Essence and Implications of Viking Settlement:

What Viking Arrival and Settlement in Ireland Implies and What needs to be Explored:

After fairly recent archaeological discoveries, historians have uncovered considerable evidence of Viking settlement in Ireland. As you navigate further through this website, you’ll see how these archaeological discoveries combined with surviving written sources reveal the historical context and function of these Viking settlements and understand how the Gaelic and Scandinavian societies interacted socially, politically, and economically between the ninth and tenth centuries. Often the violent stigma surrounding the Vikings and their correlation to negative elements and events in Irish history leads to an overly generalized and negative perception of the Vikings involvement in Ireland. Thus, it is this website’s goal to dispense with the generalized narrative that surrounds the Vikings in Ireland and reveal the complex manner by which the Vikings supplanted themselves in the Irish territory through an analysis of the social, political, and economic interaction between the Scandinavians and Irish. The uncovering of these interactions will reveal the complex nature of the Gaelic- relationship that goes beyond the idea of the Vikings simply being raiders of Ireland, but rather a group of individuals who settled in Ireland and left a lasting impression on the Gaelic natives. This objective isn’t simply about wanting to understand more about a particular group but is more focused on going against generalizations, and instead wishes historical events to be presented in a clouded and complex manner as no historical event has a crystal-clear and singular picture. Instead, every historical event, group, and period is linked to a variety of aspects that always make them more complicated, and thus prevent the association or integration of generalizations.

Why should we Question the “Heathens?”:

It may be easy to look at the early recorded actions of the Vikings in Ireland and deem them as nothing but paganized heathens that pillaged and demolished sacred Irish monasteries. However, one cannot ignore the clear historical data surrounding the Vikings that points contrarily to the “heathen” outlook given to them around 795 with the Irish Annals. the Vikings were notorious poets, known for poetic books such as the Poetic Edda by Snorri Sturluson, they contained a highly centralized government within Norway and Denmark, and the Vikings were highly involved in trade with other nations, particularly with the Rus, a group that would later form into the Russian. Such multi-faceted aspects of the Vikings cannot be ignored and as such must move one away from relying on the generalization that the Vikings acted simply as heathens within the territory. The variety of aspects contained within Viking culture and proof against their heathen outlook is only supplemented by the archaeological discoveries that have been unearthed in such as Dublin and Annagassan, and as this website will express both sites provide clear glimpses into the complexities of the Vikings and their fluctuating nature within the Irish timeline.

Chronology of Viking Arrival and Settlement:

According to the Annals of Ulster, the Vikings are believed to have arrived in Ireland around 795 AD when a local monastery had been pillaged and burned down by a group of Scandinavians that the Gaelic natives referred to as “Heathens” (Annals of Ulster U.795.3). These attacks were quick and at random as the Vikings engaged in hit and run tactics upon the island of Ireland as they entered in through sea and river outlets to rapidly pillage. Then used the sea to quickly depart with their claimed booty, and many would retire to nearby temporary camps with natural defenses before returning the next day for another round of pillaging. Such actions of the Vikings continued until roughly 841 AD when the Vikings developed permanent settlements along the coasts of Ireland and mainly gathered in the territories of Leinster and Munster. Such settlements thrived well over a century as multiple generations of Vikings cultivated the lands of Ireland, raised families, and interacted with the local population. Roughly around 1066 AD the movements of the Vikings began to stall after William of Normandy defeated major Viking groups in York, England. From this the Vikings involvement in Ireland dwindled and much of the Scandinavians in Ireland were multi-generational and were seemingly integrated into Gaelic society, causing Viking ties to diminish even further as the group slowly disappeared from the timeline. In fact, in the Viking territory of Annagassan, Viking influence was thought to have ended around 968 AD due to a variety of ecological, economic, and political circumstances amongst the Vikings (McKeown 79).

The “Viking Footprint” in Ireland-Archaeological Discoveries and Prompt for Analysis:

All along the coasts of Ireland there is evidence of Viking settlement that includes structures and archaeological evidence that can give historians direct glimpses into the nature of Viking involvement in Ireland, and thus their analysis can help uncover the multi-facetted nature of the Vikings in Ireland. Throughout this website, there will be a direct analysis of a variety of archaeological findings tied to the Vikings and express how this “archaeological footprint” can yield vital information about the Vikings settlement, socio-political influence, and economic impact in Ireland. This website seeks to dissect the nature of the collision and merging of the Scandinavian and Irish cultures, and that objective directly leads us to ancient Viking cities where such Intermingling was likely to occur. Major archaeological discoveries have been and continue to be made as historians and archaeologists uncover the “sunken city” of Viking Dublin or Dyflinn as referred to by the original Scandinavian settlers. Such discoveries have already yielded inferences on the Vikings pattern of living, craft specialization, dates of settlement, and how the Vikings and their settlement interacted with surrounding Gaelic Natives. Figures 1-4 depict the recent archaeological discoveries made in Dublin as archaeologists unearth the old Viking city and it reveals the evident “Viking Footprint” in Ireland that prompts historians to study more about the nature of the Vikings in the Irish territory.

These excavations of ancient Viking settlements and others around the island of Ireland have become paramount to the goal the studying of the history of the Vikings in Ireland as they remain as the sole outlet for gaining information of the Irish Vikings and due to the lack of written primary sources. Naturally as these excavations continue, historians gain more insights into the exact nature of these Vikings and with that the overwhelming narrative surrounding the Vikings in Ireland appears incomplete as the complexities of the Vikings involvement in Ireland flood in through archaeological discoveries.