Early Scandinavian Dublin: Difference between revisions

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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.

The Dublin Vikings also carried out a number of raids in Great Britain at this time. The deaths of Ivar (c.873) and Olaf (c.874) were followed by internecine conflict among the Vikings. Although intermittent warfare between the Vikings and the Irish continued, these inner conflicts weakened the Viking colonies and made it easier for the Irish to unite against them. In 902, [[Cerball mac Muirecáin]], king of Leinster, and Máel Findia mac Flannacáin, king of [[Kings of Brega|Brega]], launched a two-pronged attack on Dublin and drove the Vikings from the city. However, in 914 the Vikings now known as the [[Uí Ímair]] (House of Ivar) would return to Ireland, marking the beginning of the Second Viking Age.

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 |format=pdf |title=General: The Vikings in Ireland |accessdateaccess-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. 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>

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 |authorlinkauthor-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. Turgesius’sTurgesius's identity remains uncertain to this day. Some commentators have identified him with the semi-legendary Danish warlord [[Ragnar Lodbrok]].<ref>John O'Donovan (1860), pp. liii ff. and p. 124; Charles Haliday (1884), pp. 30 ff; Todd (1867), p. liii; {{Cite web |author=Samuel A. Ossory Fitzpatrick |title=Dublin: A Historical and Topographical Account of the City. |url=http://www.chaptersofdublin.com/books/ossory/ossory1.htm |year=1907}}.</ref> According to [[Saxo Grammaticus]],<ref>Saxo Grammaticus, ''[[Gesta Danorum]]'' Book 9</ref> Ragnar raided Ireland, killing a king called Melbricus. This has been identified with a raid on [[Conaille Muirthemne]] in 831 in which the king Máel Brigte was abducted by Vikings.<ref>AU 831.6. Conaille Muirthemne was a dynastic sept that ruled a minor kingdom in [[County Louth]] in the overkingdom of [[Ulaid]] or Ulster.</ref> Turgesius has also been identified with a son of GuÞfriÞ or [[Gudfred]], the Danish king who fought against [[Charlemagne]] between 804 and 810.<ref>Montgomery (2006).</ref> It is thought unlikely, however, that he or any other Viking rulers in Ireland can be linked to native Norwegian dynasties.<ref>Ó Corráin (1998): "The kings and sons of kings mentioned in the Irish annals cannot, therefore, be linked to any Norwegian dynasty."</ref>

In 837 a fleet of sixty [[longship]]s sailed up the [[River Liffey]] and raided "churches, forts and dwellings", including presumably those at Dublin.<ref>AU 837.3; CS 837; CGG 12; AClon 834 [=837]. According to the latter there were sixty-five ships in this fleet.</ref> Later in the same year, a certain Saxolb (Söxulfr), "chief of the foreigners", was killed in Brega by the Uí Colgain, a branch of the Cíanachta Breg.<ref>AU 837.9; CS 837; CGG 21; AClon 834 [=837].</ref> The ''[[Chronicon Scotorum]]'' and the ''[[Annals of Clonmacnoise]]'' ascribe "the first taking and possession of the Danes in Dublin" to this year. But this was only a foretaste of things to come. In 841 the Vikings returned to Dublin, this time not as raiders but as conquerors. They seized the ecclesiastical settlement at [[History of Dublin to 795#Duiblinn|Duiblinn]] and established a ''longphort'', or naval encampment, nearby; where precisely is still a matter of debate, but the present site of [[Dublin Castle]] is a likely candidate, as it overlooked the Black Pool (''Duiblinn'', from which the city of Dublin takes its name), which would have served as a natural harbour.<ref>AU 841.4 and 842.2; CS 841 and 842; AClon 838 [=841] and 839 [=842].</ref> Four years later the ''Annals of Ulster'' refer also to foreigners at Áth Cliath; this may simply be a loose reference to the settlement at Duiblinn, but it is possible that the native settlement of Áth Cliath was also seized and a second ''longphort'' established on the Liffey – possibly at Usher's Island.<ref>AU 845.12</ref> These settlements were temporary wintering camps ({{lang-on|vintrsetl}}) and probably amounted to little more than pirate bases. From their new base in Dublin, the Vikings plundered many territories in Leinster and the Midlands as far as the [[Slieve Bloom Mountains]].<ref>AU 841.4; CS 841; AClon 838 [=841]; CGG 16; {{Cite web|first=Donnchadh|last=Ó Corráin|url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/General%20Vikings%20in%20Ireland.pdf|format=pdf|title=General: The Vikings in Ireland|accessdateaccess-date=21 December 2008|publisher=CELT |page=13}}</ref> Many more raids were to follow. In 845 the Vikings of Dublin plundered [[Dún Masc]] (Rock of Dunamase in [[County Laois]]), killing the abbot of Tír dá Glas ([[Terryglass]] in [[County Tipperary]]) and other dignitaries;<ref>AU 845.2; CS 845; CGG 19; AClon 842 [=845]; AI 844.1 [=845].</ref> other ecclesiastical settlements plundered in the same year included [[Kildare]], [[Fintan of Clonenagh|Clonenagh]], [[Kinnitty]] ([[County Offaly]]), [[Killeigh]], [[Abbey of Kells|Kells]], [[Monasterboice]], [[Duleek]], [[Swords, Dublin|Swords]] and [[Finglas]].<ref>CGG 19.</ref> In 845 they also set up an encampment near [[Tullamore]].<ref>AU 845.12: "An encampment of the foreigners of Áth Cliath at Cluain Andobuir." Cluain Andobair is the plain around [[Killeigh]], [[County Offaly]], about 8 km south of [[Tullamore]]. See also AClon 842 [=845].</ref>

In 845 Turgesius was captured by the King of [[Kingdom of Mide|Mide]] [[Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid|Máel Sechnaill]] and drowned in Loch Uair ([[Lough Owel]] in [[County Westmeath]]).<ref>AU 845.8: According to the [https://books.google.com/books?id=ot4RAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA7,M1 ''Annales Islandici''], Ragnar Lodbrok died in 845.</ref> Whatever the true extent of Turgesius's power in the country, this stroke of good fortune proved to be a turning point in “[[The War of the Irish with the Foreigners]]” ([[Irish language|Irish]]: ''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'') as this period of Irish history is called.<ref>Like the late Norse sagas, the 12th-century chronicle ''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' is now considered to be a less than reliable account of this period of Irish history, though it does contain some intriguing details that shed light on the bare records in the annals. See, for example, Ó Corráin (1998) for hostile comment. Though somewhat dated, [[James Henthorn Todd]]'s translation of 1867 is still an indispensable resource for this period of Irish history, thanks to Todd's 206-page introduction, numerous footnotes and detailed appendices.</ref> Several Irish victories followed. In 847 [[Cerball mac Dúnlainge]] the King of [[Kingdom of Osraige|Osraige]] defeated the Norsemen of Dublin and their leader Agnonn (Hákon) at Carn Brammit.<ref>AU 847.4; AFM 845.12 [=847]. The location of Carn Brammit is unknown.</ref>

In 851 a significant development took place: "The Dubgenti came to Áth Cliath, made a great slaughter of the Findgaill, and plundered the naval encampment, both people and property."<ref>AU 851.3; CS 851; CGG 20.</ref> It is believed that this refers to the first appearance in Ireland of a new faction of Vikings. Called the ''Dubgaill'' or ''Dubgenti'' ("Dark Foreigners" or "Dark Gentiles"),<ref>[http://www.dil.ie/browse-small.asp ''Dictionary of the Irish Language''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609205834/http://www.dil.ie/browse-small.asp |date=9 June 2010 }}: ''dub''; ''Gall''; ''genti''.</ref> these were possibly Scandinavians of Danish or Anglo-Danish origin who hoped to take advantage of the shifting fortunes of the town's inhabitants, known as the Findgaill or Findgenti ("Fair Foreigners" or "Fair Gentiles"),<ref>[http://www.dil.ie/browse-small.asp ''Dictionary of the Irish Language''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609205834/http://www.dil.ie/browse-small.asp |date=9 June 2010 }}: ''finn''.</ref> who were possibly Scandinavians of NorwegianDanish origin – though there is still no consensus among historians as to the meaning of these terms.<ref>See Ó Corráin (1998), Dumville (2005) and Downham (2007) for divergent views. 17th-century historians (e.g. the [[Annals of the Four Masters|Four Masters]] and [[Geoffrey Keating]]) were generally of the view that the Dubgaill were Danes and the Findgaill Norwegians.</ref> Whatever their provenance, the Dubgaill defeated the Norsemen of Dublin and destroyed their settlement; in the same year they raided the ''longphort'' at Lind Dúachaill (Linns, near [[Annagassan]] in [[County Louth]]) and slaughtered the Findgaill.<ref>AU 851.3; CS 851; AFM 849.9 [=851] and 849.10 [=851]. In the ''Annals of Ulster'' the wording of the relevant entry makes the outcome of the raid on Lind Duachaill uncertain, but in other sources the Dubgaill are clearly the victors of both encounters.</ref> The following year the Dubgaill inflicted another significant defeat on the Findgaill at Snám Aignech ([[Carlingford Lough]]).

The leaders of the Findgaill in this encounter are called Stain (or Zain) and Iercne (or Iargna). In the ''Fragmentary Annals'' Zain and Iargna are co-regents (''leithrí''). Iercne ({{lang-on|Járnkné}}) died in the battle; his sons are mentioned in connection with Dublin in 883 and 886. The leader of the Dubgaill is called Horm (?Ormr), who was slain in 856 by [[Rhodri the Great]] the [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|King of Gwynedd]].<ref>AU 852.3; AFM 850.16 [=852]; CS 852; CGG 20; FAI 235. According to the ''Fragmentary Annals of Ireland'', the Dubgaill were initially defeated in this encounter, before rallying and overcoming the Findgaill, whose fleet numbered 160 ships. The battle lasted "three days and three nights" according to the ''Chronicon Scotorum''.</ref> Later that year the Norsemen suffered two defeats in the same month at the hands of the Cianachta Breg: one at Inch near [[Balrothery]] in County Dublin, and one at Ráith Aldain (Raholland, County Meath).<ref>AU 852.8; CGG 22. The territory of the Cianachta Breg extended north from the Liffey to the [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/barony-map-ireland.htm baronies] of Upper and Lower Duleek in County Meath.</ref>

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.

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&printsec=titlepage#PPA13,M1 ''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.

In Dublin Amlaíb was succeeded by one of his sons, Oistin (Eysteinn); but Albdann (Hálfdan), the leader of the Dubgenti and conqueror of Northumbria, also claimed the throne. In 875 Hálfdan invaded the settlement and killed Eysteinn,<ref>According to [[Saxo Grammaticus]]'s [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/saxo/009_05.php ''Gesta Danorum'', Book 9], Dublin was once besieged by two Danish princes, Canute (Knut DanaastDanaást) and Harald, sons of [[Gorm the Old]]; Canute was surprised by the King of Dublin and killed by one of the king's archers. According to the [https://books.google.com/books?id=ot4RAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA13,M1 ''Annales Islandici''], this event took place in 875, the year Hálfdan took Dublin from Eysteinn (though Kiarvalus [Cerball mac Dúnlainge] is named as the King of Dublin in 875). It is difficult, however, to align the chronologies of the various sources. Gorm's son Harald is usually identified with [[Harald Bluetooth]], the first Christian King of Denmark, who died around 985, more than a century after this siege of Dublin. Haliday (1884), p. 67, identifies this siege with a later one that took place in 927.</ref> but the High King Áed Findliath intervened and expelled him from the city,<ref>CGG 25; Áed surprised Hálfdan during a banquet in his honour.</ref> replacing him with Ímar's son [[Barith]] ({{lang-on|Bárðr}}),<ref>CS 881.</ref> who was the foster-father of Áed's son.<ref>FAI 408: "In this year, i.e. in the eleventh year of Áed's reign, Barith came (now he was the foster-father of the king's son) and …" But see {{cite encyclopedia |last=Byrne |first=F. J. |editor=Daibhí Ó Cróinín |encyclopedia=A New History of Ireland |title=Ireland Before the Battle of Clontarf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJSDj1dDvNUC |accessdateaccess-date=11 January 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |volume=1 |isbn=978-0-19-821737-4 |pages=857}}, who identifies Oistín as Barith's foster-son. It seems, however, that fosterage was another method used by the Norsemen to forge alliances with native rulers.</ref> This was the last serious conflict in the War of the Irish with the Foreigners for a generation. Later chroniclers record that Ireland enjoyed a "Forty Years' Rest" from foreign invaders between 876 and 916.<ref>CGG 26. The existence of any such "Rest" has been disputed.</ref> Hálfdan was slain in a battle with the Findgaill in Loch Cuan ([[Strangford Lough]]) in 877.<ref>AU 877.5; CS 877; CGG 25.</ref> In the relevant entry in the ''Annals of Ulster'' he is described as the leader of the Dubgenti;<ref>The name Hálfdan means "half-Danish", which may or may not be significant.</ref> In ''Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib'' Barith is named as the leader of the Findgenti; this would seem to support the theory that Hálfdan's brother Ingware was not the same man as Ímar the Norse king of Dublin, the former being of the Dubgenti and the latter of the Findgenti.<ref>CGG 25: "A battle was fought between themselves, viz., between the Fair Gentiles and the Black Gentiles, that is to say, between Barith and Ragnall's son [Hálfdan], in which fell Ragnall's son and many with him." (''Ragnall'' probably refers to Ragnar Lodbrok, Hálfdan's alleged father.) According to one recension of CGG, Barith received an injury in this battle which left him lame for the remainder of his life.</ref>

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 895–900895 to 900; a Viking called Sigfrøðr also led a Northumbrian fleet against Wessex in 893; it is possible that all three were one and the same man.<ref>AU 893.4; see Downham (2007), pp. 77 and 79.</ref> The ''Annals of Ulster'' record that, "the foreigners of Áth Cliath [Dublin] became dispersed, one faction following the son of Ímar [Sitric I] and the other faction following Sigfrith the Jarl." It is possible that Sitric was deposed and Sigfrith the Jarl became king, but this is not at all certain; it is also possible that both factions left the city. The ''Annals of Inisfallen'' record that, "The heathens departed from Ireland this year [893]."<ref>AI 893.2.</ref>''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' also implies that Sitric son of Ímar and his people went to Scotland around 892.<ref>CGG 27, which has been misplaced.</ref> Whatever the truth of the matter, Sitric returned the following year.<ref>AU 894.4.</ref> It is not clear whether he expelled Sigfrith the Jarl or whether the latter had already left of his own accord.

This period of Dublin's history is still very obscure. Despite the existence of a wealth of documentary evidence for Viking activity in the Dublin region throughout the 9th century, relatively little archaeological evidence has been unearthed to corroborate the testimony of contemporary annalists. The pioneering 19th-century historian [[Charles Haliday]] bewailed the silence of contemporary Irish sources "respecting the social position, religion, laws, and monuments of those who occupied Dublin for more than three hundred years on all facts ... excepting such as relate to their inroads and devastations".<ref>Haliday (1884), p. 4.</ref> Most of our knowledge concerning the day-to-day lives of the Norse settlers in Dublin has been learned from extensive excavations at [[Wood Quay]] and in the neighbourhoods of [[Winetavern Street]] and [[Fishamble Street]]. The Norse built their houses almost exclusively out of perishable materials such as wood and straw, but many early buildings have been preserved in this area in a two-metre-thick waterlogged layer of estuarine mud, making Dublin one of the most important Norse sites in Europe. To date, more than two hundred houses have been excavated.

The most likely possibility is that the ''longphort'' was established on the gravel ridge overlooking the Black Pool – the most easily defended location in Dublin – and that its remains were subsequently buried or obliterated by the later 10th century settlement of Dyflinn, which was built in the same location (not to mention [[Dublin Castle]], which presently occupies the site). The discovery of what are thought to be late 9th-century earthen banks in Ross Road and Werburgh Street (immediately west of Dublin Castle) lends some support to this theory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Walsh |first=Claire |editor=Seán Duffy|chapter=Dublin's southern Defences, Tenth to Fourteenth Centuries: The Evidence from Ross Road |title=Medieval Dublin |volume=II |pages=88–127 |date=2001 |location=Dublin |isbn=}}; {{cite book |last=Hayden |first=Alan |editor=Seán Duffy |chapter=The Excavation of Pre-norman Defences at Werburgh Street, Dublin: A Summary |title=Medieval Dublin |volume=III |pages=44–68 |date=2002 |location=Dublin |isbn=1-85182-649-1}}.</ref> The other possibility is that the ''longphort'' was situated on the eastern or southern side of the Black Pool, and that Norse settlement began here, expanding northwards and westwards across the [[River Poddle|Poddle]] in the late 9th century. Norse houses to the west of these banks all appear to date from the Second Viking Age (917–1170).<ref>Hayden (2002), p. 66.</ref> It is also a possibility that the location of the ''longphort'' was changed after the destruction of the original settlement in 849.

Neighbouring houses were connected by wattle paths and there are some indications of formal property boundaries. Associated with these Type I houses were animal pens. Excavations at these and other sites have revealed a rural community of farmers, quite different from the urbanised and industrial community of the 10th century. The four burials excavated near [[South Great George's Street]] were also associated with domestic habitations, suggesting that the deceased had been members of a settled Norse community and not the fatalities suffered by a transient raiding party.

* {{Cite book |author1=Aethelweard |authorlink1author-link1=Æthelweard (historian) |author2=J. A. Giles |authorlink2author-link2=John Allen Giles |year=1906 |location=London |publisher=G. Bell |url=https://archive.org/details/oldenglishchroni00gileuoft |title=The Chronicle of Aethelweard}}

* {{Cite book |title=The Chronicle of Ireland |last=Charles-Edwards |first=T. M. |authorlinkauthor-link=Thomas Charles-Edwards |year=2006 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-zb0polW4wC |isbn=978-0-85323-959-8}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Ó Corráin |first=Donnchadh |authorlinkauthor-link=Donnchadh Ó Corráin|year=1998 |title=The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the 'Ninth Century |journal=Peritia |volume=12 |pages=296–339 |doi=10.1484/J.Peri.3.334 |isbn=2-503-50624-0 |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/Vikings%20in%20Scotland%20and%20Ireland.pdf|format=pdf}}

* {{Cite web |author=Donnchadh Ó Corráin |authorlinkauthor-link=Donnchadh Ó Corráin |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/General%20Vikings%20in%20Ireland.pdf |format=pdf |title=General: The Vikings in Ireland |accessdateaccess-date=21 December 2008 |publisher=CELT}}

* {{Cite book |title=Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib |last=Todd |first=James Henthorn (trans.) |authorlinkauthor-link=James Henthorn Todd |year=1867 |publisher=Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer |place=Dublin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TgMGAAAAQAAJ}}

* [https://booksarchive.google.comorg/details/books?id=BYANAAAAQAAJchroniclespicts01skengoog Chronicle of the Kings of Alba]