[MR] Viking fortress Linn Duachaill have been discovered

[Marybeth Lavrakas]

In poking around online to learn more, I found this brief TV report on the finding of the site. It doesn't show the artifacts, but it's nice to see the actual landscape (and hear how the Irish pronounce Linn Duachaill as well as County Lough!)

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0916/viking.html

Kateryn Rous

--- On Thu, 1/20/11, Logan <Logan at ebonwoulfe.com> wrote:

From: Logan <Logan at ebonwoulfe.com>
Subject: [MR] Viking fortress Linn Duachaill have been discovered
To: Atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org, SCA_Chivalry at yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, January 20, 2011, 1:59 PM

fyi.  interesting article
 
regards
logan
 
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The remains of the legendary Viking fortress Linn Duachaill have been
discovered in northeastern Ireland, 45 miles north of Dublin. "Historians
and archaeologists have been trying to locate Linn Duachaill for more than
200 years," says Eamonn Kelly, Keeper of Antiquities with the National
Museum of Ireland, who led a lengthy research and targeted excavation effort
that resulted in the discovery of the infamous Viking base. 

Linn Duachaill was founded in A.D. 841, the same year as Viking Dublin. The
fortress was used as a center by the Vikings to trade goods, organize
attacks against inland Irish monasteries, and send captured Irish slaves
abroad. For more than 70 years, Linn Duachaill rivaled Dublin as the
preeminent Viking holding on the east coast of Ireland before it was
eventually abandoned. 

The discovery of Linn Duachaill will finally allow archeologists to compare
the actual site with medieval documents. The names of leaders of the
garrison are recorded, along with extensive accounts of attacks they carried
out. The site is often referred to as a longphort, a term used to describe a
fortification built by the Vikings to protect their ships. 

A defensive rampart has already been excavated at the site and examples of
Viking silver and ecclesiastical metalwork looted from native Irish sites
have also been recovered. "We are excited to learn what insights into
medieval times Linn Duachaill will reveal," says Kelly. 
----- 
C 2011 by the Archaeological Institute of America 
www.archaeology.org/1101/trenches/viking.html
 
 
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