- 905 wrote:
- Riadach, where did you get the figure of 7,000 for either side?
Shockingly
here. Probably not the best source though, especially since it has no references or sources :-(
However
Annals of ulster
Brian son of Ceinnétig son of Lorcán, king of Ireland, and Mael Sechnaill son of Domnall, king of Temair, led an army to Áth Cliath. All the Laigin were assembled to meet him, and the foreigners of Áth Cliath, and a like number of the foreigners of Scandinavia, i.e.
to the number of 1,000 breastplates. A valiant battle was fought between them, the like of which was never
before encountered. Then the foreigners and the Laigin first broke in defeat, and they were completely wiped out. There fell on the side of the foreign troop in this battle Mael Mórda son of Murchad, king of Laigin, and Domnall son of Fergal, king of the Forthuatha, and of the foreigners there fell Dubgall son of Amlaíb, Siucraid son of Lodur, jarl of Innsi Orc, and Gilla Ciaráin son of Glún Iairn, heir designate of the foreigners, and Oittir Dub and Suartgair and Donnchad grandson of Erulb and Griséne and Luimne and Amlaíb son of Lagmann and Brotor who slew Brian i.e. chief of the Scandinavian fleet,
and six thousand who were killed or drowned. Of the Irish moreover there fell in the counter-shock Brian son of Ceinnétig, over-king of the Irish of Ireland, and of the foreigners and of the Britons, the Augustus of the whole of north-west Europe, and his son Murchad, and the latter's son, i.e. Tairdelbach son of Murchad, and Conaing son of Donn Cuan son of Cennéitig, heir designate of Mumu, and Mothla son of Domnall son of Faelán, king of the Déisi Muman; Eochu son of Dúnadach and Niall ua Cuinn and Ceinnéitig's son, —Brian's three companions; two kings of Uí Maine, Ua Cellaig
. . . . . . . . , and Mael Ruanaid ua hEidin, king of Aidne, and Géibennach ua Dubagáin, king of Fernmag, and Mac Bethad son of Muiredach Claen, king of Ciarraige Luachra and Domnall son of Diarmait, king of Corcu Baiscinn, and Scannlán son of Cathal, king of Eóganacht of Loch Léin, and Domnall son of Eimen son of Cainnech, earl of Marr in Scotland, and many other nobles. Mael Muire son of Eochaid, successor of Patrick, with his venerable clerics and relics, came moreover to Sord Coluim Chille, and brought away the body of Brian, king of Ireland, and the body of his son Murchad, and the head of Conaing and the head of Mothla, and buried them in Ard Macha in a new tomb. For twelve nights the community of Patrick waked the bodies in honour of the dead king.
Afm
An army was led by Brian, son of Ceinneidigh, son of Lorcan, King of Ireland, and by Maelseachlainn, son of Domhnall, King of Teamhair, to Ath-cliath. The foreigners of the west of Europe assembled against Brian and Maelseachlainn; and they took with them ten hundred men with coats of mail. A spirited, fierce, violent, vengeful, and furious battle was fought between them, the likeness of which was not to be found in that time,—at Cluaintarbh, on the Friday before Easter precisely. In this battle were slain Brian, son of Ceinneidigh, monarch of Ireland, who was the Augustus of all the West of Europe, in the eighty-eighth year of his age; Murchadh, son of Brian, heir apparent to the sovereignty of Ireland, in the sixty-third year of his age; Conaing, son of Donncuan, the son of Brian's brother; Toirdhealbhach, son of Murchadh, son of Brian; Mothla, son of Domhnall, son of Faelan, lord of the Deisi-Mumhan;
Eocha, son of Dunadhach, i.e. chief of Clann-Scannlain; Niall Ua Cuinn; Cuduiligh, son of Ceinneidigh, the three companions of Brian; Tadhg Ua Ceallaigh, lord of Ui Maine; Maelruanaidh na Paidre Ua hEidhin, lord of Aidhne; Geibheannach, son of Dubhagan, lord of Feara-Maighe; Mac-Beatha, son of Muireadhach Claen, lord of Ciarraighe-Luachra; Domhnall, son of Diarmaid, lord of Corca-Bhaiscinn; Scannlan, son of Cathal, lord of Eoghanacht-Locha Lein; and Domhnall, son of Eimhin, son of Cainneach, great steward of Mair in Alba. The forces were afterwards routed by dint of battling,
bravery, and striking, by Maelseachlainn, from Tulcainn to Ath-cliath, against the foreigners and the Leinstermen; and there fell Maelmordha, son of Murchadh, son of Finn, King of Leinster; the son of Brogarbhan, son of Conchobhar, Tanist of Ui-Failghe; and Tuathal, son of Ugaire, royal heir of Leinster; and a countless slaughter of the Leinstermen along with them. There were also slain Dubhghall, son of Amhlaeibh, and Gillaciarain, son of Gluniairn, two tanists of the foreigners; Sichfrith, son of Loder, Earl of Innsi hOrc; Brodar, chief of the Danes of Denmark, who was the person that slew Brian.
The ten hundred in armour were cut to pieces, and at the least three thousand of the
foreigners were there slain. It was of the death of Brian and of this battle the
following quatrain was composed:
- Thirteen years, one thousand complete, since Christ was born, not long since the date,
Of prosperous years—accurate the enumeration—until the foreigners were slaughtered together with Brian.
Maelmuire, son of Eochaidh, successor of Patrick, proceeded with the seniors and relics to Sord-Choluim-Chille; and they carried from thence the body of
Brian, King of Ireland, and the body of Murchadh, his son, and the head of Conaing, and the head of Mothla. Maelmuire and his clergy waked the bodies with great honour and veneration; and they were interred at Ard-Macha in a new tomb.
Annals of Loch Cé
LC1014.310] A great assemblage of the men of Mumha, and Midhe,
11] and the South of Connacht, by Brian Boromha, son of
12] Cenneidigh, i.e. the King of Erinn, against the Foreigners
13] of Ath-cliath, and against the Lagenians, to bring them
14] under his obedience, as he had previously brought them;
15] for a mutually aggressive war kindled and arose, at that
16] time, between Brian and the Foreigners of Ath-cliath and
17] the Lagenians. Brian took up a position in Cluain-tarbh
18] in old Magh-Ealta, to the north of Ath-cliath. To attack
19] Ath-cliath on this occasion was not to attack a 'neglected
20] breach.' It was like putting a hand into a griffin's nest
21] to assail it. It woulld not be evading conflict, but seeking
22] great battles and contests, to advance against the multitude
23] that had then arrived there; for the choicest brave
1] men and heroes of the island of Britain had arrived
2] there, from Caer-Eabhrog, and from Caer-Eighist, and
3] from Caer-Goniath. There arrived there, still, the principal
4] kings and chieftans, knights and warriors, champions
5] of valour and brave men of the north of the world, both
6] Black Lochlonnachs and Fair Lochlonnachs, in the
7] following and friendship of the Foreigners, until they
8] were in Ath-cliath, with the son of Amhlaibh, offering
9] war and battle to the Gaeidhel. Thither came Siograd
10] Finn, and Siograd Donn, two sons of Lothar, Jarl of
11] Innsi-hOrc, accompanied by the armies of Innsi-hOrc.
12] Thither came, moreover, great hosts from Innsi-Gall, and
13] from Manainn, and from the Renna, and from the Britons,
14] and from the Flemings. There arrived there also Brodar,
15] i.e. the Jarl of Caer-Eabhrog, with very great hosts, and
16] Uithir the Black, i.e. the warrior of
Caer- Eighist, and
17] Grisine, a knight of the Flemings, and Greisiam from the Normans.
18] There arrived there, likewise, a thousand bold,
19] brave, powerful heroes of the black Danars, with shields
20] and targets, and with many corslets, from Thafinn. The
21] great armies and famous young bands of Fine-Gall were
22] also there, and the merchants who had come from the
23] lands of France, and from the Saxons, and from Britain,
24] and from the Romans. There arrived there, moreover,
25] Maelmordha, son of Murchadh, son of Finn, i.e. the chief
26] king of the province of Laighen, with the kings, and
27] chieftains, and brave men of Laighen, with youths and
28] servants accompanying them in the same multitude.
29] Great,indeed, was the multitude and assemblage that
30] came thither. Warlike and haughty was the uprising they
1] made, viz.:—the warriors and champions of the Foreigners,
2] and of the Gaeidhel of Laighen, against the battalions of the
3] men of Mumha, and to ward off from them the oppression of
4] Brian Boromha. The muster of the Danars was, therefore,
5]
six great battalions, i.e, one battalion guarding the fortress
6] within, and five battalions contending against the
7] Gaeidhel.
8] Brian, however, assembled neither host nor multitude
9] against this great army of the west of the world, and of
10] Foreigners, but the men of Mumha alone, and Maelshechlainn
11] with the men of Midhe; for there came not to him the
12] Ulidians, nor the Airghialla; nor the Cenel-Eoghain,
13] nor the Cenel-Conaill; nor the men of Connacht, save the Hi-Maine,
14] and Hi-Fiachrach, and Cenel-Oedha; for goodwill
15] existed not then between Brian and Tadhg-an-eichghil,
16] son of Cathal, son of Conchobhar, king of Connacht;
17] and hence it was that Tadhg refused to go with Brian to
18] that battle of Cluain-tarbh.
19] Moreover, Indeirghe, son of Uradhan, i.e. Brian's orderly-servant,
20] saw in a vision, the night before the battle, a
21] synod of many clerics, as he thought, coming towards the
22] camp, singing psalms and reading aloud; and Indeirghe
23] asked who the clerics were. ‘That is Senan, son of Gerrchinn’,
24] said the clerics. ‘What has brought him hither
25] from his own church?’ asked Indeirghe. ‘Debts that are
26] due to him from Brian’, replied the cleric, ‘and it is to
1] demand them he has come here’. ‘They would be paid
2] to him at his house’, said Indeirghe, ‘even though he
3] had not come here’. ‘To-morrow the time for paying
4] them to Senan arrives’, said the cleric, ‘and they must
5] be paid’. They afterwards departed from him. Indeirghe
6] told Brian, moreover, the vision that he had seen, and his
7]
Brian's mind was the worse for hearing it.
8] Diarmaid Ua Corcrain, i.e. the orderly-man of Domhnall,
9] son of Diarmaid, and who had been at the killing
10] of the Foreigners in Inis-Cathaigh, saw the same vision,
11] on the night of Easter Friday, for Brian; and
12] thirty-seven years before that Friday night in which Brian was slain
13] this vision was seen.
14] Oebhinn, daughter of Donn-Oilen, came a short time
15] before nocturns on that night, from the Sidh of Craigliath,
16] to converse with Brian, and told him that he
17] would fall on the morrow. Brian enquired of her which
18] of his sons would be king after him, and how many of them
19] would be slain in the battle along with himself.
20] ‘The first son
whom thou shalt see shall be king after
21] thee,’ said she. Wherefore it was that Brian sent for
22] Murchadh, in order that he might come to speak with him
23] before all, ere the multitude would arrive. Murchadh
24] came not until he put on his garment. Then it was that
25] Donnchadh heard the voice of Brian, conversing with his
26] Ordlerly-servant, and he waited not to put on all his
27] clothes, but came quickly and placed his hand on the post
28] of the bed in which Brian was, in his tent, and asked
29] Brian what he should do, whether he should go on the
1] foraging excursions, or remain in the camp. Brian said,
2] however, when he recognized Donnnchadh's voice,
for he
3] liked not his being the first to come to him, ‘I care not
4] what thou doest,’ said he, ‘as it was not for thee I was
5] seeking’ Donnchadh, moreover, left the tent after that,
6] in anger, and Murchadh met him in the door of the tent,
7] and neither of them saluted the other.
8] When Murchadh, also, came and was conversing with
9] Brian, Brian said to him: ‘go to thy bed’, said he, ‘until
10] the day comes, and that which I should wish, God has not
11] permitted to thee.’ All evil omens were thus crowding
12] upon them until the morning of the day came with its full
13] brightness, i.e. Easter Friday. It was then that a brave,
14] noble battle was fought between them on both sides,
15] for which no equal was found in Erinn. The Foreigners
16] and Lagenians were first defeated and entirely routed, in
17] quo bello cecidit ex adversa caterva Gallorum, Maelmordha,
18] son of Murchadh, chief king of Laighen, and
19] Domhnall, son of Ferghal, king of the Fortuatha, and
20] Brogarbhan, son of Conchobhar, king of Uí-Failghe.
21] Cecidit vero a Gallis, Dubhgall, son of Amhlaibh, and
22] Sighrud, son of Lothar, Jarl of Insi-hOrc, and Gillaciarain,
23] son of Gluniarainn, royal heir of the Foreigners; Uithir
24] the Black, and Suairtghair, and Donnchadh, grandson of
25] hErulbh, and Grisine, and Luimne, and Amhlaibh, son of
26] Lagmann, and Brodar,
i.e. the captain of the Lochlann
27] fleet, who slew Brian;
and six thousand, either by killing
28] or drowning. There fell there, also, in the mutual
29] wounding of that battle, of the Gaeidhel, Brian, son of
30] Cenneidigh, son of Lorcan, supreme king of the Gaeidhel
31] of Erinn, and of the Foreigners of Britain, and the
32] Augustus of the whole north-west of Europe, and his son,
p.13
1] i.e. Murchadh, and his son, viz. Toirrdhelbhach, son of
2] Murchadh; and Conaing, son of Donncuan, son of Cenneidigh,
3] royal heir of Mumha; and Mothla, son of Domhnall,
4] son of Faelan, king of the Deisi-Mumhan; and Eochaidh,
5] son of Dunadhach, and Niall, son of Conn, and Cuduiligh,
6] son of Cenneidigh—Brian's three guards; and Tadhg, son of
7] Murchadh Ua Ceallaigh, king of Uí-Maine; Maelruanaidh
8] Ua hEidhin, king of Aighne; Geibhendach Ua Dubhagain,
9] king of Fera-Maighe; and Mac-Bethaidh, son of Muiredhach
10] Claen, king of Ciarraighe-Luachra; and Domhnall,
11] son of Diarmaid, king of Corca-Bhaiscinn; Sgannlan, son
12] of Cathal, king of Eoghanacht-Locha-Léin; and Domhnall,
13] son of Eimhin, son of Cainnech Mór, great steward
14] of Marr in Alba; et alii multi nobiles.
15] The supreme king, i.e. Brian, son of Cenneidigh, and
16] Conaing, son of Donncuan, were behind the battalions,
17] chaunting their psalms, and performing prayers, when
18] a vehement, furious, Danmarkian escaped from the battle,
19] avoiding death, until he came to the place where the king
20] was. As soon as the Danmarkian perceived the king
21] unguarded, he unsheathed his sword, and beheaded
22] the supreme king of Erinn, and he beheaded Conaing likewise;
23] and he himself fell in the mutual wounding of that
24] fight.
25] Maelmuire, son of Eochaidh, i.e. the
comarb of Patrick,
26] came, truly, with seniors and, relics to Sord-Choluim-Chille,
27] and bore from thence the bodies of Brian and his
28] son Murchadh, and the head of Conaing, and the head of
29] Mothla, which he buried at Ard-Macha, in a new grave.
30] Two nights, moreover, was he, with the congregation of Patrick,
31] waking the bodies, propter honorem regis positi.
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