The Irish standard., 1895-06-15
q or ClI!D|NIllT
4 thousand Tailed NV arriors IS Nor.
;:F,Si way !SIaug entered by DaIcassian

81 Heroes. sa 5ss5
81 is now s81, years since the memor-
able battle of Clontarf was fought, in
which the venerable King Brian Boru
headed the Irish army Of about &c, 200
81 Hlen, in crushing the Danish forces and
n driving them out Of the island. The
Y Danish forces numbered about a 900
4 men, i'll three great divisions, and largely
n composed of trained warriors, clad in
4 mail armor. The Danes were better
@ euipped for the battle than the Irish. and
the story of their ringed and scaled ar
NOR Of tempered steel was spread all
over ireland, representing them to be ais
most invincible against the spears and
battle axes Of the Irish, who wore no
defensive armor, but depended upon
their aggressive onslaught and heavy
blows to carry the day. The historian
Cam brensis tells us that the heavy bat
tie axes Of the Irish warriors were.
welded by them with fearful effect.
They swung them with one hand, and
the weapons thus came from greater
height and with crushing force, $50 that
neither the crested helmet could defend
the head nor the iron folds Of the ar
NOR the body. Whence it has happened,
even in our times he continues, chat
the whole thigh of a soldier, though
c2sed in wei1-tempered armor, has been
Topped off by a single blow of the axe,
the limb falling on one side of the.
/, horse and the expiring body on the 9th
err
Besides these broadaxes, which were
3 exceedingly well-steeled the Irish, ac-
cording to this historian, used short
lances and darts, and they were very
dexterous beyond other nations In sling
ing stones in battle when other weap-
ons failed them The Danes resolved
to engage in battle contrary to the wish
of Brian, whose Christian feelings re-
VOTED against the thought of spending
the sacred day Of the. .crucifixion in
scenes Of carnage. When the two ar
mics were marshaled in battle array the
venerable monarch appeared on horse
back at early dawn and reviewed his
troops exhorting them to fight like pa
triOts and Christian soldiers. Holding
his sword in his right hand and cruel
fix In the left, he addressed his troops, !
recalling the tyranny and oppression of
the Danish invacsers, their sacriligious
outrages, murder and plumber of the
people, t"The great Gcd!' he exclaimed, |
"hath at last looked down upon our suf- |
ferlngs and endued you with the power |
and the courage this day to destroy for
ever the tyranny Of the Danes, and to |
punish them by the avenging power. of
the sword" and, raising aloft the cruel
fix, he said: "Was it not on this day.
- ~ ~x,SE f~sj
you?' His son, Morough, and his
grandson, Turlough, were present on the
field, and performed prodigies of valor
during the battle.
A thousand mailed warriors of Nor
way were cut down by the irresistible
onslaught of the Dalcassian phalanx un-
der MorOugh, Brian's son. He hewed
his way to the Danish standard and cut
down two successive bearers of it with
the battle axe, and killed two Danish
leaders who rushed upon him together
to avenge the standard bearers. Thus
the battle ragged from morning till be-
tween three and four o'clock in the after
noon, when the Danes began to give
way at every point. Morough received
8. mortal wound from Anrud, the Nor
wegian prince, whom he had stripped
of his armor by main strength and pin
toned to the ground with his sword.
Young Turlough, the grandson of Brian,
after the battle, lay with his lifeless
fingers still clutched in the hair of a
Dane with whom he had grappled. The
aged Brian met his death in the tent
at the hands of the fierce Viking Broad
er, who in his flight rushed into the tent
and struck him down before his pur-
pose was suspected in the confusion.
FIe was captured by the Irish and hung
to a tree The loss of life on both sides
was appalling, but the accounts vary
as to the actual numbers. The Danes,
however, had suffered such crushing
defeat that they dared not hazard an ,
other battle, and the Crown of Ireland
passed to Malachi, the last Irish king I:
who wore the crown as monarch Of Ire ,
and. ;