HE Northern tribes, known as Danes and Norsemen, made their first recorded attack on the English coasts in A.D. 787. Their fleet consisted of only three ships, and was probably an exploring expedition. Eight years afterwards they descended in greater force on both the English and Irish shores; and from A.D. 795 Ireland was for centuries devastated and plundered, and her people slaughtered, by these northern pirates.

The Irish annals do not call the foreign invaders Danes, bu distinguish their combined hordes as Dubh-gall, and Fionn-gall; 'Black Strangers,' and 'White Strangers.' The former being probably Danes, so called from their black garments, and the latter Norwegians, who were clothed in lighter hues. In the ninth century they were known as Lochlanders, or Dwellers on Lakes.'

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Ireland was divided amongst a number of petty kings, under a supreme monarch, the Ard-Righ, or high king, who reigned at Tara and the sovereign who filled the throne at the time of the Danish invasion was Aedan. During the entire period of his reign, the Northmen continued to ravage the island, their success being greatly due to the jealousies and dissensions of the native kings and chiefs, who would not abandon their feuds, even with a national enemy at their gates. The Danes, repeatedly defeated, returned still to the attack; till at last, unhappily with the assistance of some of the Irish chiefs, they gained a footing in the island, and established themselves in Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, and other towns on the sea-coast. In A.D. 815, the Norse chief, Turgesius, arrived with a powerful fleet; and being joined by some of those traitorous princes, who preferred their own interests to that of their country, he maintained his hold on the island for thirty years; plundering the rich shrines and religious houses of Kildare and Armagh, devastating the country, and oppressing the people with every form of tyranny; for these northern barbarians were still pagans, and seem to have been imbued with a bitter hatred of Christianity.

The charms of a woman at length proved fatal to the fierce Viking. Captivated by the beauty of the daughter of the King of Meath, he demanded her from her father; who, concealing his horror at the proposal, consented. A meeting was arranged on a small island in Loch Var; and thither the princess went, attended by fifteen young maidens, and was received by the grim pirate, who was accompanied by fifteen young nobles. But the fifteen maidens were really fifteen brave youths, who concealed daggers under their female disguise; and no sooner did the Norsemen attempt to caress them, than they were all stabbed, and perished with their chief.

When the news of this exploit spread through the country the people rose against their oppressors on all sides, killing them wherever they found them. So that great numbers of the Danes were forced to betake themselves to their ships, and flee back to their own land; but the Norsemen still retained possession of Limerick, and some other places, and soon a fresh reinforcement arrived from the Baltic.

Up to this time, the Northmen had been divided amongst themselves, and their expeditions were made under various petty sea-kings; but now they returned in greater force than ever, under the command of the renowned brothers, Anlaf, Ivar, and Sitric; Ivar is

described as king of all the Northmen of Ireland and Britain. The Danes had been expelled from Dublin, but receiving fresh supplies from England and the Orkneys, they regained possession of the city under Godfred, the grandson of Ivar.

In A.D. 920, Donogh, of the race of the Hy-Niells, succeeded to the throne of Ireland; and Murkertach, the Roydamna, or heirapparent, a brave and patriotic prince, used all his power to expel the foreign enemies from the country, defeating them again and again in fiercely contested battles; but unfortunately for the efforts of the brave young prince, Callachan, king of Cashel, one of the most famous of Ireland's warrior-kings, allied himself with the common foe, and carried rapine and devastation amongst his own countrymen. Unhappily, his was not the only instance of selfishness and want of patriotism.

And now Dublin was the seat of a regular succession of Danish monarchs. Anlaf, king of Dublin and Northumbria, married the daughter of Constantine, king of Albany, as Scotland was then called. He joined his father-in-law against the Saxon king, Athelstan, and entered the Humber with an immense force of Northmen and Irish in 615 ships. But the combined kings were routed in a great battle at Brunanburgh; Anlaf escaped to Dublin with the wreck of his army, and Athelstan was the first sole monarch of England.

Even during this stormy period, in the midst of violence and disorder, Ireland still maintained her ancient reputation for learning and sanctity; and Cormac, king and bishop of Cashel, poet, historian, and warrior, has left behind him an undying name in the history and literature of his country; whilst the beautiful chapel which he built at Cashel is a monument of Irish architecture of the close of the ninth century.

Through the darkness and strife of the tenth century, Murkertach, the Roydamna, stands out as the brave defender of his country. Victorious over the Northmen of Dublin, he compelled them to pay tribute, and to deliver up Sitric, their prince; carried away the king of their traitorous allies, the men of Leinster, as a hostage, and led away captive his fierce rival, Callachan. But in A.D. 943, the heroic prince met his death fighting valiantly against the foreign invaders, 'A warrior of the saffron hue,* and the hero of Western Europe.' Had his life been prolonged, he might have freed his country from her oppressors; but he was snatched from her, and in the words of one of her own bards, Without law to guide her, with rulers treacherous, false, and factious, the realm of Erin hath sunk into darkness.'

At last there arose a chief, destined to complete the work that Murkertach began. This was Brian, surnamed Boromh, or Boru, son of Kennedy, king of Munster. He was brought up in the warlike habits of the Dalcassians, the race to which he belonged, and of whom it was said that they were ever the first in the field, and the last to leave it. Whilst still a youth, he collected about him a number of his young companions, and lurking in the woods and

* Saffron was the favourite colour of the Irish in their dress. Its use was rendered penal by a statute of Henry VIII. The colour is frequently alluded to by the ancient Irish bards.

mountain passes, he harassed the Northmen as they returned from their plundering expeditions, or cut off stragglers from their armies. When Mahon, his elder brother, succeeded to the throne of Munster, Brian accompanied him in all his campaigns against the Northmen, frequently defeating them, and carrying off rich spoils. But how great were the difficulties the brothers had to contend with may be judged from the fact, that when returning laden with booty from one of their successful expeditions they were suddenly attacked by the Irish chief, Fergal O'Ruarc, and, in spite of their valour, were obliged to retreat before his superior forces.

The Northmen had embraced Christianity about A.D. 948, but their conversion produced no change in their habits, and they still went on plundering and burning in all directions. Limerick was rich with the spoils of Ireland; and in A.D. 967, when Mahon and Brian routed the Danes at Sulchoid, they pursued them to Limerick; and entering the city with the fugitives, sacked it, and burnt it to the ground. The brothers continued their victorious career together, till Mahon, suffering himself to be lured into a snare by Maolmua, a treacherous Irish prince, was carried off to the mountains by night, and there secretly murdered.

Brian was now King of Munster; and his first act was to avenge the death of his brother. Invading the territories of Maolmua and his confederates, he almost destroyed their army, though they had obtained assistance from the Danes, and Maolmua himself fell by the hand of Brian's son, Morrough. The king then turned his arms against the Danes, and drove them from the islands they had occupied in the Shannon.

At this time, the supreme monarch of Ireland was Domnal, the son of the hero Murkertach; but he did not emulate his father's fame, and he was succeeded by Malachy the Great. Shortly after his accession, the new monarch signalised himself by a great victory over the Danes of Dublin and the Isles, who had attacked him in his own dominions, and after a stubborn conflict, continued with little intermission for three days and nights, forced them to submit to his conditions, which comprised the release of all their Irish captives; these numbered about 2000; and amongst them were many princes and chieftains. Anlaf, the king of Dublin, overwhelmed with grief at his defeat, and at the loss of his son who fell in the battle, went on a pilgrimage to Iona, and there dieu. This great conflict is known as the Battle of Tara.

Brian had now to contend against a confederation of ti. Irish princes, formed to avoid paying the tribute due to Munster; but he overcame all his opponents, and even the attacks of Malachy himsel, who had invaded his dominions, and cut down the sacred tree in the Plain of Adoration, at Adair, under the boughs of which the Dalcassian princes were inaugurated. A convention was entered into by the rival heroes, but it was of short duration; hostilities broke out afresh, and after a protracted struggle victory declared for Brian, who took possession of the Royal Rath, and burnt the Palace of Tara. The rival sovereigns now entered into a league with each other; and suppressing their own feuds, they turned their arms against the common foe, the Northmen, carrying devastation to the gates of

Dublin, and defeating an immense army of the Danes that attempted to surprise them at Glen-Mama, and carrying off great spoils of gold and silver which the Danes had obtained in their plundering forays.

But though the two kings fought against the enemies of their country, their rivalry was constantly breaking out. Malachy was as brave as Brian. In those days the kings fought at the head of their armies, singling out the opposing chiefs for combat. It was from a Danish chieftain, Tomar, that Malachy won the collar of gold, celebrated in Irish song. At length, after many contests, Brian marched again upon Tara, and there received the submission of Malachy, the last of a line of fifty monarchs of Ireland, of the race of Hy-Niell, and was acknowledged Ard-Righ, or High King.

After overcoming the opposition of a number of the Irish kings and chiefs, Brian turned his attention to restoring order, and under his firm rule Ireland enjoyed a period of comparative tranquillity. So strict was he in the administration of justice, that the bards tell us that in his time a beautiful maiden, in rich attire, adorned with jewels, and bearing in her hand a white wand, travelled through the island alone, without meeting with insult or robbery.

But this golden age was of brief duration. The King of Leinster united his forces with the Northmen, and invading Meath, the dominion of Malachy, defeated him, and slew his son. And though Brian had refused aid to his former rival in his need, he soon afterwards led his army to Dublin, laying waste the country on his march, whilst his son Morrough ravaged Leinster. Brian remained encamped at Kilmainham from August to Christmas of A.D. 1013; and though he declined risking a battle, he returned laden with booty to his palace of Kinkora. Meantime the Danes made a descent on the south coast, and plundered and burned the city of Cork; but were beaten off by the natives, and forced to retreat to their ships, with the loss of the young Anlaf,* the son of the King of Dublin.

And now the Northmen, who were fast losing their power before the hero of Munster, began to prepare for an overwhelming attack on the Irish nation, and solicited aid from every part of Europe where they had settlements. From Denmark and Norway, Scotland, and the Orkney and Shetland Isles, troops came pouring in, whilst adventurers from all parts, lured by the hope of plunder, brought with them their wives and children, to share in the possession of a country which was reputed to be fertile and wealthy.

Brian was now eighty-seven years old. From the age of fifteen his life had been spent in a continual struggle against the enemies of his native land, and he now saw them arrayed against him side by side with his own traitorous countrymen, the Lagenians. But the aged hero was undismayed; assembling his forces, and being joined by the Kings of Meath and Connaught, he marched to the plain of Dublin, and encamping there, he secretly dispatched his son Donough with a select body of troops to ravage Leinster, strictly enjoining him to return within two days, as he did not expect the enemy to give battle before that time. But the Northmen, being apprised of

* The frequency of this name amongst the Danes and Norwegians causes some confusion in their annals, the deeds of different chiefs of the name being sometimes attributed to one.