Ímar ua Ímair ( , died 904); also known as Ivar II, was a Norse-Gaelic King of Dublin. He was a grandson of Ivar Gudrødsson and a member of the powerful

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

Ímar ua Ímair became King of Dublin sometime prior to 902, but probably not before 896 when his uncle (or father)

Sitriuc mac Ímair Sihtric mac Ímair ( ; died 896) was a ninth-century King of Dublin. He was a son of Ímar and a member of the Uí Ímair. Biography Sitriuc succeeded his brother Sichfrith as King of Dublin in 888. Downham p. 25 For most of Sitriuc's reign, a ...

died. Downham pp. 28–29 In the decades preceding his reign,

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 wracked by internal strife and dynastic feuds, greatly weakening the kingdom. The neighbouring native Irish kings sought to take advantage of this to increase their own influence. An additional motivating factor may have been revenge for

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� ...

raids on Irish religious sites – in 890-91 alone the Norsemen plundered Irish monasteries at Ardbraccan, Clonard,

Donaghpatrick Donaghpatrick () is a village and townland in County Meath, Ireland. It lies approximately 5 km northwest of Navan off the R147 regional road between Navan and Kells on the northern bank of the River Blackwater. The Irish language name o ...

, Dulane,

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...

and

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

. Brink and Price p. 431 In 902 the kingdoms of

Brega Brega , also known as ''Mersa Brega'' or ''Marsa al-Brega'' ( , i.e. "Brega Seaport"), is a complex of several smaller towns, industry installations and education establishments situated in Libya on the Gulf of Sidra, the most southerly point of ...

and

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 ...

formed an alliance and drove the Vikings from Dublin. The exiled Dubliners, led by Ímar ua Ímair, retreated to territory in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

over which they exerted some control. The following year they were engaged in warfare with Constantine, King of the Picts, raiding

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundar ...

. A victory was won by Constantine the following year at a place identified by the ''

Chronicle of the Kings of Alba The ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'', or ''Scottish Chronicle'', is a short written chronicle covering the period from the time of Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín) (d. 858) until the reign of Kenneth II (Cináed mac Maíl Coluim) (r. 971� ...

'' as '' Strath Erenn''. Ímar ua Ímair is mentioned in the ''

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� ...

'' in the same year for the first and only time. This sole entry details his death at the hands of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

Fortriu Fortriu (; ; ; ) was a Pictish kingdom recorded between the 4th and 10th centuries. It was traditionally believed to be located in and around Strathearn in central Scotland, but is more likely to have been based in the north, in the Moray and ...

– this is identified as the same battle as that mentioned in the ''Chronicle''. The Vikings did not return to Dublin until 917, when Sihtric, another grandson of Ímar, landed forces in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and inflicted a decisive defeat on the armies of Leinster.

Family

There is some question as to whether the identifier "''ua Ímair''" refers to a literal grandson of Ímar, and it has been suggested it simply refers to a descendant, or even an individual of unknown descent. However, the fact "''ua Ímair''" is not seen in the Irish annals after 948 suggests it was solely used for literal grandsons. Downham p. 5 Ímar had at least three sons, Bárid (d. 881), Sichfrith (d. 888), and Sitriuc (d. 896), all three of whom were kings of Dublin. Which of these sons, if any, was Ímar ua Ímair's father is not known. Other grandsons of Ímar have been identified as

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 ...

, Sihtric 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' ...

, most of whom were kings in their own right.

Notes

References

Citations Bibliography * * * * * *

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:Imar ua Imair 904 deaths 10th-century Irish monarchs Monarchs of Dublin Year of birth unknown Vikings killed in battle 10th-century Vikings Monarchs killed in action Norse monarchs Uí Ímair