Battle of Confey

Battle of Cenn Fuait (Confey)
Date c. 915–917 Location Possibly what is today Leixlip, County Kildare, or Glynn, County Carlow Result Viking victory
Belligerents
Vikings of Uí Ímair	Leinster
Commanders and leaders
Sigtrygg Caech	Augaire mac Ailella  †
Casualties and losses
	~600 dead

The Battle of Confey or Cenn Fuait was a battle fought in Ireland in 917 between the Vikings of Dublin and the Irish King of Leinster, Augaire mac Ailella. It led to the recapture of Dublin by the Norse dynasty that had been expelled from the city fifteen years earlier by Augaire's predecessor, Cerball mac Muirecáin of Uí Fáeláin, and his ally Máel Finnia mac Flannacáin, the King of Brega.

There is still some uncertainty concerning the location of the battle. The Annals of Ulster report that "Sitriuc, grandson of Ímar, landed with his fleet at Cenn Fuait on the border [airiur, airer] of Leinster." No such place is known, but the Annals of the Four Masters record that the battle took place in "the valley above Tech Moling". Tech Moling is St Mullin's, an ecclesiastical settlement in the extreme south of County Carlow, on the western boundary of Leinster, and accessible by ship via the River Barrow. Edmund Hogan identified Cenn Fuait ("Fuat's Head") with Glynn, a village which lies on a small stream about a kilometre north-east of St Mullin's.

The Four Masters record that after the battle the "foreigners of Ceann Fuaid" plundered Kildare, which lies about 50 km from Glynn. This led the historians John O'Donovan and Bartholomew MacCarthy to identify Cenn Fuait with Confey or Confoy, near what is today Leixlip, County Kildare, on the border between Leinster and the Kingdom of Mide.

W. M. Hennessy believed that airiur or airer indicated that Cenn Fuait was a headland on the coast of Leinster; but no such headland is known, and it has been objected that while airiur can mean "coast", it also denotes the border region between two neighbouring territories.

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