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Birth:          ABT  950 Leinster, Ireland
Death:          1030 Kincora, Munster, Ireland

Notes
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/2444/Man.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amla%C3%ADb_Cuar%C3%A1n
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gormflaith_ingen_Murchada
Gormflaith ingen Murchada[pronunciation?] was born in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, 
around 960. She was the daughter of Murchad mac Finn, King of Leinster, sister of his 
successor, Mael Mórdha mac Murchada. According to the annalistic accounts, she 
was married to Olaf Cuaran, the Viking king of Dublin and York until his death in 981;
[1] and mother to his son, King Sigtrygg Silkbeard.[2] Additionally, and perhaps most 
famously, after her son, Sigtrygg's defeat at the Battle of Glen Mama in 999, Gormlaith 
was married to Brian Boru, the King of Munster and High King of Ireland, and mother 
to his son and later King of Munster, Donnchad. It is also alleged that she married, 
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill after Olaf's death, but this is somewhat contentious as 
the sources for this marriage are less reliable. The Irish annals record Gormlaith's 
death in 1030. Gormlaith is most infamous for allegedly inciting men to such a degree 
that she caused the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Given that her goading episode exists 
only in literary sources not contemporary with her lifetime, and, indeed, written long 
after her death, it is highly unlikely that such an event ever occurred.[3] Since the 
majority of depictions of Gormlaith were composed well after her life, very little is 
known about the actual historical figure.
Annalistic and Genealogical Accounts[edit]

The first annalistic account regarding Gormlaith appears in the Annals of Inisfallen. 
This is a major extant record of Munster history, and as such maintains a preference 
for Munster kingship and ancestry. The entry of her death was composed some 62 
years after her death, making it the most contemporary and temporally proximate.[4] 
This account stated,


The Daughter of Murchad son of Finn, queen of Munster, dies.[5]

—?Annals of Inisfallen, p. 197

Gormlaith's father was Murchad, son of Finn and this statement paired with Queen of 
Munster, leaves little doubt amongst scholars that this reference is to Gormlaith. The 
Annals of Tigernach are the next chronologically contemporaneous account with a 
reference to Gormlaith. These annals, compiled in the Irish midlands, stated,


Gormlaith, daughter of Murchad, son of Finn, mother of Sitric, son of Amlaíb Cuarán, 
king of the Foreigners, and of Donnachad, son of Brian, king of Munster, died.

—?Annals of Tigernach, p. 371

Gormlaith also appears in genealogical accounts written more than 100 years after her 
death. The first of these accounts is found in the Banshenchas, which is essentially a 
catalogue of famous medieval Irish women.[6] The entry in this account echoed the 
annalistic accounts and names Olaf Cuaran and Brian Boru as her husbands and 
Sigtrygg and Donnchad as her sons. Gormlaith also appears in the twelfth century 
genealogies found in the Book of Leinster dating from 1150-1201. From this entry 
derives the famous "three leaps" of Gormlaith poem, which states she made a "leap in 
Dublin, a leap in Tara and a leap in Cashel".[7] Some scholars have used these "three 
leaps" as evidence of her three marriages to Olaf Cuaran, Brian Boru and Máel 
Sechnaill, contradicting the annalistic accounts which refer to only two marriages. In 
particular, the validity of this third marriage to Máel Sechnaill and her alleged divorce 
from Brian Boru, have been of serious contention amongst scholars. The "three leaps" 
poem contained in 12th century genealogies is the only medieval Irish account to 
potentially suggest a third marriage. However, some scholars have argued that the 
reference here to "three leaps" is referring instead to children and not, in fact, to 
marriages.[8]

Mediaeval Literary Accounts[edit]

Gormlaith has been depicted in many contexts since her death, and she is arguably 
best known for her portrayal in the Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh[9] This literary work of 
propaganda was composed between 1103 and 1111 by a descendent of Brian Boru, 
Muirchertach Ua Briain. This text detailed the ascent to power of his illustrious 
ancestor in an effort to highlight the prestige of his dynasty.[10] Gormlaith makes her 
appearance in a singular scene in which she has garnered much notoriety in 
subsequent sources, is her inciting scene. To provide context: prior to this her 
brother, Mael Mordha, has ceded vassalage to Brian Boru.


"Now when they arrived at Cenn Cordah, the king took off his tunic, and it was carried 
to his sister to put a silver button on it, viz. to Gormlaith, daughter of Murchad, Brian's 
wife; and she was the mother of Donnchad, son of Brian. The queen took the tunic 
and cast it into the fire; and she began to reproach and incite her brother because 
she thought it ill that he should yield service and vassalage and suffer oppression from 
any one or yield that which his father or grandfather never yielded and she said that 
his Brian's son would require the same thing from his son."

—?Todd, Cogadh Gaedhel Re Gallaibh, p. 143.

In this depiction, Gormlaith, unsuccessfully, attempted to goad her brother into going 
to war against her husband Brian Boru.

Njál's Saga, a thirteenth century Icelandic literary work,[11] referred to her as 
Kormloð, and portrayed her as a jealous divorcee bent on revenge on her ex-husband 
Brian Boru.


“She was a very beautiful woman, but her best qualities were those over which she 
had no control, and it was commonly said that her character was evil insofar as she 
had control over it.”

—?Cook, Njal's Saga p. 296

In this narrative, she goads her son Sigtrygg, unlike the Cogadh, where she attempted 
to incite her brother, Mael Mordha. She prompted Sigtrygg into gathering support from 
Vikings outside Ireland, most notably Earl Sigurd of Orkney and Brodir of the Isle of 
Man, by promising her hand in marriage. This is the first work to introduce the idea 
that Gormlaith was divorced from Brian Boru.

Early Modern Narrative Texts[edit]

A separate strain of wholly negative conceptions of Gormlaith appeared in Geoffrey 
Keating's Foras Feasa Ar Eirinn composed in 1634. In this text Keating makes explicit 
the link between Gormlaith’s goading and Máel Mórda’s declaration of war. 
Gormlaith’s remarks in this Early Modern account weighed on Máel Mórda, contributing 
to his quarrel with Murchad and eventually lead the “Leinster king to seek allies in the 
war against the Dál Cais”.[12] As to why Keating decided to place the cause of 
hostilities with Gormlaith is up for some debate. One scholar, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail 
suggested that he was influenced by Meredith Hamner's Chronicle of Ireland published 
in 1633, where the cause of Clontarf is attributed not to Gormlaith, but an anonymous 
"merchant's wife".[13] Keating's work would in turn influence a slightly later text of the 
same period, Cath Cluana Tarbh. Only one version of this work contains a reference to 
Gormlaith, but the depiction is derived from Keating.[14]
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I14012

Parents
MAC FINN Murchad (ABT  915 -  972)
NA CONNACHT ----- (ABT  930 - )

Siblings
MURCHADA Gormflaith (ABT  950 - 1030)

Marriage To BORU [BOROIMHE] Brian ( 942 - 23 Apr 1014)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
MAC LORCAIN Cennetig ( -  951)
URCHADH Be Binn Inion ()

Children by BORU [BOROIMHE] Brian  942 - 23 Apr 1014
OF LEINSTER Donnchad (ABT  985 - 1064)

Marriage To SITRICSSON Olaf "Cuaran" (ABT  927 -  981)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Sitric "Caech" ( -  927)
----- ----- ()

Children by SITRICSSON Olaf "Cuaran" ABT  927 -  981
____ Sigtrygg Silkbeard (ABT  970 - 1042)
OLAFSSON Harald (ABT  975 -  999)

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