About this episode

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the historical significance of the Battle of Clontarf and its impact on Irish identity.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the best known events and figures in Irish history. In 1014 Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeated the Hiberno-Norse forces of Sigtrygg Silkbeard and allies near their Dublin stronghold, with Brian losing his life on the day of battle. Soon chroniclers in Ireland and abroad were recording and retelling the events, raising the status of Brian Boru as one who sacrificed himself for Ireland, Christ-like, a connection reinforced by the battle taking place on Good Friday. While some of the facts are contested, the Battle of Clontarf became a powerful symbol of what a united Ireland could achieve by force against invaders. With Seán Duffy Professor of Medieval Irish and Insular History at Trinity College Dublin Máire Ní Mhaonaigh Professor of Celtic and Medieval Studies at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge And Alex Woolf Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of St Andrews Producer: Simon Tillotson Reading list: Howard B. Clarke, Sheila Dooley and Ruth Johnson, Dublin and the Viking World (O'Brien Press Ltd, 2018) Howard B. Clarke and Ruth Johnson (ed.), The Vikings in Ireland and Beyond: Before…

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