Viking Fan

I'd bet that the title of this post caught your attention, eh?  If you are of Irish ancestry like I am a map of your DNA would reveal contributions from British, Scandinavian, and French invasions.  And contrary to popular belief the Irish have more Viking blood in their ancestry than previously believed.  

Vikings invaded Ireland for the first time in the 8th century - raiding a monastery on Rathlin Island on the northeast coast.  These warlike raiders were armed to the teeth and arrived with strength in numbers.  They advanced inland along riverways sacking monastic settlements and seizing captives to be sold into slavery.  

click on images for a closer look

Eventually the Vikings settled in Ireland including a major settlement in Dublin founded in 841 AD.  Vikings also settled in Scotland and would grow to be known as the Gallowglass.  The name derives from the Gaelic word gallóglach (GAHL-o-glukh) roughly translated as foreign warrior.  Gallowglass are descendants of not only Vikings but of Scots native to the western Highlands and Hebrides.  Scottish historian Fergus Cannan noted that the Gallowglass lived for war - his sole function was to fight, and his only contribution to society was destruction. 

The Viking conquest persisted for longer than 200 years and the fact that Scandinavian DNA is so widespread among the people of the United Kingdom and Western Europe is living proof of the extent of Viking assimilation and contact.   

The National Museum in Dublin has an extensive exhibit on the Viking imprint on Ireland’s culture.  Including the harm that can be inflicted-upon a combatant by a sword or battle axe. 

What we don’t know is if the this skull is of a Celtic combatant (Irishman) slain by a Viking or that of a Viking combatant felled by an Irish warrior. 

If only the dead could talk......