Later this week on Wednesday 20th April I am due to give a talk to the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society at 8pm at the Community Centre in Leighlinbridge. The lecture will be about my latest book The Kings of Aileach and the Vikings, AD 800 -1060. This will be my first in person talk to promote my new book since the Covid Pandemic hit in March 2020, so I am eagerly looking forward to the opportunity.
While the majority of my lecture will deal with personalities and events in the north of Ireland, there will be a section of interest to Carlow locals, when I will discuss the activities in the south of Ireland of Niall Glúndub, a high-king of Ireland from the Cenél nEógain, in the early tenth century and in particular the Battle of Cenn Fúait, which was probably fought near St Mullins in 917 AD. In this battle Augaire, the king of Leinster, suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Viking invaders known as the Grandsons of Ívarr.
My talk should be of interest to anyone who would like to know more about Viking activity in the north of Ireland during the early Viking Age, as this is an area that is often overlooked by historians who concentrate on Viking activity in Dublin and the south of Ireland. The talk will shed some light on why no Hiberno-Norse towns developed in the north of Ireland. It will also discuss how the expulsion of the Scandinavians from the northern part of the island may later inadvertently led to the end of the old-style high-kingship of Ireland.