Battle of Confey The Battle of Confey ( or Cenn Fuait ) was a battle fought in Ireland between Norse invaders and the King of Leinster Augaire mac Ailella . The battle was fought in 917 AD and led to the recapture of Dublin by the Norse dynasty that had been expelled from the city fifteen years earlier by Augaire ' s predecessor Cerball mac Muirecáin Ó Fáeláin and his ally Máel Finnia mac Flannacáin the King of Brega . Cenn Fuait . There is still some uncertainty concerning the location of the battle . The " Annals of Ulster " report that " Sitriuc , grandson of Ímar , landed with his fleet at Cenn Fuait on the border [ " airiur " , " airer " ] of Leinster . " No such place is known , but the " Annals of the Four Masters " record that the battle took place in " the valley above Tech Moling " . Tech Moling is St Mullin ' s , an ecclesiastical settlement in the extreme south of County Carlow , on the western boundary of Leinster , and accessible by ship via the River Barrow . Edmund Hogan identified Cenn Fuait ( " Fuat ' s Head " ) with Glynn , a village which lies on a small stream about a kilometre north - east of St Mullin ' s . The Four Masters record that after the battle the " foreigners of Ceann Fuaid " plundered Kildare , which lies about 50 km from Glynn . This led the historians John O ' Donovan and Bartholomew MacCarthy to identify Cenn Fuait with Confey or Confoy , near what is today Leixlip , County Kildare , on the border between Leinster and the Kingdom of Mide . W . M . Hennessy believed that " airiur " or " airer " indicated that Cenn Fuait was a headland on the coast of Leinster ; but no such headland is known , and it has been objected that while " airiur " can mean " coast " , it also denotes the border region between two neighbouring territories . Cath Cinn Fuait . The " Annals of Ulster " record the battle and the events that led to it thus : " Sitriuc , grandson of Ímar , landed with his fleet at Cenn Fuait on the border of Leinster . Ragnall , grandson of Ímar , with his second fleet moved against the foreigners of Waterford . A slaughter of the foreigners at Emly in Munster . The Eóganacht and the Ciarraige made another slaughter . " < br > < br > " Niall son of Aed , king of Ireland , led an army of the southern and northern Uí Néill to Munster to make war on the heathens . He halted on the 22nd day of the month of August at Topar Glethrach in Mag Feimin [ near Clonmel ] . The heathens had come into the district on the same day . The Irish attacked them between the hour of tierce and midday and they fought until eventide , and about a hundred men , the majority foreigners , fell between them . Reinforcements ( ? ) came from the camp of the foreigners to aid their fellows . The Irish turned back to their camp in face of the last reinforcement , i . e . Ragnall , king of the dark foreigners , accompanied by a large force of foreigners . Niall son of Aed proceeded with a small number against the heathens , so that God prevented a great slaughter of the others through him . After that Niall remained twenty nights encamped against the heathens . He sent word to the men of Leinster that they should lay siege to the encampment from a distance . They were routed by Sitriuc grandson of Ímar in the battle of Cenn Fuait , where five hundred , or somewhat more , fell . And there fell too Ugaire son of Ailill , king of Leinster , Mael Mórda son of Muirecán , king of eastern Life , Mael Maedóc son of Diarmait , a scholar and bishop of Leinster , Ugrán son of Cennéitig , king of Laois , and other leaders and nobles . " < br > < br > " Sitriuc grandson of Ímar entered Áth Cliath . " According to the later tract " Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib " and the " Annals of the Four Masters " the victorious Norsemen then plundered Kildare . The former text describes Sitric ' s capture of Dublin thus : " There came after that the immense royal fleet of Sitriuc and the family of Ímar , i . e . Sitriuc the Blind , the grandson of Ímar ; and they forced a landing at Dublin of Ath Cliath , and made an encampment there . " Impact of the Battle of Confey . The Battle of Confey took place during a time of increased Viking attacks . The victorious Vikings were led by Sigtrygg Caech ( also called Sigtrygg Gael or Sitric the Blind ) . The " Annals of the Four Masters " include among the 600 Irish dead several leaders in addition to Augaire mac Ailella the King of Leinster : " Maelmordha , son of Muireagan , lord of Eastern Life ; Mughron , son of Cinneidigh , lord of the three Comainns and of Laois ; Cinaedh , son of Tuathal , lord of Ui - Feineachlais ; and many other chieftains , with the arch - bishop Maelmaedhog , son of Diarmaid , who was one of the Ui - Conannla , Abbot of Gleann - Uisean , a distinguished scribe , anchorite , and an adept in the Latin learning and the Scotic language . " Norse settlers founded Leixlip after the battle . Sitric was a member of the Norse dynasty which had ruled Dublin from the middle of the ninth century until 902 . In that year the King of Dublin Ivar II and his family were driven from the city by Cerball mac Muirecáin Ó Fáeláin the King of Leinster and Máel Finnia mac Flannacáin the King of Brega . In the " Annals of Ulster " Sitric Caech and Ívarr II are both referred to as " ua Ímair " , " grandson of Ímar " , a reference to Ivar I , who was the King ( or co - regent ) of Dublin from about 853 until his death in 873 and the ancestor of most of the Norse rulers of the city . Sitric , therefore , was either a brother or a first cousin of the ousted Ivar II ( who had died in Scotland in 904 ) . It is probably safe to assume that he was born in Dublin and was a young man when he and his family were forced to flee for their lives in 902 . Following his victory at Cenn Fuait , Sitric occupied Dublin , which was to remain a Norse stronghold until the Anglo - Norman invasion in the twelfth century .