Chapter 4

                            When looking at Ireland in the Middle Ages we must keep in mind that the topography was not that of the treeless island we see today.  The landscape was so densely forested that travel was not to be taken on lightly, and even then the preferred mode was by river and lake¹, although there were many routes through the woods². 

      The ninth and tenth centuries saw the chaos of the Viking raids³ and their settlement, mainly in the east.  In 867 Aed Finnliath defeated the Scandinavians in the north and that part remained relatively untouched by the Norse menace, letting the Christian Celtic civilisation linger on until the surrender of Hugh O`Neill in 1603.

      In the tenth and eleventh centuries further chaos ensued with the dynastic struggles of the provincial kings for the High Kingship, at the same time changing the fabric of Celtic kingship to feudalism.  As they began to consider themselves king of the lands rather than the people, they felt that ownership entitled them to name their successors and appoint other kings.

      With more of the population in arms and the cost of maintaining a standing army; or hiring mercenaries; not withstanding the lands laid waste and the loss of production, a great stress was placed on the economy.  On the other hand a new wealth was created by the trading towns of the Ostmen, and Ireland's kings enjoyed a higher profile in Europe, with Irish scholars to be found throughout the Continent.

      The Ui Neill held the power in the north and they considered themselves descendants of (80) Conn Ceadeathach, through (87) Niall Noigallah⁴.  His sons were Conall and Eoghan, from whom came the Cenel Conall (Race of Conall), and the Cenel nEogain.

The High King of the Ui Neill styled himself ri-Temrach, or King of Tara⁵ which he considered made him High King of all Ireland.  Mael Sechnaill II was their over-king when Brian Boru, King of Munster claimed the title.  Brian was of the Dal Cais and they had taken the kingship of Munster over two generations, and were therefore considered upstarts by the Ui Neill.  Brian although an astute leader was aided by the dynastic struggles for provincial kingships, which were even evident in the Ui Neill where the branches had polarized.  Mael and Brian competed for the title until a truce was formed in 997, dividing the island into Leth Cuinn⁶ in the north and Leth Mogn in the south.

      Brian in 999 defeated the Leinstermen and Ostmen at the battle of Glen Mama and Sitric Silkenbeard, king if Dublin, submitted to him.  Two years later, after renewing the offensive against Mael Sechnaill, he defeated and took his submission, making Brian effective High King of Ireland.  Brian held the title from 1002 until his assassination in 1014, after he had been victorious in the Battle of Clontarf against an alliance of Leinstermen, Ostmen of Dublin, and a vast Viking fleet from the Western Isles and Man.

      In the one-hundred and fifty years between the death of Brian Boru and the Anglo-Norman invasion several strong rulers came to the front, but generally the families fought between themselves holding the family more important than the central monarchy.  This was paralleled by their cousins in the clans of the Scottish Highlands and Isles.

      Turlough O`Connor, who had been king of Connacht since 1106, took the Throne after the death of Murtagh O`Brien (grandson of Brian Boru) in 1119, and his son Ruairdri Ua Conchobar (Rory O`Connor) was the last High King before the Normans came and gave Ireland the closest thing to a feudal administration that she had ever known. Turlough was a great commander and made good use of a large fleet.  He understood administration and built castles and bridges.  He also recognised the importance of a reformed church and it was during his time that the Roman Church became effective.  A re-generation of culture followed, which was also a method of sealing the Roman Church`s supremacy and linking Ireland with the Continent, and the European Catholic Church.

      The kings of Connacht and Leinster, as well as the Ui Neill, all considered they had the right to be High King and did not hesitate in seeking outside aid to gain the throne.  The great families, having no tradition of unity, deemed it of more importance to seize the throne for their own dynasties.  Rory, although the last, was the most effective Ard-ri, and he deposed Dairmait MacMurrough of his Leinster kingship; leaving him to ask Henry II of England for aid.  In 1169 FitzStephen, FitzGerald and others, arrived in Ireland.  Wexford was taken and Dairmait restored to king of Leinster.  When in 1170 Richard deClare and his Norman knights arrived with three or so thousand men, they found the High King unprepared.  The Irish eventually fell back to the west but it took another four centuries before Ireland became an English colony.  In the Treaty of Windsor Rory O`Connor agreed to rule the unoccupied territories as a vassal of Henry II of England.

      In 1154 Pope Adrian VI, the only English Pope, gave the land of Ireland to the Plantagenets and Henry took this opportunity to seize the wealth of the monasteries, the bountiful pastoral economy, and more importantly the great trading ports; in an attempt to break the Scandinavian stranglehold on commerce.  No moral justification can be put forward for this duplicity between English Pope and Monarch.

      Ireland was brought to its knees.  The primitive political system, hardly changed since pagan times, had now outlived itself and with its demise so died the creative energy of the Celts.  The denouement was inevitable and was the end of the most extraordinary intellectual, artistic, and spiritual development that the Christian community had seen.  For six centuries Ireland had been the beacon.

The Norse Dragon entwined⁷.

      The thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries are a period of colonisation, rebellion, consolidation, and still rebellion.