Echmarcach mac Ragnaill was a dominant figure in the eleventh-century Irish Sea region. At his height, he reigned as king over Dublin, the Isles, and perhaps the Rhinns of Galloway. The precise identity of Echmarcach's father, Ragnall, is uncertain. One possibility is that this man was one of two eleventh-century rulers of Waterford. Another possibility is that Echmarcach's father was an early eleventh-century ruler of the Isles. If any of these identifications are correct, Echmarcach may have been a member of the Uí Ímair kindred.
Ascall mac Ragnaill meic Torcaill, also known as Ascall Mac Torcaill, was the last Norse-Gaelic king of Dublin. He was a member of the Meic Torcaill, a Dublin family of significance since the early twelfth century.
Ragnall mac Bárid ua Ímair or Rægnald was a Viking leader who ruled Northumbria and the Isle of Man in the early 10th century. He was a grandson of Ímar and a member of the Uí Ímair. Ragnall was most probably among those Vikings expelled from Dublin in 902, whereafter he may have ruled territory in southern Scotland or the Isle of Man. In 917, he and his kinsman Sitric Cáech sailed separate fleets to Ireland where they won several battles against local kings. Sitric successfully recaptured Dublin and established himself as king, while Ragnall returned to England. He fought against Constantín mac Áeda, King of Scotland, in the Battle of Corbridge in 918, and although the battle was not decisive it did allow Ragnall to establish himself as king at York.
Ivar of Waterford was the Norse king of Waterford from at least 969 until his death in the year 1000, and also reigned as King of Dublin, possibly from 989 to 993, and certainly again for less than a year between 994 and 995, returning after his expulsion from the city in 993 by Sigtrygg Silkbeard, who would expel him for good the next time.
Ragnall mac Gofraid was King of the Isles and likely a member of the Uí Ímair kindred. He was a son of Gofraid mac Arailt, King of the Isles. Ragnall and Gofraid flourished at a time when the Kingdom of the Isles seems to have suffered from Orcadian encroachment at the hands of Sigurðr Hlǫðvisson, Earl of Orkney. Gofraid died in 989. Although Ragnall is accorded the kingship upon his own death in 1004 or 1005, the succession after his father's death is uncertain.
Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill was a late eleventh-century King of Dublin. Although the precise identities of his father and grandfather are uncertain, Gofraid was probably a kinsman of his royal predecessor, Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin and the Isles. Gofraid lived in an era when control of the Kingdom of Dublin was fought over by competing Irish overlords. In 1052, for example, Echmarcach was forced from the kingdom by the Uí Chennselaig King of Leinster, Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó. When the latter died in 1072, Dublin was seized by the Uí Briain King of Munster, Toirdelbach Ua Briain, a man who either handed the Dublin kingship over to Gofraid, or at least consented to Gofraid's local rule.
Ímar mac Arailt was an eleventh-century ruler of the Kingdom of Dublin and perhaps the Kingdom of the Isles. He was the son of a man named Aralt, and appears to have been a grandson of Amlaíb Cuarán, King of Northumbria and Dublin. Such a relationship would have meant that Ímar was a member of the Uí Ímair, and that he was a nephew of Amlaíb Cuarán's son, Sitriuc mac Amlaíb, King of Dublin, a man driven from Dublin by Echmarcach mac Ragnaill in 1036.
Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair, also known as Donnchadh mac Domhnall Reamhair, was a late-eleventh-century ruler of the kingdoms of Leinster and Dublin. He was a son of Domnall Remar mac Máel na mBó. Donnchad was slain in 1089.
Brodar mac Torcaill, also known as Brodar Mac Turcaill, was a late twelfth century King of Dublin. He was a member of the Meic Torcaill, a substantial landholding kindred in the kingdom. His death in 1160, at the hands of the Meic Gilla Sechnaill of South Brega, is revealed by the thirteenth-century Cottonian Annals, the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters, the fifteenth- to sixteenth-century Annals of Ulster, and the fourteenth-century Annals of Tigernach.
Ragnall mac Torcaill was a twelfth-century Norse-Gaelic magnate who may have been King of Dublin. He was a member of the Meic Torcaill, and may be identical to a member of this family who campaigned in Wales in 1144. Ragnall was slain in 1146, with some sources styling him king in records of his demise. He was the father of at least one son, Ascall, a man who certainly reigned as king.
Domnall Gerrlámhach, also known as Domnall Gerrlámhach Ua Briain, Domnall mac Muirchertaig, and Domnall Ua Briain, was an obscure twelfth-century Uí Briain dynast and King of Dublin. He was one of two sons of Muirchertach Ua Briain, High King of Ireland. Domnall's father appears to have installed him as King of Dublin in the late eleventh- or early twelfth century, which suggests that he was his father's successor-designate. Although Domnall won a remarkable victory in the defence of the Kingdom of Dublin in the face of an invasion from the Kingdom of Leinster in 1115, he failed to achieve the successes of his father. After his final expulsion from Dublin at the hands of Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, and the death of his father, Domnall disappears from record until his own death in 1135. He was perhaps survived by two sons.
Domnall mac Taidc was the ruler of the Kingdom of the Isles, the Kingdom of Thomond, and perhaps the Kingdom of Dublin as well. His father was Tadc, son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster, which meant that Domnall was a member of the Meic Taidc, a branch of the Uí Briain. Domnall's mother was Mór, daughter of Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin and the Isles, which may have given Domnall a stake to the kingship of the Isles.
Énna Mac Murchada, or Enna Mac Murchada, also known as Énna mac Donnchada, and Énna mac Donnchada mic Murchada, was a twelfth-century ruler of Uí Chennselaig, Leinster, and Dublin. Énna was a member of the Meic Murchada, a branch of the Uí Chennselaig dynasty that came to power in Leinster in the person of his paternal great-grandfather. Énna himself gained power following the death of his cousin Diarmait mac Énna. Throughout much of his reign, Énna acknowledged the overlordship of Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, although he participated in a failed revolt against the latter in 1124 before making amends. When Énna died in 1126, Toirdelbach successfully took advantage of the resulting power vacuum.
The Battle of Islandbridge, also called the Battle of Áth Cliath, took place on 14 September 919, between a coalition of native Irish, led by Niall Glúndub, overking of the Northern Uí Néill and High King of Ireland, and the Dublin-based Vikings of the Uí Ímair, led by Sitric Cáech. It was one in a series of battles initiated by the native Irish to attempt to drive the Vikings of the Uí Ímair from Ireland. The battle was a decisive victory for Sitric Cáech and the Uí Ímair, with Niall Glúndub and five other Irish kings dying in the battle.
The Battle of Strangford Lough was fought in 877 between two groups of rival Vikings described by the Irish Annals as the "fair heathens" and the "dark heathens". The Annals of Ulster describe "Albann", a figure usually identified with Halfdan Ragnarsson, a leader of the Great Heathen Army, as king of the "dark heathens", and Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib identifies Bárid mac Ímair, King of Dublin as the leader of the "fair heathens". All accounts agree Halfdan was killed in the battle, and Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib adds that Bárid was wounded in it.
Mac Scelling, also known as Mac Scilling, was a prominent twelfth-century military commander engaged in conflicts throughout Ireland. He is first recorded in 1154 commanding the maritime forces of Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, king of the Cenél nEógain, in a bloody encounter against Toirrdelbach Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht. Muirchertach's naval forces were drawn from the western peripheries of Scotland and the Isles. He next appears on record in 1173/1174, supporting the cause of Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht against the English colonisation of Mide. An early modern Scottish source claims that a man of the same name was a bastard son of Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, king of the Isles. If Mac Scelling was indeed related to Somairle, this relationship could cast light on the latter's conflict with the subsequent king, Guðrøðr Óláfsson, a man who appears to have opposed Muirchertach at some point in his career. Although not termed so in contemporary sources, Mac Scelling may be regarded as an early archetype of later gallowglasses, heavily-armed Scottish mercenaries recruited by Irish rulers in centuries that followed.
Colla mac Báirid or Colla ua Báirid was a Viking leader who ruled Limerick in the early 10th century. He first appears in contemporary annals in 924 when he is recorded as leading a raiding fleet to Lough Ree. He appears in the annals for the second and final time in 932 when his death his recorded. In both of these instances he is titled king of Limerick. Colla's parentage is uncertain; according to one theory he was the son or grandson of Bárid mac Ímair, a Uí Ímair king of Dublin, and according to another he was the son of Bárid mac Oitir.
Ragnall ua Ímair, also known as Ragnall mac Ragnaill, was an eleventh-century King of Waterford. He appears to have ruled as king from 1022 to 1035, the year of his death.
Tomrair was a ninth-century Viking active in Ireland. He is one of the first Vikings recorded by Irish sources. Tomrair is reported to have been killed at the Battle of Sciath Nechtain, a conflict in which twelve hundred Vikings were slain, battling the combined forces of Ólchobar mac Cináeda, King of Munster and Lorcán mac Cellaig, King of Leinster, in 848.
Ragnall Mac Gilla Muire was a twelfth-century leading figure of Waterford. He was one of several men taken prisoner by the English in 1170, when Waterford was captured by Richard de Clare. Ragnall is noted by a fourteenth-century legal enquiry which sought to determine whether a slain man was an Ostman—and thus entitled to English law—or an Irishman. Ragnall may the eponym of Reginald's Tower.
