The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore TD, and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD, will host a gathering in Iveagh House on Wednesday 16 April 2014 to mark the thousandth anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf.
This event is part of a comprehensive national programme to celebrate the battle and the life of Brian Ború, which has been organised at community, regional and national levels, leading up to the anniversary on 23 April. Guests included Conor O’Brien, the descendent of Brian Ború, and representatives from the academic, heritage, local government, and arts communities.
This programme represents the culmination of the combined efforts of a national steering group of community and voluntary organisations working alongside local authorities, including Dublin City Council, Tipperary North and South, Clare County Council and Armagh Borough Council, as well as the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
The Tánaiste welcomed the guests to the commemoration, saying:
“I am delighted, together with my colleague Minister Deenihan, to welcome you all to Iveagh House this evening to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf and to honour the memory of an Irish iconic figure, Brian Ború. The Battle of Clontarf is an event of great historical import to Ireland, but it resonates beyond these shores. Just last week in her speech at the State banquet for President Higgins, Queen Elizabeth made reference to Brian Ború’s fate at Clontarf one thousand years ago this month.”
Minister Deenihan paid tribute to all involved in the commemorations and encouraged people to learn more about the Brian Boru story:
"The story of Brian Ború and the Battle of Clontarf is a significant part of our history. To commemorate both the battle and the man, there has been real cooperation between groups including community groups, historical societies, education partners, cultural institutions and local authorities. I want to pay tribute to this work, and I hope that the more people learn about Brian Ború the more they will want to know."
As well as major commemorative exhibitions at the National Museum and Trinity College Dublin, highlights from the programme include the largest living history battle re-enactment ever held in Ireland to take place in St Anne's Park in Clontarf on 19 and 20 April. Other special events include nationwide performances of the Boróimhe suite of traditional music commissioned by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann for the Millennium celebrations and re-enactments and festival events in Killaloe-Ballina in Co Clare, Waterford, Tipperary and Armagh.