Godred Crovan

Familial origins

While the familial origins of Godred Crovan are not completely proven, it appears certain that he was a direct descendant of Amlaíb Cúarán, King of Northumbria and Dublin. Although the thirteenth- to fourteenth-century Chronicle of Mann calls him in Latin "... filius Haraldi nigri de Ysland", implying that his father was named Aralt, the fourteenth-century Annals of Tigernach instead calls him in Gaelic "... mac Maic Arailt", contrarily implying that it was Godred's grandfather who was named Aralt. Godred, therefore, may have been either a son, nephew, or brother of Ímar mac Arailt, King of Dublin. However, the early-thirteenth-century pedigree Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru in the Welsh collection of genealogical tracts records "Gwrthryt Mearch" (Godred Crovan) as the son of "Harallt Ddu" (Harald "The Black" of Islay), who in turn was the son of "Ifor Gamle" (Ímar mac Arailt). As such, it appears that Godred was not the son, nephew or brother, but, in fact, the grandson of Ímar mac Arailt, King of Dublin, patrilineal descendant of Amlaíb Cúarán, King of Northumbria and Dublin, and member of the Uí Ímair. The chronicle's passage may further cast light on Godred's familial origins. Although "Ysland" may represent Iceland, there is no other evidence linking Godred to this island. Alternately, the word may instead represent the Hebridean island of Islay, where he is otherwise known to have ended his life. Another possibility is that "Ysland" represents Ireland, which, if correct, would evidence Godred's close familial links with that particular island. Whatever the case, according to the same source, he had been brought up on Mann.

When Godred is first noted by the Latin Chronicle of Mann, he is accorded the epithet "Crouan" or "Crovan". The origin and meaning of this name are uncertain. It may well be derived from the Gaelic crob bhán ("white-handed"). Another Gaelic origin may be cró bán ("white-blooded"), in reference to being very pale. Alternately, it could originate from the Gaelic crúbach ("claw"). If the epithet is instead Old Norse in origin, it could be derived from kruppin ("cripple"). In several Irish annals, Godred is accorded the epithet meranach. This word could represent either the Gaelic meránach ("mad", "confused", "giddy"); or else méránach (which can also be rendered mérach), a word derived from mér ("finger" or "toe"). If meranach indeed corresponds to the latter meaning, the epithet would appear to mirror Crouan/Crovan, and imply something remarkable about Godred's hands. Godred and his patrilineal royal descendants, who reigned in the Isles for about two centuries, are known to modern scholars as the Crovan dynasty, a name coined after Godred himself. The combination of Old Norse personal names and Gaelic epithets accorded to Godred, and his dynastic descendants, partly evidence the hybrid nature of the Norse-Gaelic Kingdom of the Isles.

Background

One of the foremost leaders of the eleventh-century Norse world was Þórfinnr Sigurðarson, Earl of Orkney, a man whose maritime empire, like that of his father before him, stretched from Orkney to the Isles, and perhaps even into Ireland as well. Þórfinnr died in about 1065, and was succeeded by his two sons, Páll and Erlendr. Unfortunately for the brothers, the expansive island empire that their father had forged appears to have quickly disintegrated under their joint rule. Although there is no record of the brothers conducting military operations in the Isles and Ireland, the thirteenth-century Orkneyinga saga states that the peripheral regions of their father's lordship reverted to the control of local leaders. It was into this power vacuum that Godred first emerges into recorded history.

The ruler of the Isles who appears to have suffered from Þórfinnr's southward expansion was Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin and the Isles. The turn of the mid-eleventh century saw the gradual decline of Echmarcach's authority. In 1052, he was driven from Dublin by Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó, King of Leinster. Although there is evidence to suggest that Diarmait reinstated Ímar as King of Dublin, the latter was dead within two years, and at some point Diarmait appears to have placed his own son, Murchad, upon the throne. About a decade after Diarmait's conquest of Dublin, an invasion of Mann by Murchad appears to have resulted in the submission or expulsion of Echmarcach altogether, effectively giving Diarmait control over the Irish Sea region. When Murchad died in 1070, Diarmait assumed control of Dublin and perhaps Mann as well.

The ruler of Mann in about 1066 was Gofraid mac Sitriuc, King of the Isles, a man who appears to have reigned under Diarmait's overlordship. Like Godred himself, Gofraid mac Sitriuc may have been a descendant of Amlaíb Cúarán. On Diarmait's unexpected death in 1072, Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster invaded Leinster, and acquired control of Dublin. Within a year of gaining lordship over the Dubliners, Toirdelbach appears to have installed, or at least recognised a certain Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill as their king. In fact, this man appears to have been a close kinsman of Echmarcach, possibly his nephew. As such, Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill seems to have been a member of a Norse-Gaelic kindred possessing close marital links with the Uí Briain. Such links may well explain the remarkable rapidity with which the Uí Briain struck out at Dublin and the Isles after Diarmait's demise. In 1073, for instance, Mann was raided by a certain Sitriuc mac Amlaíb and two grandsons of the Uí Briain founder, Brian Bóruma, High King of Ireland. Whilst there is reason to suspect that Sitriuc was a brother of Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill, the attack itself was almost certainly a continuation of the Uí Briain's conquest of Dublin the year before.

Emergence in the Isles

Godred seems to have spent his early career as a mercenary of sorts. Certainly the Chronicle of Mann states that he took part in the ill-fated Norwegian invasion of England in 1066. This Norwegian campaign culminated in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a bloody autumn encounter in which Harold Godwinson, King of England utterly destroyed the forces of Haraldr Sigurðarson, King of Norway in north-eastern England. The slaughter at Stamford resulted in the total destruction of Norwegian military power, and it took almost a generation before a king of this realm could reassert authority in the Norse colonies of the British Isles. If the eleventh-century chronicler Adam of Bremen is to be believed, an Irish king was slain during the battle, which could indicate that Godred formed part of the Irish Sea contingent, a host perhaps led by the slain king. At any rate, it was in the aftermath of this defeat that the chronicle first notes Godred: stating that, following his flight from the battle, Godred sought sanctuary from Gofraid mac Sitriuc, and was honourably received by him. Godred's participation in the Norwegian enterprise, which was also supported by the sons of Þórfinnr, partly evidences the far-flung connections and interactions of the contemporary Norse elite.

Godred's arrival on Mann, rather than Dublin, may well be explained by the varying political alignments in the Irish Sea region. Whilst he had allied himself to the cause of the invading Haraldr, the cause of the defending Harold was clearly adhered to by Diarmait, the contemporary overlord of Dublin. In fact, the latter seems to have lent Harold's family—the Godwinsons—assistance in the decade before the Norwegian invasion. He later sheltered Harold's sons following the eventual English defeat at the hands of the Normans, and further gave the Godwinsons military assistance in their insurrections against the new Norman regime in 1068 and 1069.

Regardless of Godred's possible ancestral links with Ireland, his political leanings could have meant that Dublin was unsafe for him in 1066. Another factor influencing Godred's arrival on Mann may have been the absence of Echmarcach—Gofraid mac Sitriuc's predecessor and Ímar's bitter adversary—at some point earlier in the decade. As for Gofraid mac Sitriuc himself, the generosity that he showed Godred could well be explained if the two were indeed kinsmen. Whatever the case, the former's death is recorded in 1070, after which his son, Fingal, apparently succeeded to the kingship. Possibly in about 1075, or 1079, the chronicle reveals that Godred succeeded in conquering Mann following three sea-borne invasions. On one hand, it is possible that Godred overthrew Fingal, who may have been weakened by the Uí Briain assault on the island in 1073. On the other hand, the amiable relations between Godred and Fingal's father could suggest that, as long as Fingal lived his kingship was secure, and that it was only after his death that Godred attempted to seize control.

Domination of Dublin and the Irish Sea

The Annals of Tigernach and the Chronicle of Mann evidence Godred's conquest of the Kingdom of Dublin in about 1091. Specifically, the former source accords him the title "King of Dublin" that year, whilst the latter source claims that he subjugated all of Dublin and much of Leinster. Although the chronicle's statement regarding Leinster is almost certainly an exaggeration, it may well refer to the seizure of the full extent of Fine Gall, and the extension of royal authority over adjoining regions. Dublin's political affiliation at about this period in time is uncertain. In 1088, Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair, King of Leinster seems to have utilised troops from Dublin in his attack on Waterford. Whilst within the same year, troops from Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford were repulsed in an attack on Cork by the Uí Echach Mumain. The following year, Donnchad is further accorded the title rí Gall, which suggests that he ruled Dublin by this point. Muirchertach Ua Briain, King of Munster certainly gained authority over Dublin within the year, although the fact that the annal-entry evidencing Godred's kingship there in 1091 contains no verb could suggest that he too reigned in Dublin as early as 1089. Whatever the case, Godred's acquisition of this coastal settlement may well have been a strike of sheer opportunism in which he took advantage of the ongoing conflict between the kingdoms of Munster and Leinster. His probable familial links with Dublin could have contributed to his remarkable success as well, and it is possible that the Dubliners considered this conquest as a restoration of the kingdom's royal family. Certainly his conquests in the Irish Sea region amounted to the reunification of the Uí Ímair imperium, and appear to be evidence that contemporaries regarded Dublin and Mann to be components of a single political entity, with the ruler of one part entitled to that of the other.

Despite Godred's apparent ancestral connections to the kingdoms of Dublin and the Isles, his rise to power could well have been driven by economic realities as much as royal aspirations. Dublin was one of the wealthiest ports in western Europe. By the end of the eleventh century, it was the most important population centre in Ireland. There appear to have been three main routes in the region: one running from southern Wales to south-eastern Ireland (connecting the settlements of Waterford and Wexford in Ireland, with Bristol and St Davids in Wales); another route running from the river Dee in northern Wales to Mann itself, and to the rivers Liffey and Boyne in Ireland (thereby connecting the ports of Chester and Holyhead in Wales, with those of Dublin and Drogheda in Ireland); the third trade route running perpendicular to the aforementioned, extending south to the Continent and north through the Hebrides to Iceland, Orkney, Shetland, Scandinavia, and the Baltic region. Godred's conquest of Dublin, therefore, could have been undertaken in the context of an Islesman securing possession of the region's southernmost routes, thereby giving him total control of the Irish Sea trade nexus. According to the Chronicle of Mann, Godred "held the Scots in such subjection that no one who built a vessel dared to insert more than three bolts", a statement implying his maritime dominance over contemporaries. The naval power of the Islesmen is perhaps evidenced in known military cooperation between the Islesmen—perhaps including Godred himself—and Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd, in the last decade of the eleventh century.

The early dioceses of Dublin and the Isles

The ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the Isles during the reigns of Godred's mid-twelfth-century successors was the Diocese of the Isles. Little is known of the early history of the diocese, although its origins may well lie with the Uí Ímair imperium. Unfortunately, the Chronicle of Mann's coverage of the episcopal succession only starts at about the time of Godred's reign. The bishop first mentioned by this source is a certain "Roolwer", whose recorded name appears to be a garbled form of the Old Norse Hrólfr. The chronicle records that Roolwer was the bishop before Godred's reign, which could either mean that he died before the beginning of Godred's rule, or that Roolwer merely occupied the position at the time of Godred's accession. Roolwer's recorded name may be evidence that he is identical to one of the earliest bishops of Orkney. Specifically, either Thorulf or Radulf. Considering the evidence of early-eleventh-century Orcadian influence in the Isles, it is not inconceivable that the near contemporaneous Church in the region was then under the authority of an Orcadian appointee.

A noted contemporary of Roolwer was Dúnán, an ecclesiast generally assumed to have been the first Bishop of Dublin. In fact, the Annals of Ulster instead accords him the title "ardespoc Gall" ("high-bishop of the Foreigners"), and the first Bishop of Dublin solely associated with Dublin is Gilla Pátraic, a man elected to the position by the Dubliners during the regime of Toirdelbach and Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill.

Dúnán's title could indicate that he held episcopal authority in the Irish Sea region outwith the bounds of Dublin. As such, there is reason to suspect that he was Roolwer's antecessor in the Isles. When Dúnán died in 1074, only a few years after Toirdelbach's takeover of Dublin, it is possible that the latter seized this opportunity and oversaw the ecclesiastical separation of Dublin from the Isles through the creation of a new episcopal see in Dublin. If so, Roolwer's episcopacy in the Isles may well have begun in 1074 after Dúnán's death—just like Gilla Pátraic's episcopacy in Dublin—and perhaps ended at some point during Godred's reign. The chronicle reveals that Roolwer's successor was a certain William, whose Anglo-Norman or French name may cast light on his origins, and may in turn evince Godred's links with the wider Anglo-Norman world. Indeed, such connections would seem to parallel those between Dublin and the Archbishop of Canterbury, forged by Godred's contemporaries in Dublin, Toirdelbach and Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill. William appears to have died in or before 1095, as the chronicle states that he was succeeded, during Godred's lifetime, by a Manxman named Hamond, son of "Iole".

Involvement in Wales

One of the most significant eleventh- and twelfth-century Welsh figures was Gruffudd, a man who fended off fellow dynasts and Anglo-Normans alike to establish himself in northern Wales. Throughout much of the last two decades of the eleventh century Gwynedd was occupied by ever encroaching Anglo-Normans; and it is apparent that Gruffudd enjoyed close connections with the Norse-Gaelic world. Specifically, the thirteenth-century Historia Gruffud vab Kenan reveals that, not only was Gruffudd born and raised in Dublin, he was yet another distinguished descendant of Amlaíb Cúarán, and that on several occasions Gruffudd availed himself of Norse-Gaelic military assistance. After an apparent lull of about two decades, there was a remarkable increase in Norse-Gaelic predatory raids upon Wales throughout the 1070s and 1080s. In fact, this resurgence coincides with Gruffudd's struggle for power, and may not be an unrelated coincidence.

At one point in his career, after briefly gaining power in 1081, Gruffudd was captured by Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, and appears to have been held captive for over a decade, perhaps twelve years. According to Historia Gruffud vab Kenan, Gruffudd managed to escape his captors and sought military aid in the Isles from certain king named "Gothrei", and endured numerous perils together. In fact, Godred's reign in Dublin and the Isles at about this time suggests that he is identical to the Gothrei whom Gruffudd fled to. If Godred was indeed a descendant of Amlaíb Cúarán like Gruffudd, this shared ancestry could well explain the cooperation between the two. On the other hand, although Gothrei is described as Gruffudd's "friend" or "ally", no specific kinship is acclaimed by the source, which may indicate that Gruffudd's appeal was one of mere expediency. Whatever the case, having gained support from the Isles—in the form of an armed naval force of sixty ships—Historia Gruffud vab Kenan records that Gruffudd invaded Anglesey and defeated a force of Anglo-Normans, before the Islesmen returned home. Gruffudd and Gothrei appear to have directed their efforts against the Anglo-Norman castle of Aberlleiniog, before the former tackled other installations. A significant feature of the encroachment of English power into Gwynedd was the erection of a line of mottes along the northern Welsh coast. The strategic placement of these military sites suggests that they were constructed with the command of the sea in mind. As such, this fortified coastal network could have been perceived as a potential threat to Norse-Gaelic mercenarial operations and raiding expeditions in the region, and may partly explain Gothrei's cooperation with Gruffudd.

Downfall and death

Godred's rule in Dublin lasted until 1094. That year the Annals of Inisfallen reveal that warfare broke out between Muirchertach and a northern Irish alliance that included Godred. This source and the seventeenth-century Annals of Clonmacnoise, the Annals of the Four Masters, and the Annals of Ulster, reveal that Muirchertach marched upon Dublin where he was confronted by the alliance. Godred's maritime force in this campaign is numbered at ninety ships by the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters. Although all these sources indicate that Muirchertach's forces were at first forced to flee, Muirchertach soon returned after the alliance had dispersed, and succeeded in driving Godred from Dublin. The Annals of Inisfallen appears to indicate that warfare between Muirchertach and Godred was wrought throughout the year. The source also reveals that, during Dublin's fall, Muirchertach captured Conchobar Ua Conchobair Failge, King of Uí Failge. Although the Kingdom of Uí Failge had previously enjoyed the patronage of the Uí Briain, it is possible that Godred had forged an alliance with Conchobar. Following the Uí Briain conquest of Dublin, the Ua Conchobair kings of Uí Failge may have been the only Leinster lords who refused to acknowledge Muirchertach's overlordship.

From a late-eleventh-century Irish perspective, dominance of Dublin appears to have been a virtual prerequisite of gaining the Irish high-kingship, and Muirchertach's quest for control of this coastal kingdom appears to have been undertaken in such a context. In fact, it is evidence that Godred had allied himself with Muirchertach's fiercest rival for the high-kingship, Domnall Mac Lochlainn, King of Cenél nEógain. It possible that this compact contributed to Godred's successes in Dublin. Just as Godred's seizure of Dublin appears to have taken place at a point when two superior powers were occupied elsewhere, his expulsion from the kingdom appears to have taken place at a time when Muirchertach's hands were free, having temporarily settled matters with his rival half-brother, Diarmait Ua Briain, and having earned some success in extending Uí Briain authority into Connacht.

Contemporary numismatic material concerning Dublin indicates that, starting in 1095, immediately following Godred's demise, the kingdom's coinage became drastically debased in terms of weight and stylistic quality. For about a generation previous, Dublin's coinage had imitated the near contemporary styles of the English and Anglo-Normans, albeit with varying consistency, but immediately after 1095 Dublin's coins dramatically degenerated into poor imitations of nearly century-old designs. This could be evidence that, in comparison to Muirchertach's immediate Norse-Gaelic predecessors in Dublin, his own regime lacked the expertise to ensure the vitality of the kingdom's commerce and currency.

Legacy

Síol nGofraidh and the Crovan dynasty

Godred's greatest impact on history may have been his foundation of the Crovan dynasty, a vigorous family of sea-kings that ruled in the Isles for almost two centuries, until its extinction in the mid-thirteenth century, when the remaining kingdom was annexed by Alexander III, King of Scotland. There is uncertainty concerning the political situation in the Isles in the last decade of the eleventh century. It is apparent, however, that the dynasty descended from him soon turned upon itself. Although Godred's eldest son, Lagmann, appears to have succeeded him during the decade, the latter was soon forced to fend off rivals' factions supporting Godred's younger sons, Aralt in particular. Irish power appears to have encroached into the Isles at about this time as well, and it is evident that the political upheaval and dynastic instability in the wake of Godred's demise eventually provoked Magnús Óláfsson, King of Norway to forcibly take control of the Isles before the century's end. It was not until the about the second decade of the twelfth century that the Crovan dynasty re-established firm control, in the person of Amlaíb, Godred's youngest son.

In the mid-twelfth century, the Isles were partitioned between two rival power blocks. One faction, controlling Mann and the northern Hebrides, was led by the representative of the Crovan dynasty, Gofraid mac Amlaíb, Godred's grandson; the other faction, controlling the southern Hebrides, was ruled by Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, Lord of Argyll, husband of Ragnailt ingen Amlaíb, Godred's granddaughter. Somairle eventually forced his brother-in-law from power, and ruled the entire kingdom for almost a decade before the Crovan dynasty regained control of their permanently partitioned domain. Although the dynasty expired in the mid-thirteenth century, Somairle's descendants—Clann Somairle—held power in the Hebrides for centuries to come. In fact, the later mediaeval Clann Somairle Lordship of the Isles, which survived into the late fifteenth century, was a direct successor of Godred's maritime imperium.

The Chronicle of Mann, Orkneyinga saga, and later tradition preserved in the eighteenth-century Book of Clanranald, reveal that it was through Ragnailt's descent that Clann Somairle, and Somairle himself, claimed kingship in the Isles. Godred's place at the royal apex of the two dynasties who contested the kingship of the Isles in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries suggests that he is identical to the like-named man proclaimed as an eminent ancestral figure in two thirteenth-century poems concerning Clann Somairle dynasts. The professed descendants of this Gofraid were poetically conceptualised as Síol nGofraidh ("the seed of Gofraid"), a Gaelic term that, conceivably, originally applied to both the Crovan dynasty and Clann Somairle. Later unease with a matrilineal descendant from Godred may have led to the invention of a patrilineal descent of Clann Somairle from a like-named man with enviable, albeit concocted, Scottish connections. Godred, therefore, may be identical to the anachronistic Gofraid mac Fergusa, an alleged ninth-century figure dubiously noted in the Annals of the Four Masters, and otherwise only specifically attested in later genealogical accounts concerning Clann Somairle.

Memory in Manx and Hebridean tradition

Godred's arrival on Mann is commonly taken as a starting point of Manx history. This elevated place in the island's historiography is partly due to his position as an apical ancestral figure of later kings, and by his preeminent position in the historical account of the Isles preserved by the Chronicle of Mann. In fact, this source appears to have been commissioned by Godred's later descendants as a means to legitimize their claims to the kingship, and the later historiographical emphasis that separates Godred from his predecessors may well be unwarranted. That being said, Godred is possibly the historical prototype of the celebrated King Orry (Manx Gaelic Ree Gorree and Ree Orree) of Manx folklore. This legendary figure appears in the earliest example of Manx literature, the so-called Manannan Ballad, an eighteenth-century text that appears to contain content of sixteenth-century provenance. This traditional account of Mann asserts that, following King Orry's arrival, and his subsequent introduction of the island's legal system, thirteen of his descendants ruled in turn as king before Alexander III's takeover. In fact, this tally appears to conform to the number of historical Manx rulers during the Crovan dynasty's floruit. King Orry, and thus Godred himself, is seemingly referred to in Manx legislation dating to the early fifteenth century, as the term "in King Orryes Days" was recorded at the 1422 sitting of Tynwald. This phrase likely equates to "time immemorial", a time beyond memory, once defined under English law as the time before the reign of the celebrated Richard I, King of England.

According to local tradition on Islay, Godred's grave is marked by Carragh Bhàn (grid reference NR32834781), a standing stone situated near the settlement of Kintra, on the island's Oa peninsula. The site itself is likely prehistoric, although there is a legitimate late-eleventh-century cross-slab found on the island, near Port Ellen (grid reference NR357458), that appears to contain motifs from contemporary Scandinavian and Irish art. As with Godred on Islay, supposed burial places of King Orry are traditionally marked by prehistoric burial sites on Mann. One such site is the now-mutilated tomb, known as King Orry's Grave (grid reference SC440844), located near Laxey; another is Cashtal yn Ard (grid reference SC463893), also known as Cashtal Ree Gorree, located near Maughold. The so-called Godred Crovan Stone, a massive granite rock, once located in the Manx parish of Malew but destroyed in the nineteenth century, may have owed its name to eighteenth- or nineteenth-century romanticism.

The area surrounding Dùn Ghùaidhre (grid reference NR38926483), a ruinous mediaeval fortress on Islay, is traditionally associated with Godred, and overlooks some of the island's most fertile lands. The south-east ridge along Dùn Ghùaidhre is named in Gaelic Clac an Righ ("Ridge of the King"). According to local tradition, Godred slew a dragon at Emaraconart, a site only about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the fortress and ridge. Although the present form of the fort's name appears to refer to Godred himself, it is unknown if there is any historical connection between him and the site. A nearby site is Àiridh Ghutharaidh. The etymology of this place name is uncertain. It could be derived from the Gaelic àirigh ("shieling") and *Gutharaidh (a hypothesised Gaelic form of the Old Norse personal name Guðrøðr). The fact that this site is only about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Dùn Ghùaidhre could suggest that the names of both locations refer to Godred. On the other hand, it is possible that the names of the fort, ridge, and shieling are merely the result of folk etymology. Another Islay site associated with Godred is Conisby (grid reference NR262618). This place name is derived from the Old Norse *Konungsbýr ("king's farm"), a prestigious designation that appears to echo the district's not insignificant size and quality of lands. Whether the site was ever owned by a king is unknown, although local tradition certainly associates it with Godred himself.