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15

The Vikings and Ireland

The very word Viking conjures up
an image of fierce warriors, with
flaxen hair, often worn in plaits
under helmets with horns, ready
to invade, attack and pillage
those poor unsuspecting people
who lived too near the sea. This
image of Vikings as plunderers
has lasted well over a thousand
years and it is certainly a correct
view of our earliest encounters
with these invaders. What is less
well known about these invaders
is that their involvement with
Ireland lasted for many hundred
of years: over time these
terrifying warriors would settle
here and become farmers and
traders. More importantly, they
would also be responsible for
some of the earliest urban
development within Ireland.

Who were the Vikings?

The Vikings were from
Scandinavia and became
infamous for carrying out sea
borne raids and invading various
parts of Northwest Europe from
the 8th to 11th centuries AD.
They were also known as Ostmen
(men of the east) or
Lochlannaigh (people from the
land of the loughs) or simply the
Norse or Norsemen.

The Vikings were pagan farmers
and seamen who originally came

from Norway. One of the main
advantages of this race of people
was that they were highly skilled
carpenters and were able to
build ships strong enough to sail
the Atlantic Ocean.

The Vikings began raiding Ireland
in 795 when they attacked
Lambay Island (off the Dublin
Coast) and Iona (an island off the
west coast of Scotland). Colm
Cille had founded a monastery
on Iona in the sixth century –
monasteries were favourite
targets of the Vikings as they
were often wealthy
communities. They would not
only provide the Vikings with
goods, but also with slaves.
Because Iona was repeatedly
attacked at the beginning of the
ninth century, the monks from
this monastery eventually settled

in Ireland and founded a new
monastery at Kells.

For about twenty-five years, from
795 onwards, there was on
average one Viking attack per
year on Ireland. The attacks were
mainly ‘hit and run’ affairs – at
this stage the Vikings were not
interested in setting up colonies
in Ireland, but simply getting in
and out as quickly as possible.
Once they had plundered a
monastery of its precious
objects, provisions and people
(for slavery), they would quickly
return home.

Although there are no
archaeological remains in Ireland
from the earliest period of Viking
raids, artefacts (mainly
metalwork) from Ireland dating
to the 9th century have been

A typical example of a viking ship

found in Western Norway. These
are most likely goods plundered
by the Vikings.

Viking Settlements

From around 830 onwards, there
was a shift in the nature of
Viking attacks on Ireland. Large
fleets of Viking ships arrived on
rivers such as the Liffey, the
Boyne and Shannon. The Vikings
now set up bases and used these
rivers to attack parts of inland
Ireland that had previously been
exempt from raids. These Viking
fleets could transport large
forces, which would then
terrorize a large area for many
months, only returning back to
Scandinavia for the winter.

The success of these larger raids
eventually led on the next period
of Viking history in Ireland: the
longphorts (ship-camps). These
were D-shaped fortifications
which acted as defended bases in
which Vikings could remain in
Ireland during winter while
awaiting for the arrival of spring
and the next round of raids. The

Vikings built these first fortified
settlements around 841 at Dublin
and Annagassan in County Louth.

Viking Dublin

Around 841 the Vikings, under
the command of King Turgesius
from Norway, captured Dublin
harbour and built a fort in the
area where Dublin Castle now
stands. However they were
eventually attacked and expelled
by the native Irish and their fort
was burnt to the ground.

Seventeen years later, the Vikings
returned in greater numbers
under the command of Olaf the
White. They now began to
construct a permanent
longphort, which became their
main centre for trading both
silver and slaves.

This highly organised settlement,
which included the coast from
Skerries to Wicklow and inland as
far as Leixslip, became the
Kingdom of Dyflinnarskiri. It is
from this settlement that urban
Dublin eventually developed.

The Vikings created a town,
which included streets and
houses, and industrial centres
that manufactured clothes and
ornaments. They also began set
up markets and Dublin (as well
as Waterford, Wicklow, Cork and
Limerick) became a major trading
centre. This had a major impact
on the Irish economy, which had
previously mainly centered
around an agricultural society.

Woodstown - Ireland’s First
Town!!

The Viking settlement of
Woodstown, which was recently
discovered just outside Waterford
city, has led to speculation by
historians and archaeologists
that this may in fact be Ireland’s
very first town.

Woodstown, which is believed to
date back to the mid-9th century,
is located near to the River Suir.
It is 1.5km long and 0.5km wide
and so far had yielded over 3,000
artefacts. These include
silverware, jewellery and
weapons and even fragments

BUILT ENVIRONMENT / The Vikings and Ireland / BE 15

This map shows both monasteries attacked by the vikings

and areas settled by the vikings*

Model streets and houses

in viking dublin *

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Castle. Another good place to
visit is the National Museum in
Dublin, where the permanent
Viking Age Ireland Exhibition
deals with the period from 795 to
the first half of the twelfth
century.

Viking Tourist Attractions

Dublinia Exhibition

Dublinia at Christchurch brings
the history of medieval Dublin
vividly to life. This award-winning
exhibition allows visitors to
experience what life was like in
the Middle Ages. Walk through
the reconstructed streets and
lane ways of the old city, visit the
Merchant's house and climb
aboard ship at Wood Quay.
Dublinia recreates the sights and
sounds of the medieval city to
offer visitors a fascinating
glimpse of Dublin 800 years ago.
Detailed reconstruction of the
streets, houses and even the
citizens of the time reveal how
much life in Dublin has changed,
and how much remains the
same.

Find at: St Michael’s Hill,
Christchurch, Dublin 2.
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
www.ireland.ie/things_2_do.ie

Dublin’s Viking Adventure

Visitors travel through time at
Dublin's Viking Adventure which
is an interactive experience of life
in Viking Dublin. The Norse guide
takes you on a journey to Viking
Dublin. Walk the narrow streets
of the Viking town of Dyflin. The
Viking adventure

Find at: Essex Street West, Temple
Bar, Dublin 8.
Tel: [phone]
http://www.tourist-information-
dublin.co.uk

from ships. Archaeologists have
argued that early indications
show that the complete original
Viking town of Waterford
remains almost intact with many
streets and dwellings just below
the ground.

At this stage the evidence points
to a fleet of around 120 Viking
ships occupying the Woodstown
site. This would have allowed
the Vikings to have complete
control over Waterford harbour
and the Suir, the Barrow and the
Norse rivers. This in turn
provided them with access to the
lands and monasteries leading
off these rivers.

Woodstown cannot be
underestimated as one of the
most important archaeological
finds in recent Irish history. No
other longphort discovery in
Europe comes close to matching
the scale and significance of the
Woodstown find. It will allow us
to gain a greater understanding
of Viking settlement and may
eventually become an extremely
interesting tourist destination for
both us and our foreign visitors.

Effects of the Viking
Invasion on Ireland

Money: the start of Irish coinage
can be dated to around 997,
when pennies were struck in
Dublin under Sitric, King of
Dublin. These silver coins
continued to be issued until the
time of the Norman invasion.

Weaponry: the Irish took note of
the superior weaponry used by
the Vikings and by the beginning
of the eleventh century both the
Irish and the Vikings were
fighting with identical weapons.

Economy: it was not only
coinage that helped to change
the simple economy of native
Ireland. The Vikings used their
great ports to develop trading,

opening up Ireland up to the
outside world.

Language: many Viking words,
especially those concerning ships
and trade, were incorporated into
the Irish language. Viking words
also appear in many of our place
names including Waterford,
Wexford and Leixslip.

Towns: it could be argued that
the greatest legacy of the Vikings
in Ireland were the towns that
developed into some of largest
cities. Dublin, Wexford,
Waterford, Cork and Limerick
stand as testaments to the
ingenuity of the Scandinavians.

Politics: Over time, the Vikings
would shift the political centre of
Ireland away from Tara (in the
midlands), to Dublin, (on the east
coast), where it remains today.

However, the effects of the
Vikings invasion into Ireland
went both ways. Many of the
pagan Vikings who settled here
would eventually convert to
Christianity. Their craftsmen
would also begin to make
ornaments which incorporated
Irish patterns into their designs:
examples of this include stone
carvings on crosses at both
Clonmacnoise and
Monasterboice.

Viking Legacy

The Vikings remain an essential
part of the history of this island.
For anyone interested in learning
more about how we became the
people we are today, it is
essential that we study the
Vikings.

There are various places and
artefacts in Ireland today that we
can visit in order to learn more
about this ferocious and
intelligent people. Part of the
town defences of the original
Viking settlement of Dublin is on
view at the Undercroft in Dublin

INFORMATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT / EOLAS AR AN GCOMHSHAOL

BUILT ENVIRONMENT / The Vikings and Ireland / BE 15

The Viking Age Ireland
Exhibition at the National
Museum

This permanent exhibition deals
with the period from 795 to the
first half of the twelfth century.
The Viking's initial impact on
Ireland is illustrated chiefly by
the collection of weapons, tools
and ornaments from the great
ninth-century cemeteries at
Kilmainham and Islandbridge to
the west of Dublin.

The exhibition includes both
Viking Ireland and Medieval
Ireland galleries; the former with
the artefacts recovered in the
Wood Quay excavations and the
latter the sacred reliquaries of
the Irish Later Middle Ages.
There is also a 30-film about the
Vikings, which can be viewed in
conjunction with the exhibition
"Viking Ireland".

The National Museum contains
extensive collections of Viking
artefacts (including many found
at Woodquay) such as coins,
swords and jewellery.

Find at: Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
http://www.museum.ie

Further Reading

J Bradley, ‘The Interpretation of
Scandinavian Settlement in
Ireland’ in J Bradley (ed),
Settlement and Society in
Medieval Ireland, (1988)

De Paor, Liam, ‘The Age of the
Viking Wars’ in T W Moody & F X
Martin (eds), The Course of Irish
History, 1967

D Ó Corráin, Ireland before the
Normans, (1972)

A P Smyth, Scandinavian York and
Dublin, Two Volumes (1975-79)

Websites

www.dublincastle.ie/history2.html

www.rte.ie/culture/millennia/hist
ory.html

www.ncte.ie/vikings

www.armaghcountymuseum.co.uk

• The National Museum is in

Kildare Street, Dublin, Ireland.
Tel: [phone]

• Dublin Castle, Dublin 2. Tel: 01

677 7129

• Save Woodstown Viking Site.

Tel: [phone]

• The Viking Ship: Cruises to

Loughrea and historic
Clonmacnoise on a replica
Viking Ship. Dress up in Viking
Costumes, helmets, swords and
shields. Tel: [phone]

* This map was originally printed
in "Exploring History 4" by
Michael Ryan, (Dublin 1986)
published by Gill and Macmillan
Ltd., Goldenbridge, Dublin 8

Text and Images by Alison
Lennon, Department of Medieval
History, Trinity College, Dublin.

Issued by:
ENFO – The Environmental
Information Service,
17 St Andrew Street,
Dublin 2, Ireland.

Tel: [phone]
Locall: 1890 200191
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]
www.enfo.ie

Write to or visit our Centre at the above
address or you may check out the ENFO
information stands at your Local Authority
Office / County Library

ENFO is a service of the Department of the
Environment, Heritage and Local
Government.

Printed by Print & Promotions
Tel: [phone]

Printed on recycled paper
March 2005