Battle of Glenmama

Battle of Glenn Máma
Part of the First Leinster revolt against Brian Ború
Date 30 December 999 Location Glenn Máma, near Lyons Hill in Ardclough. County Kildare Result Decisive Munster-Meath victory; Occupation of rebel Dublin
Belligerents
Kingdom of Meath Kingdom of Munster	Kingdom of Leinster Norse Kingdom of Dublin
Commanders and leaders
Máel Sechnaill II of Meath Brian Ború of Munster	Máel Mórda of Leinster Cuilen, son of Eitigen  † Sigtrygg of Dublin[Note 1] Harold Olafsson  †[Note 2]
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	7,000 Norse Unknown Irish casualties

The Battle of Glenn Máma (Irish: Cath Ghleann Máma, The Battle of "The Glen of the Gap") or Glenmama was a battle that took place, most probably near Lyons Hill in Ardclough. County Kildare in AD 999 between Windmill Hill and Blackchurch. It was the decisive and only engagement of the brief Leinster revolt of 999–1000 against the King of Munster, Brian Boru. In it, the combined forces of the Kingdoms of Munster and Meath, under King Brian Boru and the High King of Ireland, Máel Sechnaill II, inflicted a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin, led by King Máel Mórda of Leinster.

The two armies met in a narrow valley, causing a rout of Máel Mórda's army in at least three directions. They were pursued, and the main body of the army was slaughtered when they rallied at several fording points along the River Liffey. The main commanders were either killed or captured.

The battle resulted in the occupation of Dublin by Brian's Munster forces, and the submission of Máel Mórda and King Sigtrygg Silkbeard of Dublin to Brian Boru. The solution did not prove permanent, however, and eventually resulted in the second Leinster revolt against Brian and the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.

The battle appears as an entry in a number of the Irish annals: namely, Annals of the Four Masters, the Annals of Ulster, the Chronicon Scotorum and the Annals of Innisfallen. The Irish annals "constitute a substantial and unique collection of annual records of ecclesiastical and political events", as written in the Irish monasteries from the mid-6th century to the end of the 16th century. Although the historical status of the retrospective entries on the pre-Christian and early Christian periods are uncertain, entries from the later 6th century on are contemporaneous. Collation of the annals has provided a reliable chronology for events in medieval Ireland.

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