Diarmait Mac Murchada was a king through misadventure. Owing to a series of fatal family mishaps he was elected to power in 1126 at sixteen. He ruled through a turbulent period and became one of the most dominant figures in Irish history. Furlong presents a thorough account of Diarmait's life and examines his actions and decisions not only in the context of his questionable personal traits and character but also expanding the analysis to reflect on his effect on the political turbulence of the time. At one stage of his influential life, ousted as King of Leinster, he invited King Henry II of England to assist him in regaining the throne. The subsequent invasion marked the beginning of eight centuries of English dominance. After his death he was damned as a traitor and a blackguard. He is recorded as having two wives at the same time, raping an abbess, the abduction of Dervorgilla, the wife of his bitter rival, and the mutilation and killing of rivals. Furlong's Diarmait King of Leinster is a subtle, compassionate yet realistic examination of the man behind the myth.
Furlong, Nicholas: - Nicholas Furlong was born in Wexford town and became a dairy farmer on the family farm in Mulgannon. For many years he wrote a satirical column for The People Group under the pen name Pat O'Leary and wrote regular features in The Irish Press, The Farmers Journal and Biatas (journal to the Irish Sugar Company). He is currently a columnist with Echo Group Newspapers. Nicholas has also written several theatrical pieces, and his staged works include Insurrection 98, written for the Wexford Opera Festival in 1965, produced by Tomás Mac Anna and revived in 1998; The Lunatic Fringe for the Wexford Festival in 1966, produced by Tomás Mac Anna; Purple and Gold, written for the GAA Centenary and produced by Tomás Mac Anna and Storm the Bastille, which was produced by Harry Ringwood and first performed in Abbey Square, Enniscorthy, in July 1989. Other books written by Nicholas Furlong include Wexford in the Rare Oul Times (with John Hayes), vol.1 1985, vol. 2 1987, vol. 3 1996; Foster Son to a King, (Childrens Press, Dublin 1986) Fr John Murphy of Boolavogue 1753-1798, (Geography Publications, Dublin 1991) and The Greatest Hurling Decade, (Wolfhound Press, Dublin 1993). Other writing projects include Bórd Failte guides to County Wexford, County Waterford, County Carlow and County Kilkenny (1982), Loch Garman and Wexford (1978); his work as joint editor and contributor (with Culleton and Sills) of By Bishops Rath and Norman Fort (Wexford 1994); and with Dr Daire Keogh, The Mighty Wave, (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 1996) and The Women of 1798, (Four Courts Press, 1998). He was press officer for the Wexford Opera Festival between 1969 and 1982 and worked as a features broadcaster on South East Radio between 1995 and 1998. He is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.
