Clontarf; Part One: The Prelude
Near Casteltoun, the Isle of Man
18 March 912 AD


“Father, can you tell me what Dublin was like again, please?” Came the pleas of his young son. “Again! What’s this, the tenth time today, you seem eager boy,” Gofraid bellowed to the laughter of all the men on board.

“There is nothing wrong with wanting to know our home.” The boy protested. “And did I ever say there was?” He told the boy while settling down to speak. “Dublin was a great and beautiful city. Trade flowed from all-over and the tribute from the Irish kings wasn’t too bad either,” he said to his men’s laughter.

“The greatest thing, for me though, was the freedom. The freedom of the sea right next to us always present and always accessible,” with that he smirked, reminiscing about times past. “You could breathe in its salt spray and the chances and opportunities to embark on great journeys to see and explore our world were always there to be grabbed by the horns. Simply boy it was home,” he finished.

“And that’s why we’re meeting uncle Ragnvald here to get it back,” stated Olaf. “Exactly my boy,” and in pursuit of said goal the ship would quickly reach the land and beach on the sand.

While his other accompanying ships were doing the same Gofraid would jump over the side of his ship and join his men in dragging the vessel fully up onto the sand.

“Ásl gather the men once all have landed and set up a surrounding defence for the ships, nothing major just for safety,” he told the man who nodded in the affirmative. “I can already see billows of smoke from here, hopefully from Ragnvald’s camp, we’ll be moving once that has been done.”

Within an hour all ten ships would be on the beach and nearly two hundred and fifty men would be advancing towards the smoke leaving fifty men defending the ships. An hour later they would arrive in a decent clearing filled with tents, billowing banners and throng of men moving about. Gofraid would direct his men to set up camp on the outskirts of this one. While the men of the original camp would maintain some apprehension towards the strangers they would abide the newcomers with the almost identical banners.

Gofraid, on the other hand, would strike off with Ásl and his son towards the biggest tent in the camp. The one most likely to belong to his older brother. A man he hadn’t seen in seven years and who most likely still, like then, had a singular goal that was burning in them all. The return of the Uí Ímair to glory and power.

Arriving at and entering the tent he would be met with the man himself and what would be his council. Ragnvald would look up from the table and squint before smiling and crossing the room to embrace his brother. “Gofraid! You’ve made it. There were thoughts that you may not have attempted the seas as rough as they are but I’m glad you did,” he exclaimed. “Thank you Ragnvald but I would never miss something as important as this. I’ve also brought my son Olaf and this is my man Ásl,” he said presenting both individuals.

“Come here boy let me look at you,” coercing Olaf closer. He looked at him before stating “Strong lad you have here, one to be proud of,” to which he replied, “One I am proud of.”

“Good as he’s to be part of the strong future of our family,” declared Ragnvald before returning to the head of the table. “How many men have you brought,” he asked. “With me here I have around three hundred men and ten longships,” Gofraid replied. “Three hundred men isn’t exactly a great warband,” one of the men around the table would quip.

“No, it isn’t that’s why I have two thousand more men and sixty more ships ready and waiting to be called to fight. I must ask though how many men have you brought by yourself to the venture?”

The man in question would quickly quieten to the chuckle of his companions after which Ragnvald would enquire “-and these men can be called on quickly if needed I presume?” “With no notice, they could all be here and ready within a month,” would be his reply. “Good, with my men, yours, Sitric’s and our allies we have all the warriors and resources we need.”

“From our presence on Man I would presume Bardr is part of those allies,” he asked. “He was to be one of those allies but the bastard doesn’t see the bigger picture contenting himself with his little kingdom. The gathering of forces here is partially to convince him otherwise.”

“And if he is not convinced?” asked Olaf.

“Then he dies boy. We can not have someone with such an amount of men to be to our metaphorical rear and the men, ships and land of Man as a staging ground itself are too great to pass up,” was Ragnvald’s reply. That declaration added a note of finality to the air and discussion in the room before Ragnvald went and dismissed his men.

As the last man shuffled out of the tent Ragnvald would embrace his brother once more bringing him and his son to the table and pour them some mead. “I do not think Olaf is old enough to drink yet,” warned Gofraid. “If he’s old enough to go on a campaign he’s old enough to drink and as long as none of us tells his mother we should be fine. Hopefully.” jested Ragnvald. “How is Gytha by the way?” “She is fine and in good health.” “Good.”

A comfortable silence would settle over the brothers before being broken by Gofraid with him asking, “I have to ask brother, with your talk of a staging ground, the number of men we are gathering and how they are being gathered here partially to convince Bardr, are we…” “Taking back what is ours, yes, yes we are. The dogs Máel Finnia and Cerball. Flann Sinna is an old man only getting older and Dublin isn’t even ruled directly by any of the Uí Néill, some man named Knight is their steward there and as such the amount of defences and men devoted to it by them low. This is the time we’ve been waiting ten years for, the time to strike.”

“-And Sitric?” asked Gofraid. “Sitric shall be arriving soon with his forces from England and I would ask that you send word to your forces quickly.” Gofraid nodded in assent. “They will be ready and waiting. The Uí Néill shan’t see us coming.”

Gofraid would down his cup and get up with his son attempting the same but choking. “Get up boy, your going to have to get used to that with him around,” Gofraid said gesturing to Ragnvald. Olaf would grin, wipe his mouth and rush out with Ásl right behind him and Gofraid turning to go with them but the man would stop and turn back to his brother.

“One final thing I wish to know is the need of so many men, I mean with all my men, yours, Sitric’s and any allies that’s somewhere near ten thousand warriors. To take back an undermanned Dublin I would question the need for so many forces.”

Ragnvald’s face would turn very solemn before answering,“We don’t have the luxury of wide farming lands to give to give to any potential settlers unlike the flotnar in England and as such while we can attract as many men as them we are unable to keep such. Remember when you were twelve and the number of ships and men in Dublin seemed to halve?” Gofraid would nod. “That’s because it did, half of all our forces left to seek their fortunes and livelihoods elsewhere. There simply wasn’t enough land to keep them all there. The Uí Néill and to a greater extent all the Irish kings don’t have this issue and they know we do. One day there’ll be too many of them compared to us that battle would become suicide, even against their unarmoured hides,” exclaimed Ragnvald.

“In essence, the reason I’m gathering so many men is that for the issue to never become a problem. We’re not just taking back what is ours but also taking a little of theirs and burning the rest. We need so many men to crush their armies, kill their kings and end their fight. When we’re done there will be just a bunch of infighting kings fighting over their burning scraps not to trouble us for the next one-hundred years. When we’re done the Shannon will burn red and on that island, We. Will Reign. Supreme.”

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This is the first part of a series on the POD. It's also the first part of a group of post centred on or around the Isle of Man which was @Youngmarshall request after guessing the correct answer to the previous challenge.

The current challenge is if anyone can figure out the differences between Athair a Stáit and The Unification Period. If you solve it, you can get both a cookie and either a named character, an event you want to happen - at my discretion of course - or something else along those lines.

If you have any historical event or happening that you would like reviewed as in the death of this guy or this battle goes differently say so. If you don't I'll most likely blow past it and just assume it went as OTL. Thanks, again.

As always any questions you have, please ask. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy it.
 
Thanks, guys. You guys support means a lot but don't worry the story is still going on I was just busy with school and exams. That's all over now so new chapters should be coming out soon and I expect to have at least get to or past the Unification wars before the end of the holiday.
 
The Siege
The Siúr, Outside Port Láirge
12th August 953


“Row! Row! Row!”

As if the crash and boom of the coming storm in the darkening sky weren’t hard enough on Ívarr’s headache the abusively loud commands coming from the skipari[1] certainly wasn’t helping any.

Suddenly and thankfully it seemed the Lord had decided to answer his prayers and the bellowing of the skipari hushed up. Unfortunately that most likely meant that they were closing in on the enemy and the battle was soon to start.

Which certainly isn’t going to make his headache any better.

Outside the Walls of Port Láirge, the Irish Camp
13th August 953


‘Dawn.’

The light from the sun finally illuminated the river and its opening to the soldiers on land. And what was there waiting for them was truly a beautiful sight.

All remaining ships still flying the banner of the Danes were slowly slipping into the waters of the river Siúr which was now controlled by ships of Mide.

“It’s practically over, we have them surrounded,” exclaimed Cathal.

“It’s not over until their leaders are kneeling before the Rí and we garrison the city but by God, we’re getting there,” replied Joscelin.

“I suggest all of you stop standing around being useless and go and break your fasts. We may need to fight and it’s best to do such without a hole in your stomach,” came the voice of Joscelin’s commander.

Soldiers all around the camp would settle down and group together to eat breakfast. Parts of the fleet would come ashore and the men from said ships would flood into the camp to meet the hearty congratulations from their landed counterparts with even more cheers being raised by the arrival of the main body of Lachtna’s army.

Aside of the occasional rotation of the beached portions of the fleet and the constant inflow of Lachtna’s men into the camp through the rest of the day would proceed in much the same way the previous days of the siege had.

Two hours after midday though, two men waving white banners would break from the camp and speedily approach the walls of the settlement.

“Joscelin, look at that,” came Cathal jerking his head towards the riders. “Looks like their going to ask for their surrender,” Joscelin said, turning his body to face the riders. “For which they’re going to get a big fat no,” he finished.

As if he was foretelling the future the riders would reach the walls and, aside from a short exchange with the men on the other side of it, would be quickly riding back into the camp they came from.

Joscelin sighed. “Sorry sir, if only victory was that easy.”

The Irish Command Tent

“I’m sorry mo ríthe, we weren’t even able to get into terms of any form it was just a quick no,” came the returning peace envoy.

“As expected,” stated Daniél. “Come now you can’t tell me that you weren’t holding out any hope at all,” questioned Beollán mac Ciarmaic[2] representative of decimated Síl nÁedo Sláine with distant relation to the previous royal family and one of the handful of the clan still living.

“I was holding out all the hope. I hoped they would agree to treat so we could get this city taken and this army moving but I knew they wouldn’t. What we hope for isn’t what we should expect and prepare for,” replied Daniél.

“Well then, they said no, so now we need to plan our next course of action. Thank you rider…?” “Loïc,” the rider finished for him. “Well thank you Loïc. You’re dismissed.” The man would nod before exiting the tent.

“If we plan to begin retaking the south anytime soon we’ll have to wrap this up quickly which means directly assaulting the walls,” came Lachtna mac Cennétig Ruiri of Tuadmumu. “Yes, and then have no men left to retake the south with afterwards,” was his reply from Daniél.

“Despite that, it seems more and more the action we are going to have to take if we plan to proceed from here with any haste that is,” Lachtna said. “And why must haste be our goal,” came one of the minor Laigen kings, “I think that we should take the path of caution here and starve them out, it is the far more sensible approach,” he finished to murmurs of agreement throughout the assembly.

“We must have haste or else these marauders will continue to raid and despoil to the fatal detriment of all still under their pagan yolk. Nevermind their encroaching threat to Corcaigh and Cashel, the peril of those souls inside both and the further entrenchment of the Northmen in the south.” Lachtna retorted. “I understand and have no wish to be dismissive of such concerns but it is not as if Mumain lacks defenders of its own. They can hold out for a while at least in addition to the fact this force was raised as a Laigen army to free Laigin it will be hard to convince our airig[3] and soldiers even if this proceeds with no issue to continue on, imagine trying to do so with the losses of a costly assault. It’d be like trying to go hunting blindfolded, pointless and painful. I maintain we wait,” replied the Rí buiden.

“A Laigen army to free Laigin? How dare you dismi-” started Lachtna who was suddenly cut-off by Daníel. “Aside from the fact that it was an army from Mide that started the freeing of Laigin, we are all together committed to the expulsion of the Northmen from the island for the safety and freedom of us all. That said, your hunting analogy has given me an idea and I think it’s a damn good one. If all goes well my fellow rí, this siege should be over sooner than thought.”

Aside from minor grumbling from some of the rí buiden at the reprimand, everyone would quiet down and lean in.

The Unification Period | Ríain Ó Ferghus - published 2003
Chapter 8


...The 15th of August would see the beginnings of progress for the besieging army at Port Láirge. Sources would have the Irish opening fire on the settlement from both land and sea with focus seemingly on burning down sections of the wall in tandem with constant hit and run attacks on said walls or picking off the few ranged troops left within the settlement.

Gaelic control of the river would have made attempts at sourcing water for the fires highly difficult add to this the relatively dry autumn that year and the Norsemen were essentially playing a very intense game of whack-a-mole.

And at the difficulty they were playing at it quickly became a very impossible game. Our sources go into surprising detail and we know that despite their efforts fires would take and burn through several parts of the settlement. By the time the situation had been calmed two openings both four men wide would be in the earth-reinforced palisade that functioned as the settlement's walls.

1.jpg

Dane Axe used by the Norsemen​

The Gaels had accomplished their goal and now a far less risky assault could be attempted through the breaches rather than over the walls as the situation had previously presented itself. Preparations seem to have been made towards such but at this point, the historical record becomes exceedingly blurry.

The army of the Gaels would, for some reason, be divided into two with one half marching off towards the north along with part of the fleet. We aren’t really sure towards what purpose but another Viking force, Viking troubles in Mide, issues with Loch Garman or a combination of these issues have all been raised as a solution to this gap in our knowledge.

Nevertheless, this removal of half the fighting strength of the Irish force would most likely have been treated with caution by the besieged Northmen before elation at this miraculous turn of events. The idea of breaking the siege using their superior numbers and armour would form and the voices supporting it would grow louder and louder and louder.

With the possibility of the northern forces’ return and the current disposition of forces seemingly in their favour, a plan to achieve this would be set and the sortie from the settlement organised. Prayers would be said to whatever gods one believed in for its success and towards the end of August or early September, the Northmen would burst out through the openings of their settlement shields locked with their brethren ready to end this siege and send these ‘invaders’ to their deaths.
Luke Asiril - Cogaí an Aontais | QuickHistory.com

After nearly a month besieged in the tight war camp that would have been early Port Láirge things are finally starting to look up for the Norsemen. Half of the Gaelic army’s gone up north and they don’t seem to be coming back anytime soon. They have double the number of men of the besiegers and they’re also far better armoured than pretty much all of the opposing army. If all goes to plan by the end of that day the siege should be broken and help from Luimneach could be sought after.

Any organisational planner could tell you that no plan never survives its execution intact. Battlelines would be formed screening the breaches and the settlement's entrance. The Irish would have quickly caught wind of these developments and would have deployed to face them. The slow approach of the Norsemen towards the Irish camp would turn into a running charge shields locked with their fellow Viking ready to give the Gaels hell.

And then the first issue would arise. The Gaels had, wisely, set up many defences and protections towards the defence of the camp. Traps, stakes and ditches aplenty would impede the progress of the Norse charge. The now relatively compacted Norse lines would then be crushed further into preset Gaelic chokepoints of tents and stakes. The original numerical advantage and the hope for speed advantage were already being worn.

Contact now on a line, or in lines, far more narrow than the Norsemen would have hope for would see the start of the melee battle that would decide the siege. Despite having numerical and most likely material superiority the practically equal concentration of forces at the various points of contact and the Irish superiority in long-range forces would see the fighting turn into a long, hard and grinding back and forth.

And then the second issue would arise. For your average soldier on the field that day it would have started as a low grumble from the ground rising and rising in volume and noise towards a shattering crescendo. Dramatic? Yes, but effective at painting a picture. The wood surrounding Port Láirge and the battlefield would see horseman after horseman flying many a Gaelic banner burst out of its confines, behind the Viking lines and ride towards their Northern foes ready to deal a killing blow. Even more dramatic? Yes, but also very effective at painting the picture.

Basically, though the cavalry had returned. Somehow avoiding the earlier traps and pitfalls set up to hamper the Viking advance the horsemen would smash into the back of the Norse host. Crushed between two opposing forces the fighting would quickly transform into a Norse rout that would see them attempt to break out in all directions away from the settlement.

And then the third issue would arise. Still at a ranged disadvantage and now heavily pressed by the Gaelic cavalry many of the avenues to safety would be most definitely blocked. The reappearance of the infantry half of the Gaelic army gone north certainly didn’t help matters. Appearing opposite of the calvary’s entrance point, pretty much all escape routes were now blocked.

Waterfrod_Vikings_Video_-_RIA_Holding_Image.jpg

Representation of really early Port Láirge sent in by an artsy reader​

Surrounded on all sides and with no way out attempts at defence against the Gaels and consolidation of forces would be attempted but bit by bit ground would be lost and towards the walls, they would be pushed. Fighting would last for not much longer before the surrender of the Northern army would be accepted by the Gaelic kings. We don’t have exact numbers but the butcher's bill for the Vikings would be quite high especially when compared to that of the Gaels.

Nearly all contemporary sources agree that the ‘timely’ intervention of the returning half of the Gaelic army was pre-planned and prepared for with the northern half having left to present a more attractive target to the Vikings in the form of the weakened camp but staying close enough to be present to defend against said attack with the fact that we don’t have any reports of the returning cavalry falling prey to the earlier set camp defences adding to this idea. A few do posit that it really was a happy coincidence that befell the Gaels but that is highly unlikely.

Nevertheless, early September would see Port Láirge firmly in the hands of the Gaels, the east of the island free of the Norse and only one remaining Viking army left to expunge from the earth.

For the Irish, things were looking good.


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[1]. Viking position for the Captain of the ship.

[2]. He would marry Cadlinar/Caitlín (Danny's wife) in real life and would die in OTL in 969 making him quite old.

[3]. Freemen who were essentially lords but were not any rank of Rí (king).


*********​


May. May last year was the last time I updated and July was my last post to here. I am so sorry for failing to update for so long despite promising to do so. I should've had this out long ago and I really have no excuse for not doing so aside from starting college so again I'm really sorry and I am working to improve and I will be attempting to actually have a rigid writing schedule.

This chapter was one big lead up to and then the battle of Waterford itself. Vikings are now expelled from the east but these two new cities, their previous occupants and the land they're on will need to be dealt with along with the enemy to the west. It was a fun one to write but battles as always aren't down to a pat yet for me.

The current challenge is if anyone can figure out the differences between Athair a Stáit and The Unification Period. If you solve it, you can get both a cookie and either a named character, an event you want to happen - at my discretion of course - or something else along those lines.

If you have any historical event or happening that you would like reviewed as in the death of a guy or a battle goes differently say so. If you don't I'll most likely blow past it and just assume it went as OTL.

As always any questions you have, please ask. Thanks for reading. Sorry again and hope you enjoy it.
 
Okay so in keeping with my new attempts to keep to schedule I shall hopefully be able to give you guys an update at least every two weeks. I'll be starting the next update immediately after this post and already have the general framework of what I want to do in my head so no more May to February hiatuses. Hopefully. Thanks again for all the support and I'm gonna keep on with the timeline.

To reiterate, the current challenge is that if anyone can figure out the differences between Athair a Stáit and The Unification Period. If you solve it, you can get both a cookie and either a named character, an event you want to happen - at my discretion of course - or something else along those lines. Also, you have any historical event or happening that you would like reviewed as in the death of a guy or a battle goes differently say so. If you don't I'll most likely blow past it and just assume it went as OTL.

As always any questions you have or feedback you want to give please do so. Thanks for reading.
 
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