Archived: 25 October 2026
Abstract
In 1256, the political frontier running through Connacht and Breifne was anything but fixed. The year’s fullest surviving narrative, preserved in the Annals of Connacht and the closely related Annals of Loch Cé, records a remarkable sequence of armies, negotiations, raids, hostage-taking and local feuds. Its central event was a hard-fought encounter at Magh Slecht, near the passes of Sliabh an Iarainn, where Áed Ó Conchobair and Conchobar Ó Ruairc defeated leading men of the Uí Raghallaigh. Yet the battle was not an isolated clash: it exposed the fragile alliances and overlapping claims that shaped life in the Irish midlands.
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Archived: 25 October 2026
Abstract
In 1252, Crown authority in Ireland was asserted through fortification, campaigning and monetary reform, amid persistent regional conflict. Maurice FitzGerald built castles at Cáel Uisce and Moycova, the latter under oversight, while Henry III ordered fortification and expansion at Annaghdown. Justiciar John FitzGeoffrey’s expedition secured Brian Ó Néill’s submission and his brother Ruaidrí as hostage, though rivalry divided both colonial forces and Irish lordships. Annals recorded raids, killings and deaths, alongside Máelmaedóc Ó Beolláin’s death at Drumcliff. A winter wind preceded exceptional drought and early harvest. New Dublin coinage strengthened royal control, but personal alliances, cattle and churches remained central.
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