Amlaíb Conung ( ; died c. 874) was a Viking leader in Ireland and Scotland in the mid-late ninth century. He was the son of the king of Lochlann, identified in the non-contemporary Fragmentary Annals of Ireland as Gofraid, and brother of Auisle and Ímar, the latter of whom founded the Uí Ímair dynasty, and whose descendants would go on to dominate the Irish Sea region for several centuries. Another Viking leader, Halfdan Ragnarsson, is considered by some scholars to be another brother. The Irish Annals title Amlaíb, Ímar and Auisle "kings of the foreigners". Modern scholars use the title "kings of Dublin" after the Viking settlement which formed the base of their power. The epithet "Conung" is derived from the Old Norse konungr and simply means "king".Ó Corrain, p. 2 Some scholars consider Amlaíb to be identical to Olaf the White, a Viking sea-king who features in the Landnámabók and other Icelandic sagas.
During the late 850s and early 860s Amlaíb was involved in a protracted conflict with Máel Sechnaill, overking of the Southern Uí Néill and the most powerful ruler in Ireland. The cause of the conflict is uncertain, but it may have been sparked by competition for control of Munster and its resources. Amlaíb allied successively with Cerball, King of Ossory and Áed Findliath, overking of the Northern Uí Néill against Máel Sechnaill. Máel Sechnaill died in 862 and his lands were split, effectively ending the conflict. Following this Amlaíb and his kin warred with several Irish leaders in an attempt to expand their kingdom's influence. In later years Amlaíb conducted extensive raids in Scotland, though these were interrupted by a war in 868 against his former ally Áed Findliath when several Viking longphorts along the northern coast were razed. Amlaíb disappears from contemporary annals in 871. Later accounts say he returned to Lochlann to aid his father in a war, and the Pictish Chronicle says he died in battle against Constantine I of Scotland. This event is usually dated to 874.
Background The earliest recorded Viking raids in Ireland occurred in 795.Ó Corrain, p. 27; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 795 Over time, these raids increased in intensity, and they overwintered in Ireland for the first time in 840–841.Ó Corrain, p. 28; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 840 Later in 841 a longphort was constructed at Áth Cliath (Irish for hurdled ford), a site which would later develop into the city of Dublin.Holman, p. 180 Longphorts were also established at other sites around Ireland, some of which developed into larger Viking settlements over time. The Viking population in Ireland was boosted in 851 with the arrival of a large group known as "dark foreigners" – a contentious term usually considered to mean the newly arrived Vikings, as opposed to the "fair foreigners", i.e., the Viking population which was resident in arrival prior to this influx.Downham, p. 14 A kingdom in Viking Scotland was established by the mid ninth-century, and it exerted control over some of the Vikings in Ireland. By 853 a separate kingdom of Dublin had been set up which claimed control over all the Vikings in Ireland.Ó Corrain, p. 28–29
Biography
Arrival in Ireland The earliest mention of Amlaíb Conung is in the Annals of Ulster, which in 853 describe his arrival in Ireland:
Amlaíb is named in the annals as a "king of the foreigners", but in modern texts he is usually labelled the first king of Dublin, after the Viking settlement which was the base of his power.Holman, p. 107; Clarke et al., p. 62; Ó Corrain, p. 28–29 His brothers arrived in Ireland later and ruled together as co-kings.Woolf, p. 108 The Fragmentary Annals go into more detail regarding Amlaíb's arrival:
Lochlann, originally Laithlinn or Lothlend, the land where Amlaíb's father was king, is often identified with Norway, but it is not universally accepted that it had such a meaning in early times.Ó Corrain, p. 9 Several historians have proposed instead that in early times, and certainly as late as the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, Laithlinn refers to the Norse and Norse-Gael lands in the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, the Northern Isles and parts of mainland Scotland.Ó Corrain, pp. 14–21; Helle, p. 204 Whatever the original sense, by the twelfth century, when Magnus Barefoot undertook his expedition to the West, it had come to mean Norway.Ó Corrain, pp. 22–24
War with Máel Sechnaill If he did indeed leave Ireland, Amlaíb had returned by 857 at the latest when he and Ímar fought against Máel Sechnaill, overking of the Southern Uí Néill, and a group of Vikings sometimes known as the Norse-Irish. Máel Sechnaill was the most powerful king in Ireland at the time and his lands lay close to the Viking settlement of Dublin.Downham, p. 17 The fighting began in the previous year: "Great warfare between the heathens and Mael Sechnaill, supported by Norse-Irish" is reported by the Annals of Ulster.Annals of Ulster, s.a. 856; Ó Corrain, p. 30
The fighting was focused on Munster; Máel Sechnaill sought to increase his influence over the kings there. He took hostages from the province in 854, 856 and 858,Annals of the Four Masters, s.aa. 854, 856, 858; Annals of Ulster, s.aa. 854, 856, 858; Choronicon Scotorum, s.aa. 854, 856, 858 and the power of the over-kings had been weakened in 856 by a Viking raid on the royal centre at Lough Cend, when Gormán son of Lonán, a relative of Munster's over-king, was killed alongside a great many others.Downham, p. 17; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 856; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 856 This weakness likely drew the gaze of both Máel Sechnaill and the Vikings, and their competition for Munster's resources may have been the cause of the war. Early battles seem to have gone the way of the Vikings: Amlaíb and Ímar "inflicted a rout on Caitill the Fair and his Norse-Irish in the lands of Munster".Annals of Ulster, s.a. 857 Although there is no certain evidence to suggest that this Caitill is the same person as the Ketill Flatnose of later sagas, Anderson and Crawford have suggested that they are the same person.Anderson, p. 286, note 1; Crawford, p. 47
In 858 Ímar, allied with Cerball, King of Ossory, routed a force of Norse-Irish at Araid Tíre (east of Lough Derg and the Shannon in modern-day County Tipperary).Ó Corrain, p. 30; Downham, p. 18; Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 858; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 858 Ossory was a small kingdom wedged between the larger realms of Munster and Leinster. At the beginning of his reign in the 840s, Cerball's allegiance was pledged to the over-king of Munster, but as that kingdom grew weaker Ossory's strategic location allowed opportunities for his advancement.Duffy, p. 122 Cerball had previously fought against the Vikings, but he allied with them to challenge the supremacy of Máel Sechnaill and his Norse-Irish allies.Duffy, p. 122; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 847 The following year Amlaíb, Ímar and Cerball conducted a raid on Máel Sechnaill's heartlands in Meath, and in consequence a royal conference was held at Rathugh (modern-day County Westmeath).Downham, p. 19; Duffy, p. 122; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 859; Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 859; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 859 Following this meeting Cerball shed his allegiance to the Vikings and formally submitted to Máel Sechnaill in order to "make peace and amity between the men of Ireland".Annals of Ulster, s.a. 859
With their ally turned against them, Amlaíb and Ímar sought a new alliance with Áed Findliath, overking of the Northern Uí Néill, and rival of Máel Sechnaill.Downham, p. 19 In 860 Máel Sechnaill and Cerball led a large army of men from Munster, Leinster, Connacht and the Southern Uí Néill into the lands of Áed Findliath near Armagh. While the southern forces were encamped there, Áed launched a night attack, killing some of the southern men, but his forces took many casualties and were forced to retreat.Downham, p. 19; Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 860; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 860; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 860; Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, § 279 In retaliation for this invasion Amlaíb and Áed led raids into Meath in 861 and 862, but they were driven off both times.Downham, p. 19; Annals of the Four Masters, s.aa. 861, 862; Annals of Ulster, s.aa. 861, 862; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 861 According to the Fragmentary Annals this alliance had been cemented by a political marriage:
In later years, alliance between the Northern Uí Néill and the Vikings of Dublin became a regular occurrence: the Northern and Southern Uí Néill were frequent competitors for supremacy in Ireland, and the uneasy neighbourhood between Dublin and the Southern Uí Néill made the Vikings natural allies for the Northerners.
Later campaigns
Máel Sechnaill died in 862, and his territory in Meath was split between two rulers, Lorcán mac Cathail and Conchobar mac Donnchada.Downham, p. 20; Annals of Clonmacnoise, s.a. 862; Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 862; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 862; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 862 Amlaíb and Ímar, now joined in Ireland by their younger brother Auisle, sought to make use of this change to extend their influence in the lands of the Southern Uí Néill.Downham, p. 20 In 863 the three brothers raided Brega in alliance with Lorcán, and the following year Amlaíb drowned Conchobar at Clonard Abbey.Downham, p. 20; Annals of Clonmacnoise, s.a. 864; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 864; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 864 Muirecán mac Diarmata, overking of the Uí Dúnchada, was killed by Vikings in 863, probably by Amlaíb and his kin trying to expand into Leinster.Downham, p. 20; Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 863; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 863; Choronicon Scotorum, s.a. 863
Beginning around 864 the three brothers halted their campaigns of conquest in Ireland, and instead campaigned in Britain.Downham, p. 21 Ímar disappears from the Irish Annals in 864, and does not reappear until 870. Downham concludes he is identical to Ivar the Boneless, a Viking leader who was active in England during this period as a commander of the Great Heathen Army.Downham, pp. 64–67, 139–142 According to O Croinin "Ímar has been identified with Ívarr Beinlausi (the boneless), son of Ragnar Lodbrok, but the matter is controversial".Downham, p. 251 In 866 Amlaíb and Auisle led a large army to Pictland and raided much of the country, taking away many hostages.Downham, p. 21; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 866; Annals of Clonmacnoise, s.a. 866
The native Irish kings took advantage of this absence to fight back against the growing Viking power in Ireland. In 866 a number of longphorts along the northern coast were destroyed by Áed Findliath, overking of the Northern Uí Néill.Annals of Ulster, s.a. 866; Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 866; Annals of Clonmacnoise, s.a. 866 It is possible that Áed was still allied with Amlaíb at this point, and that the longphorts which were razed belonged to Vikings not affiliated with the Dubliners, but by 868 at the latest Amlaíb and Áed were at war.Downham, pp. 21–22 In 865 or 866 a battle was won by Flann mac Conaing, overking of Brega, against the Vikings, possibly in retaliation for the raids on his land by Amlaíb and his brothers in 863.Downham, p. 21; Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, § 326 Numerous further setbacks for the Vikings occurred in 866–867 when their camps at Cork and Youghal were destroyed, an army was routed in Kerry, two battles were lost against the native Irish in Leinster, and Amlaíb's fort at Clondalkin was destroyed.Ó Corrain, pp. 32–33; Downham, pp. 21–22; Annals of Clonmacnoise, s.a. 867; Annals of the Four Masters, s.aa. 866, 867; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 866; Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, §§ 329, 349