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{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
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[[File:Ireland900.png|right|thumb|300px|Ireland c. 900]]
The First Viking Age in [[Ireland]] began in 795, when [[Vikings]] began carrying out hit-and-run raids on [[Gaelic Ireland|Gaelic Irish]] coastal settlements. Over the following decades the raiding parties became bigger and better organized; inland settlements were targeted as well as coastal ones; and the raiders built naval encampments known as [[longphort]]s to allow them to remain in Ireland throughout the winter. In the mid 9th century, Viking leader [[Turgesius|Turgeis]] or ''Thorgest'' founded a stronghold at Dublin, plundered [[Laigin|Leinster]] and [[Kingdom of Meath|Meath]], and raided other parts of Ireland. He was killed by the [[High King of Ireland|High King]], [[Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid]], which was followed by several Irish victories against the Vikings and the seizure of Dublin in 849. Shortly after, a new group of Vikings known as the [[Dubgaill and Finngaill|Dubgaill]] ("dark foreigners") came to Ireland and clashed with the earlier Viking settlers, now called the [[Dubgaill and Finngaill|Finngaill]] ("fair foreigners").
The wavering fortunes of these three groups and their shifting alliances, together with the shortcomings of contemporary records and the inaccuracy of later accounts, make this period one of the most complicated and least understood in the fledgling city's history. In 853 a Viking warlord called Amlaíb ({{lang-on|Óláfr}}, possibly [[Olaf the White]]) arrived and made himself [[Kingdom of Dublin|king of Dublin]]. He ruled along with his brothers Ímar (''Ívarr'', possibly [[Ivar the Boneless]]) and Auisle (''Ásl''). For the next fifteen years or so, they used Dublin as their base for a series of campaigns against Irish kingdoms. During these conflicts they briefly allied themselves with several Irish kings.
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==Early Viking raids==
[[File:Early Scandinavian Dublin - North-East.png|right|thumb|Rathlin Island]]
In the year 795 Vikings (probably of [[Norway|Norwegian]] origin) raided islands off the coast of Ireland for the first time.<ref>AU 795.3: "The burning of Rechru by the heathens...." AFM 790.6 [=795]. Rechru has been variously identified with [[Lambay Island]], off the coast of Dublin, and [[Rathlin Island]], off the northeast coast of Ireland. See {{Cite web |first=Donnchadh |last=Ó Corráin |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/General%20Vikings%20in%20Ireland.pdf |title=General: The Vikings in Ireland |access-date=21 December 2008 |publisher=CELT}} See also [https://archive.org/details/brutytywysogiong00cararich ''Brut y Tywysogion'' 795], which supports the identification with Lambay. The dates given in the extant versions of the ''Annals of Ulster'' for the period from the late 5th century to 1013 are antedated by one year, events in this period being dated one year ''before'' they actually took place (O'Rahilly (1946), p. 241). These dates have been silently corrected in the present article (and in the online version of the ''Annals of Ulster'' at [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/publishd.html CELT]). Dates in the other annalistic sources cited in this article are often at variance with the corrected dates in the ''Annals of Ulster''; these have not been corrected (though the correct date is given in parentheses), as they are not always due to copyists' errors but are often the dates given by the original authors.</ref> This was the beginning of a new phase of Irish history, which saw many native communities – particularly ecclesiastical ones – relocate themselves on the continent, or further afield in places like [[Iceland]] and the [[Faroe Islands]], to escape the pagan marauders. For about two decades the invaders confined their activities to coastal settlements; raiding parties were generally small and there is no evidence that any of them wintered in Ireland during this early phase of "hit-and-run" activity. Typically the Vikings would arrive at a settlement without warning, plunder what goods and people they could – the people were usually sold as slaves, though notable personages were often held for ransom – before retreating to their [[Scandinavia]]n or British bases.
People taken captive during the Viking raids in Western Europe, such as Ireland, could be sold to [[Slavery in al-Andalus|Moorish Spain]] via the [[Dublin slave trade]]<ref name="aroundtheworldineightyyears.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.aroundtheworldineightyyears.com/viking-dublin/|title=The Slave Market of Dublin|date=23 April 2013}}</ref> or transported to [[Hedeby]] or [[Brännö]] in Scandinavia and from there
via the [[Volga trade route]] to Russia, where slaves and furs were sold to Muslim merchants in exchange for Arab silver ''[[dirham]]'' and silk, which have been found in [[Birka]], [[Wolin|Wollin]] and [[Dublin]];<ref>The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. (1995). Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 91</ref> initially this trade route between Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate passed [[Khazar slave trade|via the Khazar Kaghanate]],<ref>The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives. Selected Papers from the Jerusalem 1999 International Khazar Colloquium. (2007). Nederländerna: Brill. p. 232</ref> and later it went [[Volga Bulgarian slave trade|via Volga Bulgaria]] and from there by caravan to [[Khwarazm]], to the [[Samanid slave trade|Samanid slave market]] in Central Asia and finally via Iran to [[slavery in the Abbasid Caliphate|the Abbasid Caliphate]].<ref>The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. (1995). Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 504</ref>
This period lasted from 795 until 813, after which there occurred a hiatus of eight years.<ref>The ''Annals of Ulster'' record no Viking raids for the years 814 through 820.</ref>
[[File:Early Scandinavian Dublin - Southern Ui Neill.svg|right|thumb|200px|Southern Uí Néill]]
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==Turgesius==
[[File:Early Scandinavian Dublin - Carlingford.png|right|thumb|Conaille Muirthemne.]]
For more than a dozen years in the middle of the 9th century, most of the Viking raids in Ireland appear to have been part of a co-ordinated effort to conquer the country on behalf of the King of Laithlind. If later accounts are to be believed, this campaign was initially masterminded by a warlord referred to in Irish annals as [[Turgesius]], Turgéis or Turges.<ref>The [[Old Norse]] form was ''Þurgestr''. Variant forms that are sometimes found include ''Þorgest'' (Thorgest), ''Þorgils'', ''Þorgisl'' and Þorgerr. The Old Norse forms of personal names, attested in the 12th or 13th century, are often quite different from the original [[Proto-Norse]] forms; the names recorded in contemporary British and Irish sources have the virtue of being contemporaneous with the original Scandinavian forms.</ref> According to the medieval Icelandic historian [[Snorri Sturluson]], Thorgils was a son of the first King of Norway [[Harald I of Norway|Haraldr hárfagri]] (Harald Fairhair).<ref>{{cite book |title=Heimskringla |last=Sturluson |first=Snorri |author-link=Snorri Sturluson |year=c. 1230 |url=http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/harfager.html}}</ref> However, that this son of Harald should be Turgesius is chronologically impossible, as Harald was born around 851.
From perhaps as early as 832 until 845 Turgesius terrorised the country and plundered dozens of Christian sites. In the process he supposedly oversaw the establishment of several Norse settlements – including one at [[Dublin]] in 841 – and became master of the northern half of the island, known in the Irish annals as ''[[Leath Cuinn|Leth Cuinn]]'', or “[[Conn of the Hundred Battles|Conn's Half]]”. In the ''[[Heimskringla|Saga of Harald Hårfagre]]'', [[Snorri Sturluson|Snorri]] tells us that [[Thorgest|Þorgils]] ruled his newly conquered domains from Dublin, and that he was "a long time king over Dublin". In the ''[[Annals of Ulster]]'', however, Turgéis is only mentioned in connection with an encampment on [[Lough Ree]] in 845.<ref>AU 845.3.</ref> It is likely that his role in history was greatly exaggerated by later chroniclers and that he played no direct part in the foundation of Viking Dublin.
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==Domestic troubles==
In 866, when Amlaíb and Auisle were invading Fortriu, Flann mac Conaing King of Brega took advantage of their absence to exact revenge for their invasion of 863, inflicting a significant defeat on the Norsemen.<ref>FAI 326.</ref> In the same year [[Cennétig mac Gaíthéne]], king of [[Loígis]], defeated the Norsemen at Mindroichet ([http://www.logainm.ie/?parentID=125&typeID=BF&placeID=27810&uiLang=en Mondrehid] in [[County Laois]]).<ref>AFM 864.8 [=866]; FAI 329; AClon 865 [=866].</ref> In 867 a force led by Cennétig and [[Máel Ciaráin mac Rónáin]] burned Amlaíb's fortress at Clondalkin, near Dublin, and killed 100 of his followers.<ref>AU 867.8; AFM 865.12 [=867]; FAI 349; AClon 865 [=867]. See also AClon 897, which seems to be a duplicate entry. Máel Ciaráin mac Rónáin was a champion of the Leinster nobility, though he was originally of the [[Ciarraige Luachra]] of West Munster.</ref> They followed this up with a successful attack on Dublin itself in the same year, in which Odolb Micle was killed. This shadowy figured may have been Amlaíb and Ímar's regent.<ref>FAI 362; AFM 865.15 [=867].</ref> Undeterred by this setback, Amlaíb plundered the monastery of Lis Mór in Munster ([[Lismore, County Waterford]]) before the end of the year.<ref>AI 867.1; CGG 29, which has been misplaced.</ref> According to one interpretation of ''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'', it was on this occasion that Auisle lost his life.<ref>CGG 24. According to Chapter 29, Foenteran mac Drognean, chieftain of the Fir Maige Féne (of [[Fermoy]]), is said to have burned Amlaíb's camp on the same night that Lismore was attacked, and Amlaíb afterwards murdered Auisle. Both events – the burning of the camp and the murder of Auisle – are attributed to the intercession of St [[Mochuda]], the patron of Lismore.</ref> In 869 Máel Ciaráin mac Rónáin came to a grisly end. Having been expelled from Leinster by jealous rivals, he allied himself by marriage to the High King Áed Findliath and invaded Leinster. He was defeated, however; his body was hacked to pieces and his head cut off. Subsequently, his head was given to the Norsemen of Dublin, who used it for target-practice before casting it into the sea.<ref>FAI 377.</ref> In the same year, Amlaíb plundered the great monastic settlement of [[Armagh]].<ref>AU 869.6; CS 869; AClon 867 [=869].</ref> This raid was possibly launched in retaliation for the death of his son Carlus, who had lost his life the previous year fighting for the kings of Leinster and Brega against Áed Findliath (the protector of Armagh) in the Battle of Cella Ua nDaigri (Killineer, [[County Louth]]).<ref>AU 868.4; CS 868; FAI 366. AFM 866.9 [=868]; AB 255; AClon 866 [=868]; AI 868. CGG 29 records that 500 Findgenti fell in this battle, which would seem to imply that the ruling dynasty of Dublin – to which Carlus belonged – were Findgenti.</ref> We are not told when precisely the alliance between Amlaíb and Áed Findliath (established around 860) fell apart; possibly it happened when Áed became High King in 862.
In 870, while Amlaíb and Ímar were besieging Dumbarton, Áed Findliath laid waste Leinster "from Dublin to Gowran", though it is not clear whether Dublin itself was attacked during this campaign.<ref>AU 870.2; AClon 868 [=870]. Dublin and Gowran were on the borders of Leinster, so the expression may mean "the whole of Leinster".</ref> In the same year, a leader of the Dubgaill called Úlfr invaded eastern Ireland and killed Máel Sechnaill mac Néill, one of the two kings of South Brega .<ref>AU 870.7; CS 870; AClon 868 [=870].</ref>
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Ímar's death is recorded in the ''Annals of Ulster'' and the ''Chronicon Scotorum'' under the year 873.<ref>AU 873.3; CS 873. The description of Ímar as "king of the Norsemen of all Ireland and Britain" supports the identification of Ímar with Ingware, though the term ''Britanniae'' may have excluded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, where Ingware campaigned.</ref> In the ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'', under the same year, it is reported that "the king of Lochlainn" died of a "sudden horrible disease".<ref>FAI 409: "Ég righ Lochlann, .i. Gothfraid, do tedhmaimm grána opond. Sic quod Domino placuit." ("The king of Lochlainn died, i.e. Gothfraid, of a sudden horrible disease. Thus it pleased God.") The identification of ''righ Lochlann'' ("the king of Lochlainn") as Gothfraid (i.e. Ímar's alleged father) was probably added by [[Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh|Duald MacFirbis]] or his anonymous secretary, who made the only extant copy of these annals in the 17th century. In the original 11th-century manuscript the subject of the entry was simply called ''righ Lochlann'', so this entry probably records the death of Ímar, whose death is not otherwise noted in the ''Fragmentary Annals'', rather than that of his father. [[John O'Donovan (scholar)|John O'Donovan]], who edited and translated the [https://books.google.com/books?id=B9T1-vIu3BMC ''Fragmentary Annals''] (p. 198) in 1860, took this entry to refer to Ímar, as did James Henthorn Todd in his translation of [https://books.google.com/books?id=TgMGAAAAQAAJ ''Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib''] (p. 270). Earlier in the ''Fragmentary Annals'', Ímar and Amlaíb are called ''na righ Lochlann'', or "the kings of Lochlainn" (FAI 388). See Ó Corráin (1998), pp. 36 ff. for further discussion.</ref> This cause of death is not mentioned in any other source, but it raises the interesting possibility that it was the crippling effects of this unidentified disease that led to Ímar's Old Norse sobriquet [[Ivar the Boneless|Ívarr inn beinlausi]], or Ivar the Boneless.<ref>The Norse sources understood "boneless" to mean that Ivar was impotent, had no legs, or that his limbs were so enfeebled he had to be carried about on a shield.</ref>
According to the [[Chronicle of the Kings of Alba]], Amlaíb died around 874–875 in [[Dollar, Clackmannanshire|Dollar]] during a protracted campaign against [[Causantín mac Cináeda|Constantine I of Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pictish Chronicle |url=http://www.mimas.ac.uk/~zzalsaw2/pictish.html |quote=and after two years Amlaib, with his people, laid waste Pictavia; and he dwelt there from 1 January until the feast of Saint Patrick [17 March]. Again in the third [?thirteenth] year Amlaib, while collecting tribute, was killed by Constantine. A short while after that battle was fought in his [Constantine's] 14th [?13th] year at Dollar between the Danes and the Scots, the Scots were annihilated at Atholl. The Norsemen spent a whole year in Pictavia.}} (The interpretation and translation of this passage are still matters of scholarly debate.) According to the Icelandic [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/landnamabok/011.php ''Landnámabók''], Chapter 15, Olaf the White "fell in battle in Ireland".</ref> These deaths ushered in three decades of uncertainty for the Norse settlements in Ireland. Internecine conflict between the different factions weakened the colonies and made it easier for the Irish to unite against them. During this period most of the Norse colonies at [[Dublin]], [[Wexford]], [[Waterford]], [[Cork (city)|Cork]] and [[Limerick]] fell under the sway of native rulers, as the former allies of the Norsemen turned against them. It has even been claimed that Cerball mac Dúnlainge assumed the kingship of Dublin around this time (possibly with the consent of its Norse inhabitants),<ref>The Icelandic [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/landnamabok/003.php ''Landnámabók''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922020016/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/landnamabok/003.php |date=22 September 2009 }}, Chapter 1, and the [https://books.google.com/books?id=ot4RAAAAYAAJ ''Annales Islandici''] (AD 875) make Kiarval [Cerball] King of Dublin in the late 9th century. See Todd (1867), pp. lxxx ff.</ref> but there is nothing in the Irish sources to support this.
==Epigoni==
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[[File:Early Scandinavian Dublin - Tirawley.svg|right|thumb]]
In 888 Sichfrith Ivarsson was assassinated by his brother [[Sigtryggr Ivarsson|Sitric I]], who held the throne for five years (888–893).<ref>AU 888.9: "Sichfrith m. Imair, rex Nordmannorum, a fratre suo per dolum occisus est"; CS 888; CGG 27, which calls Sichfrith "Sitriuc"; AClon 888, which calls Sichfrith "Juffrie [Jeffrey] mac Iwer". Todd (1867) identifies this Sitric with the "Lord of the foreigners of Limerick" mentioned by the Four Masters (AFM 938.13), though it is possible that the Lord of Limerick was his son Aralt (Harald). Downham (2007) makes this Harald a son of the later [[Sihtric Cáech|Sitric II]].</ref> During this time the Dubliners were strong enough to carry out successful raids on major monasteries. They plundered Ardbraccan, Donaghpatrick, Dulane, Glendalough, Kildare and Clonard all within the space of two years (890–891).<ref>Ó Corráin (2008), p. 22; CS 891.</ref> But a son of Barith called Eolair was killed by the Uí Amalgada of [[Tír Amhlaidh|Tír Amalgada]] (Tirawley in [[County Mayo]]).<ref>CS 891. ''Tirawley'' is an Anglicisation of ''Tír Amalgada'', "Amalgaid's Land". It is possible that this Eolair was not Barith's son but the son of Járnkné referred to above.</ref>
In 893 another conflict arose and the ruling dynasty in Dublin split into two factions, one led by Sitric and the other by a pretender called [[Sigfrith the Jarl]] ({{lang-on|Sigfrøðr}} or ''Sigurðr''). This shadowy figure may have been the same Sigfrøðr who was [[King of Jorvik|King of Jórvík]] from
In 895 a Norseman called Glúniarann ("Iron Knee", an Irish translation of the Norse Járnkné) led an army from Dublin to Armagh, where 710 prisoners were captured.
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