So they set up base around the southern end of Stoneybatter. There is little evidence that the site was at Kilmainham." Islands were often used by Vikings as settlements. There was an island, Usher's Island, in the river close by and this may have been the site of Duiblinn. Later references after 843 are to a settlement at Áth Cliath and this is presumably another site though close. "The Dublin longphort was apparently established at the tidal pool in the River Poddle. They seize the ecclesiastical settlement at Duiblinn, rebrand it "as Dyflin", and establish another longphort nearby. Picture the scene: a fleet of 60 or more longships from Norway sailing up the Liffey, which would have been much wider and shallower in those days.Ĩ41: the Vikings return yet again, not just as raiders but as conquerors. They establish longphorts (ship harbours) for overwintering in Ireland in their naval encampments.Ĩ37: an even bigger push. The raiding parties are larger, better organised, "with better kit" as they say - though nothing like the modern myths of wild savages with horned and winged helmets. Here goes.ħ95: the earliest recorded Viking hit-and-run raids on Ireland, usually offshore islands, generally involving small raiding parties from southwest Norway.Ĩ21: a second wave of attacks, this time on both coastal and inland settlements. So I've tried to work out a rough chronology. Should've paid more attention at the back of the class. Which Vikings were which? As I've 'fessed up on this blog before, their involvement in Irish history is a vague blur to me. It lumps together different waves of invaders and settlers from what are now Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Norseman Place, Stoneybatter (and bottle)īut the "Viking" label has me confused. (A portion of the Scottish population can trace their ancestry to Saharan tribes, whose ancestors came to Spain with the Moorish conquest and who were then captured in slave raids on Spain, taken to Dublin and sold on as slaves to Scottish landowners.)īy the eleventh century Dublin had become the biggest slave market in Western Europe. Much mayhem ensued, with more massacres and murders than your typical Scandi Noir on BBC 4 on a Saturday night.īy the 10th century Ireland was a major slave-trading hub, processing slaves between what are now Britain and Ireland to Scandinavia and even to Muslim Spain. Viking plunderers, slavers, conquerors, traders, tourists. Hence Harold Road, Ivar Street, Norseman Place, Ostman Place, Olaf Road, Sigurd Road, Sitric Road, Thor Place, Viking Road, Viking Place, Oxmantown Road.īut why Viking? The early history (or at least recorded history) of this area of Dublin is steeped in Vikings, piles of 'em. Many of these back streets, like their terraced houses and cottages, were brand new back then. In a literal sense, most of them came via the Artisans' Dwelling Company around the late 19th century. Many of Stoneybatter's streets have Norse-sounding names.
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