Battle of Clontarf - Aftermath

Aftermath

With the Irish now leaderless, and the power of the Dublin Vikings as a political force broken, Ireland soon returned to a series of bloody factional fighting. However things had changed as a result of the battle, with Viking and Gaelic culture no longer contesting power. After a number of years this led to a lasting peace.

There were also domestic battles before the 1014 battle, and after the Vikings were supposedly expelled from Ireland, no more written sources state that there were any other fighting between just the Vikings or Norsemen and the Irish. From the Annals of Clonmacnoise, “Moyleseachlin, after king Bryan was thus slaine, succeeded againe king of Ireland and reigned 8 years, dureing which time he fought 25 battles both great and small against his enemies.” His enemies were not the Norsemen, but his fellow Irishmen from other kingdoms. If the Vikings were expelled from Ireland in 1014, or at least the looting and raiding stopped after that, then whoever the Irish were fighting had to be either another race of people coming into Ireland, just as the Vikings did, or the Irish were having yet another domestic or civil battle. The Battle of Clontarf could have been a domestic battle between kingdoms, and the Vikings were living in and helping out Dublin. The battle could have had other major incentives, but expelling the Vikings might have just given the Irish Munster king (Boru) extra motivation to beat the Leinster king. In the source of Clonmacnoise, McMoylenamo is not only the king of Ireland, Wales, and protector of the honor Leah Coynn, but also the “ Danes of Dublin.” After the battle in 1014, Irish high kings actually ruled over the Danes of Ireland's five separate kingdoms.

Sigtrygg, who had watched the battle with Gormlaith from Dublin, on the south bank of the River Liffey, and with the Irish army melting away the next day, ended up as the only "winner" of the contest, continuing his rule in Dublin until his death in 1042. The Kingdom of Meath also benefitted from the fact that its warriors suffered few casualties, and managed to come from the battlefield in a much stronger position, with most of its neighbours, including the Dublin Vikings, all incapable of launching further advances. However the series of wars had resulted in a fragmented political landscape, which could not unite under the old High King.