now occupied by the town of Killaloe. He rebuilt the monasteries that had been destroyed by the Danes, and erected bridges and fortresses all over the country. He founded and restored schools and colleges, repressed evil-doers, and caused the laws to be obeyed, so that the country was less disturbed and more prosperous than it had been for a long time before. The bright picture handed down to us of the state of Ireland during the dozen years that elapsed from his accession to the battle of Clontarf, is illustrated by the well-known legend, that a beautiful young lady richly dressed, and bearing a gold ring of great value on her wand, traversed the country alone from north to south without being molested : a fiction which Moore has embalmed in the beautiful song "Rich and rare were the gems she wore."

LTHOUGH chafing under Brian Boru's rule, the Danes durst not make any hostile move, for the old king was stern and strong, and while they hated him much they feared him more. It is likely that in the long run they would have taken some opportunity

*The account of the battle given in these two chapters is taken mainly from an ancient Irish chronicle called "The Wars of the Gaels with the Galls" (of the Irish with the Danes), and partly from the Norse Saga or story called "Burnt Nial," in which is given the Danish account of the battle.

to break out and attempt his overthrow; yet the immediate circumstances that led to the battle of Clontarf were brought about, not by them, but by Mailmora, king of Leinster.

On one occasion while Mailmora was on a visit at Kincora with the king his brother-in-law, some bitter words passed between him and Murrogh, Brian's eldest son, at a game of chess; so that he left the palace in anger and made his way to his own kingdom of Leinster, determined to revolt. He induced some neighbouring chiefs, and also the Dublin Danes, to join him; and they began by attacking Malachi's kingA.D. 1013 dom of Meath, as he was now one of Brian's adherents. Malachi defended himself successfully for some time, but was at last obliged to call in the aid of Brian; and the war went on without much result till Christmas, when the king returned to Kincora, determined to renew the campaign in the following spring.

Mailmora and the Danish leaders now began actively at the work of mustering forces for the final struggle ; and Gormlaith, who was at this time in Dublin among her own people-having been discarded by Brian because she had taken sides against himself and in favour of the Danes-was no less active than her relatives. Her son Sitric of the Silken Beard, Danish king of Dublin, acting under her directions, engaged the services of Sigurd earl of the Orkneys, as well as of Broder and Amlaff of the Isle of Man, the two earls of all the north of England, who promised to be in Dublin on Palm Sunday, the day fixed on for the meeting of all the confederates. Broder had once been a Christian, but now worshipped heathen fiends: "he had a coat of mail on which no steel would bite"; he was both tall

and strong, and his black locks were so long that he tucked them under his belt. These two vikings, Broder and Amlaff, who had a great fleet with 2000 "Danmarkians 66 are described as 'the chiefs of ships and outlaws and Danes of all the west of Europe, having no reverence for God or for man, for church or for sanctuary." There came also 1000 men covered with coats of mail from head to foot: a very formidable band, seeing that the Irish fought as usual in tunics. Envoys were despatched in other directions also: and troops of Norsemen sailed towards Dublin from Scotland, from the Isles of Shetland, from the Hebrides, from France and Germany, and from the distant shores of Scandinavia.

While Sitric and others were thus successfully working abroad, Mailmora was equally active at home; and by the time all the foreign auxiliaries had joined muster, and Dublin Bay was crowded with their black ships from the Liffey to Ben Edar, he had collected the forces of Leinster and arranged them in three great battalions within and around the walls of Dublin.

The Irish monarch had now no time to lose. He assembled his army about the 17th of March; and having encamped near Kilmainham, on the "Green of Aha-clee" (Dublin), that is, on the level grassy plain now called the Phoenix Park, he set fire to the Danish districts near Dublin, so that the fierce Norsemen within the city could see the country the whole way from Dublin to Howth smoking and blazing. And brooding vengeance, they raised their standards and sallied forth determined to give battle.

On Thursday evening the king got word that the Danes were making preparations to fight next day-Good Friday. The good king Brian was very

unwilling to fight on that solemn day; but he was not able to avoid it. At dawn of day on Friday, 23rd April, the Irish army began their march from their encampment in three divisions. The van consisted of

the Dalcassians commanded by Murrogh;

A.D. 1014 next came the men of the rest of Munster under O'Faelan prince of the Decies; and the forces of Connaught formed the third division under O'Hyne and O'Kelly. There were two companies brought by the great Stewards of Mar and Lennox in Scotland, who were related to the southern Irish, and who now came to aid them in their hour of need. The men of Meath, the southern Hy Neill (p. 62), were also there under Malachi: the northern Hy Neill took no part in the battle. A few days previously, Brian's son Donogh had been sent with a large body of Dalcassians to devastate Leinster, expecting to be back in time for battle. With that exception every living man of the old king's family stood there that day to fight by his side-all his sons and nephews, and his grandson Turlogh, a youth of fifteen, the son of Murrogh. The ranks were in very close order; so solid looking that, in the language of one of the old records, it seemed as if a chariot could be driven along on their heads.

The Danish and Leinster forces also formed three divisions. In the van were the foreign Danes under the command of Broder and Sigurd; behind these were the Danes of Dublin under a chief named Duvgall; and the Leinstermen, led by Mailmora, formed the third division. Sitric the king of Dublin was not in the battle he remained behind to guard the city. We are not told the numbers engaged: but there were probably about 20,000 men on each side.

At that time Dublin city, which was held by the Danes, lay altogether south of the Liffey, the narrow streets crowding round the Danish fortress which crowned the hill where now stands Dublin Castle. All the district on the north bank of the river, from the Phoenix Park to Clontarf, now covered by portions of the city, was open country, with a piece of natural forest called Tomar's Wood stretching from the neighbourhood of Drumcondra, on by Phibsborough, towards the Liffey: and the only way to reach the city from that side was by Duvgall's Bridge, on the site of the present bridge at the foot of Church-street, just above the Four Courts. The Liffey was then unconfined, and spread out widely, and the sea flowed over the space where now stand the Custom House, Amiens-street, the Northern Railway Terminus, and all the adjacent streets lying between them and the sea. The main battle-ground extended from about the present Upper Sackville-street to the river Tolka, and beyond along the shore towards Clontarf. The Danes stood with their backs to the sea; the Irish on the land side facing them. Malachi and his men stood on the high ground, probably somewhere about Cabra and Phibsborough. The hardest fighting appears to have taken place round the fishing weir on the Tolka, at, or perhaps a little above, the present Ballybough Bridge: and indeed the battle is called in some old Irish authorities "The Battle of the Weir of Clontarf."

In the march from the camping place the venerable · monarch rode at the head of the army; but his sons. and friends prevailed on him, on account of his agehe was now seventy-three-to leave the chief command to his son Murrogh. When they had come near the place of conflict, the army halted; and the king,.