The Viking Age Dawns in Ireland: First Contact

Céad Míle Fáilte – and welcome to your Letter from Ireland for this week. As I sit here with my cup of Barry’s tea, close enough to the Harbour of Cork, I sometimes think back to the Viking age, where longships once sailed into this very harbour – settling in what was to become the City of Cork.

Today, we continue our series of letters all about the Vikings in Ireland – and explore the fascinating story of how the Vikings first came to Ireland during the Viking age, their origins, and how they transformed from raiders to settlers, eventually establishing Ireland’s first true cities.

I hope you’ll have a cup of whatever you fancy yourself as we start into this fascinating story of raiding, settling and finally, integration.

The Norse Homeland.

Before we look at their arrival in Ireland, let’s understand who these Vikings were and where they came from. The Viking Age saw seafaring warriors from Norway and Denmark come to Ireland. The Norwegians (called Finngaill or “fair foreigners” by the Irish) were the first to arrive, sailing from their homeland along Norway’s west coast. The Danes (known as Dubhgaill or “dark foreigners”) arrived later, sailing from the flatter Danish peninsula and islands.

These seafarers left their homeland for various reasons. Population growth, limited farming land, and political changes in Scandinavia all playing their part. But perhaps most importantly, advances in shipbuilding had given them vessels capable of long-distance ocean travel. Their legendary longships could now navigate both open seas and shallow rivers, making the coast of Britain and Ireland particularly attractive.

First Contact: From Britain to Ireland.

The Viking Age in Britain began with a devastating raid on Lindisfarne monastery in 793 AD, an attack that sent shockwaves through Christian Europe. This test raid on the holy island off the Northumbrian coast proved to the Vikings that monasteries were perfect targets – wealthy, poorly defended, and conveniently located near the coast. This success at Lindisfarne and subsequent British raids encouraged the Vikings to push further westward, following a path that would eventually lead them to Ireland.

And so, just two years later, Norse ships attacked the monastery on Rathlin Island, just off the coast of modern-day County Antrim. This raid marked the beginning of the Viking Age in Ireland and established a pattern that would continue for decades. From their initial attacks on offshore islands, the Vikings gradually expanded their raids to the Irish mainland by 798. They exploited Ireland’s political fragmentation of the time – with its numerous small kingdoms often unable to coordinate – and used the country’s extensive river systems, particularly the Shannon, the Liffey, and the Boyne, to penetrate deep into the interior, raiding wealthy monasteries like Glendalough, Clonmacnoise, and Kells.

From Raiders to Settlers.

The early Viking presence in Ireland followed a distinct pattern. The first phase of the Viking age in Ireland, from 795 to about 830, consisted mainly of hit-and-run raids on coastal monasteries and settlements. But by the 830s, the Vikings began to establish temporary bases called “longphorts” – fortified ship harbours that served as winter camps.

The most significant of these longphorts was established in 841 at Dublin (called Dyflin by the Vikings). this settlement would eventually grow into Ireland’s first true city. Over time, the settled Viking traders intermarried with the native Irish and we now refer to them as “Hiberno-Norse”. Similar “longphorts” were established at Waterford (Veðrafjǫrðr), Wexford (Veisafjǫrðr), Cork (Corcaigh), and Limerick (Hlymrekr).

The Transformation of Irish Society.

The Viking presence triggered significant changes in Irish society. The establishment of coastal towns created new centres of trade and commerce. Dublin, in particular, became both a major slave trading port and a significant commercial centre.

The Vikings also introduced new weapons, shipbuilding techniques, and trading practices. They connected Ireland to a vast trading network that stretched from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean and even as far as the Middle East.

So, the story of the Viking arrival in Ireland was not simply one of raiders and warriors, but of a complex process of interaction, settlement, and ultimately, integration. While their initial impact was violent and destructive, the Vikings also introduced urban living, new trading networks, and technological innovations to Ireland. Their legacy can still be seen today in our cities, our place names, our DNA, and our cultural heritage.

The transformation from raiders to settlers to full integration is a reminder of how cultures can evolve and blend over time. As the Viking age drew to a close, those who came to raid stayed to trade, to farm, to build cities, and eventually to become part of the fabric of Irish society itself.

A Legacy of Irish Surnames.

The following are surnames that came from some of those original Viking settlers:

Arthur, Beirne, Birney, Blacker, Coll, Coppinger, Dolphin, Doyle, Harold, Sigerson, Skillen, Sweetman, Thunder.

Also, many Norse given names became popular with the native Irish over time. Names such as “Olaf”, “Sitric” and more made their way into native Irish surnames such as:

McAuliffe, Broder, Broderick, Caskey, Cotter, McGetrick, Hever, McIvor, McKeever, Jennings, McLoughin, McManus, O’Rourke, McSorley, Sugrue, Toner, Tormey.

How about you? Do you have any Irish-norse surnames in your own family tree? Perhaps you have Viking ancestry yourself? I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories in the comments below.

Slán for now,

Mike.