A reconsideration of the authorship and transmission of <i>Cogadh Gáedhel re Gallaibh</i>

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The eleventh-/twelfth-century encomiastic biography of Brian Boroma (ob. 1014), Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh ('The War of the Irish with the Foreigners'), was the most important text in cementing Brian's reputation as the medieval Irish king par excellence. Scholarly consensus considers it to have been written as a work of propaganda in favour of Brian's great-grandson, Muirchertach Ua Briain {ob. 1119), whose father, Tairdelbach, had earlier wrested the kingship of Dal Cais from his uncle, Donnchad (son of Brian). In this article it will be shown that, contrary to previous scholarly opinion, the text actually portrays Donnchad in a positive light. It will be argued that there may have been multiple versions of the text in existence but that the only surviving complete copy was written or reworked in favour of Donnchad's descendants (and not for Muirchertach) and it is this version which has influenced subsequent accounts of Brian's story, right into the modern period. Introduction With the possible exception of St Patrick, no single medieval figure has remained within Irish consciousness to the same degree as the eleventh-century king of Ireland Brian Boroma (Brian Boru) (see Figures 1 and 3). He owes this position to his supposed leadership of a 'national' struggle against the Vikings, * Author's e-mail: denis.casey@helsinki.fi doi: 10.33 18/PRIAC.201 3. 113.03 1 This article would not have been possible without the help and generosity of Dr Maire Ni Mhaonaigh, who read earlier drafts and discussed Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh with me at length. Thank you to the following who also read and commented on earlier drafts of this article: Dr Elizabeth Boyle, Professor Sean Duffy, Dr Deborah Hayden, Dr Meidhbhin Ni Urdail and the editors and anonymous peer-reviewers of these Proceedings. I am also grateful to Lenore Fischer for bringing work on the Book of Howth to my attention and to attendees of the 2010 Tionol (where an earlier version of this article was presented). Needless to say, none of the above are responsible for any errors or omissions in this article. I would also like to express my gratitude for support I have received from the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge; funding from the Society for Renaissance Studies and a visiting fellowship at An Foras Feasa, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, which afforded me the opportunity to complete this article. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 113C, 139-161 © 2013 Royal Irish Academy This content downloaded from 157.55.39.220 on Fri, 02 Sep 2016 04:27:11 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms