The Viking

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...

s invaded the territory around Dublin in the 9th century, establishing the Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

 Kingdom of Dublin, the earliest and longest lasting Norse kingdom in all of Europe outside of 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,...

, excepting the so-called Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. This corresponded to most of present-day County Dublin

County Dublin

County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

. The Norse referred to the kingdom as Dyflin, which is derived . The first reference to the Vikings comes from 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...

and the first entry for 841AD reads: "Pagans still on Lough Neagh

Lough Neagh

Lough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh, is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. Its name comes .-Geography:With an area of , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles to the west of Belfast, it is approximately twenty...

". It is from this date onwards that we get references to ship fortresses or longphort

Longphort

A longphort is a term used in Ireland for a Viking ship enclosure or shore fortress. Longphorts were originally built to serve as camps for the raiding parties in...

s being established in Ireland. It may be safe to assume that the Vikings first over-wintered in 840–841AD. The actual location of the longphort of Dublin is still a hotly-debated issue. Norse rulers of Dublin were often co-kings, and occasionally also Kings of Jórvík in what is now Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

.

Over time, the rulers of Dublin became increasingly Gaelicized

Gaelicization

Gaelicization or Gaelicisation is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the Gaels. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group who are traditionally viewed as having spread from Ireland to Scotland and the Isle of Man."Gaelic" as a linguistic term, refers to the...

. They began to exhibit a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism, and are often referred to as Norse-Gaels

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...

.

In 988, Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill

Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill

Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill , also called Máel Sechnaill Mór, Máel Sechnaill II, anglicized Malachy II, was King of Mide and High King of Ireland...

 led the initial Irish conquest of Dublin. As a result the founding of Dublin is counted by some from the year 988, notwithstanding that a village has existed on the site of Dublin since before the Roman occupation of Great Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 nearly a thousand years earlier. Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill was dethroned by Brian Boru

Brian Boru

Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...

 (1002–1014).

In the mid 11th century, the Kingdom of Leinster

Kings of Leinster

The following is a provisional list of the kings of Leinster who ruled the Irish kingdom of Leinster up to 1632 with the death of Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the last legitimately inaugurated head of the MacMurrough Kavanagh royal line...

 began exerting influence over Dublin, but its kings remained Norse-Gaels until the Norman invasion

Norman Invasion of Ireland

The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...

 of 1171. Though the last Norse king of Dublin was killed by the Normans in 1171, the population of the city retained their distinctiveness based on their origins for some further generations.

Norse Kings

Ruler	Reign	Notes
Amlaíb 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....	853–873	brother of Ímar and Auisle
Ímar 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...	856–873
Auisle Auisle Auisle , in Old Norse either Ásl or Auðgísl, was a Scandinavian, or perhaps Norse-Gael, king active in Ireland and north Britain in the 850s and 860s....	853–867
Eystein Olafsson	873–875
Halfdan	873/875–877
Barid	875/877–881
Mac Auisle	881–883
Eoloir Jarnknesson	unclear
Sichfrith Ivarsson	c. 883–888
Sigtrygg (Sitric) Ivarsson	888–893
Sichfrith Jarl	893–894
Ímar ua Ímair	896–902
Dublin abandoned by the Norse from 902 to 917.
Sihtric ua Ímair (a.k.a. Sihtric Cáech)	917–921	defeated Niall Glundub Niall Glúndub Niall Glúndub mac Áedo was a 10th century Irish king of the Cenél nEógain and High King of Ireland. While many Irish kin groups were members of the Uí Néill, tracing their descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages , the O'Neill dynasty took their name from Niall Glúndub rather than the earlier Niall... ; also king of 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...
Gofraid ua Ímair Gofraid ua Ímair Gofraid was a Norse-Gael king of Dublin and, for a short time, king of Northumbria...	921–934	grandson of Ímar 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...
Olaf III Guthfrithson Olaf III Guthfrithson Amlaíb mac Gofraid , a member of the Norse-Gael Uí Ímair dynasty, was King of Dublin from 934 to 941...	934–940	son of Gofraid ua Ímair Gofraid ua Ímair Gofraid was a Norse-Gael king of Dublin and, for a short time, king of Northumbria...
Blácaire mac Gofrith Blácaire mac Gofrith Blácaire mac Gofrith , in Old Norse Blákári Guðrøðsson, was King of Dublin. Son of Gofraid ua Ímair, he was a great-grandson of Ímar, ancestor of the Uí Ímair kindred which dominated the Scandinavianised and Norse-Gael regions of Britain and Ireland in the tenth century.According to the Annals of...	940 - 945
Sigtrygg Sigtrygg "Sigtrygg" is a Norwegian name; in Ireland rendered as Sitric. The names may refer to any of the following people:*Sitric the Dane, founder of Waterford*Sigtrygg of Nerike, a Swede who met Saint Olaf...  (Sitric)	941–943
Amlaíb Cuarán	945 - 947
Blácaire mac Gofrith	947 - 948	restored
Gofraid mac Sitriuc Gofraid mac Sitriuc Gofraid mac Sitriuc , in Old Norse Guðrøðr Sigtryggsson, was King of Dublin. He was the son of Sihtric ua Ímair and a great-grandson of Ímar, founder of the Uí Ímair kindred which dominated much of the Norse-Gael and Scandinavianised parts of Britain and Ireland in the 10th century.Gofraid became...	948 - 951
Amlaíb Cuarán	952–980	restored
Glúniairn Glúniairn Glúniairn , in Old Norse Járnkné, was a Norse-Gael king of Dublin of the Uí Ímair kindred which ruled over much of the Scandinavianised and Norse-Gael parts of Great Britain and Ireland in the tenth century....	980–989
Ivar of Waterford Ivar of Waterford Ivar of Waterford was the Norse king of Waterford from at least 969 until his death in the year 1000, and also reigned as King of Dublin, possibly from 989 to 993, and certainly again for less than a year between 994 and 995, returning after his expulsion from the city in 993 by Sigtrygg...  or Sigtrygg Silkbeard Sigtrygg Silkbeard Sigtrygg II Silkbeard Olafsson was a Hiberno-Norse King of Dublin of the Uí Ímair dynasty...	989–993
Ivar of Waterford Ivar of Waterford Ivar of Waterford was the Norse king of Waterford from at least 969 until his death in the year 1000, and also reigned as King of Dublin, possibly from 989 to 993, and certainly again for less than a year between 994 and 995, returning after his expulsion from the city in 993 by Sigtrygg...	994–995
Sigtrygg (Sitric) Silkbeard Sigtrygg Silkbeard Sigtrygg II Silkbeard Olafsson was a Hiberno-Norse King of Dublin of the Uí Ímair dynasty...  Olafsson	995–1036
Echmarcach mac Ragnaill Echmarcach mac Ragnaill Echmarcach mac Ragnaill was the Gall-Gaidhel King of the Isles, Dublin , and much of Galloway. According to Seán Duffy he was either a grandson or great-grandson of Ivar of Waterford, but an alternative exists. Benjamin Hudson has contended Echmarcach was a grandson of Gofraid mac Arailt...	1036–1038
Ímar mac Arailt	1038–1046
Echmarcach mac Ragnaill Echmarcach mac Ragnaill Echmarcach mac Ragnaill was the Gall-Gaidhel King of the Isles, Dublin , and much of Galloway. According to Seán Duffy he was either a grandson or great-grandson of Ivar of Waterford, but an alternative exists. Benjamin Hudson has contended Echmarcach was a grandson of Gofraid mac Arailt...	1046–1052
Murchad mac Diarmata mac Mael na mBo Murchad Murchad mac Diarmata was a King of Leinster and Dublin. He was a member of Leinster's Uí Cheinnselaig dynasty.Murchad was survived by his father Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó...	1052–1070
Diarmait mac Mail na mBo Diarmait mac Mail na mBo Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó was King of Leinster, and also High King of Ireland .He was one of the most important and significant Kings in Ireland in the pre-Norman era...	1070–1072
Domnall mac Murchada mac Diarmata	1070–1072
Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill	1072–1075
Muirchertach Ua Briain	1075–1086
Enna mac Diarmata mac Mael na mBo	1086–1089
Donnchad mac Domnail Remair mac Mael na mBo	1086–1089
Godred Crovan Godred Crovan Godred Crovan was a Norse-Gael ruler of Dublin, and King of Mann and the Isles in the second half of the 11th century. Godred's epithet Crovan may mean "white hand" . In Manx folklore he is known as King Orry.-Ancestry and early life:...	after1091–1094
Domnall mac Taidc Ua Briain	c.1094–11??
Donnchad mac Murchada mac Diarmata	????–1115
Diarmat mac Enna	1115–1117
Enna mac Donnchada mac Murchada	1118–1126
Conchobair mac Tiorrdelbach Ua Conchobair	1126–1127
Torcall	fl.1133
Conchobair Ua Briain	1141–1142
Ottir Óttar of Dublin Óttar of Dublin , in Irish Oitir Mac mic Oitir , was a Hiberno-Norse king of Dublin. Alternative names used in modern scholarship include: Óttar of the Isles and Óttar Óttarsson.-Life:...	1142–1148	from the Hebrides Hebrides The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
Ragnall mac Torcaill	11??–1146
Brotar mac Torcaill	1148–1160
Ascall mac Ragnaill	1160–1171

(N.B. "Sitric" is the Irish variant of Norwegian "Sigtrygg")