Muirgel

Muirgel was a brave Irish woman who helped her country get rid of a powerful enemy. She killed one of their chieftains in 882 AD.[1]

Muirgel was born to an important leader in Northern Ireland, Maelechlainn. According to the Chronicum Scotorum, she slayed the son of Ausli with the help of Otir, son of Eirgni.[2] The son of Ausli was an important chieftain of the long time enemy Vikings.[3] Later historians recalled this act and similar ones as a display by woman of "loyalty of kith, kin and country.”[1]

Though the majority of sources point to Muirgel’s story as unfolding with the slaying of the foreign chieftain, a few sources point to a slightly different version of her life. It is reported that Muirgel may have married Iarnkne in order to create an alliance amongst the two peoples.[4] This version of her story is further expanded on in The Mystery of the Angels[5] and Bloody Sunday: The Story of the 1920 Irish Rebellion,[6] both fiction novels by Joseph Murphy.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Cassidy, James Francis (1922). The Women of the Gael. Boston, Massachusetts: The Stratford company. pp. 76–77.
  2. ↑ MacFirbis, Duald (1866). Chronicum Scotorum: A chronicle of Irish affairs, from the earliest times to A. D. 1135; with a supplement, containing the events from 1141 to 1150; edited, with a translation. London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer. p. 169.
  3. ↑ William M. Hennessy, B. MacCarthy, ed. (1887). Annala Uladh = Annals of Ulster : otherwise, Annala Senait, Annals of Senat : a chronicle of Irish affairs. Dublin: Printed for H.M. Stationery Off., by A. Thom in Dublin. p. 449.
  4. 1 2 MacManus, Seumas (1921). The story of the Irish race; a popular history of Ireland. New York: The Irish publishing co. p. 273.
  5. ↑ Murphy, Joseph (2004). The Mystery of the Angels. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 1462823041.
  6. ↑ Murphy, Joseph (2006). Bloody Sunday: The Story of the 1920 Irish Rebellion. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 146282305X.
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