The last great High King of Ireland.
I’ve been reading The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd. It’s a historical fiction that takes you through the ages of Ireland. So far I’m really enjoying it. What’s not to love about Celts, Druids, and Vikings?! :)
Anyway, I just read about Brian Boru, and I found his bit in the book so interesting, that I had to learn more about him. This is an exact depiction of him:
Well, some artistic liberties may have been taken here, but I like it, so I’m just gonna go with it. ;)
I watched some videos on youtube and read up on wikipedia and some other sites, and Brian Boru began to really come to life.
He was a son of the King of the Munster region, but because he was the youngest of 12, he was sent to school at a monastery. When he was 10 his father was killed by Vikings, and thus began BB’s lifelong quest against these Norsemen.
Long story short, Brian learned how to fight, became king of Munster after his brother’s death, and did something no other High King ever did – he united all the small states and kingdoms of Ireland under one ruler. There was a lot of bloodshed, to be sure, but once he became king, Ireland enjoyed a decade of relative prosperity. Brian Boru was a very good king. Unfortunately, when BB was in his 80′s, the Norsmen rose up against him again. Though BB’s men won the epic Battle of Clontarf, one of his sons was killed and so was Brian Boru. After his death, nobody was able to keep the tribes and clans of Ireland united under one kingdom, thus the united Ireland died with the last great High King, Brian Boru.
What I also found interesting is that BB’s brother, Ulf the Quarrelsome (shown here exactly as he was last seen), who was apparently also a bloodthirsty badass warrior, avenged Brian Boru’s death by finding the guy that killed BB, cutting his belly open, and tying him to a tree with his own intestines. Wicked!
I can’t seem to get enough of this Brian Boru right now. I found a historical fiction novel called Lion of Ireland that I would LOVE to read, but I’ve got about 10 books in my queue right now (including some James Joyce of course), plus I’m broke. So if anybody out there has read it, let me know what you thought of it!
Well, here’s to Brian Boru: the warrior, the High King, the legend. Enjoy! :)
