The Trembling Sod – Emerald Archives

The annalist’s verdict on 1145 was stark: there was “great war” and Ireland became a “trembling sod”. The phrase aptly captures a year in which alliances fractured, armies crossed provincial frontiers, fleets fought on the Shannon and cattle raids struck communities from Connacht to Airgialla. Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair remained the leading claimant to the high-kingship, but his authority was being tested by rebellion in Bréifne, renewed Munster aggression and the emergence of Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn as the dominant ruler of Cenél nÉogain. Not every episode can be given an exact day or even securely ordered within the year. The principal chronicles were compiled in different centres and sometimes assign deaths or campaigns to adjacent years. Nevertheless, their combined evidence makes 1145 unusually vivid as a turning point in the politics of pre-Norman Ireland.

A Contested High-Kingship

Ireland had no permanent central government comparable to that of contemporary England. Power rested in overlapping kingdoms, personal alliances and hierarchies of tribute. A claimant to the kingship of Ireland had to demonstrate supremacy repeatedly by receiving hostages, levying tribute, supporting dependent rulers and leading armies beyond his own province. Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht, had exercised such authority for decades, using sons and allies to extend his influence into Mide, Bréifne, Leinster and Munster.

His position in 1145 remained formidable but insecure. His son Conchobar, installed in Mide and regarded as a likely successor, had been killed in 1144. Tairdelbach had subsequently rearranged the divided kingship of Mide, but the settlement satisfied neither the local Ua Máelshechlainn dynasty nor ambitious neighbouring rulers. The peace negotiated in 1144 between Tairdelbach and his Munster namesake, Tairdelbach Ua Briain, also failed almost immediately. The result was not one coherent national war but a chain of connected conflicts in which regional rulers pursued territory, cattle, hostages and dynastic survival.

Mac Lochlainn’s Northern Recovery

The most consequential development occurred in the north. Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn had claimed the kingship of Cenél nÉogain in the 1130s but was expelled in 1143 by Domnall Ua Gairmledaig and his supporters. In 1145 the balance shifted decisively. The annals record that Cenél Conaill and Muirchertach defeated Domnall and the northern section of Cenél nÉogain, killing many. A second expedition then assembled in Muirchertach’s support. Cenél Conaill was joined by Donnchad Ua Cerbaill, king of Airgialla, and his forces. Domnall Ua Gairmledaig was driven from power and Muirchertach restored.

This was more than a local dynastic reversal. Mac Lochlainn now possessed the base from which he would challenge Ua Conchobair for supremacy across Ireland. His alliance with Cenél Conaill and Ua Cerbaill connected the military resources of the north-west, Cenél nÉogain and Airgialla. He did not yet dominate the island, and later achievements should not be read backwards into 1145, but his restoration created the second great centre of power that shaped Irish politics for the next two decades.

Bréifne Breaks Away

Tigernán Ua Ruairc, king of Bréifne, chose this unsettled moment to turn against the Connachtmen. He had long alternated between resistance to and cooperation with Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair. The settlement of Mide in 1144 had briefly given him territory there, only for a subsequent arrangement to frustrate his ambitions. In 1145 Ua Ruairc raided Corann, a strategically important district on Connacht’s north-eastern approaches. Tairdelbach retaliated in Mag Luirg and Mag Lughne, carrying away what the Four Masters describe as many thousands of cattle.

The conflict widened. At Dún Dubáin in Delbna, forces led by Máel Sechlainn son of Murchad Ua Máelshechlainn and the Cairbre Ua Ciarda defeated the men of Bréifne. The chronicles give their losses as 300, including several named leaders. Such totals cannot always be treated as exact headcounts, but the record clearly preserves the memory of a serious reverse. Ua Ruairc’s attempt to advance into Mide was checked, while warfare also entered Bréifne itself. Ruaidrí son of Cathal Ua Conchobair was killed by Bréifne men, and rival forces raided Uí Briúin territory, burning a stronghold, damaging large boats and seizing cattle.

Munster Returns to War

The men of Munster also moved north. Tairdelbach Ua Briain brought an army to Leitir Cranncha in the Slieve Bloom region, apparently intending to support action against Ua Ruairc and in Mide. Ua Conchobair established a defensive camp at Rubhann with a broad coalition. It included his son Domnall Mideach, Máel Sechlainn Ua Máelshechlainn, Conchobar son of Domnall Ua Briain and Diarmait Mac Carthaig. These names reveal divisions within Munster itself: Ua Briain and Mac Carthaig claimants could seek Connacht support against their own rivals.

When Munster troops advanced to scour the woods, Ua Conchobair’s coalition met and inflicted a slaughter upon them. The defeated army returned south without cattle, hostages, peace or truce. Yet the campaigning continued. Another Munster force entered Connacht, captured Tadc Ua Cellaig, king of Uí Maine, and killed Ruaidrí Ua Flaithbertaig. The Annals of Tigernach also describe an earlier Munster advance towards Mide and Connacht that was defeated by Domnall Ua Conchobair with Connacht and Mide troops. The precise relationship between these notices is uncertain, but all attest sustained warfare rather than a single expedition.

War on the Shannon

Control of rivers and lakes mattered as much as movement over land. One of the year’s most striking entries records a major victory by Ua Conchobair’s fleet over the fleet of Munster and the “foreigners” of Limerick at Buinne an Bheithe on the Shannon. These foreigners were the Norse-Gaelic inhabitants of Limerick, whose ships and maritime skills could be enlisted by Irish kings.

The engagement demonstrates the scale and sophistication of royal warfare. Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair was an experienced user of fleets, bridges and fortified places. Ships carried warriors, protected lake and river routes, and allowed attacks on settlements otherwise difficult to reach. Other entries concerning broken or burned boats show that vessels were valuable strategic assets. Naval defeat could therefore obstruct an army’s movement and expose allied territories along the Shannon.

Raiding and Regional Violence

Much of the violence consisted of predatory expeditions rather than formal battles. Murchad Ua Máelshechlainn raided Fernmagh, killing people and taking cattle, and later struck into Airgialla as far as Cuailgne. Ua Ruairc raided Mag Luirg. Síl Muiredaig forces entered Uí Briúin territory and returned with livestock and captives, while an answering attack fell upon part of their fleet. Donnchad Ua Mael Brenainn, chief of Clann Conchobair, and Donn Ua Mannacháin, king of Uí Briúin na Sionna, were killed in that encounter.

Donnchad Ua Cerbaill burned Treoit during a conflict with the followers of Ua Máelshechlainn; the Four Masters report that sixty people died. Clann Fiachrach was also burned, although the annal gives little explanatory detail. Such brief notices conceal the experience of ordinary inhabitants. Burning destroyed houses, stored food and working equipment. Captives might be held for ransom, redistributed among victors or subjected to servitude. Even where an army sought cattle rather than territory, its passage could leave a district short of animals needed for milk, breeding, traction and social obligations.

Armagh Builds in Stone

Amid the warfare, the year produced an exceptional record of construction. Gilla meic Liac, successor of Patrick and head of the church of Armagh, together with the wider Patrician clergy, erected an enormous limekiln opposite Emain Macha. The annals describe it as sixty feet in every direction. Medieval measurements and annalistic numbers require caution, but the notice unmistakably indicates an undertaking of unusual scale.

Burning limestone produced the lime required for mortar and plaster. The kiln therefore points to substantial masonry work at or near Armagh, although the chronicle does not identify the intended building and it would be unsafe to assign it to a particular surviving structure. Its location between Ireland’s chief Patrician ecclesiastical centre and the ancient royal landscape of Emain Macha carried powerful associations. It also required organised labour, fuel, quarried stone and specialist knowledge, revealing resources that major churches could command even in a year of political turmoil.

Gilla meic Liac belonged to the reforming leadership of the Irish Church. The diocesan system established earlier in the century was still developing, while new religious communities introduced practices with strong continental connections. At Mellifont in County Louth, founded in 1142 through the cooperation of St Malachy and Donnchad Ua Cerbaill, Ireland’s first Cistercian community was only a few years old. No major Mellifont event is securely dated to 1145, but its presence formed part of the year’s ecclesiastical setting. The recorded death of Sluaigedach Ua Catháin, a bishop associated with the people of Leighlin, further reflects the network of episcopal offices now shaping Irish church life.

Wealth, Work and Learning

The chronicles’ repeated emphasis on cattle reflects material reality. Livestock supplied dairy produce, hides and meat, but cattle were also movable wealth: tribute could be assessed in cows, compensation paid with them and political success displayed through their seizure or distribution. Cereals remained important, especially around richer lowlands and major settlements, while woodland, fisheries and seasonal grazing supported local economies. Most people lived in dispersed rural communities, including enclosed farmsteads, although ecclesiastical centres and Norse-Gaelic towns brought together craftspeople, merchants, clergy and specialised labour.

No surviving manuscript, poem or work of art can be confidently assigned specifically to 1145. That silence should not be mistaken for cultural inactivity. Kings maintained poets, jurists, historians and clerics, while churches trained readers and preserved Latin and Irish learning. The annals themselves, though surviving in later compilations, depended on generations of record-keeping in such learned environments. Their naming of rulers, bishops and battle sites—and their memorable image of the trembling sod—shows how political events were selected and shaped for communal memory.

A Year of Realignment

By the close of 1145, Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair had defeated several immediate threats but had not restored durable peace. Bréifne remained hostile, Munster forces had penetrated Connacht and Mide continued to generate rival claims. Most importantly, Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn had recovered Cenél nÉogain with powerful allies behind him. The year did not decide Ireland’s high-kingship, but it transformed the contest. Against the destructive rhythm of raid and counter-raid, the limekiln at Armagh offers a contrasting image: a society shaken by war, yet still capable of organised building, religious reform and long-term ambition.

Primary Sources

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