In this episode, Dr Niamh Wycherley and Dr Catherine Swift (Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick) take a deep dive into the complex contexts of the ultimate Queen of medieval Ireland, Gormlaith, daughter of Murchad, son of Finn (King of Leinster). Famous as the mother of kings and wife to kings, she was born into Leinster aristocracy and is remembered in the Annals of Inisfallen as the Queen of Munster. Gormlaith's life was marked by a series of important events, most notably the Battle of Clontarf, 1014, in which two sides of her family battled for the control of Dublin.

Suggested reading:

In addition to the works mentioned in the episode, see Máire NÍ Mhaonaigh, 'Tales of three Gormlaiths in early Irish literature', Ériu 52 (2002), 1–24; Ailbhe Mac Shamhráin, 'The battle of Glenn Máma, Dublin and the high-kingship of Ireland', Medieval Dublin II, ed. S. Duffy (Dublin, 2001). For the suggestion of an early marriage between Gormlaith and Mael Sechnaill (King of Tara), see A. Woolf, From Pictland to Alba: 789–1070  (Edinburgh, 2007).

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Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & Science Foundation Ireland/The Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

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