Viking Ireland

During the middle ages the Scandinavian countries were becoming over populated and the Vikings sought new lands to conquer and inhabit. They knew of Ireland's monasteries and the wealth they had and targeted Ireland as a prime location. The first Viking raids on Ireland occurred toward the end of the eighth century, the first officially recorded was in 795 off the coast of what is now County Antrim at Raithlin Island. They arrived from Norway and burned the church, the monasteries at Inismurray and Inisbofin suffered the same fate and in the same year Iona, the Scottish island was also attacked.

For the next forty years, the Vikings conducted hit and run raids, about once a year, these were probably done by independent looters, rather than a large organized invasion. They did not go any further inland than about twenty miles, so coastal areas were very vulnerable and difficult to defend, although there are some recorded defeats.

One was in 811 when a raiding party was slaughtered by the Ulaid and the king of Eóganacht Locha Léinand and the men of Umail defeated raiders the following year. However, there was no respite from the invaders and by 823 the entire coast had been raided, the monastery on the island of Sceilg was ransacked and the city of Armagh was raided on three occasions in 832.

They gradually created settlements around the coastal areas, not venturing further inland at first, the first of these was at Lough Neagh between 840 and 841. Over the next couple of years, they established settlements at Dublin, which was then named Dubhilnn, also at Cork and Waterford, then known as Vadrefjord.

It was not unusual for monasteries and churches to be attacked even before the arrival of the Vikings, this was a normal part of Irish warfare, the monasteries were wealthy and were important politically. The Vikings attacked them for their rich lands, provisions and livestock. They did loot valuables, but these were of lesser importance to them. The first reference to any co-operation between the Irish and the Vikings occurred in 842, although this could have happened before. The Vikings based a fleet at Lough Ree and built a fortified base on the shores, using this to mount raids on the surrounding countryside in 844. They did not escape unscathed however, the over king of the Uí Néill, Máel Seachnaill attacked them and caught and drowned one of their leaders, Turgesius, in Lough Owel in Westmeath.

The fact that the Vikings had established bases made them more vulnerable, even though they were fortified and the Irish kings intensified their attacks on the invaders. Among other successful raids were the total destruction of the new Viking settlement at Cork and Máel Seachnaill ravaged Dublin in 849. However, the Vikings were rapidly becoming involved in the politics of Ireland and alliances became more frequent. Between 849 and 852, the established Vikings in Ireland had fresh problems in the form of the Danes who began invading and battles were commonplace in the Irish sea between both sets of invaders!

The Vikings at Waterford were slaughtered in 860 by the king of Israige when he mounted an attack and the resistance intensified, with the Vikings being cleared from Ulster. They focused their raids on other areas in Europe, but finding less plunder, returned in force to Ireland in 914 having joined with the Vikings in England to create a much larger force. Muircertach had a round fort at Grianan of Aileach in County Dongeal and used it to set up many successful revenge attacks until he was killed in 943. Brian Boru of Dál Cais, slaughtered the Vikings of Dublin and was seen as the High King in 1002 until he was killed in 1014. The Vikings were unable to take full control of Ireland mainly because they made the mistake of becoming involved with Ireland’s internal affairs which had many clans battling with each other for control of different areas. The Vikings defeated Brian Boru by joining forces with the clan of Leciester and summoned forces to help them in Ireland from the whole Viking Kingdom.

The Vikings ultimately lost much of their power, but they did help the Irish make progress with ship building, battle tactics and weapons and because of them, the first towns were built, Cork, Waterford and Dublin. As a result of intermarriage, they eventually became assimilated into Irish civilization and so shaped future generations.

Copyright Celtic Rings Ltd. 2011