he usually hid himself in a solitary cave at some distance from the monastery, between a rock and a deep lake, which Kevin of Glendalough had used. The coming of the Normans In 1166, Lorcán's brother-in-law Diarmait was deposed as King of Leinster by an alliance of Irish kings and princes, led by High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O'Connor) and King Tigernán Ua Ruairc (Tiernan O'Rourke) of Breifne. Diarmait had in 1152 abducted Dervorguilla, Ua Ruairc's wife and on the death of Diarmait's protector, High King Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn in 1166, he paid the price. Exiled and with only a half-hearted promise of help from Henry II of England, after much wandering in Wales, England and France, he returned to Ireland with a group of penniless and down-on-their-luck Norman, Flemish and Welsh allies to help him regain his kingdom. Dublin was a walled city, but the citizens were terrified by the Norman knights and men-at-arms, as well as by the stories that were being told of their fierceness and cruelty. Lorcán O'Toole's house was besieged by people imploring him to save them and to make a treaty with the Anglo-Normans. The Archbishop went out to the foreigners' camp. While he appealed to them, two of the Norman knights with their followers made a breach in the walls of the city and entered the streets. They burned houses and killed the unarmed people. The noise and tumult reached the camp and so Lorcán heard of the massacre. He hurried back to Dublin and succeeded in stopping the slaughter. The expedition succeeded beyond their wildest dreams; Diarmait was reinstated as King of Leinster, the Norse towns of Wexford, Waterford and Dublin captured, and the Irish under the High King defeated. To seal the alliance, Diarmait offered his daughter, Aoife — who was also Lorcán's niece – in marriage to the leader of the Normans, Strongbow. The last years of Lorcán's life were defined by these events and those that were consequent upon it. He had been in negotiations with Diarmait when he and his allies laid siege to Dublin after a band of Norman knights seized the town. He acted again as mediator when the deposed King of Dublin unsuccessfully tried to recapture his town and again when Ua Conchobair laid siege. Lorcán was now a national figure greatly in demand as a mediator by all sides. No greater tribute can