Description

That Field of Glory: The Story of Clontarf, from Battleground to Garden Suburb by Colm Lennon is a richly researched historical study published in 2014 by Wordwell Books. It explores over a millennium of history in Clontarf, one of Dublin’s most historically significant coastal districts.

The book begins with the famous Battle of Clontarf in 1014, where High King Brian Boru defeated Viking forces—an event that later became central to Irish historical memory and national identity. From this starting point, Lennon traces how Clontarf evolved beyond its legendary battlefield origins into a complex and continuously inhabited landscape.

After the medieval period, Clontarf passed through various phases of ownership and control, including religious orders and Anglo-Norman landlords. Over time, it developed into a manorial estate and fishing settlement, later shaped significantly by long-term landholding families such as the Vernon estate.

The book then follows Clontarf’s transformation during the 18th and 19th centuries, when it gradually shifted from rural estate land into a suburban extension of Dublin. This includes the development of roads, housing, coastal promenades, and middle-class residential expansion.

Key Themes:

• The Battle of Clontarf (1014) and its historical legacy
• Medieval landownership and ecclesiastical influence
• Anglo-Norman and early modern estate development
• The Vernon family and long-term estate management
• Growth of Clontarf as a fishing and coastal settlement
• 18th–19th century suburban transformation
• Urban development and Dublin expansion
• Cultural memory and historical identity of place

Lennon’s work is widely noted for combining archival research, cartographic evidence, and local history analysis, making it a model study of how a single landscape evolves across centuries.

The book also highlights how Clontarf’s identity is shaped not only by its early medieval fame but also by continuous social, architectural, and economic change, ultimately becoming part of modern Dublin’s suburban fabric.