Ragnall ua Imair - His Years of Exile in England, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the Early Tenth Century

Ragnall ua Imair, or Raegnald, honed his skills as a Hiberno-Scandinavian leader during his exile in the Viking territories of England and the Irish Sea region. The chroniclers reported Ragnall ua Imair and his brother, Sitriuc Caech,  raided northern Britain and the Isle of Man between 902 and 917.

The widespread fear and respect Ragnall ua Imair instilled in the Gaels and Anglo-Saxons was a testimony to the military genius of the Ui Imair dynasty in Dublin. 

The monastic scribes in Ireland described Ragnall ua Imair as the grandson of Imar, or Ivar the Boneless.  He was born in Dublin in 884 and was a member of the ruling Ui Imair dynasty in Dublin. 

The attack on Dublin by the kings of Leinster and Brega forced Ragnall to flee his home with his brothers, Godfraid and Sitriuc Caech, in 902.

There is a scarcity of information about the exploits of Ragnall ua Imair during his years in exile. 

Scholars believe Ragnall ua Imair and his brothers sought refuge in the Norse colonies of Scotland. Ragnall ua Imair may have been the chieftain of a kingdom in Scotland. His kinsman Imar ua Imair, King of Dublin, and his followers fled to the Norse colonies founded by Ivar the Boneless and Olaf the White in mainland Scotland.

Imar ua Imair attacked the royal monastery of Constantine mac Aed at Dunkeld during his attempt to found a kingdom in Scotland. 

Constantine waged a successful campaign against the Imar ua Imair and the Dublin Norse. He won a decisive victory at Strath Erenn in 904. The death of Imar ua Imair during a battle with Picts at Fortriu later that year ended the aspirations of the Dublin Norse colonists in Scotland.

Ragnall ua Imair and Sitriuc Caech joined the influx of the Vikings in the Danelaw in Northern England between 902 and 911. The words “Sitric Comes” on coins from the Cuerdale Hoard suggested they ruled over an enclave in the eastern Danelaw by 905 AD.

The Annals of Ulster confirmed Ragnall ua Imair and his fleet roamed the North and Celtic Seas between 913 and 914. The Irish Sea region was infested with Viking pirates in the tenth century.

Ragnall ua Imair “routed a new fleet of the Ulaid” in 913. The actions of the Northern Ui Neill were unclear.

Some historians theorised the Northern Uí Neill sent their navy to destroy the longphorts of Ragnall ua Imair and Sitriuc Caech in the Danelaw. They may have used the “ship camps” to attack Gaelic settlements on the coast.

Ragnall ua Imair killed Barid mac Oitir during a naval battle near the Isle of Man in 914. He replaced Barid mac Oitir as the Viking ruler of the island. His loyal Viking warriors from Dublin probably occupied the colony after annihilating most of the army of Barid mac Oitir during the conflict.

The Norse called the Isle of Man and surrounding islands the Sudreyjar, or “Southern Isles”. The Sudreyjar referred to the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and Firth of Clyde. 

Ragnall ua Imair renewed the close ties between Dublin and the Norse settlements on the Isle of Man and the Scottish Isles. His great uncle, Olaf the White, married the Hebridian princess, Aud the Deep-minded in 850.

The alliance with the Norse-Gael jarl, Ottir the Black, and Ragnall ua Imair heralded the beginning of the second Viking Age in Ireland. 

Ottir the Black, or Ottir Iarla, was a renowned Hiberno-Scandinavian jarl who probably fled Dublin with Ragnall in 902. 

The founding of a Danish longphort at Waterford in 914 ended the “Forty Years Rest” of Viking raids in Ireland. The base at Waterford provided the Ottir the Black and the Norse at Waterford with opportunities to plunder the province of Munster and the Midlands. 

The Annals of the Four Masters described Ragnall ua Imair as the leader of the Danes, or Dubgaill, in 915. Dubgaill was Gaelic for “the dark foreigners”.

The Cogadh Gaedhel re Gaillaibh, or “War of the Irish and Foreigners”, recounted Ragnall ua Imair and Ottir Iarla attacked the Norwegian longphort at Cork in 916. The Norse encampment at Cork allowed their Danish warriors to raid the monasteries and settlements near the River Lee.

The combined forces of Ragnall ua Imair and Ottir the Black used the longphort at Waterford to raid England and Scotland.

The Annals of Ulster eulogised the death of “Ethelwald, king of the Saxons of the North” in 914. 

The death of Eadwulf, King of Bernicia, prompted Ragnall ua Imair to join the Viking raids on Strathclyde, the Firth of Forth and Cumbria in northern Britain between 914 and 918. 

Sitric Caech and his brother, Ragnall ua Imair, planned a two-pronged attack during the invasion of Ireland in 917. 

Ragnall ua Imair sailed to Waterford at the head of a large Viking fleet. Sitric Caech landed at Ceann-fuait, or Leixlip, in Leinster on the east coast of Ireland. 

The Book of Leinster recounted Ragnall ua Imair murdered Domhnall son of Donnchadh, the heir to the throne of Cashel. The Eoganachta were the dominant dynasty in Munster and ruled from their royal capital at Cashel. 

Ragnall ua Imair and Ottir the Black ordered their Danish warriors to lay waste to the monasteries, churches and settlements of the Gaels in Munster and Limerick.

Niall Glúndub was the High King of Ireland and the leader of the Southern Ui Neill, or Cenel nEogain, in the northwest of Ireland. He marched south to Munster to confront Ragnall ua Imair and his Viking army.

Ragnall ua Imair fought Niall Glundub at the Battle of Mag Femen in County Tipperary during 917. Historians regard the Battle of Mag Femen as an indecisive conflict.

Niall Glundub and a small band of Irish soldiers besieged the camp of Ragnall ua Imair for twenty days. He asked Augairu mac Ailella, King of Leinster, to assist him with the siege of Ragnall ua Imair and the Danes.

Sitric Caech met Augaire mac Ailella during the Battle of Cenn Fuait. The death of Augaire mac Ailella on the battlefield represented the end of the last effective opposition to Viking rule in Ireland. 

The Annals of Ulster narrated the triumphant return of Sitric Cáech and the Vikings to Dublin in 917. “Sitriuc grandson of Ímar entered Áth Cliath”. The Chronicon Scotorum reported, “Áth Cliath was taken by force by the foreigners from the men of Ireland”.

 The capture of Dublin ended fifteen years of exile for Sitric Caech and his brothers, Ragnall and Godfraid. 

Sitric Caech ruled over the Vikings of  Dublin between 917 and 921. His kinsman, Ragnall and Godfraid, “forsook” Ireland in 918. They sailed across the Celtic Sea to carve out a kingdom in northern Britain in 918.

Ragnall ua Imair rose from obscurity as an exiled noble from Dublin to become the formidable Hiberno-Norse King of York and Northumbria in the early tenth century. He re-established the political and economic influence of the Ui Imair dynasty with his brothers, Sitriuc Caech and Godfraid ua Imair, in Ireland and Britain. 

The early Viking history of Ireland is discussed in:Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless - The Viking Kings of Dublin:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0916GJ3B2

And

Vikings in Ireland (870 - 914): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096KVNBZK

References

Wikipedia - Ragnall ua Imair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnall_ua_%C3%8Dmair

A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500 - c.1100 edited by Pauline Stafford: https://books.google.ie/books?id=2S7WbK-0x48C&pg=PT322&dq=ragnall+ua+imair&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjP4ovL55X1AhUEZcAKHcgkDD4Q6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=ragnall%20ua%20imair&f=false

Never Felt Better - Ireland’s Wars: The Second Viking Age: https://neverfeltbetter.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/irelands-wars-the-second-viking-age/

Wikipedia - Battle of Mag Femen:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mag_Femen

The war of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, or the invasions of Ireland by the ... edited by James Henthorn Todd: https://books.google.ie/books?id=u4s0XqNL5D4C&pg=PA234&dq=Ottir+Iarla+in+waterford&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJ4Zm3jO_yAhWTlFwKHR1GCYoQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=raghnall&f=false

Wikipedia - Sitric Caech: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitric_C%C3%A1ech

Celt UCC - The Annals of Ulster: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100001A/index.html

WIkipedia - Battle of Confey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Confey

Wikipedia - Niall Glundub: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_Gl%C3%BAndub 

Wikipedia - Augaire mac Ailella: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augaire_mac_Ailella

WIkipedia - Imar ua Imair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Dmar_ua_%C3%8Dmair 

Wikipedia - Constantine II of Scotland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_II_of_Scotland

Google Arts: Ragnall ua Imair: https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/ragnall-ua-%C3%8Dmair/m03h0h09?hl=en