University of Exeter - Open Exeter

Ireland: Raiding and Settling

From 839 and especially 841 the annalists report groups of Vikings staying on in Ireland over the winter. They were described as building longphorts, which translates as naval camp, that is earthwork fortifications with a river bank on one side which could protect ships as well as men. This may be paralleled by Viking seizure of islands and other easily fortifiable sites elsewhere in Europe, for example the island of Noirmoutier, with its monastery from 835, Sheppey in the same year, Thanet in 851. The D shaped enclosure does seem typical of the Vikings and may be paralleled at Repton, Derbyshire, 873/4 and in Denmark at Hedeby and Aarhus.

No longphort has unfortunately yet been extensively excavated in Ireland - but the earthwork at Annagassan, Co. Louth at the mouth of the river Glyde is one possibility; and the Dun Roth Laibh longphort reported in the annals under 862 as destroyed by an Irish army has been reasonably identified as Dun Rally, Co. Laois - an earthwork at the junction of the rivers Barrow and where a substantial D shaped rampart some 360m long is fronted by 150m of river bank and is some 50m across. A Viking leader Rodolf is reported active in the area for some ten years.

Recently, a D-shaped enclosure at Athlunkard, Co. Clare on the river Shannon has been investigated (see Archaeology Ireland winter 1998, vol 12, no 4, issue 46, pages 13 -16). This has yielded metalwork including a plough coulter. Both the Annagassan and the Athlunkard earthworks overlook an island in the river, which may have been part of the defences. Some longphorts were occupied for short periods only, others much longer. Annagassan for example was occupied until 927, though we cannot be sure that occupation was continuous and the longphort at Dublin was not given up until 902 - an occupation of sixty years. Other longphorts are reported for example in the ninth century at Waterford, Eyrephort on the west coast, Limerick, Wexford and Cork.

The Dublin longphort is perhaps best known, not for the fort itself, no bit of which has been revealed, but because the cemeteries which possibly go with it have been revealed over the years. The site is some two kilometres up river from the centre of modern Dublin in the area of Islandbridge and Kilmainham.

Burials have been disturbed in the area since 1836, most poorly recorded, so that it is difficult to relate the large number of grave goods preserved in the National Museum to specific burial assemblages. Elizabeth O'Brien who is currently working on this material believes there were two centres of burial and that 17 burials can be certainly identified from each site, in each case 15 male and two female with perhaps 20 more burials, which cannot be accurately located. Most are inhumations, but a small number of cremations are known too. Some of the burials were unaccompanied by grave goods and may be earlier Christian graves from the nearby monastery.

The site is on a gravel ridge some 23m above the Liffey river with a monastery at Kilmainham and a settlement around a crossing of the river at Islandbridge. It is possible that the Vikings seized the monastic buildings, as they did at Repton and Noirmoutier and added their dead to the monastic cemetery as they did at Repton. A second cemetery at Islandbridge some 800m away was similarly treated perhaps. However, caution is required in accepting without question the location of a longphort at Islandbridge/Kilmainham as recent excavation in central Dublin, in the north-east corner of the walled medieval city close to the Liffey, has revealed for the first time material of the ninth century in that area. This might suggest a longphort was sited there. There may of course have been more than one longphort at Dublin.

The range of grave goods from Islandbridge/Kilmainham included 40 swords, 35 spearheads, 26 shield bosses, axeheads and arrowheads, mainly of Norwegian type and dating most comfortably within the ninth century. The range of weapons suggest warriors. But in addition iron shears and sickles speak of agriculture, tongs, pincers and hammers of blacksmithing, weighing scales of commerce or perhaps raiding. Spindle whorls, needle cases, pins, bone combs, brooches - including oval brooches - knives, keys, beads are all typical of accompanied female graves elsewhere and probably show us Norwegian women present. Bone gaming pieces indicate leisure activities. The assemblage shows little or no Irish influence; even the ubiquitous Irish ring pin, beloved of the Hiberno-Norse is largely absent. Of course if all this material consists of grave goods then there is a possible bias here, since items will have been selected for the grave.

This material suggests a settled, ordered community, culturally distinct, since there is very little diagnostically Irish material from the sites, and with access to the countryside and further afield via the river.

It is very unfortunate that we know nothing of the internal layout of any Irish longphort, but occupation over a period, plus the evidence from the Dublin cemeteries suggest we are dealing with communities operating more than just raiding bases, even though they might have been used as some have suggested as transit camps for slaves or for storage, essentially we are looking at settled communities. How did they feed and clothe themselves? How did they control farming areas adjacent to the settlements? Was land farmed directly from the settlement? Was the land around the longphort farmed by Vikings or dependents of the Vikings? With the longphorts we also move into another stage of Viking impact on Ireland, since once the Vikings settled, they lost their mobility and Irish leaders knew here to find them - with hostile or other intentions.

The Viking leaders and their warbands were forced out of Ireland in 902 and it seems that this precipitated a larger exodus from many of the longphorts. It is unlikely however, whether we should see these obscure events as implying an exodus of all Vikings from Ireland. We see these exiles active in Scotland and north-west England and to this period almost certainly belongs settlement in the Wirral, north-west England and south-west Scotland and perhaps Wales and Man were affected too.

From 914 war bands were returning to Ireland, in part led by grandsons of Ivarr of Dublin. The Vikings who returned to Ireland between 914 and 920 had had varied experiences. One contingent travelled from Brittany, others from York and northern England, others from Scotland and they were soon to be co-ordinated by Sihtric and Ragnall. Ragnall, as we shall see, had ambitions to link Irish possessions with the Viking kingdom of York.

They appear to have returned to the vicinity, though not necessarily the sites, of the longphorts at Waterford, Wexford, Dublin, Cork, Limerick. Typical sites chosen were elevated positions on low ridges in sheltered positions, but with access to the sea. New types of settlement were now built, best known from Dublin, but also being revealed under other Irish towns. The experience of Viking leaders elsewhere in Europe partly dictated the form of these settlements.  

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