Glas Liatháin’s Orphaned Land
Archived: 27 October 2026
Abstract
In 943, a sudden northern catastrophe altered the balance of Irish politics. Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech and one of the foremost members of the Northern Uí Néill, was killed by a force from Viking Dublin. The loss was more than that of a successful war leader. Contemporary annalists styled him rígdamna Érenn, a man eligible for the kingship of Ireland, and the Annals of Ulster mourned him in a short verse as though the land of the Irish had been left bereft.The year’s evidence is concentrated, violent and uneven. It records clashes around Strangford Lough, the killing of