Viking Influence On Irish Society

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The Viking people, commonly referred to as the Norse, were the inhabitants of what is now known as Scandinavia. These people terrified Europe from the late 700's to about 1100 AD. During this time the Vikings settled abroad due to a great increase in population and a necessity for land. The Viking raids began in Ireland in about 795 and continued to thrive there until they were defeated by “Brian Boru in 1014 at Clontarf” (Bottigheimer, 51). After Clontarf, the Viking people of Ireland were slowly immersed by the Irish People. The Vikings introduced many things in Ireland, and had an undeviating impact on the people of that era.
Upon careful examination of the past, it seems as if the Viking warfare was not duplicated by the Irish. The Irish were an aggressive race, frequently combating minor wars between the smaller kings. The Vikings were drawn into these wars after settling, as they were slowly engrossed into the Irish culture. At the time the Vikings first arrived in Ireland, the land was nominally ruled over by the Ard Ri or the High King of the Irish, but was in truth a “…warring collection of petty kingdoms which gave lip service only to the ceremonial over lordship of the Ui-Naill family.” (Foster, 33). The petty kings of Ireland, active militaristically among themselves and struggling for power, eventually were the cause of the Vikings' great successes in Ireland, and the divisiveness of the small Irish kingdoms with their many rivalries guaranteed the Celts' downfall. “It is true that the Vikings attacked the Irish 26 times in the first 25 years after their first appearance in Ireland, but the same Irish Annals that record this fact also mention attacks of Irishmen against Irish communities occurring 87 times within the same period.” (Roesdahl, 223).
The earliest record of Viking attacks in Ireland is dated 795 AD. By 822 AD, Viking raids became an annual episode along the Irish coastlines. However, by 82...