He was a Viking adventurer who had become King of Norway in 1098. There was a murder of international significance when Magnus Barelegs (Olafsson), King of Norway was killed in 1103 near Downpatrick. The Vikings were defeated at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 by the great chieftain and hero Brian Boru. The Battle of Strangford Lough was fought in 877 between two rival groups of Vikings and the Viking King of Dublin and York, Halfdan Ragnarsson was killed in the sea battle. Movilla was attacked in 825 AD and Kilclief monastic settlement in 9.

In the Annals of Ulster it states that Downpatrick was attacked and plundered by the Vikings once in the ninth century, twice in the 10th century and twice in the 11th century (raiders unnamed). There is evidence for the presence of the Vikings on Strangford Lough in the ninth and 10th centuries and the Vikings had a base in Strangford Lough for their fleets of longships engaged in struggles in the Irish Sea and elsewhere.

The Narrows is renowned for its’ fierce currents, while a fjord is a long narrow inlet of the sea formed by glacial action. When the Vikings came they renamed it Strang Fjord (Strangford) which means the ‘fjord of the strong currents’. The original name of Strangford Lough was Loch Cuan which means the quiet lough. It tosses the tresses of the sea to whiteįierce Northmen course only the quiet seasĪ stormy night at sea meant the monks could sleep peacefully at night without fear of a Viking raid. Indeed, the fear of Viking attacks is recorded in the lines of a poem written in a manu in 820 AD by an Irish monk: The monastic site at Bangor was attacked in 823 and 824 AD. Monasteries were centres of wealth and they were an easy target for the raiders to reach as they were located at or near coastal sites.įor example, Nendrum monastic site in Strangford Lough was raided as was the monastery in Downpatrick which at that time was coastal. These helmeted warriors armed with swords, spears and axes ransacked monastic villages for valuables such as silver and gold chalices, ornaments, cattle and slaves. Known as ‘Danes’ they actually came mainly from Norway. The first raid on Ireland happened in 795 AD when the Vikings beached on Lambay island off Dublin. The Vikings were skilled craftspeople and were particularly skilled at building the famous longships equipped with sails and oars which were ideally suited for mounting raids on coastal monasteries and travel by river. There are many reasons given for the early Viking raids on Britain and Ireland but the most likely reason was that young men who were not likely to inherit land set off on voyages of discovery to other countries for material gain. They first came to Ireland at the end of the eighth century and returned during the following centuries up to the early 12th century with their main interest to gain land and slaves. THE Vikings set out on voyages from Scandanavia to many countries in Europe and beyond and were explorers, raiders, traders, colonisers. The Vikings on and around the shores of Strangford Lough 14 July 2021

York viking recorder