Godred Crovan ' onMouseout='HidePop("56958")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Guðrøðr">Guðrøðr
Guðrøðr may refer to:*Guðröðr of Scania, 7th century Scanian king*Guðrøðr Crovan*Guðrøðr Haraldsson...
) (died 1095) was a Norse-Gael ruler of
DublinThe Vikings invaded the territory around Dublin in the ninth century, establishing the Norse Kingdom of Dublin. This corresponded to most of present-day County Dublin. The Norse referred to the kingdom as Dyflin, which is derived . The first reference to the Vikings comes from the Annals of Ulster...
, and King of Mann and the Isles in the second half of the 11th century.
Godred Crovan ' onMouseout='HidePop("56958")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Guðrøðr">Guðrøðr
Guðrøðr may refer to:*Guðröðr of Scania, 7th century Scanian king*Guðrøðr Crovan*Guðrøðr Haraldsson...
) (died 1095) was a Norse-Gael ruler of
DublinThe Vikings invaded the territory around Dublin in the ninth century, establishing the Norse Kingdom of Dublin. This corresponded to most of present-day County Dublin. The Norse referred to the kingdom as Dyflin, which is derived . The first reference to the Vikings comes from the Annals of Ulster...
, and King of Mann and the Isles in the second half of the 11th century. Godred's
epithetAn epithet is a descriptive word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing, which has become a fixed formula...
Crovan may mean "white hand" . In Manx folklore he is known as
King Orry.
Ancestry and early life
The notice of Godred's death in the
Annals of TigernachThe Annals of Tigernach is a chronicle probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Much of the pre-historic entries come from twelfth century MS, Rawlinson B 502. However, the chronicle's real importance is for the period 489-766,...
calls him
Gofraid mac meic Aralt or Godred, son of Harald's son. As a result, it has been suggested that Godred was a son, or nephew, of the Norse-Gael king Ímar mac Arailt (or Ivar Haraldsson) who ruled Dublin from 1038 to 1046, who was in turn a nephew of
Sigtrygg SilkbeardSigtrygg II Silkbeard Olafsson was a Hiberno-Norse King of Dublin of the Uí Ímair dynasty...
and grandson of Amlaíb Cuarán. The
Chronicles of Mann call Godred the son of Harald the Black of Ysland, variously interpreted as Islay, Ireland or Iceland, and make him a survivor of Harald Hardraade's defeat at the
Battle of Stamford BridgeThe Battle of Stamford Bridge took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire in England on 25 September 1066. This was shortly after an invading Norwegian army under King Harald Hardråde defeated the army of the northern earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria at...
on 25 September, 1066. They say that he took refuge with his kinsman Godred Sigtryggsson, then King of Mann and the Isles.
Irish annalsA number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century. Manuscript copies of extant annals include the following:*Annals of Boyle*Annals of Clonmacnoise*Annals of Connacht*Annals of the Four Masters...
record that Godred was subject to the Irish King of Dublin, Murchad son of
Diarmait mac Maíl na mBóDiarmait mac Maíl na mBó , was king of Leinster and a contender for the title of High King of Ireland.He was one of the most important and significant Kings in Ireland in the pre-Norman era...
of the
Uí CheinnselaigThe Uí Cheinnselaig, from the Old Irish "grandsons of Cennsalach", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster who traced their descent from Énnae Cennsalach, a supposed contemporary of Niall of the Nine Hostages...
. Godred Sigtryggsson and Murchad both died in 1070 and the rule of the Isle of Man passed to Godred's son Fingal.
Invasions of the Isle of Man
In 1079, the
Chronicles of Mann say that Godred invaded the
Isle of ManThe Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing British Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Britain and Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Crown is represented by a Lieutenant Governor...
three times:
Conquest and loss of Dublin
The
Chronicles say, and Irish sources agree, that Godred then took Dublin although the date is unknown. In 1087 the
Annals of UlsterThe Annals of Ulster are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 and AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in...
record that "the grandsons of Ragnall" were killed on an expedition to the
Isle of ManThe Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing British Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Britain and Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Crown is represented by a Lieutenant Governor...
. In 1094 Godred was driven out of Dublin by
Muircheartach Ua BriainMuirchertach Ua Briain , son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain and great-grandson of Brian Bóruma, was High King of Ireland.-Background:Muirchertach was a son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain, a previous Dalcassian king of Ireland...
. He died the following year, "of pestilence" according the
Annals of the Four MastersThe Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the deluge, dated as 2,242 years after creation to AD 1616.-Text:...
, on
IslayIslay , a Scottish island, known as "The Queen of the Hebrides" , is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides. It lies in Argyll just to the west of Jura and around north of the Irish coast, which can be seen on a clear day...
.
Issue and legacy
Godred left three known sons,
LagmannLagmann was King of Mann and the Isles between 1103 and 1104. One of the four Houses of The Buchan School in the Isle of Man is named in memory of Lagman....
,
OlafOlav I was King of Mann and the Isles from 1104 until 1153. His nickname was Morsel. He was born around 1080 and died 29 June 1153.His father was King Godred Crovan. He succeeded, either together or after, his one or two brothers...
and Harald. Harald was blinded by Lagmann and disappears from the record, but the descendants of Lagmann and Olaf ruled the Kingdom of the Isles until the rise of
SomerledSomerled was a military and political leader of the Scottish Isles in the 12th century who was known in Gaelic as ri Innse Gall . His father was Gillebride of Clan Angus who had been exiled to Ireland...
and his sons, and ruled the Isle of Man until the end of the kingdom 1265 and its annexation by
Alexander IIIAlexander III , King of Scots, was born at Roxburgh, the only son of Alexander II by his second wife Marie de Coucy...
, King of Scots. Even as late as 1275 Godred son of the last
King of MannThe King of Mann was the title taken between 1237 and 1504 by the various rulers, both sovereign and suzerain, over the Kingdom of Mann – the Isle of Man which is located in the Irish Sea, at the centre of the British Isles....
tried to seize the island.