Sihtric mac Ímair ( ; died 896) was a ninth-century King of Dublin. He was a son of

Ímar Ímar ( ; died c. 873) was a powerful Viking leader in Ireland and Scotland in the mid-late ninth century. He was the progenitor of the Uí Ímair dynasty, who would go on to dominate the Irish Sea region for several centuries. He was the son o ...

and a member of the

Uí Ímair The Uí Ímair (; meaning ‘''scions of Ivar’''), also known as the Ivar dynasty or Ivarids, was a Norse-Gael dynasty which ruled much of the Irish Sea region, the Kingdom of Dublin, the western coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides and ...

Biography

Sitriuc succeeded his brother Sichfrith as King of Dublin in 888. Downham p. 25 For most of Sitriuc's reign, and for the decade preceding it,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

was weakened by internal strife and dynastic feuds. Sichfrith had been a victim of these; he was killed by an unnamed kinsman of the Uí Ímair. However, despite these problems the Dubliners fought successful wars against the forces of

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

and the

Southern Uí Néill The Southern Uí Néill (, ) were a branch of the Uí Néill dynasty that invaded and settled in the Kingdom of Mide and its associated kingdoms. Two sons of Niall Noigiallach, Lóegaire () and Coirpre (), initially led the dynasty. As did th ...

. In 893 Sitriuc was challenged for the control of Dublin by one Jarl Sichfrith, with both claiming the title of king. Sitriuc and Sichfrith left Dublin separately that year for military campaigns in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, and although Sitriuc returned a year later it is unknown which of the two, if either, retained the title of king. Sitriuc was killed by a number of other unnamed Vikings in 896. His death coincided with the death of two other prominent Vikings, Glúntradna son of Glúniarann and Amlaíb, grandson of Ímar, marking a serious drop in the political stability of the kingdom. Downham p. 26,

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luin� ...

s.a. 896,

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

s.a. 896,

Chronicon Scotorum ''Chronicon Scotorum'', also known as ''Chronicum Scotorum'', is a medieval Irish chronicle. Overview According to Nollaig Ó Muraíle, it is "a collection of annals belonging to the ' Clonmacnoise group', covering the period from prehistoric ...

s.a. 896 It has been speculated the aforementioned Glúniarann succeeded Sitriuc as king.

Family

Sitriuc was a son of Ímar and had at least two brothers, Bárid and Sichfrith, both of whom were Kings of Dublin before him. Downham pp. 24–28 Ímar is considered by some authorities to be identical to

Ivar the Boneless Ivar the Boneless ( ; died ), also known as Ivar Ragnarsson, was a Viking leader who invaded England and Ireland. According to the '' Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok'', he was the son of Aslaug and her husband Ragnar Loðbrok, and was the brother of ...

, a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

leader and a commander of the

Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army, also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandinavian warriors who invaded ...

which invaded the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

kingdoms of England in 865. According to the

Norse sagas Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

Ímar was one of the sons of

Ragnar Lodbrok Ragnar Lodbrok (Old Norse: ''Ragnarr loðbrók'', ), according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Legendary Kings of Sweden, Swedish and Legendary kings of Denmark, Danish king.Björn Ironside Björn Ironside ( Swedish: ''Björn Järnsida''; Old Norse: ''Bjǫrn Járnsíða'') according to Norse legends, was a Norse Viking chief and Swedish king. According to the 12th- and 13th-century Scandinavian histories, he was the son of notor ...

Halfdan Ragnarsson Halfdan Ragnarsson (; or ''Healfdene''; ; died 877) was a Viking leader and a commander of the Great Heathen Army which invaded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England starting in 865. Halfdan was one of six sons of Ragnar Lodbrok named in Norse ...

Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye () or Sigurd Ragnarsson was a semi-legendary Viking warrior and Danish king active from the mid to late 9th century. According to multiple saga sources and Scandinavian histories from the 12th century and later, he is one ...

and

Ubba Ubba (Old Norse: ''Ubbi''; died 878) was a 9th-century Viking and one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army that invaded Anglo-Saxon England in the 860s. The Great Army appears to have been a coalition of warbands drawn from Scandinavia, ...

. Holman p. 106 Ímar had at least five grandsons,

Ragnall Ragnall is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 102, increasing to 146 at the 2011 census (with Fledborough), and falling to 88 for the 2021 census. It is located on ...

, Sitric Cáech, Amlaíb, and

Gofraid is an Irish masculine given name, arising in the Old Irish and Middle Irish/ Middle Gaelic languages, as , and later partially Anglicised as Goffraid. ' corresponds to the Old Norse ', cognate with Gottfried or ', and Galfrid or '. ''Gofraid' ...

, but their parents are unidentified, so it is not possible to say which, if any, were the children of Sitriuc. Downham pp. 28–29

Notes

References

Citations Bibliography * * * * * * Accessed via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

External links

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

. The Corpus of Electronic Texts includes the ''Annals of Ulster'' and ''the Four Masters'', the ''Chronicon Scotorum'' and the ''Book of Leinster'' as well as Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sitriuc mac Imair 896 deaths 9th-century Irish monarchs Monarchs of Dublin Year of birth unknown Uí Ímair