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

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� ...

jarl Jarl was a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. The institution evolved over time and varied by region. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", specifically one appointed to rule a territory in a king's stea ...

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. The ...

who reestablished the preexisting small Norse base or settlement at

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

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 Norse-Gael dynasty which ruled much of the Irish Sea region, the Kingdom of Dublin, the western coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides and ...

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

Kingdom of Dublin The Kingdom of Dublin (Old Norse: ''Dyflin'') was a Norse kingdom in Ireland that lasted from roughly 853 AD to 1170 AD. It was the first and longest-lasting Norse kingdom in Ireland, founded by Vikings who invaded the territory around Dublin ...

, 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'' () 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 ''Mageoghagan's Book'', after its tr ...

'', 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'' () 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 ...

'', ed. & tr.

John O'Donovan John O'Donovan may refer to: *John O'Donovan (scholar) (1806–1861), Irish language scholar and place-name expert *John O'Donovan (politician) (1908–1982), Irish TD and Senator *John O'Donovan (police commissioner) (1858–1927), New Zealand pol ...

(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 The ''Annals of Inisfallen'' () are a chronicle of the medieval history of Ireland. Overview There are more than 2,500 entries spanning the years between 433 and 1450. The manuscript is thought to have been compiled in 1092, as the chronic ...

'', 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'' () 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� ...

'', 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 b ...

(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 ...

'', 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, begin ...

'', 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 Prot ...

(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 (; ), 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, Germanic (Old Norse or ...

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 ...

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