An Irish-built replica Viking ship has arrived in Dublin today under the power of 64 oarsmen to end a two-month voyage from Denmark.
The Sea Stallion of Glendalough, the biggest reconstruction of a Viking long ship in the world, is modelled on a 900-year-old vessel.
Crowds thronged the quayside and church bells across the city rang out as the ship was welcomed to the Docklands area. It arrived to Irish shores at Clogherhead, Co Louth, last week after sailing 1,000 miles from the Danish port of Roskilde, via Norway and the Orkneys.
Minister Noel Ahern
It is to be put on show in the National Museum in a homecoming of sorts after it arrives in the capital city.
The Sea Stallionis a reconstruction of a ship, the Skuldelev 2, built in Dublin in 1042 and believed to have sunk in Roskilde Fjord, near Copenhagen, some 30 years later. The remains of this ship, as well as four others, were excavated in the 1960s.
The reconstruction was carried out over four years at the boatyard attached to the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum.
The boat, which is 30 metres long, left Denmark on July 1st and set sail for Ireland with a crew of 65. The purpose of the voyage was to test and document the seaworthiness, speed and manoeuvrability of the ship on the rough open sea and in coastal waters with strong currents.
It is more than 1,200 years since Viking raiders landed in Ireland . They came exclusively from Norway, and the first recorded raid was in 795 on Rathlin Island, off the Antrim coast, where the local church was burned.
Today's ceremony was attended by Lord Mayor of Dublin Paddy Bourke; the Danish culture minister, Brian Mikkelson; and dignitaries from both the Irish and Danish governments.
Noel Ahern TD, Minister of State at the Department of Finance, said that the Sea Stallion's voyage was one of education and scientific discovery: "The Vikings came and many stayed, they left an influence on our people, history, art, commerce; on our language, on our place names; and also on our monastic hoards and manuscripts."
A flotilla of Naval and Dublin Port Company vessels escorted the ship to the Docklands, and the Army Band of the Western Command led a guard of honour from the Naval Service.
The ship will be moored at Custom House Quay alongside a Viking-themed village, which will showcase crafts that were common in Viking Dublin in the mid-11th century, as well as weapons displays and battle re-enactments.
From Friday August 17th, the Sea Stallionwill be displayed at the National Museum at Collins Barracks as part of a special Viking-themed exhibition, which runs until June next year.