HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Brian Boru's Fort, also called Béal Ború, is a ringfort and National Monument located in
County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.


Location

Brian Boru's Fort is located immediately north of Killaloe, on the west bank of the River Shannon, commanding the southern entry to Lough Derg.


History

Dáithí Ó hÓgáin claimed this site as the birthplace or childhood home of Brian Boru (c. 941 – 1014), High King of Ireland 1002–14; as an adult he was based further south at Kincora (in modern Killaloe). Excavations in 1936 revealed over 800 stone implements, including ten stone axes, hammerstones and stone fishing sinkers for lines and nets, were found in the immediate neighbourhood. It is likely that it was occupied during the Stone Age. In 1961 Michael J. O'Kelly's excavations revealed a ringfort which had been inhabited, abandoned and later built over. A larger structure which included a bank and ditch was built at a later time. The name ''Béal Bórumha'' means "mouth of cattle tribute"; it may have been at the fording-point here that the Dál gCais paid or received such tributes. Brian Boru's fort was built in the eleventh century and stood possibly until 1116 when Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair's men defeated the Ua Briain and destroyed Kincora. Later finds include Hiberno-Norse pennies minted c.1035–70, decorated slate, five
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
pins, a tangled stud, 25 nails, two small sherds of pottery, animal and bird bones and musket balls. In 1207 the
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
tried to build a motte and bailey but were driven off. Geoffrey de Marisco instead built a castle at Killaloe in 1216.


Description

The fort is a mound of earth 70 m (80 yd) in diameter. The 1961 excavation discovered postholes of a rectangular wooden building with a central hearth near the western side of the enclosed area, situated perpendicular to the bank. It was approximately 4 m by 2.5 m (13 ft by 8 ft), with a paved entryway.


In fiction

Béal Ború is mentioned in Morgan Llywelyn's 1990 novel ''Brian Boru: Emperor of the Irish'', winner of a Bisto Award.


References


External links

*{{YouTube, YWHyJrd2xP8 National monuments in County Clare Archaeological sites in County Clare 11th century in Ireland