It was raided by the Vikings in 852 and 923 and in 1050, was the site of the killing of Cailleach of Cell Sléibbe ‘a pious good senior’. This may have been only a temporary base. Monasteries were particularly prone to attack and St Moninna's (Killeavy Old Church) suffered this fate. In 842 they established a base (called a longphort) on the coast of Down. In 825, the Vikings raided the monastery at Movilla, Newtownards but were defeated afterwards by the Dál Fiatach. Although the Vikings originally came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, many of the Norse and Danes in Ireland came from Scotland and Northern England rather than directly from Scandinavia. In 795 the first Viking raid in Ireland happened. Some Irish surnames are derived from Old Norse including McKitterick, MacManus McAuley and Cotter. Like many invaders, they intermarried with local people and eventually integrated into their societies. They influenced art, crafts, boatbuilding, navigation, language and law. The Vikings developed trading links from Greenland to Russia and Turkey. The Vikings were more than just warriors, and finds from archaeological excavations help to balance the traditional picture and show us that the real story is much more complex. Annalong Village, in gaelic 'Alt na Long' (the ford of the ships) also recalls their influence. Viking long ships used Carlingford Lough and the area that was to become Newry as a base to attack and pillage other areas inland. The Vikings also gave Carlingford Lough its name, which reminded them of the fjords (sea inlets) of their homeland in Norway. The Carlingford region was a significant area of Viking activity. The Narrows is renowned for its’ fierce currents, while a fjord is a long narrow inlet of the sea formed by glacial action. 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. When the Vikings came they renamed it Strang Fjord, which means the ‘fjord of the strong currents’. However, the name ‘Strangford’ is a Viking word. What is the Viking meaning of Strangford?Īrchaeologists have found evidence for these southern towns, but no traces of settlements, and relatively few Viking objects, in the north of Ireland. In the south of the country they founded the towns of Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Cork and Limerick. The Vikings came to Ireland as raiders but began to settle here by the ninth century. The first appearance of the Norsemen, or Vikings, on the Irish coast is recorded in 795.
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