The Second Period of Raids

A second phase of raiding began in 914, with the arrival of a large fleet of Viking ships in Waterford harbour. They promptly re-captured their settlement of Vadrefjord [Waterford] from which the Irish had expelled the first Vikings half a century earlier. Reinforced by a second fleet which arrived the following year, the Vikings launched a series of offensives deep into the province of Munster, and later Leinster, where they met little Irish resistance as they pillaged both ecclesiastical and grad Fhene (commoner) settlements. They plundered the monasteries of Cork, Lismore and Aghaboe, among others.

In 917, the Vikings re-captured the settlement of Dubhlinn [Dublin] which the Irish had captured in 902. The king of the Ui Neill, Niall Glundub, who was the most powerful king in Ireland, decided that the Vikings had to be stopped. He brought together a combined force from the Ui Neill and enlisted the help of the forces of Leinster. They marched against the Vikings in Munster in 917. However, the Vikings routed the Leinstermen, while the forces of the Ui Neill retreated from Munster with no decisive success. Two years later, in 919, Niall Glundub tried again and attacked Dubhlinn. However, his forces were again routed by the Vikings and Niall Glundub himself was killed and "the cream of the Ui Neill fell with him" [2]. It was not true to say that it was "the Irish against the Vikings". In fact, some Irish kings and lords formed alliances with Vikings to attack other Irish lords.

The Vikings continued to raid inland from their towns of Dubhlinn, Cork and Vadrefjord. In 921, they founded a new town on the south-east tip of Ireland called Weisfjord (Wexford) and a year later founded the town of Limerick near a ford at the mouth of the river Shannon on the west coast. The Vikings in Ireland, however, spent a lot of effort consolidating the Nordic Kingdom that their Viking collegeaues had been carving out of Anglo-Saxon England (by defeating and assimilating Northumbria, East Anglia and parts of Mercia - see a map of England before the Vikings came). This kingdom would become known as the Danelaw. Back in Ireland, as the influence of the Vikings declined, they concentrated more on developing Dubhlinn as a trading city and by 934 exercised control over the other Viking towns in Ireland. In its day, Dubhlinn was one of the most important cities in the Nordic world, as a trading and slaving centre. In 952, Dubhlinn split from the Danelaw and from then on Dubhlinn had its own dynasty of Viking Kings.

The Vikings eventually settled down in the lands they had conquered. By 950, the Vikings had stopped raiding in Ireland and developed instead as traders and settled in the lands around their towns. The Vikings in England  largely became farmers and fishermen. In France, the Vikings formed the Kingdom of Normandy on the north coast - which would play a major role in history a century later when William of Normandy would defeat England in 1066. The Vikings left many placenames in Ireland including: Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, Strangford, Leixlip, Carlingford, Youghal, Howth, Dalkey and Fingall [an area of modern-day Dublin]. A few of their words were also adopted into the Irish language.

The First High Kings of Ireland

Despite these Viking attacks, life continued as normal in Ireland's provinces. As discussed in the previous section, the power of the Ui Neill rose during the 700s and this continued into the 800s. After conquering the province of Airgialla (central Ulster) between 750 and 850, the Northern Ui Neill turned their attention to the eastern province of Ulaid. The Ulaid, recognising the supremacy of the Ui Neill, did not attempt to resist and they were under Ui Neill control by the mid 800s. The Northern Ui Neill themselves were ruled by the Cenel nEogain family, and they were bitterly resented by the Cenel Conaill of western Ulster and the Ulaid in the east. The southern Ui Neill, on the other hand, had gained control over northern Laigin. Split by the expansion of Connacht into Breifne in the 700s, the two halves of the Ui Neill were united again, in the east, by the end of the 800s.

Later writings referred to the kings of the Ui Neill as the first High Kings of Ireland, but it seems unlikely that this in reality referred to anything more than an aspiration. After 940, a bitter power struggle broke out between the royal families of the Ui Neill. Foster sums this up as "a united Ui Neill kingdom was in the making, and the struggle was to determine who was to be the ruler of it". The King of the Northern Ui Neill, Domnall ua Neill, who was also the overall Ui Neill king, attempted to rule the Southern Ui Neill directly and even garrisoned forces in their territory. The next king was Mael Sechnaill II of the Southern branch. The Ui Neill had gone from being an obscure people in western Ireland to the rulers or controllers of most of northern and eastern Ireland. Although they never really exercised control over Connacht or Munster, their later proponents preferred to style them as the first High Kings.

Everyday Life in the Viking Period

This must have been a terrifying period for the Irish who were subjected to these raids. Scribbled in the margin of a manuscript, the words of a 9th century monk reveal some of the emotion: "The wind is fierce tonight. It tosses the sea's white hair. I fear no wild Vikings, sailing the quiet main". Many of these hand-written illuminated manuscripts - being of no financial value - were burned by the Vikings and today we only have a handful of those that were written. While these were great setbacks for the ecclesiastical community, few of the monasteries in Ireland failed to resurrect themselves after raids. Unlike Britain and France, where whole monastic communities disappeared, the Irish seem to have been spared the worst of the Vikings' wrath [2]. In fact, Cork monastery was practically next door to the nearby Viking settlement but it emerged from the Viking period largely intact.

The ordinary grad Fhene (commoners) found that their ringforts had been rendered obsolete by the character of the Viking raids. The earthen walls and ditches around their houses may have been an adequate defence against relatively infrequent Irish attacks, but the Vikings came in such numbers that they easily breached the banks to steal animals, plunder and burn property and capture slaves. Thus both ringforts and crannogs fell out of use over the course of the 900s. They were replaced by a more heavily defended underground chamber called a souterrain. A souterrain is built by digging a deep ditch, lining it with stone walls, putting a roof on it and covering it over. Used mainly as places of refuge, as opposed to storing goods, the tunnels of souterrains could be over 100 metres (330 feet) in length. Although difficult to find due to their hidden nature, over 3500 known souterrains survive in Ireland.

Christian Songs

Some Celtic Christian songs survive from the Viking period. Perhaps the most famous is Be Thou My Vision, written around 1,200 years ago. It is clearly a reflection of its turbulent times, with its comparison of to God to a "strong tower". Verse three is:

Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight,
Be Thou my whole armour, be Thou my true might,
Be Thou my soul's shelter, be Thou my strong tower,
O raise Thou me heavenward, great power of my power.

At the start of the Viking period the Irish monasteries consisted of earthen enclosures containing a church, various outbuildings and the monks' residences. The Vikings found that it was very easy to ransack these largely defenseless settlements. In time, the monks learned how to frustrate the Vikings, by building tall stone towers known as Round Towers. The door was placed one floor up, accessible by a ladder. Inside the tower, each floor was accessed by further ladders. If Vikings were sighted, the Monks would grab as much food and valuables as they could, climb into the tower and pull up the ladder. The Vikings would then raid the empty monastery while the monks watched from the safety of the tower. Even if the Vikings did get into the Monasterboice [10kB]tower - and they did not try hard to do so - the Monks simply retreated further up the tower by pulling up more ladders. Such a strategy did not save the monastery itself, but did save the Monks and some of their belongings from being captured. Round towers were constructed across Ireland, a large number of which are still intact today. The picture above shows the round tower at Devenish, county Fermanagh [the steps are a modern addition] (photo by Edwin Smith).

Another feature to appear at this time was the High Cross. It was customary for monasteries to display a wooden cross, but from the 700s onwards it became common to carve them from stone. Some had Biblical scenes carved on them, to assist in teaching the largely illiterate population. Some have theorised that they were made so large to prevent the Vikings from stealing them or knocking them down, although this is conjecture.

Brian Boru and Dynastic Upheaval

The Rise of Brian Boru

Ireland in the 10th century had been dominated by the power of the Ui Neill but, curiously, it was their own zealousness that led to the rise of their most effective opponent in the race for the High Kingship. In the mid 900s, the power of the dominant royal family in Munster, the Eoganacht, was being sapped by attacks from the Ui Neill. This allowed the Dal Cais who resided in the Shannon basin area of north Munster, to increase their dominance in the province. They were helped by the fact that the Shannon river was growing in importance with Viking trade.

In 976 Mathgamain, Lord of the Dal Cais, was assassinated by the Vikings of Limerick. The Vikings, who had converted to Christianity, ruled a territory around this settlement at the mouth of the Shannon. Although it was in the centre of Munster, they were tolerated because they made little trouble and brought trade. However, this political act changed this. When Mathgamain's brother, Brian Boruma (Brian Boru) succeeded him to become Lord of the Dal Cais, he wasted little time. Motivated by a desire for revenge for his brother's death, and undoubtedly a healthy dose of ambition as well, Brian Boru set about gaining power. Brian Boru is seen in an engraving on the left.

Brian Boru's first action was to attack the Vikings of Limerick. King Imar of Limerick and his sons took refuge in the monastery of Scattery Island, but Brian Boru must have decided that he did not much care for sacred traditions. He broke into the sanctuary, slaughtered the Vikings and desecrated the church. Although only founded 50 years earlier, Limerick would remain in Munster's hands for the next two centuries. By 980 he had surpassed the Eoganacht and crowned himself King of Munster. Thirsty for more power, Brian Boru next formed a strategic alliance with the Vikings of Vadrefjord (Waterford) to penetrate his armies deep into Connacht and the relatively weak province of Leinster (Laigin) in the 980s.

Meanwhile, the Ui Neill became increasingly alarmed at the rise and rise of King Brian Boru of Munster and sought to limit his growth. During the 980s, King Mael Sechnaill 2nd of the Ui Neill tried various tactics, but by 997 came to the conclusion that he could not be lord over Boru. Therefore the two Kings held a meeting at Clonfert, within the Viking Kingdom of Dubhlinn and agreed to divide Ireland between them. Mael Sechnaill II granted Brian Boru effective High Kingship over Munster, Leinster and Dubhlinn and retained the allegiance of Connaught and his own province for himself.

However, not everyone accepted the arrangement. In 999, the Lords of Leinster and the Viking King of Dubhlinn revolted against his rule. Undeterred, Boru marched his armies back into Leinster and defeated them heavily at Glenn Mama. Descending on Dubhlinn at the height of winter, he attacked it, plundered the city and burned down its fortress. Eventually King Silkenbeard of Dubhlinn submitted to Brian Boru and, in the coming decade, was his supporter. In 1002, Mael Sechnaill II himself finally submitted to Boru. After this, Brian Boru set out to assert his control over the whole island. He made two circuits of the island in 1005 and 1006 when he penetrated the furthest reaches of the Kingdom of the Ui Neill. His power seemed almost complete.

The Battle of Clontarf

Perhaps tragically, Brian Boru was killed at the moment when he was about to realise his dream of becoming the true High King of Ireland. The dream had begun to unravel in 1013 when it became clear that it was only Brian Boru's military might, not any kind of allegiance, that was holding his islandwide kingdom together. When the lords of Leinster and the Viking King of Dubhlinn held a second revolt, this was accompanied by general anti-Boru discontent in the rest of Ireland. Boru had his armies despoil the Leinster countryside as far as the Wicklow mountains before laying siege to the city of Dubhlinn itself for 4 months. But the Vikings held out, and when they had not submitted by Christmas the weather forced Boru to retreat. Knowing Boru would return in the spring, angrier than ever, the Leinstermen and the Vikings spent the winter frantically rallying support from western Scotland and the Isle of Man and amassed an army in the city.

Brian Boru did indeed return, with his armies, in 1014. The two armies met at Clontarf, a fertile plain with a Monastery to the north-east of Dubhlinn. (Today the battle site is beneath the northern suburbs of Dublin city.) The battle was extremely bloody with several thousand men killed and, in the event, Brian Boru's army won and most of the Vikings took to their boats and retreated to the Isle of Man. However, Brian himself was killed (legends say he was hacked to death by an axe-wielding Viking who sneaked into his tent). In legend, the Battle of Clontarf has become one of the most famous in Irish history because it is seen as part of a national struggle, marking the expulsion of the Viking invader. However, it was probably not significant in that way: the power of the Vikings was already in decline after 980 and were being absorbed by the Irish. In reality, the battle actually marks the failed attempt by Leinster and Dubhlinn to assert their independence from Munster.

Nevertheless, the power of the Vikings was broken for good at Clontarf, and the future of Dubhlinn was now definitely in Irish hands. Although the Vikings were allowed to rule Dubhlinn themselves for another 70 years, it had been becoming more hibernicised over the previous century. As a city it was large for its time, rich and important. Thus, during the 11th century Dublin became an important aquisition for any King with eyes on the High Kingship and, by the end of the 1000's it had overtaken Tara to become the de-facto capital of the island. Dublin thrived and remained a wealthy trading city. Excavations in the 1970s at Wood Quay in Dublin found incredibly well-preserved remains of a thriving Hiberno-Viking city. The picture on the left shows the remains of a house from this period uncovered at Wood Quay. (The site has since been largely destroyed by the construction of the widely- despised Dublin council headquarters, although key archaeology was completed in time.)