The Viking raids on Ireland in the 9th and 10th centuries were launched from Scotland and not from Norway as is commonly supposed, Prof Donnchadh O Corrain, of UCC's Department of History, claimed at the weekend.
At a conference on "Researching 9th Century Ireland" at Mount St Joseph Cistercian Abbey, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, he said the intensification of raids on the Irish coastline from 825 to the mid 900s could not have been co-ordinated from Norway. "You cannot manipulate a big fleet on the North Atlantic easily," he said.
He believed the Scandinavian raiders settled in north-west Scotland in the first quarter of the 9th century, which allowed the ruler there to send his sons to establish control over the independent Viking settlements in Ireland around 950. "In the second half of the 9th century they moved their headquarters to Dublin," he said.
From there, they continued their conquest of Scotland, taking over all of Pictland and capturing Dumbarton from the Britons. He said "Lochlainn", the name of the place they came from, was usually believed to refer to Norway. "But it means the Viking kingdom of Scotland. If you examine all the examples in the annals, the only area that features them all is the Viking kingdom of Scotland."
Dr Peter Harbison, an archaeologist and art historian, said the stone High Crosses may have come about as a result of the theft of metal crosses by the Vikings. "The stone High Crosses may have been put up, among other reasons, so that the Vikings could not run away with them."
The High Crosses, as well as carrying religious imagery, also have a political dimension, with inscriptions revealing the names of the high kings of the 9th and 10th centuries low down on the shaft. "The ruler who had the inscription put on crosses wanted to make sure it was seen by the people looking on the cross. And it was only in kneeling that they would get the political message, which is, `Would you pray for me, the High King.' "