Limerick — Priorsland (killeely Par.),priorsland (saint Michael's Par.),thomond Gate,king's Island,deaneryland,englishtown,irishtown,limerick City

The historic city of Limerick was described in the Urban Survey (Bradley et. al. 1989, 241-67) as following; 'The city of Limerick is situated on the river Shannon in the north-east corner of County Limerick. The placename is derived from Luimneach "bare or barren land", a name which originally appears to have been applied to part of the Shannon estuary rather than just the immediate site of the city itself. The handful of prehistoric finds from the city indicates only that the site of the future settlement was occasionally frequented by man in early times. The fact that there are not more is surprising because the presence of the Curragour Falls must have given Limerick a topographical significance even in prehistoric times. There are many artefacts in the collections of the National Museum and elsewhere which were found in the river Shannon "near Limerick" but only two stone axeheads and two bronze dirks can be pinned down to the actual vicinity of the old would seem to have been an into early historic times. The Hiberno-Scandinavian Town The first evidence for the presence of Scandinavians occurs in 845 (AFM: 843) when Viking fleets appeared on the Shannon estuary and launched raids into county Limerick. It is unlikely that they settled, however, but there are a few scattered references which may indicate that a base existed at or near Limerick for a short time in the later ninth century. An eleventh century saga states that the Vikings Hona and Tomrir Torra were at Limerick with an army in 860 (Radner 1978, 109); a Viking fleet is known to have raided along the Shannon from Limerick in 866; and the Chronicon Scottorum states that the "foreigners of Limerick" were slaughtered by the Connachtmen in 887. It is hard to know if these three references add up to a permanent settlement at late ninth century Limerick or not but they certainly show that there was Scandinavian activity in the area at this time. The present city was founded in 922 by the Norse king Tamar mac Ailche (?Thormodr Helgason), "king of an immense fleet" who landed on Inis Sibtond (King’s Island) and established a lonqphort there. The site afforded considerable natural advantages. Being an island it was easy to defend, there was immediate access to the open sea along the Shannon estuary and thereby to the lucrative Atlantic trade routes of Europe. The shallows at Curragour Falls formed a natural barrier restricting the flow of river traffic and the situation also afforded an entry into the rich heart of central Ireland along the Shannon basin. Tamar, indeed, lost no time in making his presence felt. His fleet proceeded to devastate the monasteries which could be reached from the Shannon: Terryglass, Lorrha, Clonfert and Clonmacnoise among others (Smyth 1979, 21). At Inis Cealtra, on Lough Derg, the raid was so fierce that two centuries later it was remembered that "they drowned its shrines, relics and its books" (Todd 1867, 38-9). They proceeded into Lough Ree and from there started to raid into Meath and Connacht, all the while presumably sending back the loot of plunder and slaves to the newly founded settlement at Limerick for auction and sale. The history of Scandinavian Limerick can in fact be divided into four phases: (1) the period of foundation, 922-37; (2) the period of Dublin domination, 937-67; (3) period of Ua Briain domination 967-c.1065; and (4) the period as Ua Briain capital c.1065-c.1195. These periods can only be briefly glanced at here. The period of foundation, 922-37, witnessed Limerick emerge as an independent Scandinavian settlement struggling to maintain its independence from the kings of Dublin. The events of these years, which witnessed raids by the Limerick Vikings all over central, western and northern Ireland are particularly well recorded in the annals. In 923 they captured Flaithbertach mac Inmainen, the retired king of Munster, from his island retreat at Loch Cré and brought him back to Limerick for ransom. In 924 they again placed a fleet on Lough Ree, this time under the command of Colla mac Bairid (Kolli Baardarson), described in the annals as king of Limerick (AFM: 922; CS: 923). In 924 the Dublin Vikings, worried that the growing number of Limerick raids in central Ireland would diminish their power, sent an army to subdue their Limerick kinsmen but they were defeated and had to retreat back to Dublin (AU). This victory seems to have encouraged the ambitions of Limerick’s leaders. In 928 Tamar mac Ailche put his fleet on Lough Neagh and burnt the islands of that lake (AU: 927). In 929 Limerick vessels are recorded on Lough Corrib and they remained there until the following year (AU: 928; AFM: 927; CS: 930). In 930 a Limerick army encamped in central Ossory, establishing their base at Loch Beathrach, an unidentified lake which appears to have been either on the Nore or its tributary the King’s River (Smyth 1979, 25) and was only driven out by the appearance of Gothfrith, king of Dublin, with a rival army in the following year (AFM sa 929; AU sa 929). The year 931 saw a Limerick fleet on Lough Ree (AU: 931; AFM: 929; CS: 930) and the activities of the Limerick Vikings in Connacht and central Ireland between 931 and 937 has led to the suggestion that they must have established a base in Lough Ree (Smyth 1979, 250-1). Indeed Smyth (ibid) has speculated that the famous Hare Island (Co. Westmeath) hoard, the largest known gold find from Viking-age Europe, formed part of the treasure of the Limerick armies. In 933 a new leader, Olafr Cenncairech ("scabby-head") lead them into Roscommon (AFM:932) and returned there again the following year (CS: 933). In 936 he transported his ships overland from the Shannon to the Erne and raided down into the present-day county of Cavan (AFM: 934; CS: 935; A. Clon., 149). He returned back to Lough Ree on Christmas night of 936 and he remained there for seven months plundering and looting the plains of Connacht (AFM: 934). In August 937 the long-awaited confrontation between the Dublin and Limerick Vikings occurred. Olafr Gothfrithson, king of Dublin, led his army to Lough Ree where he defeated the Limerick vikings, broke up their ships and carried Olafr Cenncairech back to Dublin as his prisoner (AFM: 935; CS: 935; A. Clon. 931). That the defeat of Olafr Cenncairech marks a stage in Limerick’s history is clear from the absence of references to it the succeeding years. Indeed, from what little evidence there is, it appears that the king of Dublin now imposed a member of his own family, Haraldr Sigtryggson (d. 940), king of Limerick (Smyth 1979, 35). The settlers now seem to have become more closely integrated into the local political scene. In 953 Limerick vikings assisted the king of Munster, Cellacháin Caisil, in plundering Clonmacnoise (AFM 951; AU 952). This integration was to reach a head in 967 (AU 966) with the capture of the town by Mathgamain mac Cennetig, who had seized the kingship of Cashel in 963. The Coqadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh, written some two hundred years later states that "the fort and good town (deabali) was burned and reduced ashes" (Todd 1867, 80-1). The booty obtained at the time had all the appearance of oriental origin as Smyth (1977, 165-6) has remarked: "they carried off their jewels and their best property, and their saddles beautiful and foreign; their gold and silver, their beautiful woven cloth of all colours and kinds; their satins and silken cloth, pleasing and variegated, both scarlet and green" (Todd 1867, 78-9). The captives "soft, youthful, bright, matchless girls ..blooming, silk-clad young women, large, active and well-formed boys" were rounded up on the hills of Saingel and "every one that was fit for war was killed and every one of them that was fit for a slave was enslaved" (ibid.,78-81). The capture of Limerick in 967 marks the beginning of a period of Ua Briain domination that was to last until the coming of the Anglo-Normans. Within this period, however, there is a noti