BRIAN BORU: ARD RIGH OF ALL IRELAND
Celtia,
Flidais Niafer
Brian Boruma mac Cennetig is one of the most revered figures in Irish
history. He was born in the 930s, destined to become a mighty warrior.
He is credited with driving out the Vikings and is the only king to have
ruled over a united Ireland.
The man who attained the title of "ard-ri Gaidel Erenn, Gall, Bretan,
August iarthair tuascirt Eorpa uile" grew up in turbulent and bloody
times. At his birth, the rulership of Munster was in dispute between the
northern Dal Cais and the southern Eoghanacht Raithlind. Brian Boru's
grandfather, Lorcan mac Lachtan, king of Thomond, fought to sway the
balance of power back to the Delcassians. Eventually his son, Cennetig,
gained the kingship of Munster. Brian Boruma and Mahoun, Cennetig's two sons,
inevitably became embroiled in the ongoing power struggles. The Dal Cais'
motto, "first on the battlefield, last to leave", shaped the lives of many
men but especially Brian Boru.
In 960 Brian Boruma took over
his grandfather's throne as King of Thomond, northern Munster. His brother
Mahoun became King of Munster. The brothers ruled in harmony until Mahoun
started to make peace with the Vikings, motivated by gains offered in trade.
Brian Boru, however, could not set aside his childhood memories of his mother
and other members of the clan murdered in a Viking raid. He confronted Mahoun
for trying to settle with the invaders. Mahoun listened to his brother and
changed his mind. He put Brian Boru in charge of the army.
This led to the first victory for the future king of all Ireland,
foreshadowing Brian Boru's long and brilliant career of military strategy.
Before going to war against the Danes of Limerick, he met with chieftains
and warriors of both the Dal Cais and the
Eoghanists. He selected the best fighters and organized his army
accordingly. Amazingly, he brought the two warring clans together to
defeat the Vikings.
The alliance of Delcassians and
Eoghanists was brief. With Mahoun on the throne and Brian Boru
leading the armies, the two brothers ruled over all of Munster. Before long,
the Eoghanists got restless again and sided with the Danes, plotting to
assassinate Mahoun. The King of Munster was lured to visit a distant cousin,
a Eoghanist prince named Donovan. It was written that "in violation of the
rights of hospitality" Mahoun was murdered in that house by Donovan
and another prince, Moalmua.
Brian Boru took over as king and
moving to Kincora. Then he returned to Donovan's home and retaliated by
killing him along with most of his army. Boru's son had his revenge by
slaying Moalmu in the same house where Mahoun had been murdered.
From there, Brian Boru and his armies swept out to the islands
of the Shannon and proceeded to battle the Danes along the coast. Using
skillful combinations of land and naval attacks, the islands were once
again secured for the Irish.
By 984 Boruma received the title of ruler over the entire southern
half of Ireland, but he didn't stop there. He continued onward, battling
the Danes at Tara, then laying siege to Dublin in the year 999,
demonstrating more of his deadly military strategies.
Brian Boru used other tactics to secure a position for himself in
the northern half of Ireland. He married his daughter to Sitric Silkbeard,
the king of Viking Dublin, and wed himself to Sitric's mother, Gormflaith.
This forged an important alliance with the Vikings because Gormflaith's
ex-husband Mael Sechnaill II (Malachy) had been Boru's enemy for years.
This enmity was the last thing standing between Brian Boru and the high
kingship of all Ireland. The strategy worked and Malachy submitted to become
a vassal under Boruma.
In 1002 Brian Boru returned to Tara
nd was crowned Ard Righ of Ireland. The nation enjoyed a brief
period of peace during which Boru rebuilt many institutions that were
destroyed during the wars. But huge tributes were demanded in return
for the Ard Righ's protection against invaders. Rebellions provoked
quick and bloody responses. Three years after becoming
Ard Righ, Boruma marched into Armagh at the head of an army of
thousands from Munster, Meath, Leinster, Connacht and Viking Dublin. This was a
victory march, since he had twice before been pushed back by the powerful
Ulster kings. To immortalize his triumph, he paid the Church 20 ounces of
gold to inscribe his name into the Book of Armagh as Imperator Scottorum
("Emperor of the Irish"). In 1006, he paraded around Ulster, staking out
his territory. But the stage was being set for his downfall, as armies in
Dublin and Leinster again joined forces with the Norse.
On Good Friday, 23 April 1014, the Battle of Clontarf
(four miles north of modern Dublin) raged from sunrise to sunset. Brian
Boru's army, mostly Delcassians and thousands of warriors under nobles
from Munster and Connaught was confronted by 21,000 Danes, Norwegian,
Leinstermen, and other foreign allies. Too old to fight, Boru stayed in
his tent while the battle raged so fiercely that according to one account
"the trees wept blood and the nearby River Tolka turned red." Although Brian
Boru's armies won the battle, the Ard Righ was slain by a group of Danes
who discovered him in his tent as they were retreating. He fought to the
very end, killing several of them before he was beheaded by King Brodar of
Man. Before Boru died, he dealt one final death blow - to Brodar.
Without Brian Boru's powerful leadership, Ireland quickly fell into
the chaos of dynastic disputes and political turmoil, never again
to be united.
LAWS OF HOSPITALITY AND PROTECTION
Celtia,
Cearas Cumhaill
Fergus Kelly mentions 3 types of outsider
though the distinctions among them in the legal tracts aren't always
clear.
The literal meaning of ambue seems to be
'non person'. Heptad 16 states that its not a legal offence to avoid
payment of a body fine for such. This would mean that an ambue can be
killed or injured with impunity. Kelly further states that because of his
lack of status, he can't get anyone to act as a valid surety for him
(Heptad 30-31) or give a valid pledge on his behalf (Heptad 32). This
excludes him from normal legal agreements and remedies.
The second type, cu glas (literally 'grey dog') is
explained to be an exile from overseas by a 9th century legal
glossator. Most references to this status deal with the legal
consequences of his marriage to a woman of the tuath. Being an
outsider, he has no honor price on his own, but if the union is
recognized by the wife's kin, then he is said to have half his
wife's honor price but no ability to make any legal contracts without
her permission and she pays any fines or debts he incurs.
Occasionally a third outsider is mentioned, that of the
murchoirthe. Literally this is 'one thrown up by the sea,
a castaway'. He has no legal standing unless taken in to service
at which time his honor price is then 1/3 that of his master.
Refusal of hospitality
To refuse someone food and
shelter where it is due would make the offender guilty of the
offence of esa/in Hospitality is the duty of every freeman.
Refusal requires a compensation equal to their honor price.
Now there are of course exceptions to this. The rank of
fer midboth and o/caire which had to only
provide hospitality to their lord as set in the clientship
contract due to their lack of property. There are instances
where hospitality would need to be refused such as in the
case of a known criminal. One such as this must not be fed or protected. If someone indirectly causes
another to refuse hospitality, he must himself pay the honor price
of the embarrassed host. An example of this would be not returning
borrowed food.
The obligation of hospitality falls to some degree on all
householders. To refuse food and shelter where it is due is to be
guilty of the offence of esain, literally, 'driving away'. In
Heptad 15, there is a list of women who lose their honor price and
it includes 'the woman who refuses hospitality to every 'law
abiding person'. (emphasis mine) Of course there are circumstances
where hospitality must be refused. Such as a criminal who can't be
fed or protected. And according to the text on Sunday observances, he
who supplies food to one who labors on Sunday is as guilty as the o
ffender himself.
A person who is refused hospitality is paid his
full honor price. Again, since an outsider has a lack of status
within the tuath, he has no surety nor pledge and no recourse within
the law.
Law of Protection
A very important principle of
Irish law is the right of any freeman to provide legal protection to
another person of equal or lesser rank for a specified period of time
(an aire ard - high lord - 15 days, an aire tuiseo - lord of
precedence - 10 days). To kill or injure a person under protection is
to commit the crime of diguin, 'violation of protection'. The
fine for this violation is the payment of the protector's honor price
as well as the appropriate payment to the victim or kin.
It was illegal, even for a cleric or a laymen of nemed rank to give
protection to various categories of offenders - runaway wife or slave,
a fugitive killer, an absconder from his kindred, a son who fails
to look after his father, just to name a few.
Source:
- A Guide to Early Irish Law, Fergus Kelly, Dublin Institute for Advance Studies,
1998
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