A Year of Fracture
The most consequential firmly recorded event was the death at Dublin of Murchad, son of Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó. Contemporary annalistic traditions call him king of Leinster and of the foreigners, meaning the Hiberno-Norse inhabitants of Dublin and associated forces. The later Annals of the Four Masters describe him more cautiously as lord of both under his father. Either wording reflects his position as the active lieutenant and probable principal heir of Diarmait, then the strongest ruler in southern Ireland.