Free 1014: Brian Boru & the Battle for Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn

brief glimpse into the private life of Malachy Mór. Imagine how very hard he laughed, and how very much he drank at the banquet table, when he learned that his erstwhile rival had saddled himself with a liability like Gormlaith.
    There has been some question as to the order in which Gormlaith married her men, but a poem composed shortly after her death contains a clue:
    Gormlaith took three leaps,
    which a woman shall never take again
    A leap at Ath-cliath [Dublin], a leap at Teamhair [Tara],
    A leap at Caiseal [Cashel] of the goblets over all.
    This would indicate that she married Olaf Cuaran first, followed by Malachy Mór, and finally Brian, whose royal seat was Cashel, although he ruled from Kincora. Duvcholly was probably still alive when Brian brought his new wife home to the palace beside the Shannon. Whether or not Duvcholly had children by Brian we do not know. But although she was middle-aged herself by this time, Gormlaith soon conceived and bore Brian a son. They called him Donough.
    The alliance of Brian and Malachy which had provedsuccessful at Glenmama was a fragile one. Since that victory there had been frequent skirmishes between Brian’s warriors and those of the high king. The brief truce which had been to their mutual advantage could not last. Two powerful kings could not share one small island.
    In the autumn of 1002 Brian Boru marched an army to Dun na Sciath, demanding that Malachy Mór give battle to him there or submit the high kingship. Malachy replied by asking for a month to gather his forces. Brian agreed. Malachy made his best effort but could not collect enough men willing to fight Brian Boru. At the end of the allotted time the Árd Rí, accompanied only by his personal bodyguards, went to Brian’s camp. There he submitted without imposing any conditions. His confidence in the Dalcassian’s sense of honour was not misplaced. Brian treated Malachy with respect and even returned to him the fine horses he had offered in tribute.
    Malachy’s contemporaries also respected him. The annalists praised him in the fulsome language of the time, and his partisans resented his treatment at the hands of the upstart Dalcassian. Yet once he died he was all but forgotten, like his predecessors. If it were not for Brian Boru, Malachy’s name would be unknown today. Yet his was an unusual career. He became Árd Rí in 980 and again in 1015, the only man in the history of Ireland tobear that title twice. As high kings go, he was as good as most and better than some. Unfortunately for Malachy Mór, by the time he died in 1022 he had lived most of his life in the shadow of a larger man.
    By making himself Árd Rí, Brian had challenged and effectively overthrown the ancient rule of the kingly houses of Tara and Aileach. He almost might be described as a ‘land leaper’ himself; he certainly was reviled in some quarters as a usurper. Yet in his lifetime he would accomplish more for the whole of Ireland than the Uí Néill kings had done in centuries.
    Although they would not face him in battle, the princes of the north continued to resent Brian, sullenly refusing to acknowledge his authority – until 1004. While conducting a royal circuit of Ireland that year he visited Armagh, St Patrick’s holy city, and confirmed the primacy of the city with an entry made in the
Book of Armagh
. In one final, irrefutable gesture, the entry was signed by his secretary and close friend: ‘This I have written , namely, Maolsuthain ua Cearbhaill, in the presence of Brian, Imperator Scotorum’ – Emperor of the Irish. Brian also left twenty ounces of pure gold, which was an immense sum, on the high altar of the cathedral.
    It would be unfair to Brian to interpret this extravagant gesture as merely a cynical bribe. This was theman who had been repairing and rebuilding churches and monasteries for years. He was well aware that St Patrick’s holy cathedral had repeatedly suffered from raids, and in 996 had been nearly