(Everything started to go worse than expected, and then... it got weird)
Alas for Clemens; he grew ill shortly after assuming the throne, and passed from the world a king for only three years. The Church taught it was a punishment from God, for Clemmens' grasping and gluttonous ways; and in his place they selected a younger grandson of Joseph's, following a differnt matralineal line; High King Lochlan. A man who had shown himself to be a competant knight on the tourny field, but show no great spark for leadership.
If Clemmens' words were true, then the tree that grew from Murchard's seed was a crooked one indeed. To the common folk of Ireland, High King Lochlan is remembered as a shining knight, a great man beset by evil councelors who tried to usurp his crown, and who was ultimately killed by poison during a celebratory feast. The truth, as ever, is somewhat more complex. Lochlan, unsatisfied with his sole claim to the earldom of Ailech despite being the High King, deliberately outraged his vassals until they rose in rebellion. While he never violated the letter of his contracts, he seemed to intentionally sow discord at every opportunity until seizing on an excuse for blood and war.
As to his death; he passed on after only four years, alone in his study. Today it seems likely he suffered from a congenital heart defect resulting in heart failure despite only being in his early thirties and excellent health before hand. He was succeeded by yet another of Abraham's many grandchildren, Torccan, known even then as the Paladin for his righteous zeal and strong endorsement by the church.
The discord that Lochlan sowed was hardly eased by his death; Torccan faced a country very nearly as fractured as as the one Murhcard had unified, with factions vying from the day he donned the crown to put it on another. A man of great learning and faith, he sought to mediate with his vassals, although displeased many by demanding Catholic holdouts give up their papist allegiances. As matters seemed to calm, he even lent support to his wife, a Countess in her own right in England, providing aid during the English Civil War of 1183, including leading the Siege of Dorset himself.
Unfortunately, this so sapped his personal levies that his enemies at home took it as an opportunity to strike. Three vassals, comprising eight of Ireland's richest counties, forged a pact to put a child on the throne of the High King. According to popular legend, Torccan faced them down with blade in one hand and a book of faith in the other, winning the battles outnumbered three to one by the grace of God; the most famous story ("The Canticle of Torccan In the Fields of Dublin") even speaks of a viking army that came at this desperate hour, only to see God, convert, and join his army. The truth is more prosaic; although Torccan was outnumbered in the beginning, he fought defensively in the hills of south Dublin, baiting enemy forces into dangerous ambushes or costly sieges. He also called upon blood-ties from family that had settled in Norway after Murchard's conquest.
And while he won his peace, it was a bitter victory; he was badly maimed in the final siege of Connacht, and never recovered, dying less than a year later. Dying, he named his brother-in-law (and yet another of Joseph's grandsons), Broccan, to the throne. Broccan was, like Torccan, a scholar; but a scholar of natural philosophy more than theology. And if Torccan thought another scholar could finish the work he had begun, he badly misjudged his brother in law.
No writing of Broccan's own hand survives to this day, so we can only assume his personal thoughts. What is certain is that he earned the title Broccan the Tyrant; stripping every Duke and Earl of title and rank, forcing them to recant their claims, and then banishing them to the countryside. Some historians assert this is precisely because Broccan was a scholar; his reading of history showed the cycle of violence, and so only by consolidating all of the titles to himself could he bring Ireland a peace that would outlast him. Once done, he consolidated the power of the crown, sharply restricting the powers of the minor barons and mayors who were left in their manors, and setting the template for the restrictions that could be expected in the future. Similarly, he altered the succession laws, ensuring that the foremost heir would always inherit the lion's share of any lands, slowing the inevitable fragmentation that plagued Ireland's history.
Of course, this didn't prevent the stories from rising that Broccan was a witch, as were his wives. Even in his own lifetime, it was assumed that the only way one man could hold all of Ireland was through pacts with the devil; Broccan's rakish nature did nothing to dissuade anyone of this belief. Nor the fact that he simply vanished, never to be seen again, and leaving his youngest son, Broccan the Younger, as the new High King and Duke of Ulster, at the age of only 5.
Broccan the Younger's childhood was ordinary by most accounts. He was very attached to a small black cat, and the two had a virtually inseparable bond. He was inconsolable for over a week when it passed away on the advent of his twentieth birthday, mourning more "fit for a parent than a pet", as one observer put it. Until less than a week later when a courtier, seeking to romance the young king, brought him a new cat precisely alike to the previous one, to the same mismatched eyes and pure black fur.
Before reaching the age of his majority, his uncle Stephen began to make rumblings that the wrong brother had inherited; it should have been Torcann the Younger, elder of the two by a year. But Brocann's mother, the current and former spymaster for the High King, whispered one sharp word in Stephen's ear and not only did he relent the accusations at once, but also yielded his claim on the duchy of Munster to Brocaan the Younger. (This has the feel of legendary, but it is separately attested to in multiple surviving journals of Brocaan's reign, although we cannot credit her hissing "Remember whom you serve". More than likely, Stephen held some secret known or suspected, and it was a threat of blackmail that caved in his resolve)
Broccan the Younger's reign got off to a turbulent start; he had only completed his studies when the Queen of Scotland laid claim via an old blood-tie to the High Kingship for herself, with over ten-thousand soldiers to prove her claim. At the time, Broccan's levy's numbered barely three thousand; fortunately, the Scottish queen was alone, and Broccan had numerous alliances and distant blood relatives to call upon. His flight down the coast, from Ulster to Dublin and then across the length of Munster is now the stuff of stories, and the trail he is believed to have led his troops when they were ambushed and only just escaped being annihilated can be walked today.
The fighting lasted over two years, until the Scottish queen passed away in her sleep, and her heir lacked the claim to legitimize the fighting. The Scotts returned home, as did the numerous friends and allies of Ireland. Broccan the Younger hosted a great feast in 1230, both as a celebration of the end of the fighting, and to announce his attention to take a pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem, appointing his uncle Stephen as his heir and Regent in his absence. He almost need not have bothered; Broccan the Tyrant's reforms worked, ensuring both greater continuity in title and an almost total elimination in the concentration of power outside the hands of the High King. Perhaps if Stephen had attempted to remain control after Broccan's return, but he yielded the throne without a word of complaint.
Upon returning, Broccan seemed filled with a great energy. Always quiet and contemplative, he nevertheless funneled vast sums of wealth into building new temples and bishoprics across Ireland, and seeing that every one was as finely appointed as possible. He seemed to combine his father's love of learning and reading with Torcann's deep theological understanding.
During this time, he also began meeting closely, with friends and family, engaging in long, deep conversations. While it can only be speculated, of course, it is certain that Broccan encountered members of a variety of other faiths and philosophies during his pilgrimage, and began to formulate a new belief set; one that would come to be known as Unification, but which Broccan the Younger termed "Power and the Inner Voice", formally converting himself and his family in the year 1250.
(DID YOU KNOW THERE IS A DECISION "FOUND A WITCH'S COVEN"? YOU DO NOW!)