Brian Boru

Battle of Clontarf

The battle which ended Danish power in Ireland was fought at Clontarf on Good Friday, 1014. At this battle, the “Black Raven” standard (now part of the crest of Co. Fingal) was captured by Fingallians. Prior to this battle, Brian Boru sent his son, Donagh, to plunder the Danish settlements in Fingal. When Donagh returned to Dublin on Holy Saturday, he found that the battle was over, and that his father and brother had been killed. Donagh then had the task of making another journey to Fingal with the bodies of his father and brother. They were waked by the monks in Swords Abbey before they were brought to their burial place in Armagh.

Sitric

The last Danish raid took place in 1016 when Sitric, the son of Anlaf, burned Swords [Sources: Archer, Fair Fingal; William Walsh, Fingal and Its Churches. Dublin: Mc Gee, 1888; O’Neill, “Macalla”. 25 March 1962; Reeves, “The Antiquities of Swords”].