As we packed our bags and left Dublin we also left behind the delicious breakfast of the Maldron at Parnell Square. Just as I got used to my way around Parnell Square it is time to move on. What I didn’t know is the historical events that happened on the same grounds I walked on every day.
Parnell Square runs along O’Connell Street and Dame Street to Christ Church, it is the traditional starting point for all of the most important processions and parades in the city. The large scale of the houses of Parnell Square, constructed during the late 1700s, has allowed them to become hotels, offices and schools. The buildings on Parnell Square include Rotunda Maternity Hospital, trade union headquarters, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane, the Gate Theater, Irish Writers’ Center, Dublin Writhers’ Museum, Abbey Presbyterian Church. Previous excavations have uncovered burials believed to be from the battle of Clontarf in 1014.
The events that took place at the Battle of Clontarf on Good Friday, April 23, 1014 were the product of two centuries of conflict between Irish kings and Vikings. The battle was between Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, and an alliance of the forces of Sigtrygg Silkbeard, King of Dublin, Máel Mórda mac Murchada, the King of Leinster, and a Vikings led by Sigurd, Earl of Orkney, and Brodir of the Isle of Man. It lasted from sunrise to sunset, and ended in the retreat of the alliance forces. Brian was killed as well as his son, Murchad, and his grandson, Toirdelbach.
The stories of these battles are popular in schools and communities even to this day. Ruth Johnson, Dublin City Archaeologist, said that there’s little evidence of the battle and, it probably didn’t take place where most people think, Clontarf. She has concluded that there is very little direct evidence of the actual battle itself. A journal in the 18th century referenced to the discovery of mass Viking graves with weaponry and human bones on Parnell Square. Potentially the only real link to the battle. Since this occurred pre-archaeology and that Georgians were great developers they cleared everything out to make way to build houses with cellars. So why, if the battle was won and lost at Parnell Square, is it named for Clontarf, which is three miles north along the coast?
Well, no one really knows. It is known the battle happened somewhere on the north side of the River Liffey, because the Viking fleet from the Isle of Man and the north and west of Scotland landed around Clontarf. It is imagined that Brian Boru’s army marched from south to north across the city. It wouldn’t make sense for them to fight at Clontarf, if they were fighting for the city you would imagine them fighting near such as at Parnell Square.
Parnell Square runs along O’Connell Street and Dame Street to Christ Church, it is the traditional starting point for all of the most important processions and parades in the city. The large scale of the houses of Parnell Square, constructed during the late 1700s, has allowed them to become hotels, offices and schools. The buildings on Parnell Square include Rotunda Maternity Hospital, trade union headquarters, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane, the Gate Theater, Irish Writers’ Center, Dublin Writhers’ Museum, Abbey Presbyterian Church. Previous excavations have uncovered burials believed to be from the battle of Clontarf in 1014.
The events that took place at the Battle of Clontarf on Good Friday, April 23, 1014 were the product of two centuries of conflict between Irish kings and Vikings. The battle was between Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, and an alliance of the forces of Sigtrygg Silkbeard, King of Dublin, Máel Mórda mac Murchada, the King of Leinster, and a Vikings led by Sigurd, Earl of Orkney, and Brodir of the Isle of Man. It lasted from sunrise to sunset, and ended in the retreat of the alliance forces. Brian was killed as well as his son, Murchad, and his grandson, Toirdelbach.
The stories of these battles are popular in schools and communities even to this day. Ruth Johnson, Dublin City Archaeologist, said that there’s little evidence of the battle and, it probably didn’t take place where most people think, Clontarf. She has concluded that there is very little direct evidence of the actual battle itself. A journal in the 18th century referenced to the discovery of mass Viking graves with weaponry and human bones on Parnell Square. Potentially the only real link to the battle. Since this occurred pre-archaeology and that Georgians were great developers they cleared everything out to make way to build houses with cellars. So why, if the battle was won and lost at Parnell Square, is it named for Clontarf, which is three miles north along the coast?
Well, no one really knows. It is known the battle happened somewhere on the north side of the River Liffey, because the Viking fleet from the Isle of Man and the north and west of Scotland landed around Clontarf. It is imagined that Brian Boru’s army marched from south to north across the city. It wouldn’t make sense for them to fight at Clontarf, if they were fighting for the city you would imagine them fighting near such as at Parnell Square.