Why?ġ) The Irish were Christians, yes, but not as devout as the English. The Viking arrivals and the Irish did integrate – perhaps more quickly than they did with the English. At one point it became so wealthy that a Viking king, Sitric Silkbeard, established his own mint. Being close to the Viking controlled isles and other English ports, and being close to a good sailing route between the Mediterranean and Norway, the market in Dublin rapidly expanded. In this regard, the location of the River Liffey became of paramount importance. Strongholds in the north were never truly established and it wasn’t until Olaf Cuarán (also a Viking king of York) came to Dublin that the settlement along the Liffey truly grew into what became a significant European trade centre. The Irish did fight back and many Vikings were slain. There are many examples of Viking armies slaughtering the Irish – including the raid of the church of Glasmor in which the entire community was killed in one night. While it is thought the image of the pillaging Viking has been exaggerated in modern discussion, there is no doubt that this was a brutal period of Norse/Irish interaction. The attraction of the Dublin site was the many churches in the area, some of which were significantly wealthy. However, despite the many raids that occurred in this period, the first camps were not established until 841AD – with longphorts being built in Lough Neagh, Annagassan, and Dublin. Rathlin Island is a small island on the north coast of Ireland, and it seems such raids on island-based monastic houses around the Irish Sea where common in this period, with notable raids on Iona monastery also recorded. It is believed he ordered the construction in 1028 after a pilgrimage to Rome.īruce’s Cave – Rathlin Island – legend has it that Robert the Bruce hid in this cave after a defeat to the English army. The Dublin cathedral, Christ Church, was originally founded by Sitric Silkbeard, a Viking King of Dublin.Hundreds of 9th-11th century Viking houses were discovered too. Even better, a portion of the original Viking wattle and post wall was uncovered during the 1970’s excavations on Fishamble Street. Archeological digs in Dublin have discovered that the medieval walls of the city were built on top of a Viking wall that the settlers used to fortify their land.Translated into Irish, this is dubh linn. The first Vikings to built a longphort there found a natural harbour, right where the River Poddle met the Liffey River and called it ‘black pool’. The name of Ireland’s capital city is based on the Viking name for the settlement created there.Here, there is plenty of evidence that the Vikings controlled this part of Ireland for hundreds of years. However, if we truly want to examine Viking influence in Ireland, we must look at Dublin. The Irish word for a penny pinginn comes from the Norse word, Menninger. The Irish word for a market margadh is from the Old Norse word, markadr. Some Irish words originate from the Norse language.
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