Emperor enthroned: Who'd be a king?

It’s a while since Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair held sway as Ireland’s last high king. He died in 1198 and is buried at Clonmacnoise. In the interim, we played host to a litany of suzerains happy to rule us without the bother of securing a democratic mandate.

Though it is unlikely that Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair will be remembered in the Pine Room in Tokyo’s imperial palace today as Emperor Naruhito is enthroned, he and Naruhito represent the ancient tradition of monarchy — even if we were never so over-impressed as to imagine one of our high kings a god.