1014 |
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15 August 2026 - Erlenbach
1014, as you may remember, is the year the Battle of Clontarf took place. I did not. Nor where exactly Clontarf is (next to the then young town of Dublin). Fortunately Morgan Llywelyn's book has a subtitle, Brian Boru & the Battle for Ireland. I picked it up in a small bookshop in Dublin when I was there three years ago along with a pile of other books. And I am so glad I did! Llywelyn weaves the bits of history into a tale focusing on Brian Boru's origin and the other characters in the run up to the battle. Llywelyn lionizes Boru a bit too much, so one gets the impression she is not exactly an impartial storyteller. But everyone in the story has a mixture of flaws and virtues. It was invading Norsemen against the Irish and I know well the history of the Norse, so it was interesting to see it from the Irish perspective. It seems that, in the end, everyone died at Clontarf, including the title character. This did keep Ireland from undergoing another major invasion for a century though.
