Tomrair mac Ailchi, or Thormod/Thorir Helgason, was the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to 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 se ...

jarl Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...

and

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

who reestablished the preexisting small Norse base or settlement at

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

as a powerful kingdom in 922 overnight when he is recorded arriving there with a huge fleet from an unknown place of departure. His ancestry is uncertain but he evidently did not belong to the

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

dynasty who only a few years before had reestablished themselves in the

Kingdom of Dublin Vikings invaded the territory around Dublin in the 9th century, establishing the Norse Kingdom of Dublin, the earliest and longest-lasting Norse kingdom in Ireland. Its territory corresponded to most of present-day County Dublin. The Norse refe ...

, of which Tomrair, the first King of Limerick, would immediately make himself the chief rival.

Notes

References

;Primary sources * ''

Annals of Clonmacnoise The ''Annals of Clonmacnoise'' ( ga, Annála Chluain Mhic Nóis) are an early 17th-century Early Modern English translation of a lost Irish chronicle, which covered events in Ireland from prehistory to 1408. The work is sometimes known as ''Mag ...

'', translated by Connell MacGeoghagen (1627), ed. Denis Murphy (1896),
The Annals of Clonmacnoise
'. Dublin: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. * ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

'', ed. & tr. John O'Donovan (2nd ed., 1856), ''Annála Rioghachta Éireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters... with a Translation and Copious Notes''. 7 vols. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy
CELT versions
Full scans at Internet Archive
Vol. IVol. IIVol. IIIVol. IVVol. VVol. VIIndices
* ''

Annals of Inisfallen Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'', ed. & tr. Seán Mac Airt (1944), ''The Annals of Inisfallen (MS. Rawlinson B. 503)''. Dublin: DIAS. Electroni
edition
an
translation
at CELT. * ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of 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 Luinín, ...

'', ed. & tr. Seán Mac Airt and

Gearóid Mac Niocaill Gearóid Mac Niocaill (1932–2004) was one of the foremost twentieth-century scholars and interpreters of late medieval Irish tracts. Life Gearóid was born in Hull, England in 1932 to an Irish mother. His lifelong work in the Irish language bu ...

(1983). ''The Annals of Ulster (to AD 1131)''. DIAS
edition
an
translation
available at CELT. * ''

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 tim ...

'', ed. & tr.

(2003). ''Chronicon Scotorum''. Unpublished manuscript made available to

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

.
edition
an

available at CELT. * ''

Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib ''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' ("The War of the Irish with the Foreigners") is a medieval Irish text that tells of the depredations of the Vikings and Uí Ímair dynasty in Ireland and the Irish king Brian Boru's great war against them, beginnin ...

'', ed. & tr.

James Henthorn Todd James Henthorn Todd (23 April 1805 – 28 June 1869) was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Prote ...

(1867).
Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh: The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill
'. London: Longmans. ;Secondary sources * Downham, Clare, ''Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014''. Edinburgh: Dunedin. 2007. * Lee, Timothy, "The Northmen of Limerick", in
Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Fourth Series, Vol. 9, No. 80
' (Jul. – Oct., 1889): 227–231
JSTOR
* Ní Mhaonaigh, Máire, "''Cogad Gáedel Re Gallaib'' and the Annals: A Comparison", in ''

Ériu In Irish mythology, Ériu (; modern ga, Éire ), daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the Germanic languages, Germani ...

47'' (1996): 101–26
JSTOR
* Steenstrup, Johannes C. H. R.,
Normannerne, Vols. 3–4
'. Copenhagen: Forlagt af Rudolph Klein, I. Cohens Bogtrykkeri. 1882
alternative scan
* Valante, Mary A., ''The Vikings in Ireland: Settlement, Trade and Urbanization''.

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...

. 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomrair Mac Ailchi Kings of Limerick Viking rulers 10th-century Irish monarchs 10th-century Vikings