Vikings in Ireland

This MSc thesis contributes new information to and original analysis of the topics of Viking-Age silver hoards and Irish monastic settlements, as well as their respective usefulness for understanding the early medieval Irish economy. Historiography regarding the early medieval Irish economy has been affected by colonial and nationalist myths, creating an image of a rural and subsistence-level society that was poorly integrated into the larger Viking-Age silver economy and primitive in nature. Furthering Revisionist arguments, this thesis challenges these assumptions by demonstrating Irish ownership of silver hoards and the economic roles of monastic settlements (which may have served as proto-urban sites). 
The research entailed a mixed methodological approach. Primarily, data regarding silver hoards and settlements in Ireland (both Irish and Hiberno-Norse) was plotted within a GIS system to allow for distributional analysis. Measurements were taken from the created maps to provide quantitative data, while discovered trends and relationships were qualitatively analyzed within a comprehensive historical context. These methods were complemented with a historical critique of a coin database, allowing for more detailed study of the content of hoard finds.
The results of the analyses revealed a strong relationship between silver hoards and monastic settlements (with mostly coins found at these sites), substantiating the economic significance of the latter. Additionally, many hoards were found inland and deep within independent Irish kingdoms. Few hoards were found to be randomly deposited. Rather, most were associated with either Irish or Hiberno-Norse settlements, as well as borders between kingdoms. Such promising results illustrate the need for more extensive research on both silver hoards and the Early Medieval Irish economy, both of which possess complexities that require further elucidation.

When the Vikings crossed the treacherous Irish Sea and first came into contact with the Irish Christian people, it was inevitable the initial reaction was hostility towards these heathen foreigners who appeared innately violent. However, Ireland was a country deeply divided with feuding kingdoms battling for territorial gains and regional supremacy. The Church in Ireland during the first Viking Age was not only a mediator of salvation and a vehicle of culture, but also an instrument of political rule and secular wealth. The Viking marauders who ravaged and pillaged the Irish church settlements and monasteries, with particular ferocity during the 830s and 840s, were mirroring a trait which was already rife within the Irish communities; and indeed, this dissertation will discuss whether some of the attacks during this period were Irish–Norse alliances. Furthermore, within sixty years of the first raid on Rechru in 795, there was political acceptance of the Vikings by many Irish leaders. As the Vikings became deeply embroiled in Irish secular politics, as both mercenaries and stakeholders, I will explore how their motivations for the church raids evolved during the first Viking Age from plundering, captive–taking and intimidation to more complex political machinations.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to "Danes" and to the "Danish tongue", but it is not clear that English writers would have known how to distinguish between Danes and Norwegians, or even that Danes and Norwegians distinguished between themselves. The first record we have of Englishmen differentiating between Scandinavian groups occurs in the continuations of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at 920A. In the Chronicle itself, the first such delineation appears in a poem under the year 942, in which the Danes are contrasted favorably with the Norðmenn. 1 The word Danair does not appear in Irish sources until the 980s, when we suddenly see it used in 986, 987, and 990. 2 This word must have seeped into the Irish language from the Old Norse word dönsk, which actually referred to the language spoken by all Scandinavians. The word

From: Vikings and their Enemies ed. Dr Katrina Burge, (Viking Research Network: Melbourne, 2008).

On Good Friday, 23 April 1014, the forces of Brian Boru High King of Ireland moved into formation on the field of Clontarf, on the northern bank of the River Liffey outside the  Norse-ruled town of Dublin. At the age of seventy-three, Brian Boru was elderly, and his forces were commanded by his son and heir Murchad. The town was defended by a Norse/Leinster alliance, headed by Sigtryggr silkiskegg (Silkbeard), king of Dublin and including Irish of the Leinster province, led by their own king, Maél Mórdha. Among Sigtryggr’s allies was Sigurðr, jarl of the Orkneys, and, through his Irish mother, a kinsman of the Leinster king. Sigurðr and his Orkney men fought under the raven banner.

At the battle, an ominous role is ascribed to the raven banner of the Norse forces. Banners played a prominent role in warfare from ancient to early modern times. They
were symbols of leadership and enabled warriors to follow their leader, and also to show whether the leader was still in the fight. They also provided a target for the opposing forces, who would seek to destroy the leader and the standard. This paper will seek to explore the sources and context of the raven banner, and show that the description of the raven banner is consistent with mythological ideas strongly connected to the chief god of the Norse world, Óðinn.

which Hughes described a church that, at its beginning in the fifth century, looked like a primitive version of any other local church. It was governed by bishops who ruled over territorially defined dioceses. Because of the peculiar nature of Irish society, however, this entirely conventional system was gradually supersededthough never completelyby one in which real power rested with abbots who governed over monastic paruchiae, which were not territorially limited. In addition, Hughes drew attention to the strongly dynastic nature of the Irish church, according to which the right to administer a particular church and collect revenues often belonged to the members of a family, whose claim to this right rested on their kinship with the saint who had founded the church. 1 This model was not seriously challenged until 1984, when Richard Sharpe argued that the theory of two competing systems, one, characterized by territorial bishoprics, which was supplanted by another, characterized by scattered monastic paruchiae, had little evidence to support it. Instead, he proposed that the early medieval Irish church was marked by both episcopal and abbatial government and that the relationship between these two systems was marked more by harmony and continuity rather than confrontation. 2 Since Sharpe"s critique, the question of the degree to which the Irish church was governed by abbots who ruled over scattered monasteries, as opposed to geographically limited bishops, remains a matter of debate. In a recent study, Colmán Etchingham argues 1 K. Hughes, The church in early Irish society (Ithaca, 1966), p. 161. 2 Richard Sharpe, 'Some problems concerning the organization of the church in early medieval Ireland', Peritia, 3 (1984), 230-70. that the Irish church was far more akin to the mainstream organizational model found on the Continent than previous researchers have suggested. 3 He writes that, according to the annalistic evidence, "it is clear that the episcopal office continued to define the churches of greatest significance throughout the first millennium and was not consigned to the periphery". 4 He concedes, however, that the church in Ireland was unique in that, from an early date, the administration of individual churches was the prerogative of comarbs, who, though not bishops and often only laymen, inherited rights over their particular church. In his description of the Irish church, Dáibhí Ó Cróinín also emphasizes the strong proprietary principle according to which Irishmen organized their church. This proprietary principle can be seen in the provisions, found in the additamenta to the Book of Armagh, which Fith Fio made for the church he had founded at Drumlease: This is Fith Fio"s declaration and his testament, [made] between the chancel and the altar two years before his death to the familia of Druim Lías and the nobles of Callraige: that there is no family right of inheritance to Druim Lías [for any] except the race of Fith Fio, if there be one of them [available] who is good, devout, and conscientious. Should there not be, let there be an investigation whether one [such]

Unlike England, modern Ireland has relatively few place names of Norse origin, a fact that is surprising when one considers the Vikings' enormous impact on Irish history. Of the Norse names that do survive in Ireland, almost all are totally secular in meaning. They refer to the site's natural features and contain neither the name of any Scandinavian god, nor any Old Norse words relating to religion, such as hof, meaning 'temple', or ví or vé, meaning 'hallowed site'. It cannot be said that the Norse simply did not use such names, for hof, ví, vé, and a host of other Old Norse religious terms are easy to find on a map of Scandinavia (Steinsland 2005, 270-72). It is my contention that, though few if any of these names have survived in Ireland, medieval Irish sources occasionally mention places whose names clearly reveal the practice of Norse heathenism in Ireland. These names often consist of Irish words for ordinary things, such as forests, mixed with words or names that were specific to Norse religion, such as the name Þórr.

This thesis analyses the correlation between the presence of slave trade in specific trading centres and long distance trade networks. In doing so, the thesis focuses on the ninth and tenth centuries, and on the special cases of Dublin (Ireland) and Verdun (Carolingian Empire). To better understand if slave trade has a significant impact on international trade and to understand what position Dublin and Verdun hold in their respective trading network, eight different criteria of analysis were selected and used for comparison. The criteria vary between geographical aspects, socio–economic aspects, military aspects and moral or ethical aspects.
Our research is motivated by a certain lack of comparative study in the field of slave trade in the Early Middle Ages, a dire need to shed light on specific trading sites about which academic research has been limited, and the growing interest in scientific literature for trading networks and communications in and around Europe during this period. In this regard most of our research and findings are inspired by the ongoing scientific debates. It is the ambition of this thesis to fuel the debate on topics such as the qualification of trading sites as emporia, the gradual change from slavery to serfdom at the end of the tenth century, and the existence of large international trade networks. To substantiate this research, all conclusions are drawn from textual and archeological primary sources from the ninth and tenth centuries.

Why the Revolution of the Three Kingdoms in 1688-89 was less radical than the one in the 1640s?
What light is shed on this question by comparing and contrasting the Nineteen Propositions (1642), the Solemn League and Covenant (1643) and the Bill of Rights (1689)?


Between 1639 and 1651, there was the Three Kingdoms war. This war is characterized by conflicts in England, Scotland and Ireland under the reign of the same king, Charles Ist. it consisted of tensions between the king and his people on the religious and civil questions. About the religion, the clergy asked if the religion had to be imposed by the king or freely choose by each for themselves and for the civil question, it was about the royal politic control by the Parliament. In the same time, the nationalism was in growth in Ireland and Scotland which add a new trouble to solve for the king.

This book presents a fresh overview of the Vikings from both a conceptual and material point of view. The prevailing image of a Viking is usually that of a fierce male, associated with military expansion and a distinctive material culture. In an engaging survey that provides many new insights, Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide and Kevin J. Edwards analyse Viking religion, economic life and material culture in general, both in their Scandinavian homelands and beyond. For Scandinavia, the Viking Age covers the period from ca. AD 800 to 1050. The Vikings beyond their Scandinavian homelands are usually associated with hit-and-run attacks traditionally starting with the raid on the Abbey of Lindisfarne in AD 797. Yet  Scandinavian military expeditions started earlier than AD 797 and were directed eastwards towards the Baltic coast, while migrants were involved in trade and, in part, peaceful settlement.

Contents
1. The Vikings
2. Traditional Views, New Discoveries and Consequences for Interpretation
3. Viking Settlements and Economy
4. Viking Style and Religion
5. The End of the Viking Era