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islands; we should remark, that when Cormac quelled the Danes in Munster, Edward, King of England, conquered them in that country. But in Ireland, their power was growing stronger every year, until the coming of other events which we are quickly approaching, and in which another King of Cashel arose to bring them to subjection. Not content with ravaging the districts bordering on the Shannon, they in 928 encamped in Maiagh Roigne, a celebrated plain of Ossory; but those who remained on Loch Orisben felt the vengeance of the Connaught men, who, in 930, committed a great slaughter on the Danes. We find, however, that the latter retaliated sorely. In the fifteenth year of Donmachadhi, the Danes of Limerick plundered Connaught in 932, as far as the plains of Boyle, in the County of Roscommon; in a few years afterwards, Aralt, or Harold, grandson of Imhar, i.e. son of Sitric, lord of the Danes of Limerick, was killed in Connaught by the Caenraigi of Aidhne in 939.*

From the time of their invasion of Ireland in the year 807, to the years we have reached, the Danes always ravaged the country with fire and sword. They bore a mortal hatred to Christianity and its professors, and their chief glory was in the massacre of the Saints who occupied the monasteries and cells of the country.

Through these times the page of history is red with details of these atrocities. Victories followed each other on the part of the invaders, until they had the surrounding country under a terrorism and subjection, which the natives could not remove. It was not, however, without earnest and constant efforts and exertions on the part of the Irish princes, to suppress their atrocities, that they were able to persevere. At length in 943, Callachan, King of Cashel, taking a lesson out of the book of his illustrious predecessor, Cormac, called his chiefs together, exhorted them against the Danes, and as no part of Ireland suffered more from their plunders, murders, &c. than Limerick, and the borders of the Shannon, Callachan selected the city of Limerick as the field of battle. In the second page of the Wars of Calla

1 Lough Corrib, county Galway, is now the name of the place thus indicated. It appears from O'Flaherty's Ogygia (pp. 178-9) that A.M. 2834, this Lake was called after Orbserius, the son of Allodius, who had transacted great commercial affairs between Ireland and Britain. These are the words of the Ogygia :

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"Orbserius (Filius Alladii, A.M. 2884) mercator erat negotiationibus inter Hiberniam et Brittaniam tractandis insignis; Mananan Mac Lir vulgo dictus: Mananan ob commercium cum Mannia insula, et Mac Lir i. e. mari satus ob nandi, atque urinandi peritiam; quod portuum quoque discrimina apprime calleret; ac aeriæ præscius vicisitudinis a tempestatibus pæcaveret. Succubuit vero in prælio apud Moycullen in margine spaciosi lacus Orbsen, qui per Galvium fluvium in sinum Galvorensum exoneratur ab Ulliuno Nuadi regis Hiberniæ per Thadæum filium nepote confossus. Pugnæ laco Ullinus laco Orbsenius nomen indidit; de his ita Flannus a Monasterio-O'Flaherty's Ogygia pp. 179--8.

2 Annals of Clonmacnois, quoted in O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters.

3 A Sept seated in the Barony of Kiltartain, county of Galway. This fact is mentioned in another way, but to the same effect :-" Harold O'Hynn, King of the Danes of Lymbrick, was killed in Connaught at Ratherney."—Annals of the Four Masters.

Saxo Grammaticus says that Tridelth Froths, and Haco Danos, invested Ireland many years before this time; and Turgesius, it is certain, not only subdued the greater part of Ulster, but expelled Faranan, Archbishop of Armagh, together with all the religious and students. Those moats and raths which are yet seen in many parts of the country, and no where, that we are aware of, in such great numbers as in the Parish of Kilmealy, county of Clare, and one of which of great extent and beauty is on the estate of Charles Bianconi, Esq. D.L., Longfield, Co. Tipperary, at Ardmayle, near his residence, are said to have been raised by Turgesius and his followers, as fortifications, and in some instances, as sepulchres for their great men and captains. Wormius states that this was the customary way of burying the chiefs among the Danes.- Wormius D Danis Monumentis. Ware, p. 57.

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Callachan, King of South Munster, assembling his chiefs, exhorted them to arm everywhere against the Danes, whereupon Limerick was selected for their first attack. A thousand of

chan, in the old book of Lismore, where the election of that Prince to succeed to the sovereignty of Munster about A.D. 920, is described, (writes the late Professor O'Curry to the author), there occurs this passage :

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"It was then arose the seventeen tribes (of the Eugenians) gracefully and readily to inaugurate Ceallachan "The best of those nobles were the tall graceful Sullivan, at the head of the festive race of Fingham; and the accomplished (in arms) Reardon, at the head of the brave Clann Donnohaile; and the valiant Caeleighe; and the heroic champion LAINDECAN; and the brilliant Daineachaidh; and the brave Cuilen; and the lucky Ecertach; and the sound active Ligan." It was immediately after this inauguration that the King took his resolution to meet the Danes; Heralds were sent out requiring them to surrender Limerick, and give hostages for their future good behaviour: the reply of those marauders, however, was, "that so far from waiting to be attacked, they would march out of the city to give open battle." They were as good as their word. In four divisions they accordingly marched out of the city. Each of the divisions had four hundred men armed with coats of mail, besides light armed troops, and Singland was the ground on which the memorable battle was fought-Singland, which we shall see as we proceed, was the place on which other memorable engagements were decided in long ages afterwards. O'Sullivan, who acted as General, under Callaghan, harangued his men in an animated speech, which was answered with a clash of shields and swords by his soldiers. The fight commenced by a discharge of stones from the slings of the troops, by flights of arrows, spears and lances. The heavy armed troops then engaged breast to breast in a dreadful contest, while the Danes left nothing undone to prevent this furious onslaught of the army of the King of South Munster, from making an impression on their troops. Callaghan, at length, singled out Amlav (Auliff) the Danish commander, and by one stroke of his sword split helmet and skull, and laid him dead at his feet. O'Sullivan followed the bright example and engaged Moran, who was called son to the King of Denmark, and by a well aimed stroke between the helmet and breast-plate, cut off his head; O'Keeffe ran Magnus, the standardbearer, through the body; and after a gallant defence Louchlin was killed by O'Riordan. The Danes now gave way on every side, and the Irish pursued them into the city, putting numbers of them to the sword in their castles and houses. But instead of keeping possession of the city Callachan was content with exacting large contributions from the Danes, part of which was paid down in gold and merchandise, and hostages taken as security for the remainder. This success," says Keating, "gave new life to the prospects of the Irish."

After this battle Callachan marched towards Cashel, and plundered the country, meeting five hundred Danes he put them to the sword. But this victory on the part of Callachan did not quell them sufficiently. Mahon, the son of Cennediegh, upon the assassination of Feargna, seized the throne of Munster, and reigned twelve years. Resolving to give the Danes no peace, he with his brother Bryan, gave them battle at Sulchoid, now Sollohead, in the county of Tipperary, in which bloody engagement two thousand

his chosen followers marched upon this service, headed by Callachan, under whom were O'Donovan, O'Sullivan, O'Keeffe, O'Reardan, O'Landecan, Hugh Mac Cullenan, and other chiefs."

This event, or something like it, is thus mentioned by the Four Masters, under A.D. 945, "A battle between the birds of the sea and the birds of the land at Luimneach." (vol. ii. d. 657). The birds of the sea are obviously the pirate Danes.

Danes were killed on the spot, with their principal commanders, who were Teitel, a person of great strength, and Governor of Waterford; Runan, Governor of Cork; Muris, Governor of Limerick; Bernard and Toroll. The remains of the Danish army retreated to Limerick, where the Irish soldiers pursued them, and entering the city with them, made a terrible slaughter. "The victors pursued the flying enemy into the city of Limerick, and chased them through the streets, and into the houses, where they were slain without mercy or quarter. The plunder of the city was bestowed upon the soldiers by Mahon, where they found an immense booty of gold, jewels, furniture, and silver to an immense value. After they had rifled the houses they set them on fire, they burned the fortifications, demolished the walls, and perfectly dismantled the city and made it incapable of defence." of the greatest battles in the ancient annals of Ireland.

This was one

CHAPTER II.

CHAPT

THE REIGN AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF BRIAN BOROIMHE.

We now come to a most important and eventful period of our history, in which one of the greatest of Ireland's Kings and warriors makes his appear

ance.

In A.D. 969, says the Annalist, "The Foreigners of Limerick were driven from Inis-Sibtond, (now the King's Island), by the son of Ceinneidigh;" he adds in a separate paragraph that in this year "two suns of equal size were seen at high noon." Undoubtedly this was one of those optical illusions or mirages, which science now clearly explains. Some years subsequently, according to the Four Masters, (Keating makes the event ten years earlier), O'Brien, the son of Kennedy, King of Munster, besieged Limerick, which continued to be inhabited by the Danes; his troops were victorious; he set fire to the city. He also engaged the Danes of Inis-Cailthe, whom he defeated with the loss of eight hundred killed, and Imohair (Humpiry), and Dubhgeann, their principal commanders, were taken prisoners. In this latter year "an army, which was led by Domnhall, son of Dubhdabhoireann, to Limerick, the two sons of Brian, namely, Donchda and Fadgh, met them, and a battle was fought, wherein the people of the south of Ireland were defeated, and Domhnall fell and numbers along with him." The Danes, during a portion of this time, were reduced to the greatest extremities; but at intervals they recruited their strength and retaliated severely on the Irish. There was no Prince in the Island who opposed their insults more than Brian Boroimhe.

"The Glories of Brian the Brave," must be ever heard throughout the island with thrilling sensations of delight and satisfaction. This glorious monarch, whose wisdom and energy are famed in history, and whose career

1 Keating. ↑ Annals of Four Masters, Vol. II. p. 695.

Annals of Four Masters, Vol. II. p.

Keating's History of Ireland. 583.

is so closely identified not only with Limerick, but with the kingdom generally, was of the Dalcassian race; the succession of the kingship of Munster was alternate between the Eugenians and the Dalcassians, "but the former," (says Eugene O'Curry in his manuscript notices of Irish History, p. 213) "being the most powerful in numbers and in extent of territory, monopolised the provincial rule as far as they were able. The line of the Dalcassians were, however, always kings or chiefs of Thomond in succession, and kings of the province as often as they had strength to assert their alternate right, and it is a fact beyond dispute that the kindred of the late Marquis of Thomond (viz. the present Lord Inchiquin, his brothers and family) hold lands at the present day which have descended to them through an unbroken ancestry for 1600 years." Cormac Cass, the founder of the Dalcassian line, was King of Munster about A.D. 260; Aengus Tireach, about A.D. 290; Connall of the swift steeds in 366; Carther in Fin in 439; Aedh Caemh, from 571 to his death in 601; Lorcain, in 910; Cenneidigh, or Kennedy, the father of Brian Boroimhe, in 954; and Brian himself from 975 to the year 1002, when he became monarch of all Erinn, and as such reigned till his death, at the battle of Clontarf in 1014. He fought 49 battles against the Danes and their allies, and in every one of them was victorious. The deeds of this magnanimous hero can never be effaced from the memory of the Irish people.

During the greater part of three centuries, namely, from the reign of Eonchada, or Donough, who had lived for twenty-seven years in perfect tranquillity, until their final expulsion by Brian Boroimhe, the Danes, who in Donough's reign had invaded Ireland, held their ground. Glancing back for a moment, we are shown the state of the island generally, of religion, of education, of arts, of arms, amid the troubles with which the invaders afflicted the island. It was three hundred and seventy years from the time of the introduction of Christianity by St. Patrick, to their ill-omened arrival on our shores; and three hundred years had elapsed before they were finally expelled by the victorious monarch of Ireland at Clontarf. Darkened though those ages were with the disastrous influence of the invaders, some of the brightest names that adorn the pages of our history, flourished and shone out with a splendor which has lost none of its radiance in the lapse of centuries. Following St. Patrick was the learned Bishop of Sletty, the illustrious St. Fiach, who handed down in a poem of fire and beauty, the actions and praises of the great Apostle of our nation. Next we have the celebrated Cathill, or Cathald. Sedulius, too, the poet, the orator, the divine, who, educated from his infancy by Hildibert, the Archbishop, was accomplished in all branches of literature and science, and travelled through Italy and France for his further improvement. He visited the East, and returning through Rome, was distinguished for his wonderful erudition in the Eternal City. He was the author of many Latin books, in prose, a Paschal song in metre, consisting of four books, fourteen books on St. Paul's Epistle in prose, a Hymn on Christ's miracles, two books of the same in prose, and several others, of which the titles have been lost. His name is enshrined among the writers of Ireland; and Ware does not forget to award him the honorable place which his merits won. Following in succession, came Saint Collum-Kille, one of the leading spirits of the age in which he lived-the Apostle of the Picts, the founder of the world-renowed Abbey of Iona, denominated also Huy-a-yColumkille, of which monastery he was the first Abbot; eminent in his life for every virtue, his erudition is acknowledged all over the world. His

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monasteries for many years supplied the Churches of England, and some of those in Ireland, with Bishops. And while the lives of the saints and sages were brightening up, and dispelling the gloom which had so long hung over the destinies of our country, distant lands were enlightened by the reflection of their holiness and learning, and Armagh, all the while, gave its uninterrupted successors to Saint Patrick in the Episcopacy, first in the person of Senanus, afterwards of St. Benignus, Jerlath, Cormac, &c. During these times it has been stated, an English Prince had been at Lismore, where he imbibed those principles of order and government which made his reign illustrious, and, notwithstanding the barbarous aggressions of the invaders, the Irish proved their progress in arts, arms and religion.

Nearly at the same time that Malachy the Great was engaged in conquering the Danes of Dublin and the Islands, Brian Boru was successfully engaged in reducing the Danes of Limerick. He had avenged the murder by Ivor, King of the Limerick Danes, of his brother Mahon, eldest son of Kennedy, and on the defeat of Molloy, slain at the battle of Ballagh Leachta,' he succeeded to the throne of Munster. Though the Danes at this time were nominal Christians, they refused to preach to the Saxons in England, which discreditable circumstance occasioned the dispatch of missions from Iona, the monastic settlement of St Columkille. The Danes were so hateful to the Irish, and reciprocated the feeling so thoroughly, that they avoided all religious intercourse with the Irish Church, and connected themselves with the See of Canterbury in England.2

What Alfred, Edmond, and Athelstane had done less effectually for England, was now being performed for Ireland by Malachy and Brian; but it was not until the latter became monarch of all Ireland that those fierce northerns, whose ravages made even Charlemagne weep, who took Rouen, besieged Paris, wrested Normandy from Charles the Bald, and founded a dynasty in England, were compelled, after terrible havoc, to vacate the country, or to settle down as tributaries, and to engage in the peaceful pursuits of commerce. To detail the barbarous ravages, imposts, and even mutilations which these northern savages inflicted upon the people of Ireland up to the time of Turgesius and King Malachy is unnecessary. The general History of Ireland is full of them. The transfer of the sceptre of Ireland from Malachy the Great, the representative of Heremon, the elder son of Milesius, to the heroic Brian Boru, the descendant of the younger brother Herber, took place according to the Annals of the Four Masters in the 76th year of Brian's age, his reign as Ard-righ or supreme monarch of Ireland, lasting twelve years, to his death at Clontarf, A.D. 1014. We are inclined, however to believe, that the Ulster Annals which give the birth of Brian sixteen years later, that is, in 941, is the more correct account of the two.

1 Annals of the Four Masters.

The character for merciless cruelty which the Danes, as these Scandinavians were called, established for themselves wherever they made their appearance, has descended in the oral as well as in the written traditions of Ireland. It had no slight effect upon a few amongst the irregular troops at the battle of the Boyne, and notwithstanding the elements of civilization, amongst which Grose wrongly, we think, reckons the Gothic Church architecture, introduced by this highly spirited and enterprising race, as well as the practice of commerce and other arts, any attempt to popularize their name would be a signal failure. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, himself of Danish descent, has said much in their favour in his beautiful, though slightly prejudiced Romance of "Harold ;" but this is not history.

3 Mr. Walker a member of the Royal Irish Academy, has an Icelandic manuscript dated in 1010, which mentions Rafer, a merchant, an Icelander, who had resided many years in Limerick. -Note by Ralph Ouseley, Esq., M.R.I.A., Limerick, 1793.

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