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May 5, 1014
1014 - Battle of Clontarf – Brian Boru
At Clontarf, the strongest king in Ireland, the Irish high king Brian Boru, fought and defeated a Viking army. After this battle, peace began to develop between the Vikings and Celtic peoples and they gradually adopted each other’s ideas and customs. -
795AD Viking longships began to raid various places in Ireland
Vikings raided Ireland for the first time. They first attacked monasteries along the cost and later the raided inland. They were met with no national resistance -
798 – St Patrick’s Island monastery was smashed
The monastery here flourished until the Vikings raided it. In 1220, the Archbishop of Dublin made the decision to move the monastery to the mainland as the island was deemed too inconvenient. -
802 – Burning of Iona
The Vikings attacked Iona for the first time this year. They then attacked it again in 806 with 68 monks being killed. In 807 the ‘Book of Kells’ was moved from Iona to Kells. -
836 – First known inland raid took place.
First recorded inland attack against the Southern Uí Neill in Meath. -
840 – Irish Kings and abbots counter-attacked with growing success
Vikings began to set up defended bases and their raids became more intensive. It seemed as if Ireland was going to become conquered. However, the Irish Kings began to fight back. -
841 – Vikings began to settle in Ireland
Vikings began to establish more permanent basis on Irish coasts. Raids were no longer the sole purpose or legacy of the Viking invasions -
842 – First Viking – Irish alliance
Over time the Vikings settled into Irish life as merchants and seamen, and the Irish formed alliances with them in their own continued internal struggles. -
849AD - Danish fought Norse Vikings
The Danes entered Ireland and fought the Norse Viking fortified settlements. They founded the Danish Kingdom of Dublin which lasted for three hundred years. -
928 – Viking massacre at Dunmore Cave, Kilkenny
The Annals record that over 1,000 people were massacred here by the Vikings. It is said that the Vikings from Dublin were en route to attack rival Vikings at Waterford in 928 AD. They raided the surrounding land and found that a large number of people were hiding in the cave at Dunmore
