Early Medieval Ireland 800–1166
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Viking raids, then settlement, in what had become a stable and wealthy country.
Irish Society
This does not mean that Gaelic Irish society was egalitarian. The highest class, kings, were considered nemed or sacred. They could not do manual work, as it was beneath their enech or honour. Because of the election system of succession, there was often violent infighting among the kindred of ruling family or fine over succession issues. Clerics and Poets were also "sacred". Beneath this class were the free men, who owned the land and at the bottom of the social scale were the unfree class, who had no political rights and who did the labouring work. (Source:Sean Duffy, Ireland in the Middle Ages, Dublin 1997) The conventions ordering early Irish society were written down in the Brehon Laws, most notably in the Seanchas Mor text, between 600 and 900 AD.
Ireland was overwhelmingly rural before the Vikings arrived, with very few urban settlements. The monasteries, as well as being centres of prayer and learning, were also important centres of commerce and wealth.
Early Viking Raids
The first recorded Viking raid in Irish history occurred in 795 when Vikings from Norway looted the island of Lambay, located off the Dublin coast. These early Viking raids were generally small in scale and quick.
These early raids interrupted the golden age of Christian Irish culture starting the beginning of two hundred years of intermittent warfare, with waves of Viking raiders plundering monasteries and towns throughout Ireland. Most of the early raiders came from the fjords of western Norway. They are believed to have sailed first to the Shetland Islands, then south to the Orkneys. The Vikings would have then sailed down the Atlantic coast of Scotland, and then over to Ireland. During these early raids the Vikings also traveled to the west coast of Ireland to the Skellig Islands located off the coast of County Kerry.
Viking Settlement in Ireland
Ireland and England were both being raided by Vikings in the early 840's. The Vikings were beginning to establish settlements along the Irish coasts at this time and began to spend the winter months there. Vikings started settlements in Waterford, Wexford, and most famously, Dublin. The archaeological evidence found in Kilmainham, on the western side of Dublin city, is proof of the Viking settlements during this time period in Ireland. Written accounts from this time (early to mid 840's) show that the Vikings were moving further inland to attack (often using rivers such as the Shannon) and then retreating to their coastal headquarters.
Thorgest (in Latin Turgesius) was the first Viking to attempt an Irish kingdom. He sailed up the Shannon and the River Bann to Armagh in 839 where he forged a realm spanning Ulster, Connacht and Meath which lasted from 839 to 845. In 845, he was captured and drowned in Lough Owen by Maelsechlainn I, King of Mide.
In 848, Maelsechlainn, now High king, defeated a Norse army at Sciath Nechtain. Arguing that his fight was allied with the Christian fight against pagans, he requested aid from the Frankish emperor Charles the Bald, but to no avail.
In 852, the Vikings Ivar Beinlaus and Olaf the White landed in Dublin Bay and established a fortress, on which the city of Dublin (from the Irish Gaelic Án Dubh Linn meaning the "black pool") now stands. Olaf the White was the son of a Norwegian king and made himself the king of Dublin. This moment is generally considered to be the founding of Dublin, although Greek and Roman records do mention a settlement called Eblana (or Deblana) on the same site as early as the 1st century. The death of Olaf the White's successor, Ivar, caused political instability in the kingdom of Dublin and caused many Viking settlers to depart for places such as France and England.
The Vikings founded many other coastal towns, and after several generations a group of mixed Irish and Norse ethnic background arose (the so-called Gall-Gaels, Gall then being the Irish word for "foreigners" - the Norse). This Norse influence is reflected in the Norse-derived names of many contemporary Irish kings (e.g. Magnus, Lochlann or Sitric), and DNA evidence in some residents of these coastal cities to this day.
A new wave of Viking attacks on Ireland began in 914 which created an unstable peace between the Irish and the Norse and evolved into a drawn-out war. This time, the Vikings attacked from the south of Ireland at Waterford, and developed a settlement there. From here, the Vikings set out to raid areas in southern Ireland. The Vikings went to the west of Waterford and established another settlement at Limerick.
Viking Power ended
The descendants of Ivar Beinlaus established a long dynasty based in Dublin, and from this base succeeded in dominating much of the isle. This rule was ultimately broken by the joint efforts of Maelsechlainn II, King of Meath, and Brian Boru (c. 941- 1014) By the late tenth century, Brian Boru, the scion of a relatively obscure tribe from the midwestern part of the island, had gained enough influence through political maneuvering and conquest to claim the title of ard righ (high king). Boru and his allies defeated a combined Viking/native army at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Though Boru himself did not survive the battle, the Vikings ceased to be a major power in Ireland and were gradually assimilated into the native populace.
Boru's descendants failed to maintain a unified throne, and regional squabbling over territory led indirectly to invasion of the Normans under Strongbow in 1169.
Although the Irish were subsequently free from foreign invasion for 150 years, interdynastic warfare continued to drain their energies and resources. In 1150, Christian Malone, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, wrote a famous book entitled "Chronicum Scotorum". It is a chronology of Ireland from the Flood to the twelfth century.
See also
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