|
In 837 sixty Viking 'Dragon' warships appeared at the mouth
of the Liffey. Five years later, the harbour of Dublin was taken
by a Norwegian force, under the command of King Turgesius. They
then 'threw up a fort on the high ridge where Dublin Castle
later arose'. The River Poddle formed a natural boundary on
two sides and would have been of primary importance in the choice
of this site. They were expelled by the local Irish and their
stronghold was burnt down.
However, they returned seventeen years later, under the command
of Olaf the White, with Danish colleagues and in greater numbers.
This time they settled on the, still evident, hill with Dublin
Castle at the east and St. Audeons at the west. They set up
a permanent 'longphort' or ship camp, which became their pirate
layer and their main centre for trading silver and slaves. This
quickly developed into a thriving organised settlement, the
centre of their kingdom of Dyflinnarskiri - which stretched
along the coast from Skerries to Wicklow and up the Liffey valley
as far as Leixlip.
It is from this town of Dyflinn (a corruption of Dubhlinn)
that urban Dublin developed. It was divided into a network of
streets, pathways, houses and plots, with industrial areas set
aside for the manufacture of clothes and ornaments. Their market
place appears to have been at the present junction of Castle
Street and Werburg Street and the King's Palace stood on the
present Castle site. Archaeological excavations have located
the remains of some 10th and 11th Century houses, immediately
outside the Castle walls in Castle Street. The thatched rectangular
houses had post and interwoven wattle walls, covered with a
mixture of mud and dung.
They fortified this, their chief settlement in Ireland, with
encircling earthen banks topped with strong wooden palisade
fencing. Part of the town defences is on view at the Undercroft
in Dublin Castle, where the facing stone revetments offered
protection against erosion by the Poddle.
They controlled the Irish Sea with their powerful naval fleet.
However, they with their Orkney Viking and Leinster Irish allies
were decisively defeated on Good Friday 1014 at the Battle of
Clontarf, by a Munster army under the legendary King Brian Boru.
They paid tribute to the Irish, were allowed to remain and were
still in Dyflinn one hundred and sixty years later, when the
Normans arrived at their gates.
|
