ABSTRACT
With the fall of Brian at Clontarf ended an heroic age. There was for a time a restoration of the old order. Malachy resumed the High kingship but died in 1022 at an advanced age, and with him ended the Ui Néill succession, which had lasted for six centuries. There followed ‘kings with opposition’, and the struggle of province dynasts for the supreme power lasted till the Norman invasion. Brian had set the bad example of usurpation; others imitated him but could not, like him, justify it. The Heptarchy kingdoms recovered their independence. Taig remained with difficulty king of Cashel till his death in 1023, when his brother Donnchad replaced him, and Leinster regained her freedom. When Maelmora’s son Broen died in 1018 the way was left for another branch of the royal race.
