Sichfrith mac Ímair ( ; died 888), also known as Sigfred Ivarsson and Sigfrodo, 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

Sichfrith succeeded his brother Bárid as King of Dublin in 881. Downham p. 25 Bárid died in

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 ...

following a raid on the oratory of St Cianán at

Duleek Duleek (; ) is a small town in County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Duleek takes its name from the Irish language, Irish words ''daimh'' and ''liag'', meaning house of stones, referring to an early stone-built church, St. Cianán's Churc ...

, present-day

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

. He was supposedly killed through the saintly intervention of St Cianán himself. During Sichfrith's reign there was conflict between two rival groups of

Vikings 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� ...

; to the north were the "fair foreigners" who were allied with 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 ...

; to the south were the "dark foreigners". The meaning of these terms is contentious, but "fair foreigners" is usually taken to mean the Viking population which had been in Ireland the longest, as opposed to the relatively recently arrived "dark foreigners".

Amlaíb Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" and ''laibaz'' "heirloom, descendant". Old Eng ...

, Auisle,

, Halfdan, and their descendants, including Sichfrith, are usually considered the leaders of the "dark foreigners". Downham p. 14 The leader of the "fair foreigners" may have been Óttar, son of Iarnkné, who allied with Muirgel, a daughter of

Máel Sechnaill Máel Sechnaill, an early Irish personal name meaning "Devotee of St Sechnall" who is thought to be a 5th century Italian Bishop that preceded St Patrick. It may refer to: * Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid (d. 862), high-king of Ireland *Máel ...

, the king who had fought against Ímar and his brother Amlaíb. The "fair foreigners" had some success, killing an unnamed son of Auisle in 883. Sichfrith was killed by a kinsman in 888. He was succeeded by his brother Sitriuc mac Ímair. Downham p. 25, Annals of Clonmacnoise s.a. 888,

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. 888,

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. 888

Family

Sichfrith was a son of Ímar and had at least two brothers: Bárid, who preceded Sichfrith as King of Dublin, and Sitriuc, who succeeded 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 legend he 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 Sichfrith. Downham p. 28-29

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:Sichfrith mac Imair 888 deaths 9th-century Irish monarchs Monarchs of Dublin Year of birth unknown Uí Ímair