The story of how a Pembrokeshire man led a force of just over a hundred warriors to victory over an enemy of several thousand Vikings in Ireland is the backdrop to a new historical fiction by Ruadh Butler.

Lord of the Sea Castle tells the story of the Battle of Baginbun in 1170 when a Welsh-Norman advance force defeated an army twenty times their number made up of Waterford Vikings and their Gaelic allies on the southern Irish coast.

Nothing less than the fate of the entire country hangs in the balance for, as the old verse declares, “at the creek of Baginbun, Ireland was lost and won”.

“Lord of the Sea Castle is based around the events leading up to the Siege of Baginbun in 1170,” said the author. “This was a little-known but incredibly important battle which took place on Ireland’s south coast.

“A Welsh-Norman advance force of just over a hundred is sent to Ireland by the Lord of Chepstow, Strongbow, to forge a bridgehead ahead of his invasion. They are faced by an army at least twenty times their number made up of Waterford Vikings and their Gaelic allies.

“It really was the Irish equivalent of the Battle of Hastings - the next 850 years of Ireland’s history would be decided by the events that took place that day at Baginbun.

“Strongbow is probably the most famous name to emerge from this era and, while he is a central character in the book, my main protagonist is one of his knights, Raymond de Carew - better known in his lifetime as Raymond le Gros, or the Fat. He was born and raised in Pembrokeshire. His father was William FitzGerald, the Norman-Welsh Lord of Carew Castle, while his grandmother was the famed Princess Nest.

“Amazing though it is, given that 850 years have passed, but Raymond’s family, the descendants of his elder brother, still own the family castle of Carew just outside Pembroke.

“Ambitious and in love with Strongbow’s daughter, Raymond le Gros wishes to prove himself worthy of her hand and her father’s trust, for in Norman society a man can rise as high as his skill with a sword can take him. In Ireland there is great glory to be won.

“Raymond’s first command may be his most daunting, however, as he faces obliteration from an enemy without as well as unrest orchestrated by rivals within his own camp.

“The action takes us from the fighting Welsh frontier, to the scheming Plantagenet court in England, and then to unconquered Ireland, meeting, along the way, kings, archbishops, lepers, barons, Viking princes, Gaelic chieftains, and women determined to do anything to make their mark on history,” said Ruadh.

The book has already garnered praise from some of the best authors working in historical fiction.

“This lyrical novel is rich in history and evokes a wonderful sense of time and place. Great characters, strident battles and a story to be savoured,” said acclaimed author of The Master of War series, David Gilman.

Irish writer of The Fifth Knight series, E. M. Powell, said: It’s not just the grim gore of the Anglo-Norman battlefield that springs to life in Butler’s skilful telling. Even better, he finds his way into the minds and spirits of those men for whom the ultimate prize was a nation.”

Lord of the Sea Castle is published by Accent Press and is available in all formats at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, Eason’s and WHSmith.