The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

8o The Highland Monthly.
But the possession of the high kingship was not the
only and perhaps not the principal cause of wars in Ireland
during this time. There were wars almost as incessant
between the O'Briens and Macarthys for the sovereignty
of Munster, between the Northern Hy Niells and the
Ulidians for the sovereignty of Ulster, and between the
different branches of the families of Leinster and Meath
for the sovereignty of these provinces. In addition to these
there were wars between the subordinate chiefs or kings of
districts such as Osraigh, Brefny, Orghialla, and others,
who were now rising into importance, and acting independently
of, and often in hostility to, the provincial kings
to whom they were nominally subject, and there were wars
instigated by the clergy in revenge for the violation of
protection and sanctuary given by them, fightings between
the clergy of different establishments, and armed conflicts
for the succession to abbacies.
One of these private wars, as we may call them, may be
noticed, not because there was anything peculiar in its
cause or in its incidents, but on account of the remarkable
consequences to which it led. Dermot MacMurrough suc-
ceeded his father as King of Leinster and of the Danes of
Dublin some time before 1152. By Irish writers he is
represented as a monster of lust, cruelty, and treachery;
but whether, if he had not been the means of bringing the
English into Ireland, he would have come down to
posterity as worse in these respects than many of his
neighbours may be doubted. He was, however, bad
enough. On one occasion he violated the successor of St
Bridget, or Abbess of Kildare, and on another occasion he
blinded seventeen of the nobles of Leinster. In ".152,
Dermot joined as an ally of O'Lochlan in a contest for the
supreme sovereignty between O'Lochlan and O'Connor.
In course of the war he invaded Brefny, a part of Meath,
defeated O'Raurie, the king of that territory, and carried
away his wife, with her cattle and furniture. He is said to
have done this with the approval of the lady's brother, and