Page 128 - Demo

128 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
bitter memories of their chastening defeat by him at Glen mama. Furthermore, they were also incited to revengeful rebellion by the festering taunts of Gormley, Brian’s wife, but his sworn enemy notwithstanding, and as we know, their own kin-a woman recorded as being ‘beautiful, powerful, bitter, bad and unprincipled.’
It is told that in 1013 AD, the smoldering fire of resentment finally burst into rebellious flame when a quarrel with Brian’s son Murrough, gave Maelmora the pretext he required. The story goes that Maelmora, while on a visit to Kincora, Brian’s headquarters in county Clare, left the court in great anger declaring that he had been insulted by Murrough. Re- turning to Leinster, Maelmora called together the chiefs of his kingdom and declared his intention of revolting against Brian. Sitric quickly threw in his lot with the Leinstermen, and urged on by Gormley, they began preparations for a struggle on a massive military scale. To this end, it is told, both sides spent the winter of 1013-1014 assembling their huge armies.
It must be remembered that the Norsemen were at the height of their power throughout Europe at this time, and when Sitric, their kinsman from Dublin dispatched envoys seek- ing support, the Norsemen came hastening in numbers to the summons. They came from the Danish kingdom of Northumbria in England, from the western Isles of Scotland, from Iceland, the Faroe and Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, Denmark, Norway, and Normandy.
Sigurd the Stout, the Jarl or Earl of the Orkneys, offered himself as overall commander of the Norse force, and in return was promised the Kingship of Ireland. Maelmora and the men of Leinster swelled this host. In opposition, Brian gathered together all of the remain- der of Ireland’s men that he could, albeit without the help of either the princes of Tyrone or Donegal, who refused to join him because he had usurped the high-kingship. Moreover, it is told that a sullen Malachy also sulked, probably for the same reasons and that when the two opposing forces finally met, Malachy and his host of Meath men remained apart, watching the progress of the battle, and only joined to slaughter and pursue the enemy when they were finally routed.
On Palm Sunday, 1014, sailing beneath their totemic, Odin-inspired, raven Banners, the great Norse fleet arrived in Dublin Bay. By then, Brian had already marched into Leinster to await the invaders. Very early in the darkness of Good Friday morning, the Norsemen left their ships at Clontarf, a northside suburb of modern Dublin and came to join their Irish
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