Ragnvald Godredsson - Involvement in Ireland

Involvement in Ireland

Although Rögnvaldr is completely ignored by the Irish annals, other historical sources indicate that he indeed had Irish connections. The Orkneyinga saga, for example, notes that when he travelled to Caithness and lent military support to William, that Rögnvaldr led a large army drawn from Ireland. Also linking Rögnvaldr to Ireland is Henry III's 1218 summons to Rögnvaldr, commanding him to explain the "excesses committed upon the people of our Lord the King, as well in England as in Ireland". Rögnvaldr's Gaelic praise-poem, composed sometime during his reign by an unknown Irishman, is also evidence of his connections with the island. Although the poem undoubtedly exaggerates Rögnvaldr's feats, its claims of devastating raids into Ireland may not be complete fantasy, as evidenced by the English summons of 1218.

Rögnvaldr's predecessors were closely associated with the nearby Norse-Gaelic Kingdom of Dublin. When this somewhat independent kingdom was extinguished by a combined English and Irish force in 1170, the near contemporary Expugnatio Hibernica by Gerald of Wales (d. 1220x23), and a mediaeval French text popularly known as The Song of Dermot and the Earl, record that Rögnvaldr's father participated in unsuccessful later-attempts at ousting the English from Dublin. With the kingdom's collapse, and the ongoing entrenchment of the English in Ireland, the Crovan dynasty found itself surrounded by a threatening, rising power in the Irish Sea zone. The dynasty did not take long to realign itself with the new power in the form of a matrimonial-alliance, between Guðrøðr's daughter, Affrica (d. in or after 1219), and one of the most powerful of the incoming Englishmen—John de Courcy (d. c. 1219).

According to the Gerald, de Courcy led an invasion of Ulaid in 1177 (an area roughly encompassing what is today County Antrim and County Down). He reached Down (modern day Downpatrick), drove off Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe, King of Ulaid (d. 1201), consolidated his conquest, and thereafter ruled his lands with a certain amount of independence for about a quarter of a century. According to the 18th century Dublin Annals of Inisfallen, the marriage between Affrica and de Courcy took place in 1180. Although scholars regard these annals particularly unreliable, a date of about 1180 may not be far off the mark, considering the time-frame of de Courcy's rapid rise to power. Considering the military resources of the Kingdom of the Isles, and Guðrøðr's matrimonial-alliance with Cenél nEógain, a traditional enemy of the Ulaid, it is possible that de Courcy's matrimonial-alliance attributed to his stunning success. Furthermore, if the bitter past-history between the rulers of Ulaid and those of Mann is taken into account, the Crovan dynasty may well have used de Courcy's achievements as means of settling an old score.

Looking south from the castle, across Dundrum Bay.

De Courcy's fall from power occurred in a series of conflicts between 1201 and 1204. By 1205 he was forced from Ireland altogether, and his lands were awarded to Hugh de Lacy (d. 1242). That year de Courcy rose in rebellion, and was aided by Rögnvaldr. The Chronicle of Mann specifies that de Courcy's massive force was reinforced by Rögnvaldr with one hundred ships, and that the two laid siege to what the chronicle describes as "the castle of Rath", before being beaten back with the arrival of Walter de Lacy (d. 1241). The expedition is also recorded in the Annals of Loch Cé, which state that de Courcy brought a fleet from the Isles to battle the de Lacys. Although the expedition ultimately proved a failure, the annals note that the surrounding countryside was plundered and destroyed by the invaders. The identity of the castle noted by the chronicle is almost certainly Dundrum Castle, which was possibly constructed by de Courcy before 1203. The defeat of 1205 marks the downfall of de Courcy, who never regained his Irish-lands.