Diarmait MacMurrough, King Of Leinster - The Archvillain Or Scapegoat Of Irish History? 

This 58-minute radio documentary is entitled “Diarmait MacMurrough, King Of Leinster - The Archvillain Or Scapegoat Of Irish History?”
Theme of radio doc:
The coming of the Anglo-Normans to Ireland in 1169 was a watershed in Irish history. Although they’d been invited into the country by the deposed King Of Leinster Diarmait MacMurrough, in order to help him regain his Kingdom; nevertheless within a short period of time, they’d taken some of the best land in Ireland for themselves and wielded enormous power. Because King Henry 2nd of England feared they might establish a rival kingdom, in October 1171 he invaded Ireland with an armada of 400 ships. This marked the beginning of English Crown involvement in Ireland, and nothing would ever be the same again. Within a few hundred years this same Crown would brutally conquer and colonise most the country, with many indigenous Irish people either slaughtered, or dispossessed and left in poverty.
The man most blamed in Irish history for this disaster is Diarmait MacMurrough (aka Diarmait Mac Murchada) , the King of Leinster, since he initially invited the Anglo-Normans into Ireland in the first place. Down the centuries he’s been castigated as a traitorous arch-villain, or an odious quisling-type figure who sold out his country to the English Crown. This documentary investigates just how true this is? In doing so, it analyses the historical evidence and attempts to answer some key questions about MacMurrough - Did he deliberately betray his country or did he do what any other Irish ruler would have done at the time? If he didn’t betray his country, then what were his motivations? Is pinning the blame on him for the later Crown conquest of Ireland a misinterpretation of history, incorrectly reading it backwards and failing to factor in the complexities of his times?
More than anything else, this documentary tackles the core question of whether MacMurrough was the arch-villain of Irish history (who deserves his toxic reputation), or the scapegoat (who’s been unjustly treated and deserves exoneration)?
To be downloaded for educational and non-profit purposes only, in adherence with the universal truth: “What you do for yourself dies with you, what you do for others lives forever. It is eternal.”