Clontarf

Clontarf , suburb of Dublin, Co. Dublin, E Republic of Ireland. It was the scene of a decisive defeat (1014) of the Danes by the Irish under Brian Boru , who himself was killed in the fighting. Clontarf Castle was built (1835) on the site of an ancient castle that belonged successively to the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitalers.

Clontarf [Ir. cluain tarbh, bull meadow]. Site of the battle where Brian Bórama (Boru) defeated the Danes on Good Friday, 1014. Today Clontarf is a northern suburb of metropolitan Dublin.

Bibliography

See A. J. Goedheer , Irish and Norse Traditions About the Battle of Clontarf (Haarlem, Netherlands, 1938)

Clontarf, battle of (1014). This most famous of all Irish battles was fought near Dublin between Brian Bóruma (Boru) at the head of a predominantly Munster army on the one side, and an alliance of Leinster and Viking forces on the other. While a significant encounter at the time, its fame grew even more in the telling, and tracts such as Cogadh Gáedhel re Gallaibh and the Old Norse Brennu‐Njáls Saga present us with a considerably embellished version of events. In such literary accounts, the battle is portrayed as a struggle for the sovereignty of Ireland with the victory of Brian's forces signalling, according to Irish scribes, the final defeat of a foreign oppressor. Annalistic records, generally of a more sober nature, suggest that the battle should instead be viewed as an attempt by the Leinstermen, with the help of their Norse allies, to assert their independence against their dominant Munster neighbour. Moreover, despite being defeated, the Leinstermen did in fact gain respite following the encounter, since Brian's death in the battle marked the beginning of a temporary decline in Dál Cais power.

Máire Ní Mhaonaigh