Ireland’s Troy?

As Ireland marks the millennium of the Battle of Clontarf - portrayed as a heroic encounter between Irish and Vikings which defined the nation's identity - new research argues that our main source for what happened may be more literary history than historical fact. This was more than a literary flourish, it was a work of a superb, sophisticated and learned author - Máire Ní Mhaonaigh The standard account of the Battle of Clontarf - a defining moment in Irish history which happened 1,000 years ago this week - was partly a "pseudo-history" borrowed from the tale of Troy, new research suggests. The findings, which are to be published in a forthcoming book about the intellectual culture of medieval Ireland, coincide with extensive celebrations in Dublin marking the millennium of Clontarf, which was fought on Good Friday, April 23, 1014. In popular history, the battle has been characterised as an epic and violent clash between the army of the Christian Irish High King, Brian Boru, and a combined force led by the rebel king of the territory of Leinster, Máel Mórda, and Sitric, leader of the Dublin-based Vikings. The disputed outcome saw the Vikings beaten off, but at huge cost. Brian himself was killed, and became an iconic figure and Irish martyr. According to the new study, however, much of what we know about Clontarf may be rooted not in historical fact, but a brilliant work of historical literature which modelled sections of its text on an earlier account of the siege of Troy.