The Walls of Dublin
Sung by Sheena Wellington and the composer, Lorcán Mac Mathúna, The Walls of Dublin rounded off Like the Corn Cut Down by the River, the story of the battle of Clontarf, fought on Good Friday 1014 outside the walls of the city. In the battle, the army of the Irish High King Brian Boru defeated a Norse invasion force led by Earl Sigurd of Orkney. The state of the tide played a role in the battle, enabling the Norse ships to land in the early morning but later cutting off the retreating Norsemen from them. A 19th-century calculation of the tides in the area confirmed the chroniclers’ details.
The story of the battle and the tide was depicted on 9 September 2018 in the 28th Orkney International Science Festival in Like the Corn Cut Down by the River, with Orkney Children’s Theatre Club, readers Dave Grieve and Ragnhild Ljosland, and singer Lorcán Mac Mathúna accompanied by Daire Bracken (fiddle) and Eamonn Galldubh (pipes and flute). The event was part of Scotland’s Year of Young People and was made possible by support from Scotland and Ireland: from the Year of Young People Event Fund, managed by EventScotland, and from Culture Ireland.
Scread Ceann Sualtaim
A song about ancient Ireland, composed and sung by Lorcán Mac Mathúna, accompanying dramatised scenes from the battle of Clontarf, fought on Good Friday 1014. Irish and Icelandic accounts describe how the army of the Irish High King Brian Boru defeated a Norse invasion force led by Earl Sigurd of Orkney. The state of the tide played a role in the battle, enabling the Norse ships to land in the early morning but later cutting off the retreating Norsemen from them.
A 19th-century calculation of the tides in the area confirmed the chroniclers’ details. The story of the battle and the tide was depicted on 9 September 2018 in the 28th Orkney International Science Festival in Like the Corn Cut Down by the River, with Orkney Children’s Theatre Club, readers Dave Grieve and Ragnhild Ljosland, and singer Lorcán Mac Mathúna accompanied by Daire Bracken (fiddle) and Eamonn Galldubh (pipes and flute). The event was part of Scotland’s Year of Young People and was made possible by support from Scotland and Ireland: from the Year of Young People Event Fund, managed by EventScotland, and from Culture Ireland.
