel was the ancient More true to the facts, Brian played a pivotal role in birthright of the Dál Cais are simply propaganda to the transformation of the Irish political landscape in legitimize Mathgamain’s coup. Contemporary annals the tenth and eleventh centuries. recognize him as king of Cashel when he and his allies

45 BRIAN BORU (926[?]–1014) attacked Limerick in 967. In the years afterwards he , and Sitriuc Silkenbeard, king of Dublin, who subjugated his rivals for the kingship of Munster, were, respectively, the brother and son of Brian’s wife whom he subsequently enlisted as his supporters. Gormfhlaith. Both had a long-standing row with Mathgamain was treacherously killed by such new Brian’s allies, the Uí Dúnchada in Leinster and the allies in 976, but within two years, the kings respon- Norsemen of Waterford. When they openly defied his sible were defeated and slain by his brother Brian. overlordship, Brian gathered his forces, and routed As the new king of Munster, Brian first consolidated them in the battle of Glenn Máma in 999. Dublin was his position at home, before starting a series of cam- plundered, and Sitriuc fled, but he found no asylum in paigns to obtain the hostages of the kings of Osraige, the north. Upon his return he gave his submission, and Leinster, and Connacht. This ensured him of the hos- it may be on this occasion that he married Brian’s tility of Máel-Sechnaill II, the new king of Tara, who daughter Sláine. Dublin was now in Brian’s hands, and retaliated by plundering Leinster and Connacht. The this tilted the balance of power in his favor. In 1002, ruling of the two provinces had long been Brian managed to take the hostages of the men of traditional allies of Clann Cholmáin of Mide (Meath). Connacht and Mide after Máel-Sechnaill’s pleas for A period of more than fifteen years followed in which help to the northern Uí Néill had been rebuffed. When both kings tried to gain the upper hand in the two the kings of Ailech and slew each other in battle provinces, while occasionally raiding each other’s in 1004, Brian, accompanied by most of the Irish territories. A direct confrontation was either avoided royalty and their hostages, brought an army to or did not give one side a decisive victory. In the long Armagh the next year. He left twenty ounces of gold run Brian’s tactics, stamina, and diplomacy paid off. on the altar of St. Patrick, and had his secretary add He maintained a firm grip on the Munster kings, built to the Book of Armagh a note in which he is pro- a number of fortresses to defend his home territory, claimed as imperator Scottorum (emperor of the launched several campaigns at the same time, Irish). This can be regarded as a claim that he ruled employed the Norse fleets of Limerick and Waterford both the Irish and the Norse in Ireland, and may even along the Shannon and against Dublin, and turned imply suzerainty over the of , some of former enemies into supportive allies. whom fought on his side. In 1006, Brian took his Of Brian’s sons, Murchad is most often mentioned forces on a circuit through the territories of the north- as an army-leader in his service. The annals state that ern Uí Néill and the Ulaid, acting as a lord would he was in the sixty-third year of his life when he was when visiting his clients. But his overlordship was slain in 1014. Murchad was the son of Mór, who was not recognized, and it would take several other cam- the daughter of Eidin (d. 906), king of the Uí Fhi- paigns in 1010 and 1011 before Brian secured the achrach Aidni of southern Connacht; Murchad also hostages of all Leth Cuinn. Thus Brian achieved what fathered Conchobar and Flann. Brian’s other sons no Munster king and few kings of Tara had been able were Domnall (d. 1010 or 1011), who was the son to do, obtaining the submission of all the Irish over- of either Dub Coblach (d. 1009), daughter of Cathal kings and Viking kings. It is symptomatic of the (d. 1010), king of Connacht, or of the daughter of political relationships between the Irish kings that his Carlus, king of Uí Áeda Odba in Mide, who is also success was shortlived. recorded as the mother of Tadg (d. 1023). Brian was also married to Gormfhlaith (d. 1030), daughter of Clontarf Murchad (d. 972), king of Leinster, and mother of Donnchad (d. 1065). Since Donnchad was an adult in In 1012, Flaithbertach ua Néill, king of Ailech and 1014, this last relationship dates from before 997, Brian’s son-in-law, started to reassert his position as when Brian and Máel-Sechnaill came to terms at a overking of the northern part of Ireland. The next meeting near Clonfert. On this occasion they divided year the Laigin and Dublin Norse revolted, and nei- Ireland into two spheres of influence according to an ther Brian nor Máel-Sechnaill was able to quell them old scheme: the north (Leth Cuinn) was given to Máel- at once. According to both Irish and Old-Icelandic Sechnaill, the south (Leth Moga) to Brian. Brian saga-literature, Gormfhlaith played a decisive role in exchanged his hostages of Connacht with those of stirring her brother Mael Mórda to revolt, and in Leinster and Dublin which had been in Máel-Sechnaill’s enlisting the support of the leader of the Vikings of possession. Nominally, Brian was now overlord of the Irish Sea and the Orkneys. In 1014, Brian and Dublin, a major prize if he could tap its resources. Máel-Sechnaill raised camp near Dublin, accompa- Hence both kings made an expedition “and took the nied only by the forces of Munster, southern Connacht, hostages of the foreigners to ensure good behaviour and Mide. Máel-Sechnaill retreated just before battle towards the Irish,” as one annalist states. Yet Brian had at Clontarf was joined, and Brian’s forces merely to reckon with Máel Mórda, king of Uí Fáeláin in won a Pyrrhic victory. Brian, Murchad, and his son

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Tairrdelbach were slain, as well as many other Munster not many indications that he particularly stimulated leaders. Dublin remained untouched, for after the learning and scholarship—although sources are slim battle young Donnchad led the Munster forces back on this topic. If anything in this realm, he stimulated the home. Almost immediately strife broke out between occupation of ecclesiastical centers in Munster by his the various contigents over the kingship of Munster. relatives. For example, Brian’s brother Marcán was supe- It set the pace for future struggles, which would keep rior of Terryglass, Inis Celtra, and Killaloe at his death the kings of that province occupied until the time of in 1010. Brian was also keen to stay on good terms with Tairrdelbach ua Briain. In later tradition, Brian and Armagh. He recognized its supreme position in Ireland, Murchad became the paragons of good kingship and and granted immunity to the churches of Patrick in 1012. bravery. The lists of those who were present at Clontarf It was also to Armagh that the dead king was taken, swelled as allies of the Uí Briain wanted to include where the community of Patrick waked at his body for their forefathers among those present at the legendary twelve nights in his honor. Brian had not been able to battle. Brian, Murchad, and Clontarf hence entered create a lasting overkingship in Ireland, but he estab- the world of saga-literature and fiction, and ultimately lished the domination of Munster by his descendants and became part of the “national” struggle of the Irish relatives. The Ó Briain family would continue to rule against foreign foes. Thomond for centuries thereafter. BART JASKI

Achievements References and Further Reading For a brief period, Brian could by right claim to be the MacShamhráin, Ailbhe. “The Battle of Glenn Máma, Dublin undisputed king of Ireland. Nevertheless, his domina- and the High-Kingship of Ireland: A Millennial Commem- tion was based on the usual terms by which an over oration.” In Medieval Dublin II, edited by Seán Duffy, 53–64. king obtained the submission of other kings. Brian did Dublin: Press, 2001. not found a new institution or create a national mon- Newman, Roger Chatterton. Brian Boru: King of Ireland. Dub- lin: Anvil Books, 1983. archy of sorts, but he dealt a fatal blow to the kingship , John. “Brian Boruma, King of Ireland.” In North Munster of Tara. Its wane in the tenth century, the fragmentation Studies, edited by Etienne Rynne, 355–374. Limerick: of the Uí Néill, and the weakness of the Eóganacht, Thomond Archaeological Society, 1967. paved the way for more vigorous dynasties on their See also Armagh, Book of; Armies; Battle of fringes, such as the Dál Cais of Thomond and Uí Clontarf; Clientship; Dál Cais; Gormfhlaith; Kings Briúin Bréifne of eastern Connacht. Brian’s rise accel- and Kingship; Naval Warfare; Máel-Sechnaill; erated the process in which new alliances were forged Muirchertach Mac Liacc; Ua Briain; and the political map of Ireland was reshuffled. Addi- Viking Incursions tionally, it clearly showed that any able king could dominate large parts of Ireland. But it also underlined that it remained difficult to establish a lasting ascen- dancy even in one’s own lifetime. Irish political rela- BRIDGES tions remained largely personal and temporary, and There is no evidence for bridges in prehistoric Ireland. Brian’s power mainly rested on security at home, Fords were used as crossings and the earliest structures enlisting allies and former enemies in his campaigns, appear to have been interrupted causeways, built of and the wearing-down of those who resisted his stones and punctuated by gaps enabling the water to ambitions. This went hand in hand with the exploita- flow through. An example survives at Skeagh on the tion of the Norse ports for their economical and mili- between counties Leitrim and Roscom- tary resources, a strategical deployment of fleets, and mon, and it is probable that the causeways (tóchair) unceasing campaigning. He exemplifies the develop- built at , Athlone, and Dublin in 1001 by ment of a more “total” form of warfare, which grad- Máel-Sechnaill II were of this form. ually replaced seasonal campaigning and decisive The earliest documentary evidence for bridge pitched battles. Brian favored a prudent and careful building occurs in Cogitosus’s Life of Brigit (c. 650), approach in his actions. Ironically, the rare occasion which makes it clear that it was a prerogative of kings that he engaged in a full-scale battle was to be his and the responsibility of the local community. The undoing, and it took the Dál Cais more than a gen- oldest known bridge, dendrochronologically dated to eration to recuperate from their losses. Brian’s career 804, spanned the river Shannon at . It seems to belie his reputation as the one who estab- was over 500 feet long, 10–12 feet across, and con- lished law and order in Ireland, so that women could sisted of two parallel rows of oak trunks, set 16–20 feet travel alone without being harassed. There are also apart, hammered into individual base plates of beams

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