Medieval Irish Warriors

Jeffrey James takes a close look at the native Irish resistance to foreign invaders, from the Vikings to the Tudors. The Battle of Clontarf, 23 April 1014. One of Irish history’s decisive battles, Clontarf ended the possibility of Viking domination. It was as aggressors that the Irish first made their impact on European history. The quasi-legendary Irish warlord Cormac mac Airt, from the 3rd century AD, not only subdued almost all of Ireland, he also launched destructive attacks on Roman Britain. Another who did so, the following century, was Niall of the Nine Hostages. Chronicler Gildas recorded how in the 3rd and 4th centuries there emerged from ‘the coracles that carried them