Luck of the Irish - Sligo 1066

[richvh]

Bjorn, petty king of Sligo, considered his options. He was 36 and still single, subject to the overking of Connaught, Aed O'Brien (descendant of the last High King of Ireland, Brian Boru), to whom he was second in line to succeed after his fellow petty king, Johann of Mayo. The land was poor, but so was most of Ireland. He had a good group of advisers, though; his marshall, spy master and chancellor who were excellent, and even his steward was above average.

He sent an embassy to Denmark, from where his forefathers had hailed, to ask the hand of Gro Svendsdottir, daughter of King Svend of Denmark. Much to his surprise, his embassy actually succeeded, and he and Gro were united in matrimony on January 11, 1066. Their first son, Knud, was born December 22, 1067. Unfortunately, Gro died in labor when trying to deliver her next child on February 5, 1069, and another embassy was sent to find another bride, since one infant son hardly secured the succession. Unable to find a suitable bride in Denmark, the search was widened to Sweden and Norway, and finally a good match was found in Kunigunde Kamp, spy master to the Bishop of Bergenhus. The banns were read, and the pair were united on February 19, 1069.

On July 9, 1069, Overking Aed O'Brien died, and Johann of Mayo was elected as the new Overking. Bjorn was now next in line to become overking. Kunegunde presented Bjorn with her first child, his second son on December 29, 1069, and was soon expecting another: Bjorn's third son, Hårik, was born on October 25, 1070.

Seeking a better steward, Bjorn found Ruaidri O'DubhGhaill unemployed in the court of Ubbe of Osraige, Overking of Leinster, and attracted Ruaidri to his court by offering to wed him to his spy master, Elizabeth of Sligo.

Kunigunde presented Bjorn with his first daughter, Albinn, on April 9, 1072. Another daughter, Gunnhild, followed on May 9, 1073, but died on October 28.

 

[Mike von Bek]

'petty king of Sligo' - thats a bit harsh isnt it?

Yay, another Irish AAR! Looking forward to where you take it.

Is there any reason for the desire for Scandinavian women? (I mean, apart from the obvious...)

 

[Bodders]

Goodness me, the Irish are popular aren't they?

As an English descendent of the Normans, I should hope you fail but I won't be that mean and instead wish you luck in eventually uniting all the British Isles under your banner

 

[richvh]

'petty king of Sligo' - thats a bit harsh isnt it?

Yay, another Irish AAR! Looking forward to where you take it.

Is there any reason for the desire for Scandinavian women? (I mean, apart from the obvious...)

I'm using petty king-overking-high king in place of count-duke-king, which I think is pretty close to the Irish setup. Bjorn's Danish, as are most if not all of the other counts, and there's a serious lack of eligible women in Ireland at the start. It turns out that Kunigunde is German, but with a 14 intrigue I won't hold that against her. Also, Gro's super easy to marry right off the bat (perhaps because of the dynastic setup snafu in Denmark) and has decent stats.

Goodness me, the Irish are popular aren't they?

As an English descendent of the Normans, I should hope you fail but I won't be that mean and instead wish you luck in eventually uniting all the British Isles under your banner

As I said in the Tavern, my great-grandfather came from County Sligo, though his name was Welsh (Meredith) and he was Protestant. All four of his daughter-in-law's grandparents came from Ireland also, though only one (a Wallace) do I have any idea where in Ireland (County Monaghan, according to his brother's obit), and all had names that weren't typically Irish (Nixon, Thompson, Harrison). At least some, possibly all four, were Scorth-Irish, thankyouverymuch.

[Edit]Kunigunde has 14 intrigue, not 15 stewardship. I did get a 15 stewardship steward through a marriage, but that was by marrying off a courtier.

 

[Earl Uhtred]

Gawd knows why Ireland starts full of Norse counts. That reflects reality not at all.

 

[richvh]

Kunigunde's next child was stillborn on February 15, 1076. It was a difficult pregnancy; she became ill during it.

A Fishing Wharf was completed on February 12, 1077.

A Pretty Wench Caught the Eye of Bjorn. She presented him with a bastard boy named Gotfred on April 13, 1079, and Bjorn gained the reputation of being Lustful.

Kunigunde delivered another girl, Matilda, on February 15, 1080.

Bjorn's oldest son, Knud, married Fressenda of Westmoreland, oldest daughter of Earl Alphonse of Westmoreland, on January 21, 1084. Earl Alphonse was quite reluctant to marry his beloved daughter off to the son of an Irish petty king, but Knud was persistent, and the finally assented to the match.

Fressenda presented Bjorn with his first grandson, Benedikt, on December 14, 1084.

Gofraid, second son of Bjorn, traveled to Italy to find his wife. After visiting many courts, he finally set his heart upon Bianca of Ancona, the oldest daughter of Count Corrado of Ancona. Count Corrado gave his consent to the match on August 30, 1085.

On the trip home, Gofraid heard terrible news: King William of England, not content with conquering England, had declared war upon Sligo on September 3. Johann of Mayo, Overking of Connaught, declared war on England in support of Sligo, but no one held out much hope that even the combined forces of all Connaught could pose a serious challenge to the English King if he chose to bring his full force to bear.

On November 9, Fressenda presented Knud with a daughter, Bodil. On the 15th, Marshal Glum passed away. Knud was named to replace him, though he was not so skilled as the old marshal.

More bad news in December: the Duke of the Western Isles declared war upon Sligo. The English forces defeated the Galway militia, and Johann was pay damages to England of 62 gold. This left Sligo in the lurch, so Bjorn came up with an audacious plan: take the Isle of Man, hopefully before the English could return and capture Sligo. So the Sligo army set sail, landing on Man unopposed and started a siege, while it was learned that the Manx were beseiging Galway. Unfortunately, the English returned to Ireland in overwhelming force, and Sligo Castle was captured on December 5, 1086, long before the castle on Man was in any danger of falling.

THE END

 

[unmerged(9046)]

Ouch. A painful way for Irish independence to end. The English will die next time!

 

[Bodders]

Boy, ouch indeed, I've not seen England so aggressive against Ireland so you were pretty unlucky

Certainly the most dangerous part of the game as a count at the beginning because your liege will protect you so badly if anything goes wrong.

 

[Mike von Bek]

Well, Ive never seen England do that before... and for the Duke of the Western Isles to join in too... He's from Leinster, tho he doesnt stand to inherit. Whats his goal in Sligo? Hmmph

Damn shame. Restart, and conquer both of the tetchy buggers!

 

[Deaghaidh]

My first attempt at Ireland ended similarly. Only the English didn't get involved, just everyone and his brother from Ireland (plus that @$$% meddling Duke of Western Isles), and I was the Duchy of Connaught

 

[Morpheus506]

Ouch... so much for the Luck of the Irish You gonna try again with this?

 

[Deaghaidh]

As any student of Irish history knows, the luck of the Irish is very, very real. Unfortunately, it's almost always bad

 

[InnocentIII]

IIRC in my Ireland game William also came and took Sligo. Just Sligo. Go figure. Maybe he starts with a claim there?

IMHO Meath is the best Duchy to try for King of Ireland from, good army composition. Ulster is when the two fight (as I learned trying to play Ulster). Connaught is good, too, however.

Sligo is promising if so close to inheriting the Duchy. Too bad about old Bill.

 

[Preyer]

IIRC in my Ireland game William also came and took Sligo. Just Sligo. Go figure. Maybe he starts with a claim there?

In my AAR too. Maybe a hidden AI-only event?
And in my older test-play in Ireland (1300 >) Sligo owned by me turned to English culture. Weeeird.