Early Scandinavian Dublin
Encyclopedia
The First Viking Age lasted from 795, when Viking
raids on Irish settlements began, until 902, when the ruling Norse dynasty was expelled from Dublin. This period of Irish history is characterised by a series of conflicts involving the native Irish and two Viking factions that the Irish called Dubgaill and Finngaill
. The fluctuating fortunes of these three groups and their shifting alliances, together with the inadequacy of contemporary records and the inaccuracy of later accounts, make this period one of the most complicated and least understood in the fledgling city's history.
origin) raided islands off the coast of Ireland
for the first time. This was the beginning of a new phase of Irish history, which saw many native communities — particularly ecclesiastical ones — relocate themselves on the continent, or further afield in places like Iceland
and the Faroe Islands
, to escape the pagan marauders. For about two decades the invaders confined their activities to coastal settlements; raiding parties were generally small and there is no evidence that any of them wintered in Ireland during this early phase of "hit-and-run" activity. Typically the Vikings would arrive at a settlement without warning, plunder what goods and people they could — the people were usually sold as slaves, though notable personages were often held for ransom — before retreating to their Scandinavia
n or British
bases. This period lasted from 795 until 813, after which there occurred a hiatus of eight years.
It is now thought that these early raids were launched directly from southwest Norway, and that during the period of calm (814–820) the Norwegian Vikings were occupied in northern Britain, laying the foundations of a new kingdom referred to in Irish sources as Laithlind (later Lochlainn). Laithlind was once thought to be in Norway but it is now identified with Viking settlements in the British Isles, especially those in Scotland and the Isle of Man.
In 821 the raids on Ireland were resumed with an attack on Howth
, in which a large number of women were abducted. But the pattern of attacks had begun to change: raiding parties became larger and better organized; inland settlements were targeted as well as the more vulnerable maritime ones; and naval encampments were established to allow the marauders to remain in Ireland throughout the winter. In a second wave the Vikings returned later as permanent settlers. It is likely that this second wave of attacks originated in Laithlind — in northern Britain and the Scottish Isles — rather than in Norway. The leaders of these raids, however, were probably still freebooters and adventurers, acting largely on their own behalf. An actual Kingdom of Laithlind was probably not firmly established until the 830s, after which the attacks on Ireland became more protracted and better co-ordinated. In 833, during one such attack, a raiding party sailed up the Liffey and plundered the monastic settlement at Clondalkin
.
, Thorgils was a son of the first King of Norway Haraldr hárfagri
(Harald Fairhair). That this son of Harald should be Turgesius is chronologically impossible, as Harald was born around 851. Turgesius’s identity remains uncertain to this day. Some commentators have identified him with the semi-legendary Danish
warlord Ragnar Lodbrok
. According to Saxo Grammaticus
, Ragnar raided Ireland, killing a king called Melbricus. This has been identified with a raid on Conaille Muirthemne in 831 in which the king Máel Brigte was abducted by Vikings. Turgesius has also been identified with a son of GuÞfriÞ or Gudfred
, the Danish king who fought against Charlemagne
between 804 and 810. It is thought unlikely, however, that he or any other Viking rulers in Ireland can be linked to native Norwegian dynasties.
From perhaps as early as 832 until 845 Turgesius terrorised the country and plundered dozens of Christian sites. In the process he supposedly oversaw the establishment of several Norse settlements — including one at Dublin in 841 — and became master of the northern half of the island, known in the Irish annals as Leth Cuinn
, or “Conn’s Half
”. In the Saga of Harald Hårfagre
, Snorri
tells us that Þorgils ruled his newly conquered domains from Dublin, and that he was “a long time king over Dublin”. In the Annals of Ulster
, however, Turgéis is only mentioned in connection with an encampment on Lough Ree
in 845. It is likely that his role in history was greatly exaggerated by later chroniclers and that he played no direct part in the foundation of Viking Dublin.
s sailed up the River Liffey
and raided “churches, forts and dwellings”, including presumably those at Dublin. Later in the same year, a certain Saxolb (Söxulfr), "chief of the foreigners", was killed in Brega by the Uí Colgain, a branch of the Cíanachta Breg. The Chronicon Scotorum
and the Annals of Clonmacnoise
ascribe "the first taking and possession of the Danes in Dublin" to this year. But this was only a foretaste of things to come. In 841 the Vikings returned to Dublin, this time not as raiders but as conquerors. They seized the ecclesiastical settlement at Duiblinn and established a longphort, or naval encampment, nearby; where precisely is still a matter of debate, but the present site of Dublin Castle
is a likely candidate, as it overlooked the Black Pool (Duiblinn, from which the city of Dublin takes its name), which would have served as a natural harbour. Four years later the Annals of Ulster refer also to foreigners at Áth Cliath; this may simply be a loose reference to the settlement at Duiblinn, but it is possible that the native settlement of Áth Cliath was also seized and a second longphort established on the Liffey — possibly at Usher’s Island. These settlements were temporary wintering camps and probably amounted to little more than pirate bases. From their new base in Dublin, the Vikings plundered many territories in Leinster and the Midlands as far as Slieve Bloom Many more raids were to follow. In 845 the Vikings of Dublin plundered Dún Masc (Rock of Dunamase in County Laois
), killing the abbot of Tír dá Glas (Terryglass
in County Tipperary
) and other dignitaries; other ecclesiastical settlements plundered in the same year included Kildare
, Clonenagh, Kinnitty
(County Offaly
), Killeigh
, Kells
, Monasterboice
, Duleek
, Swords
and Finglas
. In 845 they also set up an encampment near Tullamore
.
In 845 Turgesius was captured by the King of Mide
Máel Sechnaill and drowned in Loch Uair (Lough Owel
in County Westmeath
). Whatever the true extent of Turgesius's power in the country, this stroke of good fortune proved to be a turning point in “The War of the Irish with the Foreigners
” (Irish
: Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib) as this period of Irish history is called. Several Irish victories followed. In 847 Cerball mac Dúnlainge
the King of Osraige
defeated the Norsemen of Dublin and their leader Agnonn (Hákon) at Carn Brammit.
The following year the Norsemen suffered a series of decisive setbacks. Máel Sechnaill defeated them at Forrach (Farrow near Mullingar
in County Westmeath). Tomrair (Þórir), the heir-designate of the King of Laithlind, was slain in a battle with Ólchobar mac Cináeda
the King of Munster and Lorcán mac Cellaig
the King of Leinster at Sciath Nechtain (near Castledermot
in County Kildare
). In the same year Tigernach mac Fócartai
King of Loch Gabhair
(Lagore, the royal seat of South Brega) inflicted a significant defeat on the Norsemen in an oakwood at Dísert Do-Chonna.
These defeats culminated in an attack on Dublin itself in 849. The Viking settlement was plundered and probably destroyed — at least temporarily — by Máel Sechnaill, who was now High King of Ireland
, and Tigernach mac Fócartai. A fleet of 140 longships arrived in Dublin in the same year. The expedition was led by "adherents of the king of the foreigners" and their objective was "to exact obedience from the foreigners who were in Ireland before them". It was also recorded that "afterwards they caused confusion in the whole country". It is possible that this fleet was sent by the King of Laithlind in an attempt to regain lost ground — or was he perhaps hoping to profit from the discomfiture of rival Scandinavians? The following year, we are told, the Norsemen formed an alliance with Cináed mac Conaing
, the King of Cianachta North Brega, and plundered the territories of Máel Sechnaill and Tigernach and destroyed Tigernach's crannóg
in Lagore. If this attack was in retaliation for the sacking of Dublin the previous year, it suggests that the fleet of 849 was indeed sent by the King of Laithlind.
In 851 a significant development took place: "The Dubgenti came to Áth Cliath, made a great slaughter of the Findgaill, and plundered the naval encampment, both people and property." It is believed that this refers to the first appearance in Ireland of a new faction of Vikings. Called the Dubgaill or Dubgenti ("Dark Foreigners" or "Dark Gentiles"), these were possibly Scandinavians of Danish
or Anglo-Danish origin who hoped to take advantage of the shifting fortunes of the town's inhabitants, known as the Findgaill or Findgenti ("Fair Foreigners" or "Fair Gentiles"), who were possibly Scandinavians of Norwegian
origin — though there is still no consensus among historians as to the meaning of these terms. Whatever their provenance, the Dubgaill defeated the Norsemen of Dublin and destroyed their settlement; in the same year they raided the longphort at Lind Dúachaill (Linns, near Annagassan
in County Louth
) and slaughtered the Findgaill. The following year the Dubgaill inflicted another significant defeat on the Findgaill at Snám Aignech (Carlingford Lough
). The leaders of the Findgaill in this encounter are called Stain (or Zain) and Iercne (or Iargna). In the Fragmentary Annals Zain and Iargna are co-regents (leithrí). Iercne died in the battle; his sons are mentioned in connection with Dublin in 883 and 886. The leader of the Dubgaill is called Horm (?Ormr), who was slain in 856 by Rhodri the Great
the King of Gwynedd
. Later that year the Norsemen suffered two defeats in the same month at the hands of the Cianachta Breg: one at Inch near Balrothery
in County Dublin, and one at Ráith Aldain (Raholland, County Meath).
A year later, in 853, a Viking warlord called Amlaíb came to Dublin and made himself king — the first in the fledgling city’s history — receiving hostages from the Vikings and tribute from the Irish. Amlaíb is described in the Annals of Ulster as "the son of the King of Laithlind"; it would appear, then, that he was the leader of the Findgaill, sent by his father GuÞfriÞ to do battle with the Dubgaill. Amlaíb has been identified with two individuals who appear in Old Norse
sources, but whose historicity and provenance are uncertain: Óláfr inn hvíti
(Olaf the White) and Óláfr Guðrøðarson (Olaf the Son of Guðrøðr). Óláfr inn hvíti was the son of Ingjald Helgasson
and a descendant of both Hálfdan hvítbeinn
(Halfdan Whitelegs) of Vestfold
in Norway and Ragnar Lodbrok. Óláfr Guðrøðarsson was the son of Gudrød the Hunter
Like so many other Scandinavian characters in this period of Irish history, Amlaíb's precise identity is still uncertain, though he is probably the same person as Amhlaoibh Conung
(Óláfr konungr, or Olaf the King), who is mentioned in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
According to the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, Máel Sechnaill tried to come to terms with this dangerous new rival in 854, but without success. Having made himself undisputed leader of the Norsemen in Dublin — whether Findgaill or Dubgaill — Amlaíb departed for Britain, where he was involved in numerous military campaigns. When Amlaíb returned to Dublin in 856 or 857, he was accompanied by two of his brothers, Ímar and Auisle . Ímar has been identified with Ivar the Boneless
, a semi-legendary character who appears in the Old Norse sagas. According to Norse tradition, Ívarr was a son of the semi-legendary Danish warlord Ragnar Loðbrok. The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland provide an alternative genealogy, but one which dates from the 11th century — and therefore equally suspect. According to another entry in the Fragmentary Annals, Ímar and Auisle were Amlaíb's brothers, all three being sons of Gofraid mac Ragnaill the King of Laithlind.
Ímar became Amlaíb's co-regent in Dublin around 857. Auisle was co-regent from about 863 until his death in 867.
In 856 a major conflict arose between the Norsemen and Máel Sechnaill, who was then allied to mercenaries of mixed Gaelic and Scandinavian background known as the Gallgoídil. In that year two important ecclesiastical settlements in Brega — Slane
and Lusk
— were sacked. The perpetrators of these attacks are not named, but the Norsemen of Dublin were probably behind both of tbem.
In 857 the conflict shifted to Munster, where Amlaíb and Ímar defeated Caittil Find
and the Gallgoídil
. The following year Ímar and Cerball mac Dúnlainge defeated the Cenél Fiachach and the Gallgoídil at Ara Tíre. In 859 Amlaíb, Ímar and Cerball jointly attacked Máel Sechnaill and the Gallgoídil in Mide. In the same year, however, at the royal Synod of Ráith Aeda Meic Bric (Rahugh, County Westmeath
, in the territory of the Cenél Fiachach), a temporary peace was made between the contending parties. Cerball submitted to the High King and his kingdom of Osraige was transferred from Munster to Leth Cuinn, placing it under Máel Sechnaill's authority; this transfer of sovereignty was sanctioned by the king of Munster Máel Gualae mac Donngaile
. Later that year, however, Máel Gualae fell into the hands of the Dublin Norsemen, who killed him in a pagan sacrifice. Thus ended — for a time, at least — the alliance between Cerball mac Dúnlainge and the Norsemen.
The following two years were marked by the fluctuating fortunes of both natives and invaders; alliances between the two were fluent and the conflict was relentless. Cerball mac Dúnlainge joined forces with his new overking Máel Sechnaill, while Amlaíb and Ímar aligned themselves with one of Máel Sechnaill's enemies, Áed Findliath of Ailech. In 860 Máel Sechnaill and Cerball took up arms against Áed Findliath and another of the High King's principal enemies, Flann mac Conaing of Brega, defeating them (though not decisively) at Moy near Armagh
. In 861 Áed and the Norsemen of Dublin jointly plundered Máel Sechnaill's territories in Mide, but Máel Sechnaill defeated them at Drumomuy near the River Feegile on the border between County Offaly
and County Kildare
. In 862 Áed, Flann and the Norsemen of Dublin once again invaded Mide, but Máel Sechnaill's death in November of that year effectively brought the campaign to an end. Áed Findliath succeeded him as High King. After Máel Sechnaill's death his kingdom of Mide was divided among two claimants to the throne, Lorcán mac Cathail
and Conchobar mac Donnchada
.
The succession of Áed led to another series of alliances between natives and invaders. The Norsemen of Dublin now allied themselves with Lorcán mac Cathail, one of the rival kings of Mide. In 863 Lorcán, Amlaíb, Ímar and Auisle invaded Flann mac Conaing's kingdom of Brega, during which invasion they plundered the megalithic tombs in the Boyne Valley, an unprecedented act of sacrilege. 863 also saw the death of Muirecán mac Diarmata
, the King of Leinster, at the hands of the Norsemen; so Amlaíb and his allies must also have campaigned south of the Liffey. The following year, however, everything had changed again. Lorcán was blinded by Áed Findliath, and Amlaíb drowned his co-regent Conchobar mac Donnachada at Clonard
, an important ecclesiastical site in Mide.
in Scotland in that year, returning to Dublin with many hostages. The following year the brothers are reported to have quarrelled over one of Amlaíb's wives and Auisle was killed.
It has been claimed that from 865 to 869 Ímar and a kinsman Hálfdan accompanied the Great Heathen Army
which ravaged the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain around this time. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
refer to the leaders of this army as Ingware and Ubba. Ingware has been identified with Ímar, though Ubba's identity is unknown. The 10th-century historian Æthelweard noted that the fleet of the Great Heathen Army arrived "from the north" in 865 and wintered in East Anglia
. This suggests that the invasion was launched from Laithlind, though the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to the invaders as Danes, and they are often linked to a band of Vikings who pillaged northern France between 845 and 865. Ingware's army is reported to have crossed the Humber
the following year and captured York, the capital of Northumbria
. In 867 Mercia
was invaded but no major engagement took place, as the Mercians sued for peace.
In late 869 the Great Heathen Army wintered in Thetford, East Anglia
. In November they defeated Edmund the King of East Anglia and seized his kingdom. At this time the army was led by Ingware and Ubba, but the following year the army's two heathen kings are called Bachsecg and Halfdene. In 870 Ímar was campaigning with his brother Amlaíb in Scotland, so it appears that his kinsman Hálfdan took his place as one of the leaders of the Great Heathen Army in England. According to Aethelweard's Chronicon Igwares (Ingware) died in 870 — a detail which must be accounted for by those historians who believe that Ímar and Iguuar were one and the same individual. Halfdene continued the conquest of northern England with the assistance of the Great Summer Army, which arrived in 871. Repton
was taken in 873, which led to the fall of eastern Mercia. In the winter of 874 he settled on the Tyne in Northumbria, from which numerous attacks on the Picts and Strathclyde were launched. In 875 or 876 Halfdene divided Northumbria in two: the northern kingdom of Bernicia
remained a puppet state ruled by Angles, while the southern kingdom of Deira
or Jórvík
was ruled directly by the Danes. Halfdene then disappears from the Chronicle. In 875 Albdann (Hálfdan) is reported to have "deceitfully killed" Amlaíb's son Oistín (Eysteinn) and taken Dublin.
It may be possible, then, to synchronize the activities of Ingware and Halfdene in England as recorded in the English annals with the activities of Ímar and Albann in Ireland and Laithlind as recorded in the Irish annals; nevertheless, some discrepancies remain, and this has led a number of modern historians to reject the identity of Ingware and Ímar (though not necessarily that of Halfdene and Albdann).
In 870 Amlaíb and Ímar besieged Ail Cluaithe, or Dumbarton, the capital of Strathclyde
; they captured the stronghold following a four-month siege, and returned to Dublin in 871 with a great deal of plunder. Later that year they stormed the fortress of Dún Sobairche or Dunseverick
in County Antrim
with the assistance of the Cenél nEógain
, whose leader was the High King Áed Findliath. Before the end of 871, Amlaíb returned to Scotland to suppress a Norse uprising against his father Gofraid mac Ragnaill. During this time (871–872), Ímar and Amlaíb's son Oistín (Eysteinn) plundered Ireland "from east to west and from north to south". By 878 the Findgaill and Dubgaill were dominant in many parts of Britain, controlling territories in Scotland, Strathclyde, Northumbria, East Anglia, Wales and Mercia. Their expansion was eventually halted by Alfred the Great
of Wessex
, whose victory in the Battle of Edington
in May 878 paved the way for the creation of the kingdom of England
.
). In 867 a force led by Cennétig and Máel Ciaráin mac Rónáin burned Amlaíb's fortress at Clondalkin, near Dublin, and killed 100 of his followers. They followed this up with a successful attack on Dublin itself in the same year, in which Odolb Micle was killed. This shadowy figured may have been Amlaíb and Ímar's regent. Undeterred by this setback, Amlaíb plundered the monastery of Lis Mór in Munster (Lismore, County Waterford
) before the end of the year. According to one interpretation of Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib, it was on this occasion that Auisle lost his life. In 869 Máel Ciaráin mac Rónáin came to a grisly end. Having been expelled from Leinster by jealous rivals, he allied himself by marriage to the High King Áed Findliath and invaded Leinster. He was defeated, however; his body was hacked to pieces and his head cut off. Subsequently his head was given to the Norsemen of Dublin, who used it for target-practice before casting it into the sea. In the same year, Amlaíb plundered the great monastic settlement of Armagh
. This raid was possibly launched in retaliation for the death of his son Carlus, who had lost his life the previous year fighting for the kings of Leinster and Brega against Áed Findliath (the protector of Armagh) in the Battle of Cella Ua nDaigri (Killineer, County Louth
). We are not told when precisely the alliance between Amlaíb and Áed Findliath (established around 860) fell apart; possibly it happened when Áed became High King in 862.
In 870, while Amlaíb and Ímar were besieging Dumbarton, Áed Findliath laid waste Leinster "from Dublin to Gowran", though it is not clear whether Dublin itself was attacked during this campaign. In the same year, a leader of the Dubgaill called Úlfr invaded eastern Ireland and killed Máel Sechnaill mac Néill, one of the two kings of South Brega .
In 872, we are told by the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, "the kings of the foreigners" massacred the men of the Three Plains and the Three Comanns in Counties Laois, Kildare and Carlow
. If these kings were Amlaíb and Ímar, this must have been their last raid on Irish soil, for within a year Ímar was dead.
Ímar's death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster and the Chronicon Scotorum under the year 873. In the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, under the same year, it is reported that "the king of Lochlainn" died of a "sudden horrible disease". This cause of death is not mentioned in any other source, but it raises the interesting possibility that it was the crippling effects of this unidentified disease that led to Ímar's Old Norse sobriquet Ívarr inn beinlausi
, or Ivar the Boneless.
According to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
, Amlaíb died around 874-875 in Dollar
during a protracted campaign against Constantine I of Scotland
. These deaths ushered in three decades of uncertainty for the Norse settlements in Ireland. Internecine conflict between the different factions weakened the colonies and made it easier for the Irish to unite against them. During this period most of the Norse colonies at Dublin, Wexford
, Waterford
, Cork
and Limerick
fell under the sway of native rulers, as the former allies of the Norsemen turned against them. It has even been claimed that Cerball mac Dúnlainge assumed the kingship of Dublin around this time (possibly with the consent of its Norse inhabitants), but there is nothing in the Irish sources to support this.
) in 877. In the relevant entry in the Annals of Ulster he is described as the leader of the Dubgenti; In Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib Barith is named as the leader of the Findgenti; this would seem to support the theory that Hálfdan's brother Ingware was not the same man as Ímar the Norse king of Dublin, the former being of the Dubgenti and the latter of the Findgenti.
Barith had been active in Ireland while Amlaíb was still on the throne; he may have participated in Amlaíb's raid on Lismore in 867; also in 867 he narrowly avoided assassination during a raid in Connacht in which a kinsman Háimar was killed, and in 873 he and Oistín had invaded Munster with a fleet of ships. Six years later Vikings plundered Armagh and held the abbot and the lector hostage; Barith may have been behind this raid. Finally, in 881, he sacked the oratory of St Cianán at Damhliag in Brega (Duleek
in Meath). It is possible that Barith was also Lord or King of Limerick
.
Intermittent warfare between the Norsemen of Dublin and their Irish neighbours continued despite the forty years’ rest. Barith died in 881 shortly after sacking the oratory of St Cianán; he was succeeded by an unnamed son of Auisle, who is referred to in the annals as Mac Auisle. In 883 Mac Auisle was killed by Otir (Ottár) the son of Iercne (i.e. Járnkné, who had been killed by the Dubgaill at Carlingford Lough in 852) and Muirgel the daughter of Máel Sechnaill I. The motive for this killing is unknown, but it suggests that there was an alliance by marriage between Máel Sechnaill and Járnkné.
Mac Auisle was succeeded in turn by another son of Ímar, Sichfrith Ivarsson (883–888), who burned the monasteries of Lismore
and Cloyne
in the first year of his reign. He may also have been responsible for an attack on the ecclesiastical settlement of Kildare in 885 or 886 in which the vice-abbot Suibne mac Duib dá Boirennn was taken captive with 280 others. During Sichfrith’s reign there was further civil unrest in the colony, caused by another son of Járnkné called Eolóir. In 886 Eolóir killed Airemón mac Áedo
, one of the two kings of Ulster
. Eolóir appears to have been a claimant to the throne of Dublin around this time. In 888 Sichfrith routed the forces of the High King Flann Sinna
(a son of Máel Sechnaill). It has been suggested that the death in 888 of Cerball mac Dúnlainge, who may have been the true overlord of Dublin at this time, acted as a catalyst for Flann Sinna's attempt to conquer the city.
In 888 Sichfrith Ivarsson was assassinated by his brother Sitric I, who held the throne for five years (888–893). During this time the Dubliners were strong enough to carry out successful raids on major monasteries. They plundered Ardbraccan, Donaghpatrick, Dulane, Glendalough, Kildare and Clonard all within the space of two years (890–891). But a son of Barith called Eolair was killed by the Uí Amalgada of Tír Amalgada (Tirawley in County Mayo
).
In 893 another conflict arose and the ruling dynasty in Dublin split into two factions, one led by Sitric and the other by a pretender called Sigfrith the Jarl ( or Sigurðr). This shadowy figure may have been the same Sigfrøðr who was King of Jórvík from 895-900; a Viking called Sigfrøðr also led a Northumbrian fleet against Wessex in 893; it is possible that all three were one and the same man. The Annals of Ulster record that, "the foreigners of Áth Cliath [Dublin] became dispersed, one faction following the son of Ímar [Sitric I] and the other faction following Sigfrith the Jarl." It is possible that Sitric was deposed and Sigfrith the Jarl became king, but this is not at all certain; it is also possible that both factions left the city. The Annals of Inisfallen record that, "The heathens departed from Ireland this year [893]."Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib also implies that Sitric son of Ímar and his people went to Scotland around 892. Whatever the truth of the matter, Sitric returned the following year. It is not clear whether he expelled Sigfrith the Jarl or whether the latter had already left of his own accord.
In 895 a Norseman called Glúniarann ("Iron Knee", an Irish translation of the Norse Járnkné) led an army from Dublin to Armagh, where 710 prisoners were captured.
In 896 Sitric I was slain "by other Norsemen"; he was succeeded, probably, by his son or nephew Ivar II the Younger. In the same year "Amlaíb grandson of Ímar" and Glúniarann's son Glúntradna were slain by the Conaille Muirthemne of County Louth and Aitíth mac Laigni
the King of Ulster. Later in the same year the Norsemen of Dublin killed Flannacán mac Cellaig, King of Brega. We are not told whether these events were linked. Little is known of the reign of Ivar II; Kildare was plundered again by "the heathens" in 900, which may have been his doing.
The final blow fell in 902
, when Cerball mac Muirecáin
King of Leinster and Máel Findia mac Flannacáin King of Brega launched a two-pronged attack on Dublin from the north and the south, and drove Ivar II out of the city. The Norsemen's defeat was comprehensive. They fled, leaving "great numbers of their ships behind them, and escaped half-dead across the sea." According to the Annals of the Four Masters, some survivors of the initial onslaught took refuge on Ireland's Eye
, where they were besieged. Some of the ousted Norsemen fled to Wales under Hingamund , a shadowy figure who may have usurped Ivar II's throne shortly before the fall of Dublin. Hingamund was driven out of Wales and eventually settled in the Wirral
in the northwest of England, where he was granted lands by Æðelflæd
the Queen of Mercia, who was acting as regent for her chronically ill husband Ethelred. Others are said to have fled to the Loire valley in France. Ivar II went to Scotland, where he died in 904.
Dublin was once again a Gaelic town, and remained so for fifteen years. Excavations have revealed that the site of Viking Dublin was not actually abandoned during these years. Presumably it was only the ruling dynasty and their warriors who were expelled; many families of Norse farmers, traders, artisans, etc, may have remained, under the jurisdiction of native Irish chieftains. The First Viking Age was at an end.
bewailed the silence of contemporary Irish sources "respecting the social position, religion, laws, and monuments of those who occupied Dublin for more than three hundred years on all facts … excepting such as relate to their inroads and devastations". Most of our knowledge concerning the day-to-day lives of the Norse settlers in Dublin has been learned from extensive excavations at Wood Quay
and in the neighbourhoods of Winetavern Street and Fishamble Street
. The Norse built their houses almost exclusively out of perishable materials such as wood and straw, but many early buildings have been preserved in this area in a two-metre-thick waterlogged layer of estuarine mud, making Dublin one of the most important Norse sites in Europe. To date, more than two hundred houses have been excavated.
Among the few recent discoveries relating to this period are the graves of five young Viking warriors, one of which was found at Ship Street Great about 100 metres to the southwest of the Black Pool, the other four being clustered together on the southeastern shore near South Great George's Street. Radiocarbon analysis suggests that all five died in the 9th century, possibly before the establishment of a Viking longphort at Dublin. Oxygen isotope analysis has revealed that two of these warriors were from Scandinavia and two from somewhere in the British Isles, possibly the western coast of Scotland. In total, about one hundred Viking burials from this period have been unearthed in the Dublin region, but most of these discoveries were made serendipitously in the 19th century and few were properly excavated. Most of these burials were accompanied by typical Viking grave goods — swords, spear-heads, shields, daggers, penannular brooches and various decorative items — including hacksilver
(i.e. small pieces of silver cut from coins or jewellery and used as currency).
Evidence for early Viking burials has also been recovered at Cork Street, Bride Street, Kildare Street
, Dollymount
and Donnybrook
. More extensive cemeteries have been uncovered at Kilmainham
, Islandbridge, Phoenix Park
, Parnell Square and College Green
, but it is thought that these date from the Second Viking Age after 902. The cemetery at College Green consisted of several burial mounds (Old Norse
: haugr), which are thought to have contained the remains of some of the Norse kings of Dublin; the last of these mounds had been removed by the end of the 17th century.
in Temple Bar West, about 100 metres north of Dublin Castle. It appears that this early phase of settlement was confined to a small region at the confluence of the Poddle and the Liffey, bounded on the west by what are now Fishamble Street and Werburgh Street and on the east by the Poddle estuary, which roughly followed the course of today's Parliament Street. Parallels have been drawn between the Norse settlement of Dublin and that of Waterford
, which also appears to have been established at the confluence of a major river and a minor tributary.
To date, no archaeological remains of any longphort or wintersetl have been unearthed; nevertheless, the possibility that there was no actual encampment in this early period can be discounted. A wealth of contemporary documentary evidence serves to confirm that throughout the second half of the 9th century Viking Dublin was a successful and thriving settlement from which numerous raids were launched throughout the country. Furthermore, a succession of warlords — many of them claiming the title King of Dublin — made Dublin their principal power-base, and from there launched a series of military campaigns against enemies in Ireland, Britain and further afield.
The most likely possibility is that the longphort was established on the gravel ridge overlooking the Black Pool — the most easily defended location in Dublin — and that its remains were subsequently buried or obliterated by the later 10th century settlement of Dyflinn, which was built in the same location (not to mention Dublin Castle
, which presently occupies the site). The discovery of what are thought to be late 9th-century earthen banks in Ross Road and Werburgh Street (immediately west of Dublin Castle) lends some support to this theory. The other possibility is that the longphort was situated on the eastern or southern side of the Black Pool, and that Norse settlement began here, expanding northwards and westwards across the Poddle
in the late 9th century. Norse houses to the west of these banks all appear to date from the Second Viking Age (917–1170). It is also a possibility that the location of the longphort was changed after the destruction of the original settlement in 849.
Like their Irish neighbours, the Norsemen of Dublin used the post-and-wattle
method to construct their dwellings. A series of sturdy vertical posts were first driven into the ground; these were then interlaced with horizontal osiers, as in basketwork. A plaster of mud and dung was generally applied to the outer surfaces of the walls to seal them (wattle-and-daub). Finally, the roofs were thatched with straw. There was usually just one door, and no windows.
Typically, the houses were 10–50 m2 in ground area, and were often provided with small gardens or vegetable plots, as well as adjoining workshops and storehouses. Inside, the houses were sometimes partitioned with curtains or wooden partitions, but usually they consisted of a single room; furniture was spartan, consisting of little more than benches and store chests; floors were strewn with rushes or straw; the only source of heat or light (other than the doorway) was the hearth in the centre of the living room. Rush lights fuelled by mutton fat were available, but they were expensive. A shuttered hole in the roof served as a chimney.
Archaeological evidence suggests that in addition to the naval encampments, the Vikings established numerous scattered dwellings along both banks of the Liffey in the 9th and 10th centuries. Almost one hundred Viking burials have been uncovered at Kilmainham
, Islandbridge, College Green
, Parnell Square and in the Phoenix Park
; in the majority of cases it cannot be determined whether they belong to the First or the Second Viking Age. The burials at Kilmainham and Islandbridge were associated with earlier Christian graveyards, though there was nothing about them to suggest that the deceased were other than pagan. In the opinion of a number of historians these burials are indicative of a significant early Viking settlement in this region, some three kilometres west of Áth Cliath; it is even possible that the longphort mentioned in the annals as being at Duiblinn or Áth Cliath was actually further upstream in this area.
A handful of domestic habitations from the same period have also been found at Temple Bar West
in the heart of the modern city. Typically these early houses were sunken structures, or Grubenhäuser
, with wattle-lined walls, stone or wattle floors, and no hearths. They were built on the left bank of the Poddle close to its confluence with the Liffey. At a later date — possibly in the 9th century — these sunken structures were filled in and replaced with more densely spaced post-and-wattle structures indicative of more intensive settlement. These later dwellings are now identified as Type I houses, characterized by the possession of a central hearth flanked by two raised benches or bedding areas, a roof supported by four internal posts, and a doorway at each end of the building. These houses have been compared to Norse dwellings that were built in the early 9th century at Kaupang
in Vestfold
, Norway.
Neighbouring houses were connected by wattle paths and there are some indications of formal property boundaries. Associated with these Type I houses were animal pens. Excavations at these and other sites have revealed a rural community of farmers, quite different from the urbanized and industrial community of the 10th century. The four burials excavated near South Great George's Street were also associated with domestic habitations, suggesting that the deceased had been members of a settled Norse community and not the fatalities suffered by a transient raiding party.
Late in the 9th century a large mettled road was laid down in the middle of the Temple Bar West site, connecting it with the Liffey. It is also thought that South Great George's Street follows the course of an early medieval route — or possibly even the eastern boundary of a longphort, assuming that there was a naval encampment along the eastern shore of the Black Pool at some stage in the settlement's early history.
, eight kilometres west of Áth Cliath. This was an important seat of Norse power for more than a century. Significantly, the fortress was built on the remains of an old monastic site, which has led some historians to wonder whether a similar thing might not have happened at the ecclesiastical enclosure of Duiblinn. The annals are silent as to the ultimate fate of the latter settlement and its community — no Abbot or Bishop of Dublin is mentioned after 785; the possibility remains that it was abandoned in the late 8th century before the arrival of the Norsemen, who simply annexed it and built their longphort on the site.
In 867 a force led by the king of Loígis Cennétig mac Gaíthéne burned the fortress at Clondalkin and killed 100 of Amlaíb's followers.
Viking activity in the Dublin region is also indicated by the discovery of numerous silver-hoards in the east and midlands of Ireland.
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
raids on Irish settlements began, until 902, when the ruling Norse dynasty was expelled from Dublin. This period of Irish history is characterised by a series of conflicts involving the native Irish and two Viking factions that the Irish called Dubgaill and Finngaill
Dubgaill and Finngaill
Dubgaill and Finngaill, or Dubgenti and Finngenti, are Middle Irish terms used to denote different rival groups of Vikings in Ireland and Britain. Literally, Dub-/Finngaill is translated as "dark and fair foreigners" or "black and white foreigners", and similarly, Dub-/Finngenti as "dark/black" and...
. The fluctuating fortunes of these three groups and their shifting alliances, together with the inadequacy of contemporary records and the inaccuracy of later accounts, make this period one of the most complicated and least understood in the fledgling city's history.
Early Viking raids
In the year 795 Vikings (probably of NorwegianNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
origin) raided islands off the coast of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
for the first time. This was the beginning of a new phase of Irish history, which saw many native communities — particularly ecclesiastical ones — relocate themselves on the continent, or further afield in places like Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, to escape the pagan marauders. For about two decades the invaders confined their activities to coastal settlements; raiding parties were generally small and there is no evidence that any of them wintered in Ireland during this early phase of "hit-and-run" activity. Typically the Vikings would arrive at a settlement without warning, plunder what goods and people they could — the people were usually sold as slaves, though notable personages were often held for ransom — before retreating to their Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n or British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
bases. This period lasted from 795 until 813, after which there occurred a hiatus of eight years.
It is now thought that these early raids were launched directly from southwest Norway, and that during the period of calm (814–820) the Norwegian Vikings were occupied in northern Britain, laying the foundations of a new kingdom referred to in Irish sources as Laithlind (later Lochlainn). Laithlind was once thought to be in Norway but it is now identified with Viking settlements in the British Isles, especially those in Scotland and the Isle of Man.
In 821 the raids on Ireland were resumed with an attack on Howth
Howth
Howth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside, all on the peninsula of Howth Head. The only...
, in which a large number of women were abducted. But the pattern of attacks had begun to change: raiding parties became larger and better organized; inland settlements were targeted as well as the more vulnerable maritime ones; and naval encampments were established to allow the marauders to remain in Ireland throughout the winter. In a second wave the Vikings returned later as permanent settlers. It is likely that this second wave of attacks originated in Laithlind — in northern Britain and the Scottish Isles — rather than in Norway. The leaders of these raids, however, were probably still freebooters and adventurers, acting largely on their own behalf. An actual Kingdom of Laithlind was probably not firmly established until the 830s, after which the attacks on Ireland became more protracted and better co-ordinated. In 833, during one such attack, a raiding party sailed up the Liffey and plundered the monastic settlement at Clondalkin
Clondalkin
-Today:Modern Clondalkin is a busy satellite town of Dublin, with a population of 43,929 in 2006. Retail facilities include Tesco Ireland- and Dunnes Stores-led shopping centres, and Aldi and Lidl stores on the Fonthill Road and New Nangor Road respectively, and the village centre is a base for...
.
Turgesius
For more than a dozen years in the middle of the 9th century, most of the Viking raids in Ireland appear to have been part of a co-ordinated effort to conquer the country on behalf of the King of Laithlind. If later accounts are to be believed, this campaign was initially masterminded by a warlord referred to in Irish annals as Turgéis, Turges or Turgesius. According to the Icelandic historian Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
, Thorgils was a son of the first King of Norway Haraldr hárfagri
Harald I of Norway
Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , , son of Halfdan the Black, was the first king of Norway.-Background:Little is known of the historical Harald...
(Harald Fairhair). That this son of Harald should be Turgesius is chronologically impossible, as Harald was born around 851. Turgesius’s identity remains uncertain to this day. Some commentators have identified him with the semi-legendary Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
warlord Ragnar Lodbrok
Ragnar Lodbrok
Ragnar Lodbrok was a Norse legendary hero from the Viking Age who was thoroughly reshaped in Old Norse poetry and legendary sagas.-Life as recorded in the sagas:...
. According to Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...
, Ragnar raided Ireland, killing a king called Melbricus. This has been identified with a raid on Conaille Muirthemne in 831 in which the king Máel Brigte was abducted by Vikings. Turgesius has also been identified with a son of GuÞfriÞ or Gudfred
Gudfred
King Gudfred was a Danish king during the Viking era. Gudfred was the younger son of King Sigfred. Alternate spelling include Godfred, Göttrick , Gøtrik , Gudrød , and Godofredus .-Biography:King Gudfred appeared in present day Holstein with a navy in 804 AD where diplomacy took place with the...
, the Danish king who fought against Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
between 804 and 810. It is thought unlikely, however, that he or any other Viking rulers in Ireland can be linked to native Norwegian dynasties.
From perhaps as early as 832 until 845 Turgesius terrorised the country and plundered dozens of Christian sites. In the process he supposedly oversaw the establishment of several Norse settlements — including one at Dublin in 841 — and became master of the northern half of the island, known in the Irish annals as Leth Cuinn
Leath Cuinn
Leath Cuinn and Leath Moga refers to a legendary ancient division of Ireland.-Geographical extant:Leath Cuinn was the island north of the Esker Riada...
, or “Conn’s Half
Conn of the Hundred Battles
Conn Cétchathach , son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland, and the ancestor of the Connachta, and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Ireland in the early middle ages, and...
”. In the Saga of Harald Hårfagre
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
, Snorri
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
tells us that Þorgils ruled his newly conquered domains from Dublin, and that he was “a long time king over Dublin”. In the Annals of Ulster
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...
, however, Turgéis is only mentioned in connection with an encampment on Lough Ree
Lough Ree
Lough Ree is a lake in the midlands of Ireland, the second of the three major lakes on the River Shannon. Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon after Lough Derg. The other two major lakes are Lough Allen to the north, and Lough Derg to the south, there are also several minor lakes...
in 845. It is likely that his role in history was greatly exaggerated by later chroniclers and that he played no direct part in the foundation of Viking Dublin.
The first Norse settlements in Dublin
In 837 a fleet of sixty longshipLongship
Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with...
s sailed up the River Liffey
River Liffey
The Liffey is a river in Ireland, which flows through the centre of Dublin. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac. The river supplies much of Dublin's water, and a range of recreational opportunities.-Name:The river was previously named An Ruirthech,...
and raided “churches, forts and dwellings”, including presumably those at Dublin. Later in the same year, a certain Saxolb (Söxulfr), "chief of the foreigners", was killed in Brega by the Uí Colgain, a branch of the Cíanachta Breg. The Chronicon Scotorum
Chronicon Scotorum
Chronicon Scotorum is a medieval Irish chronicle.According to Nollaig Ó Muraíle, it is "a collection of annals belonging to the 'Clonmacnoise group', covering the period from prehistoric times to 1150 but with some gaps, closely related to the 'Annals of Tigernach'...
and the Annals of Clonmacnoise
Annals of Clonmacnoise
The Annals of Clonmacnoise are an early 17th-century Early Modern English translation of a lost Irish chronicle, which covered events in Ireland from pre-history to A.D. 1408...
ascribe "the first taking and possession of the Danes in Dublin" to this year. But this was only a foretaste of things to come. In 841 the Vikings returned to Dublin, this time not as raiders but as conquerors. They seized the ecclesiastical settlement at Duiblinn and established a longphort, or naval encampment, nearby; where precisely is still a matter of debate, but the present site of Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
is a likely candidate, as it overlooked the Black Pool (Duiblinn, from which the city of Dublin takes its name), which would have served as a natural harbour. Four years later the Annals of Ulster refer also to foreigners at Áth Cliath; this may simply be a loose reference to the settlement at Duiblinn, but it is possible that the native settlement of Áth Cliath was also seized and a second longphort established on the Liffey — possibly at Usher’s Island. These settlements were temporary wintering camps and probably amounted to little more than pirate bases. From their new base in Dublin, the Vikings plundered many territories in Leinster and the Midlands as far as Slieve Bloom Many more raids were to follow. In 845 the Vikings of Dublin plundered Dún Masc (Rock of Dunamase in County Laois
County Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...
), killing the abbot of Tír dá Glas (Terryglass
Terryglass
Terryglass is a village in North Tipperary, Ireland. The village is located on the R493 regional road on the north-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ormond Lower. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the...
in County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
) and other dignitaries; other ecclesiastical settlements plundered in the same year included Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
, Clonenagh, Kinnitty
Kinnitty
Kinnitty is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is located 13 km east of Birr on the R440 and R421 regional roads.The village derives its name from the myth that the head of an ancient princess is buried beneath the village, Ceann being Irish for head and Eitigh being the name of the...
(County Offaly
County Offaly
County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
), Killeigh
Killeigh
Killeigh ) is a village in County Offaly, Ireland, located south of Tullamore on the N80 national secondary road. The Slieve Bloom Mountains lie a similar distance further south.-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland...
, Kells
Abbey of Kells
The Abbey of Kells is a former monastery located in Kells, County Meath, Ireland, 40 miles north of Dublin. It was founded in the early ninth century, and the Book of Kells was kept there during the later medieval and early modern periods before finally leaving the Abbey in the 1650s...
, Monasterboice
Monasterboice
The historic ruins of Monasterboice are of an early Christian settlement in County Louth in Ireland, north of Drogheda. It was founded in the late 5th century by Saint Buithe who died around 521, and was an important centre of religion and learning until the founding of nearby Mellifont Abbey in...
, Duleek
Duleek
Duleek is a town in County Meath, Ireland, close to the Louth border.Duleek takes is name from the Irish word daimh liag, meaning house of stones and referring to an early stone-built church, St Cianan’s Church, the ruins of which are still visible in Duleek today...
, Swords
Swords, Dublin
Swords is the county town of Fingal in Ireland. It is about 13 km north of Dublin city centre and is part of its commuter belt.- History :...
and Finglas
Finglas
-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland* List of abbeys and priories in Ireland...
. In 845 they also set up an encampment near Tullamore
Tullamore
Tullamore is a town in County Offaly, in the midlands of Ireland. It is Offaly's county town and the centre of the district.Tullamore is an important commercial and industrial centre in the region. Major international employers in the town include 'Tyco Healthcare' and 'Boston Scientific'. In...
.
In 845 Turgesius was captured by the King of Mide
Kingdom of Mide
Mide , spelt Midhe in modern Irish and anglicised as Meath, was a medieval kingdom in Ireland for over 1,000 years. Its name means "middle", denoting the fact that lay in the middle of Ireland....
Máel Sechnaill and drowned in Loch Uair (Lough Owel
Lough Owel
Lough Owel is a lough in the Midlands of Ireland, situated north of Mullingar, the county town of Westmeath. It is a deep lake, well known amongst anglers, and holds a few char along with brown trout. Water from Lough Owel feeds the Royal Canal, a canal crossing Ireland from Dublin to the River...
in County Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
). Whatever the true extent of Turgesius's power in the country, this stroke of good fortune proved to be a turning point in “The War of the Irish with the Foreigners
The War of the Irish with the Foreigners
Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib is a medieval Irish text that tells of the depredations of the Vikings in Ireland and the Irish king Brian Boru's great war against them, beginning with the Battle of Sulcoit in 967 and culminating in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, in which Brian was slain but his forces...
” (Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
: Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib) as this period of Irish history is called. Several Irish victories followed. In 847 Cerball mac Dúnlainge
Cerball mac Dúnlainge
Cerball mac Dúnlainge was king of Osraige in south-east Ireland. The kingdom of Osraige occupied roughly the area of modern County Kilkenny and lay between the larger provincial kingdoms of Munster and Leinster....
the King of Osraige
Kingdom of Osraige
The Kingdom of Osraighe , anglicized as Ossory, was an ancient kingdom of Ireland. It formed the easternmost part of the kingdom and province of Munster until the middle of the 9th century, after which it attached itself to Leinster...
defeated the Norsemen of Dublin and their leader Agnonn (Hákon) at Carn Brammit.
The following year the Norsemen suffered a series of decisive setbacks. Máel Sechnaill defeated them at Forrach (Farrow near Mullingar
Mullingar
Mullingar is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act of 1542, proclaimed Westmeath a county, separating it from Meath. Mullingar became the administrative centre for County Westmeath...
in County Westmeath). Tomrair (Þórir), the heir-designate of the King of Laithlind, was slain in a battle with Ólchobar mac Cináeda
Ólchobar mac Cináeda
Ólchobar mac Cináeda was King of Munster from 847 until his death. He may be the "king of the Irish" who sent an embassy to Frankish Emperor Charles the Bald announcing a series of victories over Vikings in Ireland in 848.-Origins:...
the King of Munster and Lorcán mac Cellaig
Lorcán mac Cellaig
Lorcán mac Cellaig was a King of Leinster of the Uí Muiredaig sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Maistiu in the south of modern County Kildare. He was the son of Cellach mac Brain , a previous king.The succession of kings in Leinster is difficult to...
the King of Leinster at Sciath Nechtain (near Castledermot
Castledermot
Castledermot is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road from Dublin to Waterford passes through the village but completion of a bypass is due during 2010.-Demographics:...
in County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
). In the same year Tigernach mac Fócartai
Tigernach mac Fócartai
Tigernach mac Fócartai , also called Tigernach of Lagore, was King of Lagore.-Background:Tigernach belonged to the Uí Chernaig branch of the once-powerful Síl nÁedo Sláine kindred, part of the southern Uí Néill. His great-great-grandfather Fogartach mac Néill had been High King of Ireland...
King of Loch Gabhair
Kings of Brega
-Overview:Brega took its name from Mag Breg, the plain of Brega, in modern County Meath, County Louth and County Dublin, Ireland. They formed part of the Uí Néill kindred, belonging to the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Uí Néill. The kingdom of Brega included the Hill of Tara, the site...
(Lagore, the royal seat of South Brega) inflicted a significant defeat on the Norsemen in an oakwood at Dísert Do-Chonna.
These defeats culminated in an attack on Dublin itself in 849. The Viking settlement was plundered and probably destroyed — at least temporarily — by Máel Sechnaill, who was now High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
, and Tigernach mac Fócartai. A fleet of 140 longships arrived in Dublin in the same year. The expedition was led by "adherents of the king of the foreigners" and their objective was "to exact obedience from the foreigners who were in Ireland before them". It was also recorded that "afterwards they caused confusion in the whole country". It is possible that this fleet was sent by the King of Laithlind in an attempt to regain lost ground — or was he perhaps hoping to profit from the discomfiture of rival Scandinavians? The following year, we are told, the Norsemen formed an alliance with Cináed mac Conaing
Cináed mac Conaing
Cináed mac Conaing was King of Knowth in the medieval Irish province of Mide, succeeding his father Conaing mac Flainn in 849.Cináed's family belonged to the Knowth, or Uí Chonaing, branch of the Síl nÁedo Sláine, part of the southern branch of the dominant Uí Néill kin group...
, the King of Cianachta North Brega, and plundered the territories of Máel Sechnaill and Tigernach and destroyed Tigernach's crannóg
Crannog
A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia from the European Neolithic Period, to as late as the 17th/early 18th century although in Scotland,...
in Lagore. If this attack was in retaliation for the sacking of Dublin the previous year, it suggests that the fleet of 849 was indeed sent by the King of Laithlind.
Dubgaill and Findgaill
In 851 a significant development took place: "The Dubgenti came to Áth Cliath, made a great slaughter of the Findgaill, and plundered the naval encampment, both people and property." It is believed that this refers to the first appearance in Ireland of a new faction of Vikings. Called the Dubgaill or Dubgenti ("Dark Foreigners" or "Dark Gentiles"), these were possibly Scandinavians of Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
or Anglo-Danish origin who hoped to take advantage of the shifting fortunes of the town's inhabitants, known as the Findgaill or Findgenti ("Fair Foreigners" or "Fair Gentiles"), who were possibly Scandinavians of Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
origin — though there is still no consensus among historians as to the meaning of these terms. Whatever their provenance, the Dubgaill defeated the Norsemen of Dublin and destroyed their settlement; in the same year they raided the longphort at Lind Dúachaill (Linns, near Annagassan
Annagassan
Annagassan is a village in the townland of Ballynagassan, County Louth, Ireland. It sits where the River Glyde enters the Irish Sea.It was first mentioned as Linn Duachaill in AD 841 when the establishment of a Viking longphort was recorded...
in County Louth
County Louth
County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...
) and slaughtered the Findgaill. The following year the Dubgaill inflicted another significant defeat on the Findgaill at Snám Aignech (Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough is a glacial fjord or sea inlet that forms part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore is County Down and on its southern shore is County Louth...
). The leaders of the Findgaill in this encounter are called Stain (or Zain) and Iercne (or Iargna). In the Fragmentary Annals Zain and Iargna are co-regents (leithrí). Iercne died in the battle; his sons are mentioned in connection with Dublin in 883 and 886. The leader of the Dubgaill is called Horm (?Ormr), who was slain in 856 by Rhodri the Great
Rhodri the Great
Rhodri the Great was King of Gwynedd from 844 until his death. He was the first Welsh ruler to be called 'Great', and the first to rule most of present-day Wales...
the King of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
. Later that year the Norsemen suffered two defeats in the same month at the hands of the Cianachta Breg: one at Inch near Balrothery
Balrothery
Balrothery is a village located in Fingal, Ireland. The name Balrothery comes from the Irish Baile an Ridire or Baile Ruaderai.The village is located about 2 km south of Balbriggan on the old N1 Dublin Belfast road....
in County Dublin, and one at Ráith Aldain (Raholland, County Meath).
A year later, in 853, a Viking warlord called Amlaíb came to Dublin and made himself king — the first in the fledgling city’s history — receiving hostages from the Vikings and tribute from the Irish. Amlaíb is described in the Annals of Ulster as "the son of the King of Laithlind"; it would appear, then, that he was the leader of the Findgaill, sent by his father GuÞfriÞ to do battle with the Dubgaill. Amlaíb has been identified with two individuals who appear in Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
sources, but whose historicity and provenance are uncertain: Óláfr inn hvíti
Olaf the White
Olaf the White was a viking sea-king who lived in the latter half of the 9th century.Olaf was born around 840, possibly in Ireland. His father was the Hiberno-Norse warlord Ingjald Helgasson...
(Olaf the White) and Óláfr Guðrøðarson (Olaf the Son of Guðrøðr). Óláfr inn hvíti was the son of Ingjald Helgasson
Ingjald Helgasson
Ingjald Helgasson was a Hiberno-Norse chieftain of the ninth century AD. According to the Landnamabok he was the son of Helgi, the son of Olaf, the son of Gudrod, the son of Halfdan Hvitbeinn; he was thus distantly related to the Yngling kings of Vestfold and later Norway...
and a descendant of both Hálfdan hvítbeinn
Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Halfdan Whiteshanks was a mythical petty king in Norway, described in the Ynglinga saga. The following description is based on the account in Ynglinga saga, written in the 1220s by Snorri Sturluson. The historicity of the kings described in that saga is generally not accepted by modern...
(Halfdan Whitelegs) of Vestfold
Vestfold
is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...
in Norway and Ragnar Lodbrok. Óláfr Guðrøðarsson was the son of Gudrød the Hunter
Gudrød the Hunter
Gudrød the Hunter was a semi-legendary king in Vingulmark in south-east Norway, during the early Viking Age from 804 until 810...
Like so many other Scandinavian characters in this period of Irish history, Amlaíb's precise identity is still uncertain, though he is probably the same person as Amhlaoibh Conung
Amlaíb Conung
Amlaíb Conung was a Norse or Norse-Gael leader in Ireland and Scotland in the years after 850. Together with his brothers Ímar and Auisle he appears frequently in the Irish annals....
(Óláfr konungr, or Olaf the King), who is mentioned in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
According to the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, Máel Sechnaill tried to come to terms with this dangerous new rival in 854, but without success. Having made himself undisputed leader of the Norsemen in Dublin — whether Findgaill or Dubgaill — Amlaíb departed for Britain, where he was involved in numerous military campaigns. When Amlaíb returned to Dublin in 856 or 857, he was accompanied by two of his brothers, Ímar and Auisle . Ímar has been identified with Ivar the Boneless
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar Ragnarsson nicknamed the Boneless , was a Viking leader and by reputation also a berserker. By the late 11th century he was known as a son of the powerful Ragnar Lodbrok, ruler of an area probably comprising parts of modern-day Denmark and Sweden.-Invader:In the autumn of AD 865, with his...
, a semi-legendary character who appears in the Old Norse sagas. According to Norse tradition, Ívarr was a son of the semi-legendary Danish warlord Ragnar Loðbrok. The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland provide an alternative genealogy, but one which dates from the 11th century — and therefore equally suspect. According to another entry in the Fragmentary Annals, Ímar and Auisle were Amlaíb's brothers, all three being sons of Gofraid mac Ragnaill the King of Laithlind.
Ímar became Amlaíb's co-regent in Dublin around 857. Auisle was co-regent from about 863 until his death in 867.
Campaigns in Ireland
Whatever their provenance, both the Findgaill and the Dubgaill were politically and militarily active throughout the islands of Britain and Ireland for the remainder of the 9th century. For the next fifteen years or so, Amlaíb and Ímar used Dublin as their base of operations for a series of campaigns, which may have involved Vikings from both factions. In order to avoid the inconvenience of having to wage wars on a several fronts, they formed alliances with several Irish leaders. Amlaíb may have married daughters of Áed Findliath King of Ailech, of Cináed mac Conaing the King of Brega, and of Cerball mac Dúnlainge the King of Osraige. They also forged an alliance with the King of Osraige Cerball mac Dúnlainge, who was one of the most powerful and ambitious men in the country.In 856 a major conflict arose between the Norsemen and Máel Sechnaill, who was then allied to mercenaries of mixed Gaelic and Scandinavian background known as the Gallgoídil. In that year two important ecclesiastical settlements in Brega — Slane
Slane
Slane is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 and the N51 . In 2006 Slane's population was 1,099, having grown from 823 in 2002. The population of the village and the surrounding rural area...
and Lusk
Lusk
Lusk may refer to:* Lusk, Tennessee, a community in the U.S. state of Tennessee* Lusk, Wyoming, a town in the U.S. state of Wyoming* Lusk, County Dublin, a village in Ireland* Lusk, a band that released the album Free Mars in 1997...
— were sacked. The perpetrators of these attacks are not named, but the Norsemen of Dublin were probably behind both of tbem.
In 857 the conflict shifted to Munster, where Amlaíb and Ímar defeated Caittil Find
Caittil Find
Caittil Find was the leader of a contingent of Norse-Gaels, recorded as being defeated in battle in 857 CE. Some historians have considered him to be identical to Ketill Flatnose, a prominent Norse sea-king who had strong associations with the Hebrides of Scotland and Olaf the White...
and the Gallgoídil
Norse-Gaels
The Norse–Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man, and western Scotland for a part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...
. The following year Ímar and Cerball mac Dúnlainge defeated the Cenél Fiachach and the Gallgoídil at Ara Tíre. In 859 Amlaíb, Ímar and Cerball jointly attacked Máel Sechnaill and the Gallgoídil in Mide. In the same year, however, at the royal Synod of Ráith Aeda Meic Bric (Rahugh, County Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
, in the territory of the Cenél Fiachach), a temporary peace was made between the contending parties. Cerball submitted to the High King and his kingdom of Osraige was transferred from Munster to Leth Cuinn, placing it under Máel Sechnaill's authority; this transfer of sovereignty was sanctioned by the king of Munster Máel Gualae mac Donngaile
Máel Gualae mac Donngaile
Máel mac Donngaile , known as Máel Gualae, was a King of Munster from the Eóganacht Chaisil branch of the Eoganachta, the ruling dynasty of Munster. He was of the Clann Faílbe sept of this branch and a grandson of Tnúthgal mac Donngaile , whom some sources name as King of Munster and brother of...
. Later that year, however, Máel Gualae fell into the hands of the Dublin Norsemen, who killed him in a pagan sacrifice. Thus ended — for a time, at least — the alliance between Cerball mac Dúnlainge and the Norsemen.
The following two years were marked by the fluctuating fortunes of both natives and invaders; alliances between the two were fluent and the conflict was relentless. Cerball mac Dúnlainge joined forces with his new overking Máel Sechnaill, while Amlaíb and Ímar aligned themselves with one of Máel Sechnaill's enemies, Áed Findliath of Ailech. In 860 Máel Sechnaill and Cerball took up arms against Áed Findliath and another of the High King's principal enemies, Flann mac Conaing of Brega, defeating them (though not decisively) at Moy near Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
. In 861 Áed and the Norsemen of Dublin jointly plundered Máel Sechnaill's territories in Mide, but Máel Sechnaill defeated them at Drumomuy near the River Feegile on the border between County Offaly
County Offaly
County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
and County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
. In 862 Áed, Flann and the Norsemen of Dublin once again invaded Mide, but Máel Sechnaill's death in November of that year effectively brought the campaign to an end. Áed Findliath succeeded him as High King. After Máel Sechnaill's death his kingdom of Mide was divided among two claimants to the throne, Lorcán mac Cathail
Lorcán mac Cathail
Lorcán mac Cathail was a King of Uisnech and Mide of the Clann Cholmáin. Lorcán ruled in as King of Mide from 862-864.His exact dynastic affiliations are unknown. The death of a certain Cathal mac Conchobair is mentioned in the annals in 843. If this was his father he may have been the grandson...
and Conchobar mac Donnchada
Conchobar mac Donnchada
Conchobar mac Donnchada was High-King of Ireland with opposition between 819 and 833. Conchobar was the son of Donnchad Midi, high-king of Ireland ; his mother was Fuirseach, a noblewoman of the Dál nAraidi. Conchobar married Land, daughter of the former High-King Áed Oirdnide...
.
The succession of Áed led to another series of alliances between natives and invaders. The Norsemen of Dublin now allied themselves with Lorcán mac Cathail, one of the rival kings of Mide. In 863 Lorcán, Amlaíb, Ímar and Auisle invaded Flann mac Conaing's kingdom of Brega, during which invasion they plundered the megalithic tombs in the Boyne Valley, an unprecedented act of sacrilege. 863 also saw the death of Muirecán mac Diarmata
Muirecán mac Diarmata
Muirecán mac Diarmata was a King of Leinster of the Uí Fáeláin sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the Laigin. This sept had their royal seat at Naas in the eastern part of the Liffey plain, Airthir Liphi. He was the son Diarmait mac Ruadrach , King of Airthir Liphi...
, the King of Leinster, at the hands of the Norsemen; so Amlaíb and his allies must also have campaigned south of the Liffey. The following year, however, everything had changed again. Lorcán was blinded by Áed Findliath, and Amlaíb drowned his co-regent Conchobar mac Donnachada at Clonard
Clonard Abbey
Clonard Abbey was an early medieval monastery situated on the River Boyne, just beside the traditional boundary line of the northern and southern halves of Ireland in modern County Meath...
, an important ecclesiastical site in Mide.
Campaigns in Britain
In 866 the Norsemen of Dublin turned their attention to Britain. Amlaíb and Auisle plundered the Pictish kingdom of FortriuFortriu
Fortriu or the Kingdom of Fortriu is the name given by historians for an ancient Pictish kingdom, and often used synonymously with Pictland in general...
in Scotland in that year, returning to Dublin with many hostages. The following year the brothers are reported to have quarrelled over one of Amlaíb's wives and Auisle was killed.
It has been claimed that from 865 to 869 Ímar and a kinsman Hálfdan accompanied the Great Heathen Army
Great Heathen Army
The Great Heathen Army, also known as the Great Army or the Great Danish Army, was a Viking army originating in Denmark which pillaged and conquered much of England in the late 9th century...
which ravaged the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain around this time. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
refer to the leaders of this army as Ingware and Ubba. Ingware has been identified with Ímar, though Ubba's identity is unknown. The 10th-century historian Æthelweard noted that the fleet of the Great Heathen Army arrived "from the north" in 865 and wintered in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
. This suggests that the invasion was launched from Laithlind, though the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to the invaders as Danes, and they are often linked to a band of Vikings who pillaged northern France between 845 and 865. Ingware's army is reported to have crossed the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
the following year and captured York, the capital of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
. In 867 Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
was invaded but no major engagement took place, as the Mercians sued for peace.
In late 869 the Great Heathen Army wintered in Thetford, East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
. In November they defeated Edmund the King of East Anglia and seized his kingdom. At this time the army was led by Ingware and Ubba, but the following year the army's two heathen kings are called Bachsecg and Halfdene. In 870 Ímar was campaigning with his brother Amlaíb in Scotland, so it appears that his kinsman Hálfdan took his place as one of the leaders of the Great Heathen Army in England. According to Aethelweard's Chronicon Igwares (Ingware) died in 870 — a detail which must be accounted for by those historians who believe that Ímar and Iguuar were one and the same individual. Halfdene continued the conquest of northern England with the assistance of the Great Summer Army, which arrived in 871. Repton
Repton
Repton is a village and civil parish on the edge of the River Trent floodplain in South Derbyshire, about north of Swadlincote. Repton is close to the county boundary with neighbouring Staffordshire and about northeast of Burton upon Trent.-History:...
was taken in 873, which led to the fall of eastern Mercia. In the winter of 874 he settled on the Tyne in Northumbria, from which numerous attacks on the Picts and Strathclyde were launched. In 875 or 876 Halfdene divided Northumbria in two: the northern kingdom of Bernicia
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
remained a puppet state ruled by Angles, while the southern kingdom of Deira
Deira
Deira was a kingdom in Northern England during the 6th century AD. Itextended from the Humber to the Tees, and from the sea to the western edge of the Vale of York...
or Jórvík
Jórvík
Scandinavian York is a term, like the terms Kingdom of Jórvík or Kingdom of York, used by historians for the kingdom of Northumbria in the late 9th century and first half of the 10th century, when it was dominated by Norse warrior-kings; in particular, it is used to refer to the city controlled by...
was ruled directly by the Danes. Halfdene then disappears from the Chronicle. In 875 Albdann (Hálfdan) is reported to have "deceitfully killed" Amlaíb's son Oistín (Eysteinn) and taken Dublin.
It may be possible, then, to synchronize the activities of Ingware and Halfdene in England as recorded in the English annals with the activities of Ímar and Albann in Ireland and Laithlind as recorded in the Irish annals; nevertheless, some discrepancies remain, and this has led a number of modern historians to reject the identity of Ingware and Ímar (though not necessarily that of Halfdene and Albdann).
In 870 Amlaíb and Ímar besieged Ail Cluaithe, or Dumbarton, the capital of Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
; they captured the stronghold following a four-month siege, and returned to Dublin in 871 with a great deal of plunder. Later that year they stormed the fortress of Dún Sobairche or Dunseverick
Dunseverick
Dunseverick is a hamlet and townland near the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is most notable for Dunseverick Castle.-External links:****...
in County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
with the assistance of the Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEóġain is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall Noígiallach who founded the kingdom of Tír Eoghain in the 5th century...
, whose leader was the High King Áed Findliath. Before the end of 871, Amlaíb returned to Scotland to suppress a Norse uprising against his father Gofraid mac Ragnaill. During this time (871–872), Ímar and Amlaíb's son Oistín (Eysteinn) plundered Ireland "from east to west and from north to south". By 878 the Findgaill and Dubgaill were dominant in many parts of Britain, controlling territories in Scotland, Strathclyde, Northumbria, East Anglia, Wales and Mercia. Their expansion was eventually halted by Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
, whose victory in the Battle of Edington
Battle of Edington
The Battle of Ethandun or Edington is where the forces of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army led by Guthrum between 6 and 12 May AD 878...
in May 878 paved the way for the creation of the kingdom of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Domestic troubles
In 866, when Amlaíb and Auisle were invading Fortriu, Flann mac Conaing King of Brega took advantage of their absence to exact revenge for their invasion of 863, inflicting a significant defeat on the Norsemen. In the same year Cennétig mac Gaíthéne, king of Loígis, defeated the Norsemen at Mindroichet (Mondrehid in County LaoisCounty Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...
). In 867 a force led by Cennétig and Máel Ciaráin mac Rónáin burned Amlaíb's fortress at Clondalkin, near Dublin, and killed 100 of his followers. They followed this up with a successful attack on Dublin itself in the same year, in which Odolb Micle was killed. This shadowy figured may have been Amlaíb and Ímar's regent. Undeterred by this setback, Amlaíb plundered the monastery of Lis Mór in Munster (Lismore, County Waterford
Lismore, County Waterford
Lismore is a town in County Waterford, Ireland. It is located where the N72 road crosses the River Blackwater.-History:It was founded by Saint Mochuda, also known as Saint Carthage. In the 7th century, Lismore was the site of the well-known Lismore Abbey. It is also home to Lismore Castle, the...
) before the end of the year. According to one interpretation of Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib, it was on this occasion that Auisle lost his life. In 869 Máel Ciaráin mac Rónáin came to a grisly end. Having been expelled from Leinster by jealous rivals, he allied himself by marriage to the High King Áed Findliath and invaded Leinster. He was defeated, however; his body was hacked to pieces and his head cut off. Subsequently his head was given to the Norsemen of Dublin, who used it for target-practice before casting it into the sea. In the same year, Amlaíb plundered the great monastic settlement of Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
. This raid was possibly launched in retaliation for the death of his son Carlus, who had lost his life the previous year fighting for the kings of Leinster and Brega against Áed Findliath (the protector of Armagh) in the Battle of Cella Ua nDaigri (Killineer, County Louth
County Louth
County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...
). We are not told when precisely the alliance between Amlaíb and Áed Findliath (established around 860) fell apart; possibly it happened when Áed became High King in 862.
In 870, while Amlaíb and Ímar were besieging Dumbarton, Áed Findliath laid waste Leinster "from Dublin to Gowran", though it is not clear whether Dublin itself was attacked during this campaign. In the same year, a leader of the Dubgaill called Úlfr invaded eastern Ireland and killed Máel Sechnaill mac Néill, one of the two kings of South Brega .
In 872, we are told by the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, "the kings of the foreigners" massacred the men of the Three Plains and the Three Comanns in Counties Laois, Kildare and Carlow
County Carlow
County Carlow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Carlow, which lies on the River Barrow. Carlow County Council is the local authority for the county...
. If these kings were Amlaíb and Ímar, this must have been their last raid on Irish soil, for within a year Ímar was dead.
Ímar's death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster and the Chronicon Scotorum under the year 873. In the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, under the same year, it is reported that "the king of Lochlainn" died of a "sudden horrible disease". This cause of death is not mentioned in any other source, but it raises the interesting possibility that it was the crippling effects of this unidentified disease that led to Ímar's Old Norse sobriquet Ívarr inn beinlausi
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar Ragnarsson nicknamed the Boneless , was a Viking leader and by reputation also a berserker. By the late 11th century he was known as a son of the powerful Ragnar Lodbrok, ruler of an area probably comprising parts of modern-day Denmark and Sweden.-Invader:In the autumn of AD 865, with his...
, or Ivar the Boneless.
According to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, or Scottish Chronicle, is a short written chronicle of the Kings of Alba, covering the period from the time of Kenneth MacAlpin until the reign of Kenneth II . W.F...
, Amlaíb died around 874-875 in Dollar
Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...
during a protracted campaign against Constantine I of Scotland
Constantine I of Scotland
Causantín or Constantín mac Cináeda was a king of the Picts. He is often known as Constantine I, in reference to his place in modern lists of kings of Scots, though contemporary sources described Causantín only as a Pictish king...
. These deaths ushered in three decades of uncertainty for the Norse settlements in Ireland. Internecine conflict between the different factions weakened the colonies and made it easier for the Irish to unite against them. During this period most of the Norse colonies at Dublin, Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
, Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
, Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
and Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
fell under the sway of native rulers, as the former allies of the Norsemen turned against them. It has even been claimed that Cerball mac Dúnlainge assumed the kingship of Dublin around this time (possibly with the consent of its Norse inhabitants), but there is nothing in the Irish sources to support this.
Epigoni
In Dublin Amlaíb was succeeded by one of his sons, Oistin (Eysteinn); but Albdann (Hálfdan), the leader of the Dubgenti and conqueror of Northumbria, also claimed the throne. In 875 Hálfdan invaded the settlement and killed Eysteinn, but the High King Áed Findliath intervened and expelled him from the city, replacing him with Ímar's son Barith , who was the foster-father of Áed's son. This was the last serious conflict in the War of the Irish with the Foreigners for a generation. Later chroniclers record that Ireland enjoyed a "Forty Years' Rest" from foreign invaders between 876 and 916. Hálfdan was slain in a battle with the Findgaill in Loch Cuan (Strangford LoughStrangford Lough
Strangford Lough, sometimes Strangford Loch, is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. The name Strangford is derived ; describing the fast-flowing narrows at its mouth...
) in 877. In the relevant entry in the Annals of Ulster he is described as the leader of the Dubgenti; In Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib Barith is named as the leader of the Findgenti; this would seem to support the theory that Hálfdan's brother Ingware was not the same man as Ímar the Norse king of Dublin, the former being of the Dubgenti and the latter of the Findgenti.
Barith had been active in Ireland while Amlaíb was still on the throne; he may have participated in Amlaíb's raid on Lismore in 867; also in 867 he narrowly avoided assassination during a raid in Connacht in which a kinsman Háimar was killed, and in 873 he and Oistín had invaded Munster with a fleet of ships. Six years later Vikings plundered Armagh and held the abbot and the lector hostage; Barith may have been behind this raid. Finally, in 881, he sacked the oratory of St Cianán at Damhliag in Brega (Duleek
Duleek
Duleek is a town in County Meath, Ireland, close to the Louth border.Duleek takes is name from the Irish word daimh liag, meaning house of stones and referring to an early stone-built church, St Cianan’s Church, the ruins of which are still visible in Duleek today...
in Meath). It is possible that Barith was also Lord or King of Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
.
Intermittent warfare between the Norsemen of Dublin and their Irish neighbours continued despite the forty years’ rest. Barith died in 881 shortly after sacking the oratory of St Cianán; he was succeeded by an unnamed son of Auisle, who is referred to in the annals as Mac Auisle. In 883 Mac Auisle was killed by Otir (Ottár) the son of Iercne (i.e. Járnkné, who had been killed by the Dubgaill at Carlingford Lough in 852) and Muirgel the daughter of Máel Sechnaill I. The motive for this killing is unknown, but it suggests that there was an alliance by marriage between Máel Sechnaill and Járnkné.
Mac Auisle was succeeded in turn by another son of Ímar, Sichfrith Ivarsson (883–888), who burned the monasteries of Lismore
Lismore, County Waterford
Lismore is a town in County Waterford, Ireland. It is located where the N72 road crosses the River Blackwater.-History:It was founded by Saint Mochuda, also known as Saint Carthage. In the 7th century, Lismore was the site of the well-known Lismore Abbey. It is also home to Lismore Castle, the...
and Cloyne
Cloyne
Cloyne is a small town to the south-east of the town of Midleton in eastern County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. It is also a see city of the Anglican Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese...
in the first year of his reign. He may also have been responsible for an attack on the ecclesiastical settlement of Kildare in 885 or 886 in which the vice-abbot Suibne mac Duib dá Boirennn was taken captive with 280 others. During Sichfrith’s reign there was further civil unrest in the colony, caused by another son of Járnkné called Eolóir. In 886 Eolóir killed Airemón mac Áedo
Airemón mac Áedo
Airemón mac Áedo was a Dál Fiatach king of Ulaid, which is now Ulster, Ireland. He was the grandson of Eochaid mac Fiachnai , a previous king of Ulaid. He ruled from 882-886....
, one of the two kings of Ulster
Ulaid
The Ulaid or Ulaidh were a people of early Ireland who gave their name to the modern province of Ulster...
. Eolóir appears to have been a claimant to the throne of Dublin around this time. In 888 Sichfrith routed the forces of the High King Flann Sinna
Flann Sinna
Flann Sinna was the son of Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid of Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the southern Uí Néill. He was King of Mide from 877 onwards and is counted as a High King of Ireland...
(a son of Máel Sechnaill). It has been suggested that the death in 888 of Cerball mac Dúnlainge, who may have been the true overlord of Dublin at this time, acted as a catalyst for Flann Sinna's attempt to conquer the city.
In 888 Sichfrith Ivarsson was assassinated by his brother Sitric I, who held the throne for five years (888–893). During this time the Dubliners were strong enough to carry out successful raids on major monasteries. They plundered Ardbraccan, Donaghpatrick, Dulane, Glendalough, Kildare and Clonard all within the space of two years (890–891). But a son of Barith called Eolair was killed by the Uí Amalgada of Tír Amalgada (Tirawley in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
).
In 893 another conflict arose and the ruling dynasty in Dublin split into two factions, one led by Sitric and the other by a pretender called Sigfrith the Jarl ( or Sigurðr). This shadowy figure may have been the same Sigfrøðr who was King of Jórvík from 895-900; a Viking called Sigfrøðr also led a Northumbrian fleet against Wessex in 893; it is possible that all three were one and the same man. The Annals of Ulster record that, "the foreigners of Áth Cliath [Dublin] became dispersed, one faction following the son of Ímar [Sitric I] and the other faction following Sigfrith the Jarl." It is possible that Sitric was deposed and Sigfrith the Jarl became king, but this is not at all certain; it is also possible that both factions left the city. The Annals of Inisfallen record that, "The heathens departed from Ireland this year [893]."Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib also implies that Sitric son of Ímar and his people went to Scotland around 892. Whatever the truth of the matter, Sitric returned the following year. It is not clear whether he expelled Sigfrith the Jarl or whether the latter had already left of his own accord.
In 895 a Norseman called Glúniarann ("Iron Knee", an Irish translation of the Norse Járnkné) led an army from Dublin to Armagh, where 710 prisoners were captured.
In 896 Sitric I was slain "by other Norsemen"; he was succeeded, probably, by his son or nephew Ivar II the Younger. In the same year "Amlaíb grandson of Ímar" and Glúniarann's son Glúntradna were slain by the Conaille Muirthemne of County Louth and Aitíth mac Laigni
Aitíth mac Laigni
Aitíth mac Laigni was a King of Ulaid, which is now Ulster, Ireland. He belonged to a branch of the Dal nAraide known as the Uí Echach Cobo in the west part of county Down. He ruled as King of Ulaid from 896-98....
the King of Ulster. Later in the same year the Norsemen of Dublin killed Flannacán mac Cellaig, King of Brega. We are not told whether these events were linked. Little is known of the reign of Ivar II; Kildare was plundered again by "the heathens" in 900, which may have been his doing.
The final blow fell in 902
902
Year 902 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* August 1 – Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army....
, when Cerball mac Muirecáin
Cerball mac Muirecáin
Cerball mac Muirecáin was king of Leinster. He was the son of Muirecán mac Diarmata and a member of the Uí Fáeláin, the descendants of Fáelán mac Murchado , of one of three septs of the Uí Dúnlainge of modern County Kildare in Ireland....
King of Leinster and Máel Findia mac Flannacáin King of Brega launched a two-pronged attack on Dublin from the north and the south, and drove Ivar II out of the city. The Norsemen's defeat was comprehensive. They fled, leaving "great numbers of their ships behind them, and escaped half-dead across the sea." According to the Annals of the Four Masters, some survivors of the initial onslaught took refuge on Ireland's Eye
Ireland's Eye
Ireland's Eye is a small uninhabited island off the coast of County Dublin, Ireland, situated directly north of Howth Harbour. The island is easily reached by regular tourist boats...
, where they were besieged. Some of the ousted Norsemen fled to Wales under Hingamund , a shadowy figure who may have usurped Ivar II's throne shortly before the fall of Dublin. Hingamund was driven out of Wales and eventually settled in the Wirral
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey and to the north by the Irish Sea. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the...
in the northwest of England, where he was granted lands by Æðelflæd
Ethelfleda
Æthelflæd , was the eldest daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, and after his death, ruler of Mercia...
the Queen of Mercia, who was acting as regent for her chronically ill husband Ethelred. Others are said to have fled to the Loire valley in France. Ivar II went to Scotland, where he died in 904.
Dublin was once again a Gaelic town, and remained so for fifteen years. Excavations have revealed that the site of Viking Dublin was not actually abandoned during these years. Presumably it was only the ruling dynasty and their warriors who were expelled; many families of Norse farmers, traders, artisans, etc, may have remained, under the jurisdiction of native Irish chieftains. The First Viking Age was at an end.
The archaeological record
This period of Dublin’s history is still very obscure. Despite the existence of a wealth of documentary evidence for Viking activity in the Dublin region throughout the 9th century, relatively little archaeological evidence has been unearthed to corroborate the testimony of contemporary annalists. The pioneering 19th-century historian Charles HalidayCharles Haliday
Charles Haliday was an Irish historian and antiquary who made significant contributions to the study of the history of Dublin, being particularly interested in the Scandinavian antiquities of the city. He was born in Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary in 1789...
bewailed the silence of contemporary Irish sources "respecting the social position, religion, laws, and monuments of those who occupied Dublin for more than three hundred years on all facts … excepting such as relate to their inroads and devastations". Most of our knowledge concerning the day-to-day lives of the Norse settlers in Dublin has been learned from extensive excavations at Wood Quay
Wood Quay
Wood Quay is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. Dublin Corporation acquired Wood Quay gradually between 1950 and 1975, finally announcing that it would be the location of their new offices. Finds made during the initial excavation of the site led to a massive, but...
and in the neighbourhoods of Winetavern Street and Fishamble Street
Fishamble Street
Fishamble Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland within the old city walls.The street joins Wood Quay at the Fish Slip near Fyan's Castle. It is mentioned in the 14th century as Vicus Piscariorum and as Fish Street. In 1577, Stanihurst named it as St John's Street...
. The Norse built their houses almost exclusively out of perishable materials such as wood and straw, but many early buildings have been preserved in this area in a two-metre-thick waterlogged layer of estuarine mud, making Dublin one of the most important Norse sites in Europe. To date, more than two hundred houses have been excavated.
Among the few recent discoveries relating to this period are the graves of five young Viking warriors, one of which was found at Ship Street Great about 100 metres to the southwest of the Black Pool, the other four being clustered together on the southeastern shore near South Great George's Street. Radiocarbon analysis suggests that all five died in the 9th century, possibly before the establishment of a Viking longphort at Dublin. Oxygen isotope analysis has revealed that two of these warriors were from Scandinavia and two from somewhere in the British Isles, possibly the western coast of Scotland. In total, about one hundred Viking burials from this period have been unearthed in the Dublin region, but most of these discoveries were made serendipitously in the 19th century and few were properly excavated. Most of these burials were accompanied by typical Viking grave goods — swords, spear-heads, shields, daggers, penannular brooches and various decorative items — including hacksilver
Hacksilver
thumb|300px|right|Hacksilver from the medieval period, Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, Hamburg, Germany.Hacksilver, or Hack-silver, is fragments of cut and bent silver items treated as bullion, either for ease of carrying before melting down for re-use, or simply used as currency by weight...
(i.e. small pieces of silver cut from coins or jewellery and used as currency).
Evidence for early Viking burials has also been recovered at Cork Street, Bride Street, Kildare Street
Kildare Street
Kildare Street is a well-known street in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland close to the principal shopping area of Grafton Street and Dawson Street, to which it is joined by Molesworth Street. Some Irish government departments have their offices on this street but it is most famous for Leinster...
, Dollymount
Dollymount
Dollymount is a coastal suburban area on the north coast of Dublin Bay, within Clontarf, on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, just East of St Anne's Park.-Dollymount Strand:...
and Donnybrook
Donnybrook, Dublin
Donnybrook is a district of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated on the southside of the city, in the Dublin 4 postal district, and is home to the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. It was once part of the Pembroke Township...
. More extensive cemeteries have been uncovered at Kilmainham
Kilmainham
Kilmainham is a suburb of Dublin south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre, in the Dublin 8 postal district.-History:In the Viking era, the monastery was home to the first Norse base in Ireland....
, Islandbridge, Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
, Parnell Square and College Green
College Green
College Green is a three-sided "square" in the centre of Dublin. On its northern side is a building known today as the Bank of Ireland which until 1800 was Ireland's Parliament House. To its east stands Trinity College Dublin, the only constituent college of the University of Dublin. To its south...
, but it is thought that these date from the Second Viking Age after 902. The cemetery at College Green consisted of several burial mounds (Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
: haugr), which are thought to have contained the remains of some of the Norse kings of Dublin; the last of these mounds had been removed by the end of the 17th century.
Longphort
One of the enduring controversies in the history of Dublin concerns the existence and location of the longphort, or naval encampment, which the Annals of Ulster claim was established by the Vikings at Dublin in 841. The Annals refer to encampments at both Duiblinn and Áth Cliath, which has led some archaeologists to conclude that there were two such encampments at Dublin: one in the vicinity of the ecclesiastical settlement of Duiblinn, and one further upstream at or near Usher's Island and the Ford of Hurdles (áth cliath, from which the urban settlement took its name). It is possible, however, that the annalists were simply using two closely related names to describe one and the same longphort. Evidence for a late 9th-century settlement has been unearthed in the vicinity of Parliament StreetParliament Street
Parliament Street is the name of several places including:*Parliament Street, Exeter, one of the world's narrowest streets in Exeter, England...
in Temple Bar West, about 100 metres north of Dublin Castle. It appears that this early phase of settlement was confined to a small region at the confluence of the Poddle and the Liffey, bounded on the west by what are now Fishamble Street and Werburgh Street and on the east by the Poddle estuary, which roughly followed the course of today's Parliament Street. Parallels have been drawn between the Norse settlement of Dublin and that of Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
, which also appears to have been established at the confluence of a major river and a minor tributary.
To date, no archaeological remains of any longphort or wintersetl have been unearthed; nevertheless, the possibility that there was no actual encampment in this early period can be discounted. A wealth of contemporary documentary evidence serves to confirm that throughout the second half of the 9th century Viking Dublin was a successful and thriving settlement from which numerous raids were launched throughout the country. Furthermore, a succession of warlords — many of them claiming the title King of Dublin — made Dublin their principal power-base, and from there launched a series of military campaigns against enemies in Ireland, Britain and further afield.
The most likely possibility is that the longphort was established on the gravel ridge overlooking the Black Pool — the most easily defended location in Dublin — and that its remains were subsequently buried or obliterated by the later 10th century settlement of Dyflinn, which was built in the same location (not to mention Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
, which presently occupies the site). The discovery of what are thought to be late 9th-century earthen banks in Ross Road and Werburgh Street (immediately west of Dublin Castle) lends some support to this theory. The other possibility is that the longphort was situated on the eastern or southern side of the Black Pool, and that Norse settlement began here, expanding northwards and westwards across the Poddle
River Poddle
The River Poddle , is one of the best known of the more than a hundred watercourses of Dublin. It is the source of the name "Dublin", the city being named after a pool that was once on its course...
in the late 9th century. Norse houses to the west of these banks all appear to date from the Second Viking Age (917–1170). It is also a possibility that the location of the longphort was changed after the destruction of the original settlement in 849.
Housing
The population of Dublin during the so-called “longphort phase” is estimated to have been quite considerable, amounting perhaps to several thousands. According to the annals, the Vikings of Dublin lost as many as 900 warriors at Carn Brammit in 847 without being overrun. It is assumed that streams of new immigrants from Britain and Scandinavia sustained the early settlement in the face of almost continuous hostility on the part of the native Irish.Like their Irish neighbours, the Norsemen of Dublin used the post-and-wattle
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
method to construct their dwellings. A series of sturdy vertical posts were first driven into the ground; these were then interlaced with horizontal osiers, as in basketwork. A plaster of mud and dung was generally applied to the outer surfaces of the walls to seal them (wattle-and-daub). Finally, the roofs were thatched with straw. There was usually just one door, and no windows.
Typically, the houses were 10–50 m2 in ground area, and were often provided with small gardens or vegetable plots, as well as adjoining workshops and storehouses. Inside, the houses were sometimes partitioned with curtains or wooden partitions, but usually they consisted of a single room; furniture was spartan, consisting of little more than benches and store chests; floors were strewn with rushes or straw; the only source of heat or light (other than the doorway) was the hearth in the centre of the living room. Rush lights fuelled by mutton fat were available, but they were expensive. A shuttered hole in the roof served as a chimney.
Archaeological evidence suggests that in addition to the naval encampments, the Vikings established numerous scattered dwellings along both banks of the Liffey in the 9th and 10th centuries. Almost one hundred Viking burials have been uncovered at Kilmainham
Kilmainham
Kilmainham is a suburb of Dublin south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre, in the Dublin 8 postal district.-History:In the Viking era, the monastery was home to the first Norse base in Ireland....
, Islandbridge, College Green
College Green
College Green is a three-sided "square" in the centre of Dublin. On its northern side is a building known today as the Bank of Ireland which until 1800 was Ireland's Parliament House. To its east stands Trinity College Dublin, the only constituent college of the University of Dublin. To its south...
, Parnell Square and in the Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
; in the majority of cases it cannot be determined whether they belong to the First or the Second Viking Age. The burials at Kilmainham and Islandbridge were associated with earlier Christian graveyards, though there was nothing about them to suggest that the deceased were other than pagan. In the opinion of a number of historians these burials are indicative of a significant early Viking settlement in this region, some three kilometres west of Áth Cliath; it is even possible that the longphort mentioned in the annals as being at Duiblinn or Áth Cliath was actually further upstream in this area.
A handful of domestic habitations from the same period have also been found at Temple Bar West
Temple Bar, Dublin
Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. Unlike the areas surrounding it, Temple Bar has preserved its medieval street pattern, with many narrow cobbled streets. It is promoted as "Dublin's cultural quarter" and has a lively nightlife that is popular...
in the heart of the modern city. Typically these early houses were sunken structures, or Grubenhäuser
Grubenhaus
A Grubenhaus is a type of sunken floored building built in many parts of northern Europe between the 5th and 12th centuries AD...
, with wattle-lined walls, stone or wattle floors, and no hearths. They were built on the left bank of the Poddle close to its confluence with the Liffey. At a later date — possibly in the 9th century — these sunken structures were filled in and replaced with more densely spaced post-and-wattle structures indicative of more intensive settlement. These later dwellings are now identified as Type I houses, characterized by the possession of a central hearth flanked by two raised benches or bedding areas, a roof supported by four internal posts, and a doorway at each end of the building. These houses have been compared to Norse dwellings that were built in the early 9th century at Kaupang
Kaupang
Kaupang was in Old-Norwegian a word that means a market-place. It is today used as a name of the first urban market-place in the area that today is Norway, also named Kaupang in Skiringssal...
in Vestfold
Vestfold
is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...
, Norway.
Neighbouring houses were connected by wattle paths and there are some indications of formal property boundaries. Associated with these Type I houses were animal pens. Excavations at these and other sites have revealed a rural community of farmers, quite different from the urbanized and industrial community of the 10th century. The four burials excavated near South Great George's Street were also associated with domestic habitations, suggesting that the deceased had been members of a settled Norse community and not the fatalities suffered by a transient raiding party.
Late in the 9th century a large mettled road was laid down in the middle of the Temple Bar West site, connecting it with the Liffey. It is also thought that South Great George's Street follows the course of an early medieval route — or possibly even the eastern boundary of a longphort, assuming that there was a naval encampment along the eastern shore of the Black Pool at some stage in the settlement's early history.
Clondalkin
Amlaíb is known to have built a fortress at ClondalkinClondalkin
-Today:Modern Clondalkin is a busy satellite town of Dublin, with a population of 43,929 in 2006. Retail facilities include Tesco Ireland- and Dunnes Stores-led shopping centres, and Aldi and Lidl stores on the Fonthill Road and New Nangor Road respectively, and the village centre is a base for...
, eight kilometres west of Áth Cliath. This was an important seat of Norse power for more than a century. Significantly, the fortress was built on the remains of an old monastic site, which has led some historians to wonder whether a similar thing might not have happened at the ecclesiastical enclosure of Duiblinn. The annals are silent as to the ultimate fate of the latter settlement and its community — no Abbot or Bishop of Dublin is mentioned after 785; the possibility remains that it was abandoned in the late 8th century before the arrival of the Norsemen, who simply annexed it and built their longphort on the site.
In 867 a force led by the king of Loígis Cennétig mac Gaíthéne burned the fortress at Clondalkin and killed 100 of Amlaíb's followers.
Viking activity in the Dublin region is also indicated by the discovery of numerous silver-hoards in the east and midlands of Ireland.