Chapter 60
Chapter 60 of History of the Norwegian People, Volume 1 by Knut Gershet. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The English Conquest of Ireland. Events in the Colonies. After the Battle of Clontarf, the Norsemen ceased to rule in Ireland. Their military power was broken, and they submitted to the Irish kings.
They continued, however, to hold their fortified cities, and as the Irish, because of incessant feuds, were unable to exercise but a nominal overlordship, they continued their commerce, governed themselves according to their own laws, and remained a distinct nationality as before. By old Irish and English writers, they are generally called Ostmen, i.e. men from the east. A name still preserved in Oxman Town
in Dublin. Geraldes Cambrances speaks of them as a distinct people given to seafaring and commerce. Gens i giter hace, kuae nun kastmanica gens vogator. About the middle of the 12th century, the Irish feuds raged with their accustomed fury and led finally to the conquest of Ireland by the Anglo-Normans in 1169-1171. The principal resistance to the invaders was offered by the fortified Norse towns, but as there was no national government and no general
leadership, each town fell in turn and the conquest was easily accomplished. In 1166, Radhri O'Connor became High King of Ireland. He went to Dublin, where he was hailed as King by the Ostermen, but this was scarcely more than a ceremony, since the men of Dublin were still ruled by their own king, Asgolf Rognvaldsson. With O'Connor's aid, Dermite Mac Mercada, King of Leinster, a very restless and troublesome chief, was driven away from Ireland.
He hastened to King Henry II of England for aid, found him in Aquitaine, and promised to do homage to him for his kingdom, if he would help him to regain it. This gave Henry a welcome opportunity to undertake the conquest of Ireland, which he seems to have planned for some time. He had already obtained a bull from Pope Adrian IV, the former Cardinal Niclaus Brakespear, in which the Pope permitted him to take possession of the country, and blessed the undertaking as one prompted by
ardor of faith and love of religion. King Henry promised the Pope to subject the people to laws, to extirpate vicious customs, to respect the rights of the native churches, and to enforce the payment of Peter's pence. He could not leave for Ireland at once, but he gave Dermot a letter granting his vassals permission to aid him. With this letter, Dermot returned to England, and Richard Clare, Earl of Pembroke, also called Strongbow, and many other Anglo-Norman barons,
promised to assist him. Strongbow bargained for the hand of Dermot's daughter and was to become heir to the throne of Leinster. In 1169, the half-brothers Robert Fitz-Stevens and Maurice Fitzgerald went to Ireland with a small force and captured Wexford. Strongbow followed next year with 1,000 men and 200 mounted knights. Waterford was stormed and a large number of the inhabitants were put to death. After celebrating his wedding with Dermot's daughter, Aif, Strongbow made haste
to attack Dublin. The city was taken by a stroke of perfidy executed during an armistice arranged for the purpose of negotiating about the terms for capitulation. Askel, Haskelf, and some of the Ostmen who succeeded in escaping to the ships sought refuge in the Orkneys and the Hebrides, but the city was sacked and a great number of people were slain. The victors made Dublin their headquarters, and it was clearly their plan to subdue the whole country. But King Henry's jealousy
of Strongbow's success, and the resolute resistance offered by both Norsemen and Irish, threw new obstacles into their path. Henry ordered the barons to return to England, and when Diermunt died, the people of Leinster chose his nephew as their king, and turned their backs on Strongbow, who was, thereby, placed in a most difficult situation, as he could get no further reinforcements. In the meantime, Askel, who had gone to the Orkneys,
had gathered a fleet of sixty ships and a large number of warriors, who according to Geraldis Cambrensis wore shirts of mail and carried round red shields. The leaders of this army were Askel Roggenwaldson and Jan Oda, a chieftain from the Orkneys. They made a vigorous assault on Dublin, but were finally defeated. Jan Oda fell, and Askel, the last Norse king of Dublin, was captured and put to death. Archbishop Laurentius, who still hoped to rid Ireland
of the enemy, sent messengers to King Goodrude of Man and to the chieftains of the Hebrides and asked for help. King Goodrude came with a fleet of thirty ships and invested Dublin from the seasack, while the High King besieged it with an army of thirty thousand men. Strongbow, who was in command of the garrison, was brought to desperate straits, and he even began negotiations for surrender. But the siege was not pushed with vigor, and by a sudden sally from the
city he defeated and drove away the Irish army, and returned with rich booty. The High King had to yield, and Strongbow took possession of Leinster as Dermatt's heir. But the garrison at Wexford had been overwhelmed, and Strongbow, who saw that he could not succeed without reinforcements, hastened to England to offer his submission to King Henry II. While he was away, the Irish made another unsuccessful attempt to capture Dublin. We hear also about this time of the last Viking
expedition led by the last Viking, Sven Asliefsen of the Orkneys, who undertook to capture Dublin. It is possible that the expedition was undertaken to avenge the death of Askel Ragnvaldsen, and that it was made while Strongbow was in England. The Orkneying saga gives the following account of it. They went all the way south to Diflin, Dublin, and took the inhabitants by surprise, so that they did not know till they were in town. They took a great deal of plunder,
and took captive the rulers of the city, and their negotiations ended in the surrender of the city to Sven, and they promised to pay as much money as he might levy on them. He was to quarter his men in the town, and have the command of it, and the Diflin men confirmed this arrangement with oaths. Sven and his men went down to their ships in the evening, but in the morning they were to come into the town and receive hostages from the inhabitants. Now it is to be told what
was going on in the town during the night. The rulers of the town had a meeting, and considered the difficulties in which they were placed. They thought it was a grievous hardship that they should have to surrender their town to the Orkneymen, especially to him whom they knew to be the most exacting man in the whole west, and they came to the determination to play him false if they could. They resolved to dig a large pit inside of the city gates, and in many other places
between the houses, where it was intended that Sven's men should come in, and armed men were hidden in the houses close by. They placed such coverings over the pits as were sure to fall in when the weight of the men came upon them. Then they covered all over with straw so that the pits could not be seen, and waited till morning. Next morning Sven and his men arose and armed themselves and went to the town. And when they came near the gates, the Difflin men ranged
themselves on both sides from the gates along by the pits. Sven and his men, not being on their guard, fell into them. Some of the townsmen ran immediately to the gates, and others to the pits, and attacked Sven's men with weapons. It was difficult for them to defend themselves, and Sven perished there in the pit, with all those who had entered the town. When Strongbow arrived in England, King Henry was already preparing an expedition to Ireland.
The Earl obtained the King's pardon by surrendering to him the Irish seaports. He did homage to him for Leinster, and accompanied him to Ireland. Henry placed English garrisons in Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford, received the homage of the Irish chieftains, and returned home. But although the Norsemen were conquered, they were not driven from Ireland. They are mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, 1174, and also by Gereldus Cambrances,
who states that the same year the English asked the Ostmen for help against the Irish, and in a battle near the city, 400 Ostmen from Dublin fell. J. J. A. Warsaw says, Over a century later, many Ostmen were yet found in the larger towns of Ireland, where they, as it appears, still preserved their Norse characteristics which distinguished them from the Irish and the English. In the year 1201, a decision was rendered at Limerick by 12 Irishmen,
12 Englishmen, and 12 Ostmen regarding Limerick churchlands, churches, and other belongings, which show that the Ostmen were still so numerous that they were accounted equal to the Irish and English. Even from the year 1283, there is found preserved in the Tower of London a document issued by King Edward I, ordaining that the Ostmen of Waterford, in conformity with the regulations made by King Henry II, should be amenable to the same laws as the English who
were living in Ireland. This shows that the Ostmen were still a distinct people. In 1292, the wine trade of the Ostmen is still spoken of in old documents, which shows that this once flourishing commerce was not yet dead, though over a hundred years had passed since the Norse towns in Ireland had fallen into the hands of the English. After the Norsemen lost their independence, they gradually mixed with the Irish and English
inhabitants. The Irish annals, says Warsaw, mentioned several clans which were of Norse descent, or strongly mixed with Norse blood. In the annals and genealogical tables from the Middle Ages, we find many, both among the clergy and outside, with Norse names. In the 14th and 15th centuries, we find among the canons and monks of the Christ Church in Dublin, which was erected by the Norsemen, such names as Harald, Olaf, Siewird, Sieward, Reginald, Rogenwald, Iwer, etc.
The old chronicler Duald Macfirbus, who wrote in the middle of the 17th century, says, And as for the greater part of the merchants in the city of Athklath up to the present day, they are of the family of Amlaib Kuran, Olaf Kvaran, and of the family of Saev, daughter of Brian Boroma, who was his wife when the Battle of Clontarf was fought. And he adds, Thus the race of the Samlade-Quran, in the town of Athclayth, Dublin, is opposing the Gaelhals,
Irish, of Arran. Mr. Warsai points out that traces of the Norsemen are still found in Ireland, especially in personal names of Norse origin still in use, as Mekhittirik, or Shidtrik, Son of Sigtrig Obruder Son of Broder
McRagnall Son of Ragnvald Rolb Rolv Oliv
Olav Manus Magnus Harald Harald
Ivar Ivar Kottar or Makottar Atar and others.
The civil wars had a tendency to weaken the ties which still bound the colonies to the mother country. The Orkney Jarls continued to do homage to the kings of Norway for their possessions, but during such a period of weakness and confusion they could exercise sovereign authority without much interference or restraint. King Gudrud of Man and the Hebrides had long been waging war with his rival Sumerlita. In 1154 or 1155 he made an expedition to Ireland,
where he defeated King Wekertak's brother and was hailed as King of Dublin. He returned to man, but became so tyrannical that many people in the Sudres turned away from him, and chose Sumerlita's son Dugald as king. This brought about a permanent partition of the kingdom of men in the Hebrides, 1158. Gudrud was finally defeated by Sumerlita, and went to King Inge Krokrig of Norway, who confirmed his title to his kingdom.
But Gudrud deserted his suzerain in the Battle of Oslo, and joined his opponent, Token Herdebride. He remained in Norway till Sumerlita fell in 1164, when he returned with a large military force, and seized man and a part of the Hebrides, which possessions he ruled till 1187, while the other part of the island kingdom was ruled by Sumerlita's son, Dugald. End of chapter 60
