This was a comprehensive defeat for the Vikings and annals record they “escaped half-dead across the sea”. who destroyed their settlement and expelled them from Ireland. He was killed in 896 by other Norse and succeeded by Ivar II the Younger.He was driven out of the city by the Kings of Brega in 902. Sitric left Ireland at this time as the Annals of Inisfallen record that “the heathens departed from Ireland this year”, possibly on a pilgrimage, but returned in 894. Another brother Sitrygg is said to have taken over Waterford.īy the next generation Sitric 1, son of Ivar had assassinated his brother Ivar, and ruled Dublin for 5 years until 893, when another conflict caused the split of the kingdom between Sitric and possibly Sigfrith the Jarl. This latter died in 872 (of a “sudden horrible disease” of the bones, which may account for his Norse nickname) and for the next 20 years there was more division and struggle in Dublin. They dominated the Irish Sea region from the Kingdom of Dublin. Ivar is widely believed to be his brother and identical to Ímar, ancestor and founder of the Uí Ímair, or House of Ivar, dynasty from York, a thriving Viking stronghold in Northumbria. In 853, Olaf the White arrived in Dublin and assumed sovereignty here with another Viking, possibly Imar or Ivar the Boneless. Cinnaed was however captured and drowned by these two in 851. According the Annals their objective was "to exact obedience from the foreigners who were in Ireland before them".Īt this time Norse-Irish alliances had become more common, and apparently in 850 Norsemen allied with the King of North Brega, Cinnaed and plundered the territories of Mael Seachnaill and Tigernach “from the Shannon to the sea”, and the latter’s crannóg in Lagore was destroyed. In 849 the Viking settlement in Dublin was attacked and ravaged by Mael Seachnaill I, now High King of Ireland.īut 140 longships arrived the same year, possibly sent by the King of Laithlind, who wished to regain lost ground, profit from the weakened position of rival Norsemen, and most likely avenge his son’s death Tomhair Earl heir to Laithlind, had been killed in battle in 846. Reserved for kings, heroes and gods it involved hanging, drowning and wounding. Drowning was not uncommon at this time and may have been part of the practice of the threefold death which was popular with Indo-European vanquishers at this time. In 845, the first Viking leader of the Norse Kingdom of Dublin, Turgesius, was captured by Mael Seachnaill, King of Meath, and drowned in Lough Owel. 15 on Ushers Quay at this site is the house of James Joyce’s, “The Dead”! Dame Street did not exist and was thought to have been part of the estuary, thus allowing the shipts to moor here at the confluence of the Rivers Liffey and the Poddle.įour years later the Annals of Ulster refer also to “foreigners” at Áth Cliath (Irish for Dublin) which was a village at the time this may simply be a loose reference to the settlement at Duibhlinn, 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. The longphort in Dublin is thought to have been at the current site of Dublin Castle, as it overlooked the Black Pool (Dubhlinn) which served as a natural harbour for the new town. This was a naval encampment which allowed Vikings to stay in Ireland for longer periods through harsh winters they could repair and prepare their fleets they had both military and trading purposes. In 841 the first Viking longphort was established in Dublin (one was also built in Annagassan in Co. The huge number of artefacts and burials discovered here in Dublin attest to this. It became the earliest, largest and most enduring Norse kingdom in all of Europe. The Kingdom of Dublin was established in 839, and Turgesius was its first king. The Irish climate was relatively mild and there was access to vast forests- a valuable resource with which to repair their sturdy ships. Attracted to the deep waters of the peat-basined river, it was an ideal shelter for the warriors from the often stormy Northern seas. In 837 the arrival on the Liffey of the large fleet of Viking longships signalled a change in Viking Age Ireland.
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