Eleventh Century AD

Worksheet 2

‘Doomed to Die’

Kincora

Fact File

A lot has been written about Kincora by the bards in High King Brian Boru’s court, but no one is sure whether what they wrote is the exact truth, or is an exaggeration. There have been several attempts to find it but now archaeologists believe that it may be buried beneath the modern town of Killaloe which is situated just by the bridge, and ancient crossing place, over the River Shannon.

The place that the bards described was hung with painted leather, had a Grianán, or a sun room, for the ladies

The bard also described how hundreds of dishes would be brought down one passageway and then the dirty platters and the leftover food carried away down the other passage to the kitchen house.

Read &Write:

1. Chapter 2 Which city is near to Kincora?

 

2. Chapter 2 Which big river is near to Kincora?

 

3. Chapter 2 Name two rooms or buildings in Brian Boru’s palace at Kincora.

 

4. Chapter 2 How was the kitchen joined to the Feasting Hall?

 

5. Chapter 2 Why were there two passages?

 

6. Chapter 2 How was the Feasting Hall illuminated (lit)?

 

Draw…!

Trace a map of Ireland from your atlas. Mark on it the River Shannon, Limerick and Killaloe.

 

Explore…!

Make a model of the Feasting Hall. You could use a large cardboard box for the hall and small flat box for the table. Put a sheet of white paper over it and no one will see that it has no legs.

 

Imagine…! that you were at the feast in the Great Hall, or Feasting Hall at Kincora. Describe the food, the atmosphere and the talk and above all the men who were sitting at the king’s High Table.