The Chronicles of the O’Briens

[Uaronain]

Colloquy of the Ancients

As written by Brother Jeremiah O'Ronan of the library of Desmumu

This collection of tales and deeds chronicles the lives of the great house O'Brien.
The collection of histories was a mandate of the late King Toirrdelbach O'Brien who willed it that the deeds and lives of the royal dynasty be forever preserved in library he built in the vernacular language. (Gaelic) Although he himself never learned to read or write he understood the value of knowledge and the power of words. And thus he started the eventual transformation of the court of Munster into what it is now. His dream was to return the times of Brian Boru and more.

Emperor of the Irish 1002-1014


By 1002 the reigning High King of Ireland, Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, passed his title to Brian. Boru sought to make good the title of High King in a way that previous holders had not; to make himself the actual ruler of Ireland rather than in name only. By 1011 all of the regional rulers of Ireland recognised him as their superior, this however was short lived. The following year the King of the province of Leinster with the support of the Norse king of Dublin and Viking mercenaries rebelled against Brian's authority and, although the rebel forces were decisively defeated in 1014 at the Battle of Clontarf, Boru was killed along with most of the leaders of the province of Munster. (pulled from wiki)

Though it is only speculation, it has been suggested that Brian and the Church in Ireland were together seeking to establish a new form of kingship in Ireland, one that was modelled after the kingships of England and France, in which there were no lesser ranks of regional Kings – simply one King who had (or sought to have) power over all. In any case, whether as High King or Emperor, by 1011 all of the regional rulers in Ireland acknowledged Brian Boru's authority. Unfortunately, no sooner had this been achieved than it was lost again.(Pulled from wiki)


I have seen some people list some goals and I hope they will not be offended if I use a similar format.
Main Goals
1. Unify Ireland
2. Modernize Ireland
3.Create a Powerful Court to support the Kings
4. Have enough blood-kin to make every new vassal part of the dynasty

Side Goals
1. Participate in every crusade I can
2. Reclaim Spain for Moorish Control
3. Create a Catholic Kingdom in Northern Africa to Tunis
4. Have a member of the family “Sainted”

Disclaimer: I will not cheat, re-load or any other action that would undermine the story and the real challenges they present.

Any feedback would be very much appreciated, and any tips on pictures would be helpful as well.

 

[stnylan]

With pictures, I find that it is better to use one or two to great effect, as opposed to filling a post with visuals. You will get more impact the more sparingly you use them.

On a housekeeping note, I have deleted your other query thread. If you have any further queries of a similar nature you could either ask them in this thread, or in the AARland General Discussion forum.

And finally, have fun writing your AAR!

 

[Brian Bóruma]

Kick ass. Rock on, O'Briens.

Obviously go for Leinster first re: military. Exploit the system by vassal spamming the five independent counts in Ireland. Eventually, one (usually Tir Eoghain) will accept and you will gain a foothold in Ulster. Don't bother with Connaught. Their provinces are worth next to nothing, and they're the last part of the kingdom you'll need. By that time, you'll have the crown and they'll probably offer to become a vassal without bloodshed.

 

[Uaronain]

I already have it played through to 1080's, just trying to find a way to better use pictures and implemented in-game event's into the story. Having a ball though

 

[Uaronain]

King Toirrdelbach O'Brien(1009-1074)

Economic Front: The Great King of Munster who oversaw the construction

of several additions to his demesne including Ireland’s first library written in

vernacular and Latin. The economy of Desmumu grew prosperous from the

new vein of ore found in the mines. All in all everything went forward as

Desmumu became more wealthy than even Dublin with Tuadmumu closely

behind.



Family Ties: Made sure his three sons Tadg,Donnahad and Muirdertach

were married to intelligent, capable women who made great additions to the

court and were capable of bearing sons for the next generation. All in all he

had 22 grandchildren with 17 of them living at the time of this writing in the

year of our lord 1087.



Political Front: Allied and friends with King Conchobar of Mide and King Aedh

Ua Ruaire of Sligo, later both would swear fealty to King Toirrdelbach O'Brien

as the power of Leinster grew with the addition of all of Ulster. The marriages

of his son Muirdertach to the Castilian royal lines through Sancha Jimenez

eventually lead to an alliance later on.


His only rivals in life were Enna Ui Mordha and his brother King Murchaid

of Leinster.


In the year of our lord 1074 Enna Ui Mordha tried to have force King

Conchobar of Mide a vassal of King Toirrdelbach O'Brien to pay taxes to

Leinster. This was more than enough and war was declared later that year.

At the ripe age of 64 King Toirrdelbach O'Brien lead his armies to the field at

Mide to counter the enemy advances then with the aid of his son and vassals

drove into Osraige defeating the armies there and laying siege to it. During

the 14th night of the siege King Toirrdelbach O'Brien passed away of old age

leaving his son Donnchad the throne and a growing war debt. Three times

King Donnchad repelled enemy advances before the fortress would capitulate.

After a brief trip to Mide again to repel the fresh regiment from the Isle of

Man he drove to Dublin to meet Murchaid and his host assembled before

them, the battle was bloody but King Donnchad’s men won out took Dublin

and Laigin. The war lasted three years and left many dead on both sides

both the King of Munster and Leinster were dead and the young King of

Leinster was forced to recognize King Donnchad’s claims on Osraige and

Dublin but was allowed to keep the rest of his kingdom. Donnchad

quickly gave Osraige to his brother Tadg and Tuadmumu to his elder brother

Muirdertach thus establishing a dynastic link to the core of Munster.

The Irish Wars





Shortly later the young King of Leinster found his realm in Duress and two of his vassals broke free.

Other things of note : Wales falls in 1073 to William, then in 1076 fight for their independence.


Scotland invades Connact in 1077 but the results were indecisive as Scotland broke out into civil war before they could end the siege.


The now free vassals of the King of Leinster swear vows to the Duke of Orkney.


The next installment we will get to know King Donnacad , his wife and sons. His story is far more interesting.

 

[stnylan]

A solid start, considering that in Ireland you never have much to work with at the beginning.

 

[Actinguy]

Great story! Especially interesting to see what happens to Donchadd, since he was a central character in my AAR. In it, he married my character's only daughter. They had three children, but none of them lived more than a year. His wife committed suicide, so he married a second woman, who also died after giving birth to several children who didn't make it, and then married a third.

Between his three wives, he probably had twelve children...and maybe five of them saw their third birthday.

He also never inherited the throne, as it went to his older brother...Tadg, I think.

Anyhow, keep it up!

 

[Uaronain]

Stnylan: There is not much to Ireland but the appeal of twarting the norman invasion and hopefully doing something constructive after (hopefully) bringing the island together.


Actinguy: Well it seems Don's luck is not much better in my AAR as well, so much happened in such a short period of time (10 years) that I am taking my time writting the second piece. His luck is bittersweet, one one hand he has 2 great sons, both more than capable but each unique and different, makes it hard to chose either for heir. But there is something else which I will not reveal that makes his story unique..