Abjured Ambition

The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland. It drains the Shannon River Basin which has an area of 6512 miles, one-fifth the area of Ireland. The Shannon divides the west of Ireland, the province of Connacht, from the east and south, Leinster and most of Munster. County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster is the major exception. The river represents a major physical barrier between east and west with fewer than thirty crossing-points between Limerick city in the south and the village of Dowra in the north.  The river is named after Sionna, a Celtic goddess. The Shannon has been an important waterway since antiquity, having first been mapped by the Graeco-Egyptian geographer Ptolemy. The river flows generally southwards from the Shannon Pot in County Cavan before turning west and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean through the 64 miles long Shannon Estuary. Limerick city stands at the point where the river water meets the sea water of the estuary. The Shannon is tidal east of Limerick as far as the base of the Ardnacrusha dam.

By tradition, the Shannon is said to rise in the Shannon Pot, a small pool on the slopes of Cuilcagh Mountain in County Cavan, from where the young river appears as a small trout stream. Surveys have defined an immediate pot catchment area covering the slopes of Cuilcagh. This area includes Garvah Lough, Cavan that is drained by Pollnaowen. Other sources include Pollboy and Pollahune in Cavan and Polltullyard and Tullynakeeragh in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The highest point in the catchment is a spring at Tiltinbane on the western end of the Cuilcagh mountain ridge.

From the Shannon Pot, the river subsumes a number of tributaries before replenishing Lough Allen at its head. The river runs through or between eleven of Ireland's counties, subsuming the tributary rivers Boyle, Inny, Suck, Mulkear, and Brosna, among others, before reaching the Shannon Estuary at Limerick.

The river began flowing along its present course after the end of the last glacial period. According to Irish mythology, the river was named after a woman named Sionann, the granddaughter of Lir. She went to Connia's Well to find wisdom, despite being warned not to approach it. She caught and ate the Salmon of Wisdom who swam there, therefore becoming the wisest person on Earth, The well then burst and drowned Sionann and carried her out to sea. She was the goddess of the river. Is she now the goddess of the sea? Irish mythology is full of such stories. The drowning of a goddess gives life to the land. Land being very important in Ireland.

The Shannon reputedly hosts a river monster named Cata, first appearing in the medieval Book of Lismore. In this manuscript, we are told that Senan, patron saint of County Clare, defeated the monster at Inis Cathaigh. Cata is described as a large monster with a horse's mane, gleaming eyes, thick feet, nails of iron and a whale's tail.

Vikings settled in the region in the 10th century and used the river to raid the rich monasteries deep inland. In 1937, the Limerick Vikings clashed with those of Dublin on Lough Ree and were defeated.

In the 17th century, the Shannon was of major strategic importance in military campaigns in Ireland, as it formed a physical boundary between the east and west of the country. In the Irish Confederate Wars of 1641-53, the Irish retreated behind the Shannon in 1650 and held out for two further years against English Parliamentarian forces. In preparing a land settlement, or plantation after his conquest of Ireland Oliver Cromwell reputedly said the remaining Irish landowners would go to "Hell or Connacht," referring to their choice of forced migration west across the river Shannon, or death, thus freeing up the eastern landholdings for the incoming English settlers.

In the Williamite War in Ireland, the Jacobites also retreated behind the Shannon after their defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Athlone and Limerick, cities commanding bridges over the river, saw bloody sieges.

As late as 1916, the leaders of the Easter Rising planned to have their forces in the west "hold the line of the Shannon." However, in the event, the rebels were neither well enough armed nor equipped to attempt such an ambitious policy. The Shannon river is closely bound up with Ireland's social, cultural, military, economic, and political history.

Connacht is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of the country. Up to the 9th century, it consisted of several independent major kingdoms. Between the reigns of Conchobar mac Taidg Mor and his descendant, Aedh mac Ruaidri O Conchobair, it became a kingdom under the rule of the Ui Briuin Ai dynasty, whose ruling sept adopted the surname Ua Conchobair.

At its greatest extent, it incorporated the often independent Kingdom of Breifne, as well as vassalage from the lordships of western Mide and west Leinster. The Kingdom of Connacht collapsed in the 1230s because of civil war within the royal dynasty, which enabled widespread Norman settlement under Richard Mor de Burge, 1st Baron of Connaught.

The Norman invasion of Ireland took place in stages during the late 12th century, at a time when Gaelic Ireland was made up of several kingdoms, with a High King claiming lordship over all.

In May 1169, Cambro-Norman mercenaries landed in Ireland at the request of Diarmait Mac Murchada, the ousted King of Leinster, who had sought their help in regaining his kingdom. This military intervention had the backing of King Henry II of England. Pope Adrian IV had authorized henry to conquer Ireland as a means of bringing the Irish church into line. Diarmait and the Normans seized Leinster within weeks and launched raids into neighboring kingdoms.

In the summer of 1170, there were two further Norman landings, led by Richard Strongbow de Clare. by May 1171, Strongbow had assumed control of Leinster and seized the Norse-Irish city kingdoms of Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford. That summer, High King Ruaidri Ua Conchobair led an Irish counteroffensive against the Normans, but they managed to hold most of their conquered territory.

In October 1171, King Henry landed a large Anglo-Norman army in Ireland to establish control over both the Cambro-Normans and the Irish. The Norman lords handed their conquered territory to Henry. He let Strongbow hold Leinster in fief and declared the cities to be crown land. Many Irish kings also submitted to him, likely in the hope that he would curb Norman expansion. Henry, however, granted the unconquered kingdom of Meath to Hugh de Lacy. After Henry's departure in 1172, Norman expansion and Irish counteroffensives continued.

The 1175 Treaty of Windsor acknowledged henry as overlord of the conquered territory and Ruaidri as overlord of the rest of Ireland, with Ruaidri also swearing fealty to Henry. However, the Treaty soon fell apart; the Anglo-Norman lords continued to invade Irish kingdoms and they in turn launched counterattacks. In 1177, Henry adopted a new policy. He declared his son John to be "Lord of Ireland" and authorized the Norman lords to conquer more land. The territory they held became the Lordship of Ireland and formed part of the Angevin Empire. The largely successful nature of the invasion has been attributed to a number of factors. These include the Normans' alleged military superiority and program of castle-building; the lack of a unified opposition from the Irish; and the Church's support for Henry's intervention.

The Norman invasion was a watershed in the history of Ireland, marking the beginning of more than 700 years of direct English and, later, British involvement in Ireland.

In the 12 century, Gaelic Ireland was made up of several over-kingdoms, which each comprised several lsesser kingdoms. At the top was the High King, who received tribute from other kings but did not rule Ireland as a unified state. The five port towns of Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick were inhabited by the Norse-Irish and had their own rulers.

The Normans had conquered England beginning in 1066. Over the following decades, Norman lords conquered much of south wales fund established their own semi-independent lordships there. According to historian John Gillingham, after the Norman conquest, a new imperialist attitude emerged among England's elite, and they came to view their Celtic neighbors as inferior and barbarous.

In September 1155, King Henry II of England held a council at Winchester. According to Robert of Torigni, Henry discussed plans to invade Ireland and grant it to his brother William. However, the plans were put on hold, allegedly due to opposition from his mother, the Empress Matilda.

Some of the initiative for invasion may have come from Anglo-Norman leaders who wanted to control the Irish church. That same year, Pope Adrian IV issued a papal bull, which authorized Henry to conquer Ireland as a means of bringing the Irish church into line and enforcing the Gregorian Reforms upon it. Irish church leaders had legislated for reform, however, it was slow in implementing the reforms. The reforms meant that the Irish would have to abandon much of their Gaelic traditions and culture.