Фалькович Ирина Александровна

Иркутский государственный лингвистический университет

Brian Boru (Brian mac Cennétig)

Brian Boru is one of the greatest kings of Ireland. Being some kind of a version of English King Arthur, Brian Boru is the one who united the country and was the greatest force to keep invaders of the lands of the country. He was murdered in the battlefield when his army won the battle with the Norse, but he was too old to fight together with his troops.

Brian was one of the 12 sons of Cennétig mac Lorcáin, the king of a small kingdom in the northern Munster (modern county Clare). Brian’s mother was a daughter of the king of west Connacht.

The greatest and the most famous battle of Brian was the Conflict at Clontarf which was also named Brjansorrosta or Brian’s battle. This was the battle of 23 April 1014. This is the battle where the high king lost his life after making significant changes. He didn’t only saved Christianity in Ireland, he broke the heritage of Ui Neill kings reining over Ireland, he proved it possible for kings of other territories to become a high king.

Vikings tried to surprise the Irish, so they sent their troops to Clontarf where it was only one bridge so the Irish couldn’t cross easily and fast enough. There were less of the Dublin-Leinster troops, but they were much better equipped so at first they were winning, but after some of the flanges were left without the leader, Vikings’ army started to fail and the Irish came victorious. What they didn’t know though is that one of the Vikings’ leaders (Brodir) saw Brian praying in his tent, he took some soldiers and came to the tent and slain the king.

The battle of Clontarf was the battle between the pagan Vikings and Catholic Irish. The victory of catholic Ireland for the nation meant much more than just one country defeating another but Christianity winning over the position of the dominating religion. And Brian being the leader was almost canonized by irish people of that time. There is a poem written by a poet two centuries after the victory. The poem is called Aonar dhuit, a Bhriain Bhanba (To you only, Brian of Ireland).

On Good Friday Brian was killed, defending the Irish of the hostages, just as Christ without sin was killed, defending the children of Adam.

That’s a very strong comparison especially in the age of strong Christianity in the country. There are also some other scripts of such kind like Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh (seventeen century). After such feedback there’s no surprise that Brian Boru became some kind of the measure for all of the kings of the next generation.

In fact Brian had to fight not only with the invaders but also with the kings, who wanted to keep their territories and rule independently even if to do so they have to collaborate with the Norse. Irish kings have always been this incautious with asking people from overseas for help, this will characteristic will lead to the English rule over Ireland for more than 700 years. So if Brian Boru was trying to find support within the country asking for help and compromising with the local kings, Leinster ruler Mael Morda made a partnership with the Norse leader in Dublin (originally a Viking’s fortress) Sitric mac Amlaib.

Unfortunately most of the information concerning Brian Boru is far from accurate. There are several manuscripts depicting the conflict of Clontarf, but all of them have some mistakes and misinterpretations made either by the author himself or translators. Ademar in his Historia writes about the battle, but his whole image of the country is wrong: he says that there was only one ruler of Ireland, he also claims that Latin was the language irish people spoke, which is not true, as all of the books (except ones in churches) were written in irish gaelic. This facts show that the knowledge of the author about the subject he wrote about was poor. Other (Irish) manuscripts contain much more accurate information, but the names they provide as the opponents of king Brian are mainly Norman and not Norse, but according to the archeological researches in Leinster, the inhabitants of the territory were primarily Irish and Vikings.

Despite all of this drawbacks of the resources providing the information on the topic, they all agree on one thing: unlike king Arthur, high king Brian was real and he did unite all of Ireland under his rule, he also saved the Christianity in Ireland and instilled the sense of independence into the nation that helped Irish people to fight with British rule a millennium after the battle of Clontarf.

Picture 1 Father and reigning brothers of Brian

Литература:

· Maire Ni Mhaonaigh Brian Boru Ireland’s Greatest King Tempus

· David Ross Ireland History of a Nation Geddes & Grosset

· Sean Duffy Atlas of Irish History Gill & Macmillan