Clontarf

On Friday afternoon, I decided to go on a little mini-adventure after classes, to go explore the battlefield of Clontarf, just north of Dublin City. The battle took place in 1014, between the forces of Brien Boru, high king of Ireland, and the forces of Mael Morda, the lesser king of Leinster, and his Viking allies of Dublin. At the time, Dublin was a Viking town, and Brien Boru's campaign was aimed at taking control of Leinster and driving the Viking invaders from the island. On April 23rd, at Clontarf, he met the forces of his enemies, and won a decisive victory, killing 6,000 of the 7,000 Vikings on the field. Mael Morda was also killed during the battle by the son of Brien Boru. This victory did not come without a price though, because as the battle was drawing to a close, several fleeing Vikings came across Brien Boru in his tent, kneeling in prayer and thanking God for the victory. The Vikings crept up behind him and slew the king. Brien Boru goes down in history at the Unifier of Ireland and the man who drove out the first of the great invasions of the island. He was also the last high king of Ireland, and since his time, the island of Ireland has never been united under the rule of one governing power. Clontarf today is nothing more than a small suburb of Dublin, with only a small marker of where the battle took place, and a plaque where Brien Boru fell. It was not very impressive, but  I wanted to go see the spot, just because it was such a significant event in Irish history. Today, the sir name O'Brien, one of the most prevalent names in Ireland, stems from Brien Boru, all of them being "Of- Brien"; descendants of the last high king.