Brian Boru "The King of Ireland" Introduction - Chapter 2. 

Brian Boru was the last king of Ireland and is said to have been born around 940-950 in Thomond, now known as County Clare, to his mother Bé Binn and father, King Cennétig mac Lorcáin.

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Brian Barrow Introduction Ireland is a country steeped in history, myth, and legend.

During ancient times a long line of kings reigned over this fairytale land, and 1 of those kings was a man named Brian Barrow.

Ruling the Emerald Isle from 1002 to 1014, Brian's tenure is indeed so immersed in mythology that it is sometimes hard to glean the fact from the fiction.

But Brian Barrow himself was not the product of a fanciful tale, he did indeed exist in the flesh.

Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh where countless admirers of his life still come to visit.

In 2014, as a testament to his enduring character, at the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf and Brian Barrow's ultimate demise, thousands made their way to the site of the former fray to pay homage.

Brian Barrow was by no means born into obscurity.

In the Irish society of his day, he was born into a family with a long dynastic history.

His father was a local sub-king or sub-chieftain who ruled his region under the general auspices of the High King of Ireland.

Although it wasn't Brian that the role of leader naturally fell onto, it was his brother Mathgamane who was destined to lead.

It was only when Mathgamane was cut down early on in his rule that the role was thrust into the hands of Brian Barrow.

Brian Barrow was entrusted with the rule of his little piece of the Irish puzzle at 1 of the most inopportune times.

There was turmoil both within and without the Emerald Isle.

As had been the case for centuries, various Irish families frequently fought over the supremacy of their corner of Ireland.

Outside of the Irish shores, meanwhile, the Vikings were swooping down in mass ready to take the entirety of Ireland away from its native sons if it were at all possible.

Famed Irish cities such as Limerick and Dublin were at this point full of Scandinavian settlers.

It was from these bastions of Norse influence that many Norse leaders of the period wished to rally their forces to seize all of Ireland once and for all for their own use.

Such an assertion may seem a bit extreme today, but the certainty of Irish rule had never been more uncertain.

It would remain so until the great Irish king Brian Barrow would make his final stand at the Battle of Clontarf where he forever halted the advance of the Norse vanguards from the north, stopping the Norsemen in their tracks once and for all.

He was a stalwart champion of Ireland's ultimate destiny, he was Brian Barrow.

Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Ireland in the Viking Age Trust not him whose father, brother or other kin you have slain no matter how young he be, for often grows the wolf and the child.

While Sunga Saga, C.21 Brian Baru may not be quite so well known outside of Ireland, but to this very day, Irish children are regaled with his legendary exploits.

The life of Brian Barrow is as inseparable from Irish historical recollection as say George Washington or Abraham Lincoln is from the history of Americans.

As was the case with those 2 aforementioned American historical figures, Brian Barra's fate was sealed in the face of tremendous conflict and discord.

In Brian Barra's lifetime, the Irish were forced to stand up to 1 of the greatest external threats that Ireland had ever known.

For it was during the time of Brian Booroo that the Irish locked arms in a life-or-death struggle with the malevolent marauders known as the Vikings or Norsemen.

The Vikings were in many ways reacting to threats that had been foisted upon them in previous years.

What brought the Vikings down upon Britain and other lands south of Scandinavia requires the telling of a complex backstory, but a basic synopsis entails the fact that a couple of centuries prior, the zealous Christian king of Europe's Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne the Great, had begun a ruthless campaign to convert pagan peoples on the outskirts of his dominion.

Charlemagne then intensified the pressure by taking a campaign to Saxony, modern-day Germany.

Many who did not reject their pagan beliefs were put to the sword, but many more fled to the north, to Scandinavia.

There was understandable animosity for the persecution that had been dealt, but for the pagans, the greatest outrage was not what happened to their people, but what had happened to a single, solitary tree.

Of tremendous importance to the pagans was a sacred tree called Irminsul, Yggdrasil, or the Tree of Life, a sacred representation of which was located in Saxony.

During the course of his campaign, Charlemagne had the tree burned to the ground.

He did so in full knowledge that it would be a devastating blow to the Saxons in particular and pagan society in general.

Ironically enough, the pagans had a prophecy in regard to this tree and firmly believed that if the tree were decimated, it would kick off the war to end all wars and sure enough, suddenly the Norse version of the apocalypse had begun.

From here on out, wave after wave of Viking incursions would plague much of Western Europe.

Ireland, of course, had nothing to do with anything Charlemagne or any other leader of continental Europe had inflicted upon the Norse people to be deserving of Norse retribution.

But they were more or less a target of convenience for the Vikings who could easily sweep down on these semi-isolated lands to their immediate southwest.

It was in the midst of this turmoil and clash of cultures that Brian Barrow was born in the year 941 CE.

Chapter 2 Early life in Cancora I am, of course, directly descended from Brian Barrow, the last king of Ireland, a fact certified by my mother and therefore beyond dispute.

But as everybody else with a drop of Irish blood in his carcass is also a guaranteed descendant of the old Billygoat, I am not overly arrogant because of this royal strain.

Preston Sturges' Brian Baru is a name for the ages but it's not the name that this future High King was born with.

The name given at his birth was actually Brian Mac Senedig.

The appellation of Senedig was, and still is, a prominent Irish name and is the origin of the well-known surname of Kennedy.

Báthur began his days in the Irish town of Concora in the vicinity of Tewadnew, what is now known as County Clare.

In those days, Cynchora was the virtual capital of this part of Ireland and it was from this seat of temporal power that Brian Barr's father Senedig MacLorcain reigned as king and his mother Bebeninian Urchid as queen.

The region was at a literal crossroads, as it was in the vicinity of the great Irish River Shannon, which at this point in time served as a water highway for Viking raids upon the unsuspecting Irish.

Hit especially hard were the neighbouring regions of Meath and Connacht.

As a toddler, young Brian was privy to the unfolding drama as his father Senedig engaged in battling various factions that went up and down the river.

The Norsemen themselves had a base in Limerick, an ancient town which is nestled right inside the river itself.

It was also along the banks of the River Shannon that young Brian first received his formal education, attending his lessons at the monastery of Clonmacnoise.

Not a whole lot is known about his school days, but it is said that Brian was an avid history buff, spending endless hours reading over the exploits of the great generals and monarchs of the past, such as Julius Caesar and Charlemagne.

It is perhaps with some irony that Brian Baru would have been so fascinated with Charlemagne.

For it was Charlemagne, after all, whose personal holy war waged against the Norse peoples that had helped spark off massive Viking retaliation and ultimate conquest.

And it was in the endless skirmishes with the Norse warriors who inhabited the city of Limerick that Brian Barra's father Senedig ultimately died in the year 951.

Senedig's death sparked a scramble for power among several relatives who wished to have his throne, but after much debate, it was finally agreed that it should be handed to Brian Barra's older brother, Mathkemane Mack Senedig.

Soon thereafter, Mathkemane called his then-teenaged brother Brian out of the monastery so that he could be trained as a warrior and prepare to join the struggle against Limerick's Norsemen.

Mathkemane was indeed a powerful statesman, but according to legend, Brian and Mathkemane soon began to quarrel and have differences with each other.

Chief among them was the hasty peace treaties that Mathkemane started to engage in with the Norsemen.

Brian often felt such agreements to be useless and longed to carry on the fight.

It is said that the obstinate young man defied his elder brother and began a guerrilla war campaign against the Norse occupiers of Limerick.

In 962, with a band of just some 200 of his most loyal followers, Brian camped out in the wilderness where he engaged in repeated hit-and-run style attacks against Norse positions in and around the city of Limerick.

The fighting was sporadic and brutal, with the Irish using the element of surprise against the better armed and better organized Norse fighters.

The Norsemen had much better armor and armaments than the native Irish did at the time.

If they were able to get the drop on the fighting Irish, it really didn't take much for their heavy broadswords and battle-axes to cleave right through them.

It was the Norse battle-axe that would come to symbolize Brian Barrow himself after he retrieved 1 from the battlefield and began to carry it with him wherever he went.

Brian became an expert with the weapon and was soon training his men on how to use it as well.

In the midst of this guerrilla warfare, Brian Baru still found time to tend to the needs of his personal life.

It was during this period that he met and married his first wife.

Her name was Moor and she was the daughter of a king in the region of Connacht.

With her, Brian would have a total of 5 children, his daughters Sødbund Blanade and his sons Merchand, Conkaber and Flan.

Brian wrapped up his guerrilla warfare campaign against the Norse of Limerick sometime in the 960s, as his force had been reduced to just 15 of the 200 men he had started with.

His brother Mathkemane is said to have heard of his brother's struggles and arranged a secret visit to his brother's position in the wilderness.

It is unclear how much of this tale is true and how much of it is myth, but as the story goes, the 2 brothers warmly received each other and a kind of conference ensued.

During the discussion, it is said that Mathkemane expressed concern for Brian's safety while Brian proceeded to chastise Mathkemane for not taking the fight to the enemy.

In particular, he criticized recent treaties his brother had made with Norse interlopers of Danish extraction.

Mathkemane then supposedly countered that he didn't have the power to meet, do battle with, the foreigners because of their superior numbers, armor, and armaments.

He also reminded Brian of the cost of the lives that might be lost in such an engagement, stating that he didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of his people.

It was here that Brian then directly challenged his brother's assertions by stating that it was not a right thing for him to say because it was hereditary for him to die and hereditary for all the Dal guys for there.


Speaker 0: Brian Barrow Introduction Ireland is a country steeped in history, myth, and legend. During ancient times a long line of kings reigned over this fairytale land, and 1 of those kings was a man named Brian Barrow. Ruling the Emerald Isle from 1002 to 1014, Brian's tenure is indeed so immersed in mythology that it is sometimes hard to glean the fact from the fiction. But Brian Barrow himself was not the product of a fanciful tale, he did indeed exist in the flesh. His body is buried at St.

Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh where countless admirers of his life still come to visit. In 2014, as a testament to his enduring character, at the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf and Brian Barrow's ultimate demise, thousands made their way to the site of the former fray to pay homage. Brian Barrow was by no means born into obscurity. In the Irish society of his day, he was born into a family with a long dynastic history. His father was a local sub-king or sub-chieftain who ruled his region under the general auspices of the High King of Ireland.

Although it wasn't Brian that the role of leader naturally fell onto, it was his brother Mathgamane who was destined to lead. It was only when Mathgamane was cut down early on in his rule that the role was thrust into the hands of Brian Barrow. Brian Barrow was entrusted with the rule of his little piece of the Irish puzzle at 1 of the most inopportune times. There was turmoil both within and without the Emerald Isle. As had been the case for centuries, various Irish families frequently fought over the supremacy of their corner of Ireland.

Outside of the Irish shores, meanwhile, the Vikings were swooping down in mass ready to take the entirety of Ireland away from its native sons if it were at all possible. Famed Irish cities such as Limerick and Dublin were at this point full of Scandinavian settlers. It was from these bastions of Norse influence that many Norse leaders of the period wished to rally their forces to seize all of Ireland once and for all for their own use. Such an assertion may seem a bit extreme today, but the certainty of Irish rule had never been more uncertain. It would remain so until the great Irish king Brian Barrow would make his final stand at the Battle of Clontarf where he forever halted the advance of the Norse vanguards from the north, stopping the Norsemen in their tracks once and for all.

He was a stalwart champion of Ireland's ultimate destiny, he was Brian Barrow. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Ireland in the Viking Age Trust not him whose father, brother or other kin you have slain no matter how young he be, for often grows the wolf and the child. While Sunga Saga, C.21 Brian Baru may not be quite so well known outside of Ireland, but to this very day, Irish children are regaled with his legendary exploits. The life of Brian Barrow is as inseparable from Irish historical recollection as say George Washington or Abraham Lincoln is from the history of Americans. As was the case with those 2 aforementioned American historical figures, Brian Barra's fate was sealed in the face of tremendous conflict and discord.

In Brian Barra's lifetime, the Irish were forced to stand up to 1 of the greatest external threats that Ireland had ever known. For it was during the time of Brian Booroo that the Irish locked arms in a life-or-death struggle with the malevolent marauders known as the Vikings or Norsemen. The Vikings were in many ways reacting to threats that had been foisted upon them in previous years. What brought the Vikings down upon Britain and other lands south of Scandinavia requires the telling of a complex backstory, but a basic synopsis entails the fact that a couple of centuries prior, the zealous Christian king of Europe's Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne the Great, had begun a ruthless campaign to convert pagan peoples on the outskirts of his dominion. Charlemagne then intensified the pressure by taking a campaign to Saxony, modern-day Germany.

Many who did not reject their pagan beliefs were put to the sword, but many more fled to the north, to Scandinavia. There was understandable animosity for the persecution that had been dealt, but for the pagans, the greatest outrage was not what happened to their people, but what had happened to a single, solitary tree. Of tremendous importance to the pagans was a sacred tree called Irminsul, Yggdrasil, or the Tree of Life, a sacred representation of which was located in Saxony. During the course of his campaign, Charlemagne had the tree burned to the ground. He did so in full knowledge that it would be a devastating blow to the Saxons in particular and pagan society in general.

Ironically enough, the pagans had a prophecy in regard to this tree and firmly believed that if the tree were decimated, it would kick off the war to end all wars and sure enough, suddenly the Norse version of the apocalypse had begun. From here on out, wave after wave of Viking incursions would plague much of Western Europe. Ireland, of course, had nothing to do with anything Charlemagne or any other leader of continental Europe had inflicted upon the Norse people to be deserving of Norse retribution. But they were more or less a target of convenience for the Vikings who could easily sweep down on these semi-isolated lands to their immediate southwest. It was in the midst of this turmoil and clash of cultures that Brian Barrow was born in the year 941 CE.

Chapter 2 Early life in Cancora I am, of course, directly descended from Brian Barrow, the last king of Ireland, a fact certified by my mother and therefore beyond dispute. But as everybody else with a drop of Irish blood in his carcass is also a guaranteed descendant of the old Billygoat, I am not overly arrogant because of this royal strain. Preston Sturges' Brian Baru is a name for the ages but it's not the name that this future High King was born with. The name given at his birth was actually Brian Mac Senedig. The appellation of Senedig was, and still is, a prominent Irish name and is the origin of the well-known surname of Kennedy.

Báthur began his days in the Irish town of Concora in the vicinity of Tewadnew, what is now known as County Clare. In those days, Cynchora was the virtual capital of this part of Ireland and it was from this seat of temporal power that Brian Barr's father Senedig MacLorcain reigned as king and his mother Bebeninian Urchid as queen. The region was at a literal crossroads, as it was in the vicinity of the great Irish River Shannon, which at this point in time served as a water highway for Viking raids upon the unsuspecting Irish. Hit especially hard were the neighbouring regions of Meath and Connacht. As a toddler, young Brian was privy to the unfolding drama as his father Senedig engaged in battling various factions that went up and down the river.

The Norsemen themselves had a base in Limerick, an ancient town which is nestled right inside the river itself. It was also along the banks of the River Shannon that young Brian first received his formal education, attending his lessons at the monastery of Clonmacnoise. Not a whole lot is known about his school days, but it is said that Brian was an avid history buff, spending endless hours reading over the exploits of the great generals and monarchs of the past, such as Julius Caesar and Charlemagne. It is perhaps with some irony that Brian Baru would have been so fascinated with Charlemagne. For it was Charlemagne, after all, whose personal holy war waged against the Norse peoples that had helped spark off massive Viking retaliation and ultimate conquest.

And it was in the endless skirmishes with the Norse warriors who inhabited the city of Limerick that Brian Barra's father Senedig ultimately died in the year 951. Senedig's death sparked a scramble for power among several relatives who wished to have his throne, but after much debate, it was finally agreed that it should be handed to Brian Barra's older brother, Mathkemane Mack Senedig. Soon thereafter, Mathkemane called his then-teenaged brother Brian out of the monastery so that he could be trained as a warrior and prepare to join the struggle against Limerick's Norsemen. Mathkemane was indeed a powerful statesman, but according to legend, Brian and Mathkemane soon began to quarrel and have differences with each other. Chief among them was the hasty peace treaties that Mathkemane started to engage in with the Norsemen.

Brian often felt such agreements to be useless and longed to carry on the fight. It is said that the obstinate young man defied his elder brother and began a guerrilla war campaign against the Norse occupiers of Limerick. In 962, with a band of just some 200 of his most loyal followers, Brian camped out in the wilderness where he engaged in repeated hit-and-run style attacks against Norse positions in and around the city of Limerick. The fighting was sporadic and brutal, with the Irish using the element of surprise against the better armed and better organized Norse fighters. The Norsemen had much better armor and armaments than the native Irish did at the time.

If they were able to get the drop on the fighting Irish, it really didn't take much for their heavy broadswords and battle-axes to cleave right through them. It was the Norse battle-axe that would come to symbolize Brian Barrow himself after he retrieved 1 from the battlefield and began to carry it with him wherever he went. Brian became an expert with the weapon and was soon training his men on how to use it as well. In the midst of this guerrilla warfare, Brian Baru still found time to tend to the needs of his personal life. It was during this period that he met and married his first wife.

Her name was Moor and she was the daughter of a king in the region of Connacht. With her, Brian would have a total of 5 children, his daughters Sødbund Blanade and his sons Merchand, Conkaber and Flan. Brian wrapped up his guerrilla warfare campaign against the Norse of Limerick sometime in the 960s, as his force had been reduced to just 15 of the 200 men he had started with. His brother Mathkemane is said to have heard of his brother's struggles and arranged a secret visit to his brother's position in the wilderness. It is unclear how much of this tale is true and how much of it is myth, but as the story goes, the 2 brothers warmly received each other and a kind of conference ensued.

During the discussion, it is said that Mathkemane expressed concern for Brian's safety while Brian proceeded to chastise Mathkemane for not taking the fight to the enemy. In particular, he criticized recent treaties his brother had made with Norse interlopers of Danish extraction. Mathkemane then supposedly countered that he didn't have the power to meet, do battle with, the foreigners because of their superior numbers, armor, and armaments. He also reminded Brian of the cost of the lives that might be lost in such an engagement, stating that he didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of his people. It was here that Brian then directly challenged his brother's assertions by stating that it was not a right thing for him to say because it was hereditary for him to die and hereditary for all the Dal guys for there.

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Brian Boru #1 The King of Ireland