12 June 2021
By Elaine Murphy
[email protected]

Free general public on the net function – Saturday, June 19, 2021

The earliest stages of the Viking and Hiberno-Norse town of Cork, its true spots and the lives of its residents are to be reviewed in a free of charge on line conference about the Vikings and Cork later on this thirty day period.

Cork Historical and Archaeological Culture has organised the 1-day occasion in which a new idea about where by the very first Hiberno-Norse settlement on Leeside was situated will be proposed.

The Vikings and Cork: raiding, trading, and the growth of the city will get place as an on the web webinar on Saturday, June 19. Registration opens on June 1 by way of the Cork Historic and Archaeological Modern society site, www.corkhist.ie.

“Viking Cork continues to be elusive, we never know specifically exactly where it was or what it looked like. The dilemma of Viking Cork has puzzled archaeologists and historians for decades,” explained conference organiser, Dr Griffin Murray, who lectures in archaeology at College Higher education Cork.

“Importantly, this is the first time that students have come collectively to focus on the historic, archaeological and artwork historical proof we have for Viking and Hiberno-Scandinavian Cork. Numerous of the leading lecturers in Viking Scientific studies in Eire and Britain are speaking at this particular celebration, so individuals are in for a authentic treat,” he mentioned.

Detail of a weaver’s sword found during the excavation of the former Beamish & Crawford site, South Major Road, Cork. Image courtesy of Cork Community Museum

Some of the most appealing discussion is expected to revolve around a lecture by Howard Clarke on the chronology and spots of the earliest Viking presence in Cork in the ninth century, and of subsequent urban settlements on either aspect of the River Lee’s south channel. He is Professor Emeritus of Medieval Socio-Economic Heritage at College College or university Dublin. His communicate will be centered on ongoing operate by him and his spouse Máire Ní Laoi, who are co-authors of the Cork quantity of the Royal Irish Academy’s Irish Historic Cities Atlas series, thanks out in 2022.

“I would argue that there was an absolute split in continuity among the distinctive ninth-century Viking existence in a fort or stronghold on the north of Cork’s central island, about present-day North Primary Street, and the later on set of Scandinavians who came to the south of Ireland in 913 and 914 and occupied a site in Cork,” reported Prof Clarke.

Though proof of that site’s location stays to be located, Prof Clarke will make clear how a mix of evidence from annals, archaeology and post-medieval maps direct him to consider that the initially 10th century settlement was not in the existing South Key Avenue region – normally perceived as the site of Cork’s earliest city enhancement – but in the area around Cove Road driving what is now Sullivan’s Quay.

The benefits of archaeological excavations of the central spine of the medieval town in new decades exhibit that the marshy south island space had been reclaimed and produced by the late 11th century. The most new big function there, carried out on the previous Beamish and Crawford brewery web-site, was the subject of one particular of Cork Historical and Archaeological Society’s very best-attended lectures in several a long time, when project chief Dr Maurice Hurley presented highlights of the work there in 2017.

Dr Rebecca Boyd will give the conference a flavour of what life was like on the island metropolis, and will define dissimilarities concerning Viking Cork and Viking Dublin. She said day to day everyday living in Viking Cork is evoked by a little wooden toy boat discovered under the car or truck park at South Major Avenue, where by a number of residences were excavated amongst 2003 and 2005.

“As nicely as displaying evidence of uncomplicated issues like little ones at play, it’s fascinating to compare with a toy ship from Viking Dublin that was extended and narrower than this 1,” mentioned Dr Boyd, who just lately completed an Irish Research Council-funded post-doctoral fellowship at UCC. Her ebook Exploring Ireland’s Viking-Age Cities: Properties and Dwelling will be published afterwards this 12 months.

“Homes in Cork all-around this time had been compact, about 40 square metres in place, and would ordinarily accommodate a nuclear spouse and children of mother and father, young children, grandparents, and maybe an aunt or uncle,” she stated.

Other subjects to be explored in Cork Historical and Archaeological Society’s Vikings and Cork conference contain:

– Viking techniques powering early raids that sought to build strongholds in Cork and elsewhere in Munster (Dr Clare Downham, Irish Scientific studies, College of Liverpool)

– Early relations and trade in between Viking towns and towns on both side of the Irish Sea (Professor David Griffiths, Oxford College)

– Viking-age hoards of silver and gold ending up in Irish possession as evidence of relationships between Scandinavians and the dynasties of Irish kingdoms (Dr John Sheehan, Archaeology Section, University Faculty Cork)

– Proof for late Viking art in county Cork from church metalwork, with a aim on St Lachtin’s arm from Donoughmore and the Cloyne cross (Dr Griffin Murray, Archaeology Division, College Higher education Cork)

The final lecture will deliver attendees suitable again to the 21st century as Dr Tom Birkett, lecturer in Outdated English at University School Cork, offers findings from the Cork-dependent Earth-Tree Job that probed general public perceptions across Europe of the Vikings, whose picture has gone through impressive change thanks to their central position in popular Television set sequence and their deployment as tourism marketing applications in latest decades.

Cork Historical and Archaeological Culture, set up in 1891, is one particular of the longest-managing organisations of its kind in the nation. It has produced an annual journal due to the fact 1892, and organises an yearly programme of community lectures and outings for customers. Membership is open to any person fascinated in the background and archaeology of Cork city and county, information on the Cork Historic and Archaeological Culture website.

Any one wishing to attend this free on the web party, which will be a Zoom webinar, will have to sign-up online in progress. The comprehensive programme and registration specifics can be uncovered on the web-site of Cork Historical and Archaeological Modern society: www.corkhist.ie

By Harmony