Wars of the Irish Kings (28 page)

Figure 1.
Sometimes called the Tanderagee Idol for the bog near Newry where it was supposedly found, this Iron Age stone Figure is now displayed in the Protestant cathedral in Armagh, not far from what was traditionally thought to be the grave of Brian Boru. Because of the curious way the Figure holds his arm, some think he may represent Nuadu, king of the mythical De Dannan, who lost an arm in battle and replaced it with a magical silver one. Courtesy Fran Monson.

Figure 2.
Dun Aengus, set high on a cliff on Inishmore in the Aran Islands, off the Galway coast, was hailed by nineteenth-century Irish antiquarians as “the most magnificent barbaric monument now extant in Europe.” The huge stone structure, dating back to the Iron Age, was traditionally thought to have been built by the mythical Fir Bolgs after their defeat at the First Battle of Moirura, fought near Sligo. Long assumed to be a fort
(dun)
, some archaeologists now suspect that because of its location (what’s it defending?) and lack of drinking water, its purpose may have been more ceremonial than military. Courtesy the Irish Tourist Board.

Figure 3.
In a scene similar to this, the young son of the king of Cooley killed a neighbor’s dog. Conscience-stricken, the boy began calling himself Cuchulain, a variation of the animal’s name. Thereafter, throughout his violent life, he was frequently and sometimes affectionately called “Little Hound.” This early twentieth-century illustration by Arthur Rackham, although not specifically depicting Cuchulain, is from James Stephens’
Irish Fairy Tales.

Figure 4.
A coronation in Tyconnell (Donegal). This page, from a thirteenth-century manuscript copy of Gerald of Wales’s twelfth-century
Typography of Ireland
, shows, on the left, a white mare slaughtered before being boiled in a pot. On the right, the new king (in a bath) and his court devour the sacrifice. Courtesy the National Library of Ireland.

Figure 5.
The Hill of Tara in County Meath, where the high king
(ard ri)
was traditionally proclaimed, is composed of two small ring forts
(raths)
surrounded by a much larger ring called the royal enclosure. Also included on the hilltop, which has archaeological remains dating back to the second millennium
B
.
C
., are a burial mound (in the foreground) and indications of a banqueting hall resembling the one that appears in “The Second Battle of Moytura.” The
rath
to the left is often regarded—without a great deal of supporting evidence—as being the coronation site.

Figure 6.
Viking ships in Irish waters came first alone to pillage, then in fleets to conquer and to establish trading posts that grew into Norse city-states with names such as Dublin and Limerick. Artist unknown.

Figure 7.
A re-creation of a Viking settlement in the Irish National Heritage Park.

Figure 8.
The Rock of Cashel in the ancient kingdom of Munster bears the ruins of a twelfth- and thirteenth-century cathedral and a round tower. Tucked into the southern (left-hand) corner of the building is Cormac’s Chapel, the oldest Romanesque church in Ireland. As an act of defiance against the O’Neills and the North, Brian Boru had himself crowned high king at Cashel rather than at Tara. Courtesy the Irish Tourist Board.

Figure 9.
Norse graffiti: A picture of a man high in the rigging of a Viking ship, scratched onto a plank unearthed at Wood Quay, the site of Dublin’s earliest Viking settlement.

Figure 10.
Ships in Dublin’s harbor replenishing supplies for the English army in 1393. Artist unknown.

Figure 11.
The death of Brian Boru while praying in his tent at the battle of Clontarf in 1014, as imagined by the early nineteenth-century engraver Edward Finden. Brian, high king of Ireland, was battling a combined army of Vikings, Dublin-based Norsemen, and Irish rivals from the Kingdom of Leinster. Courtesy the Bridgeman Art Library.