Keywords

14.1 Introduction: International Relations at Work: Ireland’s Application for Arctic Council Observer Status as a Catalyst to Develop Arctic and Northern Studies in Ireland

Ireland was one of three countries that applied in 2020 for Arctic Council (AC) observer status alongside Estonia and the Czech Republic. Even though there was little media or public attention following the Irish Government’s announcement on the 1st of December 2020, the decision was seen as a milestone for Arctic researchers in Ireland of all disciplines. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) (2021a, b) growing interest in the AC signifies that Ireland has become more invested in Arctic and Northern affairs and is finally ready to take its place alongside its other Western European neighbours that have been observers for many years. Unfortunately, lack of consensus at the AC Ministerial meeting in Reykjavík on 20 May 2021 meant that no new observer states were admitted at that time (Quinn, 2021). Despite this setback, the Irish Government is likely to pursue another bid for obtaining AC observer status within the Arctic Council in 2023, when the chair will pass from Russia to Norway.

Meanwhile, it is important to consider what the key motivational factors were for the Irish Government when it chose to apply for AC observer status toward helping to determine Ireland’s strategic interests in the Arctic region and thus potentially steering future opportunities for Ireland’s Arctic and Northern studies researchers. In December 2020, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Covney, declared that AC observer status would enhance Ireland’s understanding of climate change in the Arctic and its effects on sea levels, a problem that Minister Covney perceived as being one that will increasingly affect Ireland given its geographic location in the northeast Atlantic. He explained that economic factors were also an important determinant underpinning Ireland’s application for AC observer status, in particular fisheries and maritime policy (Cunningham, 2020).

Undoubtedly, Ireland’s Arctic interests are multifaceted, however in this chapter we are interested in exploring Ireland’s historical ties to the Arctic and Northern regions. The expansion of research in this area could lead to new library and information science (LIS) services being developed to assist academic research and tourism, in addition to political benefits with respect to raising international awareness of Irish historical and cultural events that could strengthen diplomatic connections with Arctic states.

Political scientist Marc Lanteigne, an Arctic expert at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø (UiT), conducted research on current and future AC observer states to determine why they seek to engage in Arctic affairs. Lanteigne (2020) created distinct categories for AC observer states based on specific ‘Arctic identities’ that help to explain the ways in which these non-Arctic states justify their interest in Arctic affairs and the reasons for why they applied for observer status with the AC. The first of Lanteigne’s three categories includes those states that have an ‘Arctic legacy’ and claim to have extensive historical experience in the Arctic that includes explorative and scientific expertise in the region, all of which long predate the creation of the AC. The second category consists of ‘all-rounders,’ states that focus less on claims of having a historical background, instead stressing the modern economic, environmental, political, and scientific goods they can provide to the AC specifically and Arctic affairs generally. In 2021, Lanteigne created a third category of ‘Arctic-adjacent’ states that includes those countries that are geographically close to the Arctic region on the assumption that they share various physical, cultural, historical, and economic characteristics with Arctic states. Although it makes sense that Ireland would fall into the Arctic-adjacent category given its geographic location in the North Atlantic and relative proximity to the Arctic North, Ireland may also equally adhere to the all-rounder grouping. In a parliamentary debate held in May 2019, Minister Covney outlined how the AC’s work is carried out in several areas such as climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development that are of importance to Ireland (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2019). Economic interests, however, also served as a key driver for Ireland’s AC observer application, particularly fisheries and maritime policy, despite the former policy area not being discussed within AC fora. If Ireland fits the criteria of these two categories, what of the last remaining category of ‘Arctic legacy?’ Minister Covney answered this quite clearly during his keynote address during an event held by the Institute for International and European Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs on 1 March 2021:

Why is Ireland applying to the Arctic Council is a question I have been asked on a number of occasions in recent months. I believe that the answer is quite simple. Ireland needs to become involved in the work of the Council because we are an island nation at the edge of Europe in the North Atlantic and we have a culture, heritage and identity intrinsically linked to the seas that surround us. We are not in the Arctic, but we can certainly say that we are part of the wider Arctic neighbourhood. (DFA, 2021a, para. 3)

Taking into consideration that Ireland may in fact align with all three of Lanteigne’s identity categories, one way to further clarify this possibility is to briefly engage in policy analysis. This method serves as a useful way to evaluate official policy documents in the review of how the Irish Government intend to develop a Northern and Arctic political identity, as well as enable discernment as to what are their priorities. By doing so, this chapter demonstrates that Ireland does indeed engage with all three of Lanteigne’s categorizations but emphasizes the importance of the Arctic legacy category with respect to Ireland’s Arctic identity.

To date, Ireland does not have a strategy for the entire circumpolar Arctic region, suggesting that the Irish Government’s objectives for Arctic engagement are limited to specific subregions of the Arctic, namely the Nordic area. In June 2021, the Government of Ireland published A Strategy for the Nordic Regions (hereafter referred to as ‘Nordic Strategy’). This document was released as an add-on to the current Irish foreign policy strategy, published by the Government of Ireland in 2018, titled Global Ireland: Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025. The Nordic Strategy indicated that the Irish Government aims to strengthen ties with its Nordic neighbours as one of its current priorities. Ireland’s 2020 application for observer status in the AC is referred to within the Nordic Strategy as being one way Ireland is seeking to increase its impact in the region. Then, in December 2021, the DFA released a follow-on document, titled Global Ireland: Ireland’s Strategy for the Nordic Region to 2025—Action Plan (hereafter referred to as ‘Action Plan’) which set out priorities for the Nordic strategy for the year 2021 and 2022. Described as a living document, the DFA expects that the Action Plan will evolve over time and will likely be updated on a yearly basis. The Action Plan contains 25 action points in total with at least 10 focusing on strengthening scientific research on Arctic and Northern issues either through direct academic linkages with Nordic states, or through the AC if future observer status is achieved, as well as scientific cooperation under the auspices of the European Union (EU). However, the Action Plan discusses action points for just two of the five strategic objectives that are outlined within the Nordic Strategy The five strategic objectives outlined within the Nordic Strategy are below:

  1. I.

    Ireland will work with Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Norway to advance and safeguard shared interests and values across the world, including in the UN and via European partnerships.

  2. II.

    Ireland will facilitate deepening trade, tourism, and knowledge exchanges with the Nordic region consistent with our climate action agenda.

  3. III.

    Ireland will strengthen people-to-people links and links to the Global Irish Community in the Nordic region.

  4. IV.

    Ireland will grow its reputation across the Nordic countries through enhancing promotion of culture, heritage, and linkages.

  5. V.

    A strong Government-led Team Ireland will significantly increase its impact to 2025. (Government of Ireland, 2021, p. 5)

Two of these objectives (III and IV) directly correspond to recognizing Irish cultural and historical links with the Nordic region, while objective II relates to developing knowledge exchanges between and academic collaboration with partner universities in Northern and Arctic regions. Additionally, cultural and historical linkages to the North could also be fostered through developing sustainable tourism. These strategic objectives verify that the Irish government intends to pursue historical and cultural diplomacy, hence qualifying Ireland for Lanteigne’s Arctic legacies category as one way in which the country can strengthen its connections to the Nordic region. According to Rynijska-Kieldanowcz (n.d., p. 2), the concept of public and cultural diplomacy can be understood “as a form of state ‘branding’ in a similar manner to the way in which companies endorse brand management and identity building.” In addition, because art and culture are at the forefront of many countries’ promotional efforts, governments recognize that presenting their cultural heritage to international audiences provides them with an opportunity of not only showing who they are, but also creating a positive image and thus helping to achieve their political aims.

Nonetheless, to create an honest appraisal of Ireland’s Northern heritage is to recognize that no country’s past is without conflict and struggle. For Ireland, as with many other countries, there is always a balancing act between local and national politics on one hand and international relations on the other. The effects of British colonialism, the historic plantations of Scottish and English settlers, the influence of the Roman Catholic church, and the quest for Irish home rule and independence during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries must be acknowledged because all have significantly shaped politics and social identity on the island of Ireland. Following independence from Great Britain in 1922, and the formal creation of the Republic of Ireland in 1949, Ireland worked hard to engage in global affairs, joining the United Nations on the 14 December 1955, on the same day as Finland, and two decades later becoming a member of the European Community, now the EU, in 1973.

Although the island of Ireland may be considered small on a worldly scale covering a total of 84,431 km2 (32,599 mi2), there are distinct differences between the north of Ireland, which remains a separate country and part of Great Britain with its own history and heritage, and the Republic of Ireland in the south. However, what both north and south have in common is that they are administratively divided into counties, with six counties in the north of Ireland and 26 in the Republic. County identity is strong on the island of Ireland and local places are always suffixed with their respective county, usually abbreviated as ‘Co.,’ followed by the county name (e.g., Co. Cork). When a place is mentioned without the Co. suffix, it implies a major town or city within a county of the same name (e.g., Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, etc.). As much as possible, this chapter aims to take an all-island approach to include research contributions from all of Ireland, in addition to discussing cultural events, academic papers, and research projects on Irish-Nordic and Arctic historical linkages.

Going far back in history can help broaden and reassess Irish concepts of ‘Northernness’ that have arguably become distorted by nationalist politics. Not only could this lead to strengthening Ireland’s cultural diplomacy with Arctic nations, but also could assist with reclaiming a more complete understanding of Northernness for Irish identity, one that transcends the partition of Ireland into north and south and their distinct polities. This division harkens back to the separation of the Republic from Great Britain that resulted in a bitter Irish civil war (1922–1923) and long decades of sectarian conflict referred to as ‘the Troubles’ of the 1970s and 1980s in Northern Ireland.Footnote 1 Fortunately, this dark period of Irish history came to an end when the internationally esteemed peace process in Northern Ireland took effect and culminated with the historic signing of the Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta [Good Friday Agreement] in 1998 by the British and Irish governments (DFA, n.d.) and mediated by the Clinton Administration in the United States.

Ongoing north-south relations between the Republic, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, and the EU have intensified both during and in the aftermath of Great Britain officially leaving the EU in January 2020. Commonly referred to as ‘Brexit,’ this political issue has, and will continue to be, a pivotal focus for the Irish Government as it navigates the uncharted waters of the Northern Ireland protocol. Thus, the aspiration for developing a new Irish understanding of North and Northernness comes at a critical time in the history of Ireland and can be aided by recognizing Ireland’s rich Northern and Arctic heritage (Dybris McQuaid et al., 2019, p. 5). The development of Irish Arctic and Northern studies in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) could have many positive benefits for academia on the island of Ireland, with the possible creation of new fields of multidisciplinary studies within HSS, in addition to new university partnerships between north and south, both within Ireland and in cooperation with Arctic countries. As will be explained in this chapter, the development of new library and information science (LIS) services is an essential component in support of Arctic and Northern HSS.

If greater numbers of Irish researchers are to pursue studies involving the Arctic or the North, it is imperative that this new research area is given shape through active engagement by existing Irish Arctic researchers with the sharing of ideas and input from their international colleagues who hail from Arctic states. Therefore, Part I of this chapter discusses the creation of the Network of Arctic Researchers in Ireland (NARI), including how NARI was established, outlining its internal structure, and describing how it functions. Next, the specific role that the HSS Working Group has within NARI in promoting Northern and Arctic research is also described.

Part II focuses on two key historical eras through which to view Irish-Northern and Arctic linkages. Ireland’s Northern and Arctic heritage is best viewed as one which covers a broad span of history and explored through an interdisciplinary HSS approach, drawing on fields as diverse as political science, environmental history, identity and cultural studies, archaeology, anthropology, and visual ethnography, in addition to Irish and Celtic studies. Such an approach serves as a multidimensional lens through which to view and fully appreciate the rich historical heritage that Ireland shares with the North by framing these activities within time and space. Importantly, recognition of how these Irish-Nordic historical and cultural linkages can serve to strengthen multicultural political agendas through highlighting shared histories and reinforcing political, ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity and tolerance is key. Toward this end, this chapter advocates that Irish academia has a large role to play to ensure that accurate information and research is available to support these endeavours, in addition to Irish scholars and researchers who can contribute their expertise.Footnote 2

Part III seeks to highlight potential projects that serve to further the development of Arctic HSS research in Ireland. Having analysed and examined potential research gaps in Part II through discussion of projects pertaining to the six key historical research areas, the chapter puts forward four specific policy recommendations, including two key projects: (1) the creation of a central online portal of resources for Arctic HSS researchers in Ireland and internationally who are interested in studying Irish-Arctic linkages; and (2) the creation of a university consortium to coordinate and strengthen the availability of relevant academic courses being offered on the island of Ireland as it relates to Arctic and Northern studies in the fields of HSS.

14.2 Part I: The Coordination of Arctic and Northern Studies in HSS Research in Ireland

14.2.1 NARI: Creating a Focus Point for Irish Arctic Research in Support of Ireland’s Application for AC Observer Status

NARI was officially launched on 28 February 2020 with an event held at DFA headquarters in Dublin. Several high-ranking government officials were in attendance including the Irish Ambassador to Norway, Keith McBean, and Ciara Delaney, who at the time was director of the EU division at DFA. The inspiration for NARI can be traced back to April 2019 when an Arctic roundtable meeting was organized by the DFA and Marine Institute to identify the scope of Irish Arctic research. The main purpose behind the DFA hosting this meeting was to assess the potential for Ireland to contribute to AC working groups. At the time, Ireland had not yet applied for AC observer status, though it was under consideration. An additional aim of the meeting was to consider the possibility of creating an Irish Arctic network. Consisting of about 20 Irish researchers from natural and social sciences, the proposed network would seek to promote information sharing and collaboration among Irish researchers and have an inclusive approach to membership from all higher educational institutes located across Ireland. Thus, the basis for creating an all-island research network for Arctic studies emerged, and it was agreed during the discussion to create the NARI title of ‘Associate Member,’ a status granted to Irish professionals working in areas that have linkages to the Arctic as well as international Arctic researchers outside of Ireland. The network would not be dominated by any single academic institution to avoid the emergence of inequalities. Instead, two biannual meetings would be hosted on a rotational basis while an online presence would be maintained through the creation of a website and social media platforms.

NARI decided to design its organizational structure on that of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) (https://iasc.info/). Like those of the IASC, the NARI devised three working groups: Marine, Terrestrial; and Humanities and Social Sciences. All three NARI working groups could facilitate the growth of Irish Arctic research and demonstrate that some Irish research projects aligned with the activities of the AC working groups.Footnote 3 If Ireland should obtain AC observer status, the Irish Government could utilize NARI expertise to assist with the country’s contribution to AC working group activities. Although the NARI’s first Annual General Meeting (AGM) was intended to take place in late 2020 at the National University of Ireland Galway, plans were revised due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The AGM was instead held online on 22 October 2020 and a new committee was voted in to govern the NARI.Footnote 4 An online database outlining past and present Arctic research projects in which NARI members are engaged was also created at this time.Footnote 5

14.2.2 The NARI HSS Working Group: Reconceptualizing Arctic and Northern Studies in Ireland?

Currently, there is no discursive awareness in Irish academia of Northern studies; a Google search of ‘Northern studies in Ireland’ instead produces results pertaining to Northern Ireland, north-south relations, and cross-border studies. While these results are indicative of the ongoing focus on strengthening political and cultural relations between the Republic and Northern Ireland, it does call into question if both historical and contemporary research pertaining to neighbouring Arctic areas (i.e., northern periphery regions and islands) should be referred to as Arctic and Northern studies in Ireland.

The only existing publication that engages in interdisciplinary enquiry on Irish and Nordic connections is the edited volume by Barber et al. (2019) titled Ireland and the North that was produced as part of the Reimagining Ireland series. This book engaged with the relationship between Ireland and the Nordic countries, and more crucially, developed a ‘double conceptualization of the North’ to include Northern Ireland. In the following description of the book, the editors imply that they move beyond the nation-state as a key framework for analysis of human activity. Instead, this collection explores connections between Ireland and the Nordic countries in a variety of ways including “imaginary and material exchanges; as civic and personal linkages; as literary adaptation and appropriation; as transfers of cultural artefacts, political institutions, and ideas” (p. 7).

While the book falls under the category of cultural studies, chapter contributions within the edited volume come from authors exploring a wide range of multidisciplinary perspectives that include “art history, literary history and theory, archaeology, antiquarianism, media studies in addition to political analysis”.Footnote 6 Collaboration for this edited volume began as a project within the Nordic Irish Studies Network (NISN),Footnote 7 demonstrating how formal and informal research collaboration with academics from Scottish, Northern English, and Scandinavian universities can lead to productive research outputs.

With the creation of NARI, there is a growing cognitive awareness among Irish researchers of the potential for linking existing Irish research with Nordic or Arctic together. Eventually, these links may lead to the development of an Arctic and Northern studies HSS research hub in a way that allows for greater multidisciplinary collaboration to strengthen research output by the production of published articles or books incorporating interdisciplinary approaches to the Arctic in a similar way as the Ireland and the North project. Furthermore, such collaboration could lead to the emergence of an Arctic and Northern studies research field within Irish academia.

In late 2020 and early 2021, discussions surrounding the organization activities of the NARI HSS Working Group, resulted in the subsequent creation of three research foci subgroups to represent the diversity of research interests in which members are currently engaged. The three groups are outlined in Table 14.1. The fruitfulness of this approach lies in the ability to cluster research projects of a multidisciplinary nature that would otherwise be scattered throughout the humanities and social sciences.Footnote 8 We hope that this clustering may promote the growth of new cross-disciplinary research projects between the three subgroups (i.e., intra-disciplinary HSS research). We consider this chapter to be an example of inter-disciplinary HSS research since it relates to both the first and the third of the three NARI HSS subgroups, namely, subgroup 1: Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Arctic and Northern Regions, and subgroup 3: Politics, Security, and International Relations of the Arctic. Arguably, a fourth subgroup within the NARI HSS Working Group could be created in the future for LIS since a primary focus of this chapter is to assess how appropriate LIS services may be developed to assist researchers in HSS, as well as the general public, in accessing Arctic and Northern resources more easily through new and comprehensive digital systems. Now, the chapter turns to outlining two key areas that relate to Irish-Arctic and Northern historical linkages, namely the early Christian era and the Viking Age in Ireland. We will include examples of past and current research projects in these areas to instil interest from both Irish and international researchers, librarians, and archivists on the potential for further exploring these areas and encouraging new research collaboration and international partnerships.

Table 14.1 Suggested research topics and sub-groupings within the Network of Arctic Researchers Ireland, Humanities and Social Science Working Group
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14.3 Part II: Ireland’s Historical Ties to the Arctic: Outlining a Millennium-Old Northern Heritage

14.3.1 Overview

The Irish Sea has long been considered not as a barrier between Ireland and the outside world, but rather as a highway. (Hegarty, 2011, p. 12)

Although Ireland is a small island nation located on the periphery of Europe in the northeast Atlantic, it has interacted with its northern neighbours for millennia through waves of inward and outward migration and trade, yet this has not always been fully acknowledged in historical narratives. Greater collective awareness of historical and genealogical research serves to lessen the negative effects of the pervasive myth that only a singular Irish identity exists, one that is polarized by the struggle over two forms: British colonialism and the unresolved political situation in Northern Ireland, and the much-romanticized ideals of Irish nationalism and the continuing quest for a united Ireland. Instead, as Grossberg (1996, p. 89) explains, the emphasis should be “on the multiplicity of identities and differences rather than on a singular identity and on the connections or articulations between the fragments and or differences.” Exploring a broader connection to the North through Nordic and Arctic heritage allows for the emergence of less recognized yet deeply enriching multicultural influences within Irish identity from the time of the Vikings to the present day. This approach assists in the pursuit of exciting new research to visualize the multifaceted nature of Ireland’s social, cultural, and national identity, and to illustrate how Ireland also influenced and shaped the history of other nations through the Irish diaspora.

With this aim in mind, Part II of this chapter demonstrates how Ireland’s historical ties to the Arctic and Northern regions are stronger than would first appear, yet these ties must be brought to light and critically examined to identify gaps in the research that are overlooked. Focusing on a positive approach, Part II highlights some select examples of past and present research developments that would further enhance awareness on Ireland’s Northern and Arctic connections. This section posits that Ireland can claim a Northern and near-Arctic heritage based on two of the six key historical themes identified within the NARI HSS Working Group as seen in the first column of Table 14.1. The two themes discussed here relate to Ireland’s Northern and Arctic heritage in the following areas: (1) the migration of Irish missionaries to parts of Scandinavia (i.e., Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland) in the early Christian Era (i.e., fifth through twelfth centuries); and (2) Ireland’s strong Viking heritage owing to successive waves of incoming Nordic peoples during the early Middle Ages. Each theme is discussed to identify past and present research while also identifying research gaps and critical research areas, setting the stage for Part III of this chapter. Later, Part III suggests policy recommendations for the Irish Government including how LIS services could assist with digitally organizing this information in ways that would serve to further the development of Arctic and Northern studies research in Ireland.

14.3.2 The Migration of Irish Missionaries to Scandinavia in the Early Christian Era: Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland

14.3.2.1 Introduction to the Early Christian Era

Ample archaeological evidence exists showing Irish-Nordic linkages that pre-date modern history; this has been covered in the literature pertaining to the early Christian Era, spanning the late Iron Age to the early medieval period. This period of approximately seven centuries is full of examples of how Irish monks and ecclesiastics set sail from Ireland to preach the gospel, establish monasteries in remote locations, and spread Christianity throughout Europe. In this section, the evidence of early Irish missionary activities within the three Scandinavian countries and territories of Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands as part of the Kingdom of Denmark is discussed along with identification of research gaps that, if addressed, could enhance medieval studies on Irish, North Atlantic, and Arctic connections. Finally, two distinct past and present Irish research projects are outlined that focus on the early Christian Era: the Brendan project of 1978 and Adapt Northern Heritage project of 2017–2020, both of which demonstrate the rich potential that this era had for exciting contemporary research collaboration and promotion of Irish-Northern cultural heritage.

14.3.2.2 The Christianization of Norway

The Christianization of Scandinavia is an important research area that sheds greater insight into the role of Ireland with respect to the migrant flows of people and ideas throughout Northern Europe in medieval times. The Christianization of Norway in particular heralded major changes in Norwegian society, as cultural and religious practices were transferred from Ireland and Britain to Norway during this time; primitive stone crosses found in Western Norway serve as strong evidence of this. Birkelli (1971) explains that because the medieval Norwegians and Viking raiders likely saw several crosses in England, Scotland, and Ireland, they sought to make their own. In Western Norway, the presence of cross-worked runic stones and free-standing crosses dating from the tenth and eleventh centuries are conspicuous signs of missionary influence during that period (p. 35).

Evidence of further Irish Christian activity on the west coast of Norway centres around the tenth-century legend of St. Sunniva, patron saint of Bergen, virgin Irish princess, and early Christian martyr. O’Hara (2009) explains that it is not only that Sunniva is a woman and Irish that makes her unique, but the fact that the legend of St. Sunniva was preserved in written form in the Acta Sanctorum in Selio, one of the earliest surviving Latin manuscripts written in Norway dating from the early twelfth century. St. Sunniva was said to have been martyred on the island of Selja, which became an important monastic and episcopal centre during the eleventh century. Birkelli (1971, p. 27) considers that places such as Selje and Kinn on the Norwegian west coast were “ideal for Celtic and Irish missionaries” and much like Iona off the west coast of Scotland and Skellig Michael off the coast of Co. Kerry (p. 28). Later, in the twelfth century, St. Sunniva’s relics were transferred to the city of Bergen by Bishop Paul and enshrined in a new cathedral there. O’Hara concludes that the account of St. Sunniva is a conversion narrative set during the transitional period in Norway between two religions:

The figure of Sunniva and her unusual Anglo-Saxon name meaning ‘sun-gift’ could, if understood in such a way, personify the notion of Christianity’s arrival in the country … and serve as the prelude to the Christianization of Norway under the aegis of Olaf Tryggson and his missionaries. (2009, p. 108)

In 2018, the National University of Ireland, Dublin City Council, Royal Norwegian Embassy, and University of Bergen held two events in association with the Dublin Festival of History (https://dublinfestivalofhistory.ie/). The events, celebrating Ireland and Norway’s shared Viking heritage, also focused on St. Sunniva. Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Ireland, Else Berit Eikeland, opened the one-day Viking symposium Our Friends from the North? Irish and Norse in the Viking Age which took place on 4 October 2018 at the Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council Offices (National University of Ireland, 2018).Footnote 9 A second event held on 5 October 2018 at the Mansion House, Dublin included a lecture by Jan Erik Rekdal, a professor at the University of Oslo and member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences, titled The Legend of St. Sunniva and its Representation of Christianization of Norway (National University of Ireland, 2018). The bishop of Bergen also visited Dublin and Waterford as part of the festival to thank Ireland for bringing Christianity to Norway.

14.3.2.3 The Faroe Islands

Turning north and westwards, it has been assumed that the Faroe Islands were the first steppingstone beyond Shetland for the North Atlantic Viking migrations, with ninth-century Viking settlements being the first major phase of human settlement in the Faroe Islands (Church et al., 2013). This idea was reinforced by the Faroese saga, dating the first settlement of the archipelago to approximately 825–875 AD (Als et al., 2006, p. 497). However, new archaeological evidence suggests that the settlement of the Faroes may have occurred possibly hundreds of years before the Vikings conquered the coastal regions of northwest Europe and beyond, from Scandinavia to Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and as far as North America. Irish monks may have lived on the islands as early as 650 AD and later deserted them due to the appearance of the Vikings. Carbon dating of sediment layers containing the first appearance of barley-type pollen and peat ash mixed with small bits of burnt bone at sites such as Heimavatn in the north island chain and Hov in the south (Fig. 14.1) indicate that there must have been another, earlier group of sea-faring peoples who settled these islands some 300 to 500 years before the large-scale Viking colonization of the ninth century (Connor, 2013).

Fig. 14.1
A map of the Faroe Islands. It has 2 Papar place names, Papurshalsur and Paprokur in the north, 2 archaeological sites, Heimvath in the north and Hov in the south, and a gravestone with Celtic crosses in a small island at the center to the east of Skuvey.

Map of landmarks in the Faroe Islands with Irish connections. (Map credit: G. Taylor)

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Other literary and paleoenvironmental evidence further support the idea that human settlement on the Faroes existed prior to the Vikings. The Latin manuscript De Mesura Orbis Terrae, written by the Irish monk Dícuil in 825 AD (see O’Driscoll & Färber, 2018) alludes to hermits from Ireland living in two sets of remote islands to the north of Britain. Although Dícuil does not refer to these places by name, it is plausible that these are the Shetland and Faroe Islands, respectively:

[14] There are many other islands in the ocean to the north of Britain which can be reached from the northern islands of Britain in a direct voyage of two days and nights with sails filled with a continuously favourable wind. A devout priest told me that in two summer days and the intervening night he sailed in a two-benched boat and entered one of them. (p. 75)

[15] There is another set of small islands, nearly all separated by narrow stretches of water; in these for nearly a hundred years hermits sailing from our country, Ireland, have lived. But just as they were always deserted from the beginning of the world, so now because of the Northman pirates they are emptied of anchorites and filled with countless sheep and very many diverse kinds of sea-birds. I have never found these islands mentioned in the authorities. (p. 77)

Schei and Moberg (2003, p. 67) suggest that a small group of Faroese placenames may be of Gaelic origin. Places such as Paprøkur near Vestmanna and Papurshálsur in Saksun (see Fig. 14.1) seem to refer to the Irish hermit monks, whom the Norsemen called papar. These holy men were said to have set sail from Ireland to the Scottish Hebrides and then onwards to other small islands in the North Atlantic “in small hide-covered boats called ‘currachs’ in search for new uninhabited places where they might settle and devote themselves to their faith” (Saga Museum, 2017, para. 2). However, placenames with the inclusion of the word papar must be considered with caution as they could also allude to the nesting places of the Atlantic puffin. The Latin name for this bird is Fratercula Arctica which translates to ‘little brother’ or ‘little priest.’ With its black and white feathers, this bird might have reminded early ornithologists of the monastic robes worn by the monks. Perhaps because they both favoured the same remote habitats, the Norse were said to have jokingly call the puffins papi as a deviation from the old Norse word for puffin, lundi.Footnote 10 Therefore, Schei and Moberg consider that placenames such as Paparøkur and Paparshálsur are more likely to allude to ledges and outcrops more suitable for puffins and other seabirds than for hermit monks (p. 67).

Nonetheless, Schei and Moberg also mentioned some other more promising sites on the Faroe Islands that might suggest early Celtic habitation, including an old churchyard in Skúvoy (see Fig. 14.1) where there are several gravestones with crosses decorated in the Celtic style that could have been made by Irish priests or papar. Another reference is to a local tale from Suduroy of holy men living on the island before the coming of Norsemen who “lived on milk, eggs and seaweed and would not kill any living thing” and allegedly worked “wonders such as healing all wounds and diseases in both animals and people; they also foretold the weather and whether the fishing would be plentiful” (p. 18). Although the presence of Irish hermit monks on the Faroe Islands has not yet been proven, similar placenames are also known in Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebridean Isles of Scotland,Footnote 11 as well as Iceland.

14.3.2.4 Iceland

The Faroes were likely to have been a steppingstone across the North Atlantic to Iceland as this archipelago is also said to have experienced Irish ecclesiastic migrants in the early Christian Era. Historical and archaeological records date the discovery of Iceland slightly later than the Faroe Islands, just before 870 AD. However, in Dícuil’s manuscript holy men from Ireland arrived in a place called Thule, assumed to be Iceland, at the end of the eighth century and knew the route there before the Vikings (Sveinsson, 1957, p. 3). However, as with the Faroes, this claim has not yet been supported by archaeological or paleoenvironmental data. Nonetheless, traces were left behind on the Icelandic landscape and in Icelandic narrative culture within the early sagas. According to the Saga Museum’s (2017, para. 1) exhibit Papar: The First Inhabitants, references to the papar were found within the Landnámabók [The Book of Settlements] and Islendingabók [The Book of Icelanders]. Written in 1122–1133 AD by Ari Þorgilsson, or Ari ‘the Learned,’ some 250 years after Iceland was settled by the Norsemen, Íslendingabók provides the oldest Icelandic record of the papar, serving as the basis for the acceptance that the papar were indeed the first settlers of Iceland:

There were then Christians here, whom the Norsemen called the papar, but they later went away, because they did not wish to stay here with heathens; and they left behind them Irish books as well as crooks and bells from which it is possible to determine their origin. (Grønlie, 2006, p. 4)

According to Landnámabók, as described in the Saga Museum’s exhibit (para. 4), Irish papar were living at Kirkjubær at Síða in Southern Iceland before the first Norse settlers arrived in the ninth century; this is why the ‘Viking heathens’ could not settle there.

Although no actual remains of the papar have been found in Iceland, references of them as written in the two aforementioned sagas are widely accepted in Iceland. Like in the Faroes, there are several placenames in Iceland that allude to the presence of the papar and bear the ‘papar’ prefix. These are located mainly in the East Fjords (Fig. 14.2) and examples include Papey [Papar Island], Papýli [Papa farm], and Papafjörður [Papa fjord] in Lón (Saga Museum, 2017, para. 2). However, if placenames are not to be fully trusted, Ulff-Møller (2006) attests to how the oldest church designs in Iceland and Greenland show signs of Irish influence, not only in the churches themselves that are built as a shortened version of the Norse long house but also in their graveyards. Ulff-Møller claims that

unlike early Norwegian graveyards, which have a square cemetery, the earliest churches in Iceland and Greenland have circular cemeteries which are also common for early churches in Ireland, Scotland and northern England. The Irish round enclosure may go back to prehistoric times as they can be found in the old royal seat of Tara where kings were elected within the round enclosure. (p. 985)

Further archaeological evidence in the form of stone crosses also exists in Iceland. As in the case of Norway and the Faroe Islands, stone crosses in Iceland may offer some answers to a Celtic connection in the Nordic countries. A good example can be found at Kverkarhellir cave in the south of Iceland (see Fig. 14.2). Within this cave, a cross was found etched on the wall in Gaelic style; however, it is dated to a later time of 800 AD. Having studied this cross and others, Ahronson (2000) produces new research findings that indicates Celtic explorers from Ireland, Scotland, and the west coast of the British Isles arrived in Iceland a century before Scandinavians appeared. Ahronson’s study discovers over 100 simple crosses with 24 more elaborately carved or sculpted examples, all of which bear a striking resemblance to similar crosses found in Celtic regions of the British Isles, including the West Highlands and various Scottish islands (Fitch, 2015). From this evidence, Ahronson suggests that early Christian monks of the St. Columba sect were present in Southern Iceland prior to the Viking age.

Fig. 14.2
A map of Iceland with Irish connections. It has an etched Gaelic cross in the south and 2 Papr placenames, Papey, and Papafjordur in the east.

Map of locations in Iceland with Irish connections. (Map credit: G. Taylor)

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While it is assumed that the papar did not contribute to the progeny of the Icelandic people, owing to their vows of celibacy, a genetic research project showed that Gaelic men of Irish and Scottish origins can be traced to the Icelandic gene pool. Agnar Helgason, an Icelander working at Oxford University in biological anthropology, carried out a genetic project that “included 181 Icelanders, 233 Scandinavians, and 283 ‘Gaels’ from Ireland and Scotland” (Helgason et al., 2000). Dan Bradley, a lecturer in anthropology genetics at Trinity College Dublin, also participated on this project which sought out genetic markers in the Y chromosomes of men living in Iceland to determine if they had Scandinavian or Gaelic ancestry. Bradley said that “we agreed it might be great if we could add an Irish dimension to the story of Gaelic origins in Iceland” (Ahlstrom, 2000, para. 4). The data from the project suggests that “between 20–25% of Icelandic founding males had Gaelic ancestry, with the remainder having Norse ancestry” (Helgason et al., 2000, p. 697). A later study conducted by Helgason et al. (2001, p. 735) focuses on the mitochondrial DNA in women from Iceland, Orkney, the Western Isles and the Isle of Skye. Their findings show that “a sizeable portion of Icelandic [matrilineal] lines of decent are traced back 1100 years to females whose ancestry was firmly anchored in the British Isles.” Similar findings are revealed in parallel studies on genetic ancestry in the Faroe Islands, with a considerable number of the first female settlers in the archipelago originating from Ireland and Scotland, whereas most males originated from Scandinavia (Als et al., 2006, p. 502). However, the status of the Gaelic settlers is not clear. In the case of Iceland, it is suggested that both men and women could have arrived as immigrant families or might have been brought there by the Vikings to work as slaves, although also plausible is that Gaelic men were engaged as soldiers to fight in ad hoc Norse armies (Ahlstrom, 2000, paras. 9, 12).

Several conclusions are to be made from this discussion of early Christian Irish influences in Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. First, in each of the three lands, it is commonly accepted that settlements of Irish papar were likely to have been established before the tenth century. Secondly, placenames and other anthropological and cultural markers such as stone crosses provide hints to Celtic influences in Nordic regions. Third, future research efforts and archaeological excavations must focus on finding tangible evidence such as grave sites of Irish papar and early Gaelic Christians in places that may plausibly have been inhabited by Irish settlers.

14.3.2.5 Two Notable Irish-Nordic Research Projects Focused on the Early Christian Era: The Brendan Voyage and Adapt Northern Heritage Project

With respect to Irish research projects focusing on Nordic regions during the early Christian Era, these fall into two key groups: finding evidence for the possibility that the Irish were present during this era in Nordic regions and preserving the archaeological heritage that was found in these places. The first project to discuss here is one that falls into the former category; although it stands outside of academia, it is nonetheless highly appraised for its boldness, rigour, and provision of new insight into the navigational and seafaring abilities of the medieval Irish ecclesiastic community. Perhaps best described as experiential archaeology, the Brendan Voyage project was an epic journey undertaken by the explorer, writer, and filmmaker Tim Severin (1940–2020) and crew to recreate the nautical voyage of the sixth-century Irish monk, St. Brendan (King, 2020). Severin (1978/2000) published the story of the remarkable adventure as The Brendan Voyage, a book that was translated into 16 languages and an international best seller. A documentary film directed by Severin and Scales (1978) about the voyage was released the same year as the book. The incentive for Severin’s journey emerged from a debate surrounding content of the Latin manuscript Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis [The Voyage of St. Brendan the Abbot] written by St. Brendan that describes this controversial sea voyage (circa 540 AD).Footnote 12 The manuscript relates the many adventures of Brendan and monks at sea before reaching a paradise-like ‘promised land.’ The text combines elements of a marvellous sea voyage and an allegorical journey through life that is closely connected with monastic culture.

Although some scholars interpret Brendan’s manuscript metaphorically, others believe that the monk sailed to North America, as this could be interpreted as the promised land to which Brendan referred to in the manuscript (King, 2020). Severin wanted to find out if such a journey could have been completed and therefore sought to recreate the voyage in a boat made from the same materials as the monks would have used. On 17 May 1976, Severin and three fellow crew men, led by sailing master George Moloney, rowed out of Brandon Creek on the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, allegedly the same spot from where St. Brendan is reported to have departed almost 1500 years earlier (The Irish Times, 2021). Severin’s re-enactment lasted 13 months to finish the 7200 km (4474 mi) journey from Ireland that led them on a steppingstone route across the North Atlantic (Fig. 14.3). From Brandon Creek, Co. Kerry, Severin and team first sailed to the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland, and from there north and east to Iona, and up through the Scottish Hebrides. Then sailing northwest, the crew of the Brendan travelled to the Faroe Islands, landing in the harbour at Tjørnuvík (King, 2020).

Fig. 14.3
A route map of the Brendan Voyage, 1976, part 1. It starts from Brandon Creek dot Co Kerry, moves north with 4 stops in between before reaching Reykjavik. The stops are Aran Islands dot Co Galway, Iona, Tjernuvik, a slight detour southeast to Kirkjubaur, and towards Reykjavik.

Map of stage one of Tim Severin’s journey to recreate the St. Brendan’s voyage across the North Atlantic, beginning in Brandon Creek, Co. Kerry, Ireland. (Map credit: G. Taylor)

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In Sect. 14.3.2.1 of this chapter, we discuss papar placenames in the Faroe Islands. Interestingly, Severin, during his time in the Faroe Islands, spoke about this topic with the local Faroese people, discovering that there is another location on these islands that alludes to the historical presence of the early Irish monks. Severin recounts how

Saint Brendan’s name is familiar to every Faroese who learns in school that the Irish priests were the first people to settle in their remote islands. But no tangible remains of the Irish occupation have yet been found, presumably because the Papars, as the Irish priests were called, left too faint a mark on the islands before the Norsemen overprinted their massive stamp. Recently however, Faroese archaeologists working at Tjornuvik have dug up cereal grains which indicate that there was agriculture in the Faroes before any record of Viking settlement. And of course, there is the enduring literary and traditional evidence of the Papars in the islands. Nowhere is this tradition stronger than on the main island of Streymoy where, it is asserted, the Irish priests established themselves on a small, well-favoured creek on the southwestern corner of the island. To this day the creek still bears a significant name; it is called Brandarsvik – Brendan’s Creek. (Severin, 1978/2000, p. 130)

Brandarsvik, more commonly known today as Kirkjubøur, is the southernmost village on the island of Stremoy. The name Brandarsvik [Brendan’s Creek] suggests that this place was once associated with the Irish monk St. Brendan. The Brendan left the Faroe Islands on 3 July 1976, sailing for Iceland. After a stopover in Reykjavík, the Brendan then continued to sail west, past the southern coast of Greenland, finally completing the journey in Newfoundland, Canada. While the Brendan voyage was a resounding success, there is still speculation as to whether St. Brendan ever reached North America a 1000 years before Columbus. Nonetheless, Severin’s voyage showed that completion of such a journey was indeed possible (King, 2020). Today, the Brendan, a modern replica curragh that Severin used to sail from Ireland to North America, is now on permanent display in the archaeological open-air Celtic Museum Park as the Craggaunowen project, operated by Shannon Heritage and located in Co. Clare in the west of Ireland (https://www.craggaunowen.ie/living-past-experience/the-brendan-boat/).

The second research project to mention is the Adapt Northern Heritage project funded by the EU’s Northern Periphery and Arctic Program, operational from June 2017 to May 2020. The project focused on assessing the risk for and vulnerabilities of historic places and produced adaptation plans for nine historical sites located in Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Scotland. The project’s website outlines that

due to the remoteness and geographical dispersedness, communities and authorities in Europe’s Arctic area and northern periphery and other northern world regions are finding it particularly difficult to develop the required capacities, and allocate sufficient resources, to manage their cultural heritage in ways which actively take climate change into account. (n.d.-a, para. 3)

The project created a community network and held roundtable workshops and training events in support of collaboration and learning among partner countries involved in the project. The Irish case study focused on creating adaptation plans for Ballinkskelligs Abbey and Castle, an Augustinian priory situated on the Iveragh Peninsula in Co. Kerry dating from the twelfth century. Due to its exposed coastal location, the abbey and castle are threatened by rising sea levels and severe storms that sweep in from the Atlantic Ocean. The graveyard and church, as its centre point, was protected by a massive concrete sea wall, but this has been degraded under the forces of water and wind. Using the guide for risk management of historic places developed by the project, climate risk management plans (Adapt Northern Heritage, n.d.-b) were produced for each of the two historical structures at Ballinskelligs. The successful inclusion of the Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry case study within project may encourage further Irish collaboration with Northern partners and sharing of risk management and preservation methods to ensure the archaeological and cultural conservation of historic sites.

14.3.3 Ireland’s Viking Heritage

14.3.3.1 Tracing Ireland’s Viking Heritage: New Genetic Research Uncovers Ancestral Diversity

Extensive textual and archaeological evidence exists attesting to the Viking presence in Ireland between the late eighth to twelfth centuries. The nature of the contact between Irish locals and Viking raiders and settlers has long been a topic of interest to scholars. Excavations in Dublin and other Irish towns and cities, mainly focused in the southern province of Munster, along with new developments in DNA methodologies, shed new light on both the fraught and friendly relationships between these two groups.

Isotopic and genetic work suggests free movement of people between Ireland and the rest of the North Atlantic and parts of the Arctic. In September 2020, the leading international journal Nature published the largest ever DNA analysis of Viking remains (Margaryan et al., 2020). Led by Eske Willerslev, a fellow at the University of Cambridge and director of the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre at the University of Copenhagen, the six-year project saw researchers from the National Museum of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) become part of the international effort to decode the genetic make-up of the Viking world. Results contradict the modern image of the typical Viking as a blonde-haired Scandinavian warrior. Instead, the researchers uncovered ancestral diversity in Viking communities both within Scandinavia and across Europe, including Ireland.

Findings of the study show sharp ancestral differences between English and Irish Vikings. Irish Viking DNA showed evidence of a high degree of Norwegian ancestry, particularly from the north and west coasts of Norway whereas English Vikings had a stronger Danish influence (Gilbert et al., 2017). Interactions between Irish locals and Viking settlers would have also resulted in intermarriage between high-ranking members of Irish and Viking society (Downham, 2004). In defiance of the stereotypical Viking warrior depiction, many Vikings had brown hair, including the famous Eyrephort warrior from Co. Galway. Furthermore, Viking identity in Ireland was not limited to those of Norwegian ancestry. Smaller amounts of Danish and Swedish genetic ancestry were also seen within Irish Viking DNA. Comparable genetic ancestry was also found in Orkney and Scotland, and not found extensively in Wales and England; this makes sense given known Viking settlement patterns. Additionally, Irish, Scottish, and Orcadian genes were all found in modern Norwegian populations, suggesting the flow of genes was bidirectional (Gilbert et al., 2017; Margaryan et al., 2020). Similarly, genetic data on Irish populations found evidence of individuals who grew up in Ireland during the Viking Age who originated from Great Britain and Scandinavia (Montgomery et al., 2014). As previously mentioned, the genetic evidence from Iceland also showcases how Irish individuals were part of the exploration and original settlement groups. Mitochondrial DNA studies show that around 60% of matrilineal ancestry in Iceland derives from Irish and Scottish individuals, while 75% of patrilineal ancestry comes from Scandinavia (Ebenesersdóttir et al., 2018). The modern samples show a higher percentage of Scandinavian ancestry than earlier historic samples, suggesting either a reproductive preference within the population or later immigration of other Scandinavian peoples (Ebenesersdóttir et al., 2018).

The genetic evidence shows that the influence of Scandinavian traders, raiders, and settlers spread to cover the entire Northern Atlantic. Ireland was originally an appealing target for raiding by the Norwegian Vikings, as the early Irish monastic settlements offered a large amount of portable wealth which was very tempting to the Viking raiders (Barrett, 2008).

14.3.3.2 Viking Settlement in Ireland

Although there were sporadic Viking raids in Britain and Ireland from the late eighth century, Lewis (2016, p. 9) attests that it was not until the following century that the Vikings began overwintering in Ireland, later establishing permanent bases. Early attempts at settlement were found along the west coast of Ireland in Co. Mayo and Galway from 812 AD where the Vikings used small islands for protection. However, the first permanent bases, called longphuirt (singular: longphort), or in English, ‘longfort,’ were initially mentioned in the records of 840 AD at Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland and in 841 AD at Dublin and Linn Duachaill near the village of Annagassan situated on Dundalk Bay, Co. Louth (p. 10) (Fig. 14.4).

Fig. 14.4
A map of Ireland with 7 Longphuirt locations. Limerick, Cork, Woodstown, Co Waterford, Wexford, Dublin, Linn Duachaill dot Co Louth, and Lough Neagh appear from the central south, to southeast, ad northeast, in order.

Map of potential longphuirt locations in Ireland. (Map credit: G. Taylor)

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Irish coastal towns and settlements served a vital function for the Vikings as a connecting point between mainland Scandinavia and other northern peripheries such as the Scottish Hebrides, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. From an archaeological perspective, Dublin serves as a model strategic Viking centre of trade and commerce. As Hurley (1995, p. 23) explains, the nineteenth century discovery of a Viking cemetery at Kilmainham and large-scale city excavations in the 1970s and 1980s at sites such as Wood Quay established Dublin as one of the foremost cities for Viking Age archaeology, research, and literature in Western Europe. Despite these large-scale excavations, no Viking style longhouses have been found in Dublin, or elsewhere in Ireland. Instead, Viking buildings from this time showcase a blend of Irish and Scandinavian building styles (Boyd, 2015, p. 345). Viking Dublin is now made more accessible to the public through the internationally acclaimed Dublinia Viking Museum (https://www.dublinia.ie/). Based in the heart of medieval Dublin in the historic Christchurch district, this museum is a major visitor attraction in Dublin. As a historical recreation museum, the Dublinia experience describes Dublin’s Viking past and highlights the importance of Ireland’s Viking heritage.

The portrayal of Vikings in Irish primary school textbooks underwent substantial change in the aftermath of these large-scale urban excavations as prior to this time the Vikings tended to be viewed primarily as enemy raiders who attacked and destroyed Irish monasteries and Christian sites. Nowadays, a far greater emphasis is placed on Viking roles as founders of Irish cities and traders active in the wider Viking world (Mary Immaculate College, 2013). For example, in October 2014, a new bilingual educational resource for primary school children titled Viking Ireland: A New Voyage of Discovery was launched by the Norwegian Deputy Head of Mission, Ms. Grete Odegaard, at Mary Immaculate College (MIC) in Limerick. Speaking about the importance of having an accurate resource of this nature, Eucharia McCarthy, Director of the Curriculum Development Unit, at MIC said:

We have published ‘Viking Ireland – A New Voyage of Discovery’ to dispel some of the myths about the Vikings which permeate many of our primary school history textbooks. This new evidence-based resource provides accurate information about the Vikings and uses highly interactive teaching approaches that will bring history to life for our pupils. (Curriculum Development Unit, 2014, para. 3)

One of the most renowned discoveries to date demonstrating the trade links between Dublin and the Viking world occurred in Denmark in 1962 when five Viking ships were unearthed in the Roskilde Fjord. The largest of the five ships, a great longboat named Skuldelev 2, was constructed from Irish oak.Footnote 13 Extensive analysis of the ship was undertaken at the Vikingskibs Museet [Viking Ship Museum] (https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/) which was built on the banks of the Roskilde Fjord in the wake of this discovery (Killeen, 2004). Results from tree-ring dating of the timber used for Skuldelev 2 show that the ship was built of oak in the vicinity of Dublin around 1042 AD (Viking Ship Museum, n.d.). Skuldelev 2 remains on permanent display, but the museum also built a replica that visited Dublin called the Havhingsten af Glendalough [Sea Stallion from Glendalough].Footnote 14 In 2004, the Irish Minister for Arts, Sport, and Tourism, John O’Donoghue, joined the Danish monarch Margrethe II Queen of Denmark in Copenhagen for the launch of Sea Stallion (Killeen, 2004). The inclusion of Irish dignitaries at the boat launch demonstrate how shared Viking heritage between Ireland and Scandinavia can facilitate cultural diplomacy. In 2007–2008, Sea Stallion completed a voyage from Roskilde to Dublin via the north of Scotland and back to Denmark through the English Channel and North Sea. A second voyage to Dublin took place in the summer of 2015.

Moving south from Dublin in a clockwise manner around the island of Ireland, other longphuirt flourished in Ireland during the Viking Age, including Wexford town and in areas adjacent to what would later become the cities of Waterford, Cork, and Limerick (Fig. 14.4). Sheehan (2008) proposes some additional potential longphuirt sites, although the current chapter focuses on those with the strongest evidence. Two excavated sites in Wexford town—Bride Street and 84–86 South Main Street—reveal evidence of Vikings from the eleventh century onwards. Excavations conducted in 1998 at Bride Street uncovered the remains of stratified houses dating from circa 1000 to 1300 AD, providing new information about the later Viking Age and daily medieval life in the town (Bourke, 1995). At 84–86 South Main Street, archaeological excavation uncovered part of the original shoreline revealing a steeply sloping area that was reclaimed at an early stage in the town’s development by the dumping of domestic waste to provide a level surface for what would have then been a shoreside site. Excavations unearthed a hearth with charcoal remains surrounded by large clusters of stake-holes dating from the twelfth or thirteenth century, all of which suggest that this dwelling may have been set in an industrial area along the original shoreline (Buildings of Wexford, n.d.). Furthermore, a bank and ditch were uncovered at Barrack Street in 1995 which predates the Anglo-Norman occupation of the town and are likely to be part of Wexford’s earlier Norse defences. The Irish National Heritage Park (https://www.irishheritage.ie/) located just outside Wexford town pays tribute to Wexford’s Viking past with several Viking-themed tourist attractions including the immersive workshop The Daily Life in Viking Wexford where visitors can learn about and participate in activities related to the buildings, traditions, customs, and armaments of the Vikings. The park also offers the experience of staying overnight in a wooden Viking house on the shore of River Slaney where visitors can cook on an open fire and dress in costume. Special events honouring Wexford’s Viking heritage include, for example, the Viking Fire Festival held in Wexford town in September 2019. For the festival, the Wexford quayside was transformed into a Viking village where re-enactors encouraged visitors to enjoy storytelling, fire events, a Viking market, and craft demonstrations.Footnote 15

Many Viking-controlled ports in Ireland such as Wexford and Waterford became urban centres with modern port facilities, showing the continuing influence of Viking decisions on Ireland’s contemporary settlement patterns and maritime infrastructure. In 2003 during construction of the Waterford bypass road, a previously unknown Viking settlement at Woodstown, Co. Waterford (see Fig. 14.4) was discovered. The route of the bypass, running along the southern bank of River Suir, reveals that this area was an attractive place for the Vikings to establish longphuirt settlements. The inland waterways provided widespread access to areas of land within the provinces of Munster and Leinster, thus facilitating easy raiding (Downham, 2004, p. 77). Archaeologist Neil Jackman explains that “the finds from Woodstown reflect the range of the Viking trading networks in the ninth century and include pieces of Irish-made jewellery, amber from the Baltic, and even silver coins minted in Iraq” (Daly, 2014, para. 4). However, one of the most important discoveries at Woodstown was of a richly furnished Viking warrior burial with grave goods including a sword, spear, axe, and shield. These objects are now on permanent display in the Treasures of Viking Waterford exhibition located at Reginald’s Tower in Waterford city (https://www.waterfordtreasures.com/reginalds-tower). The Woodstown site was granted national monument status and plans are underway to ensure its development for tourism and educational purposes.Footnote 16 The Waterford Greenway cyclist route that runs adjacent to the site will also be incorporated into conservation plans to encourage alternative methods of transport in the area.

Unfortunately, the archaeological evidence of Vikings in the cities of Cork and Limerick is more elusive when compared with the finds from Dublin and Waterford. Hurley (1995, p. 25) suggests that the most likely site of the principal longphort of Viking Cork was probably on the South Island and may have been situated on the low lying, marshy ground adjacent to River Lee. Nonetheless, many elements such as the city layout, house form, and several Hiberno-Norse type artefacts clearly demonstrate a twelfth-century town existed around South Main Street. The term ‘Hiberno-Norse’ describes the culture of inhabitants from Viking towns in the eleventh to early twelfth centuries. Details on previous Viking excavations in Cork city are available in the book Excavations in Cork City 1984–2000 (Cleary & Hurley, 2003).

Recent excavations undertaken in 2018 at the former Beamish and Crawford brewery in Cork city during major reconstruction of the area uncovered foundations of 19 wooden Viking Age houses from 1070 AD, the earliest in the city to date (Roche, 2018). Many of the artefacts found at the site are wooden, having been preserved in the acidic marshy ground settled by the Vikings. Among the other items found were a collection of spoons, ladles, and buckets as well as a wooden thread-winder with a carved design of two horse heads. The National Museum of Ireland loaned the newly discovered artefacts to the Cork Public Museum (https://www.corkcity.ie/en/cork-public-museum/), resulting in the Viking exhibition launched in May 2018 titled Below Our Feet in partnership with Cork City Council, Cork Public Museum, and University College Cork. In June 2021, a virtual conference organized by the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society (https://corkhist.ie/) was held to discuss Cork’s Hiberno-Norse heritage for the first time and included a panel of Irish and international experts. University College Cork (UCC) archaeology lecturer Griffin Murray organized the conference, saying that the event would propose a new theory about where the first Hiberno-Norse settlement along River Lee was located (Browne, 2021). The conference showcased findings of the World Tree Project (http://www.worldtreeproject.org/) based at the School of English at UCC and funded by the Irish Research Council. The project is a digital collection on Old Norse-Icelandic and Viking studies that operated for a year from February 2016 to February 2017. The digital archive contains 12 exhibits on topics ranging from Old Norse poetry to Viking women and perceptions of Vikings in the twenty-first century. Materials for the exhibits were collected from members of the public, as well as institutions such as libraries and museums, other organizations, individual scholars, and interest groups.

Turning to Limerick, a city situated on the estuary of River Shannon in the southwest of Ireland, there are conflicting accounts of when the Viking raiders first appeared. Historical records suggest that a Norseman named Yorus established a raiding fort at Limerick in 861 AD (O’Donovan, 2003, p. 40). To date, an early Viking settlement within the vicinity of Limerick city has not been found. Therefore, the first identified Viking settlement in the region is further upstream in the townland of Athlunkard, Co. Clare (see Fig. 14.4) where a longphort is situated along the banks of River Shannon. Excavations conducted in the late 1990s at Athlunkard revealed iron objects dating from the ninth century, including an iron axe which still contains part of a wooden handle and a Viking silver weight was also found on the opposite riverbank at Corbally, Co. Limerick (Kelly & O’Donovan, 1998, p. 14). However, arguably the most impressive of the Viking artefacts found to date near Limerick are a pair of large, Viking-made silver ‘kite-brooches,’ named for the shape of the head of the brooch, which are now on display at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. The brooches were found in 1845 during the construction of the Limerick-Tipperary railway line. The style of the brooches indicates that they were made in Dublin, where several copper alloy examples were found and the size of the brooches demonstrates the large quantities of silver in Ireland during this period (Sikora, n.d.). Brian Hodkinson (2002, p. 1) of the Limerick Museum (https://www.limerick.ie/limerick-museum) mentions that the series of archaeological excavations within Limerick since the late 1980s throw little light on the Viking origins of Limerick city mostly because there were no deep excavations in the Viking heart of the city, specifically beneath St. Mary’s Cathedral, built in 1168 AD by Donal Mór O’Brien, King of Munster. The land on which the cathedral is built is said to have once been the site of a Viking thingmote, a raised mound used as a meeting place. Although sunken-featured buildings were uncovered in excavations at King John’s Castle, they are dated to the later Hiberno-Norse period of the eleventh to twelfth centuries. As such, no true Viking Age deposits have yet been revealed.

Nonetheless, in recent years, Limerick began to capitalize on Viking tourism as it relates to the later Hiberno-Norse period. For example, since 2014, Red Viking Bus Tours operate within the city of Limerick taking visitors along a route to see sites relating to Viking Limerick, including St. Mary’s Cathedral and King John’s Castle. The growing interest in walking tours of Limerick city produced several maps and literary publications. A good example is O’Flaherty and Moore’s (2010) pocket map Limerick c.840 to c.1900: Viking Longphort to Victorian City which captures 264 sites over 1000 years of the city’s history.

A cross-disciplinary study called Genes of the Gallgoídil conducted from 2011 to 2013 by MIC (2013) at the University of Limerick in partnership with the University of Nottingham investigates the migration of Irish, Hiberno-Norse, and other Gaelic-speaking populations in the Viking Age. The project includes research contributions from individuals studying Celtic and Scandinavian languages; human genetics; literature, myth, and religion; material culture and archaeology; history; geography; and heritage management.

Irish coastal settlements and towns were increasingly relied upon by the Vikings for trading centres of raw materials during the Viking Age (Ashby et al., 2015; Wilson, 2014). However, important to note is that raw materials did not just flow from Irish outposts, but also to them. Ashby (2009) found that hair combs in Ireland and Scotland in the ninth century were made of reindeer antler, a material likely imported from Scandinavia, while other styles of comb originated in the British Isles before becoming popular in Scandinavia. The variety of goods used to buy or trade for these raw materials was in abundance around Viking settlements in Ireland. For instance, the early twentieth century find of the Knockmaon hoard in Co. Waterford included coins from Dublin, England, and France, as well as items produced in North Britain (Downham, 2004). However, it was not only materials that travelled throughout the interconnected parts of the Viking empire—ideas, objects, people, beliefs, and language flowed between Viking homelands and outposts just as easily.

The project on the sound of early Irish and Old Norse, Augmented Vocality: Recomposing the Sounds of Early Irish and Old Norse (Coccioli et al., 2020), was a two-year undertaking from 2020 to 2022 by Birmingham City University along with three European partners including Queen’s University Belfast seeking to analyse and explore the sounds of early medieval languages. According to the project description, “combining linguistic expertise with sophisticated voice processing technologies, the project aims to give new life to early languages and help reclaim the oral quality at the heart of medieval literature” (Coccioli et al., 2021, para. 2). As part of the project, the researchers aimed to restore some of the performative power of the sounds of early Irish and Old Norse (O’Carroll, 2020). The multidisciplinary nature of the project stems from Coccioli’s mixed academic background as the composer has a degree in linguistics and Anglo-Saxon literature. As such, Coccioli explains that the goal of the project was to produce musical compositions, public concerts, conference presentations, a digital audio database, and a sample library. All of these goals have been achieved. Coccioli also states that to reach these project goals, the research team collaborated with three European contemporary music ensembles. One of these, the Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, is the ensemble-in-residence at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland (O’Carroll, 2020). The uniqueness of the Augmented Vocality project is that it brings another dimension to the understanding of languages used in Ireland during the Viking Age while combining academic knowledge with artistic practice.

The aforementioned projects represent a new generation of Viking research that builds on the knowledge gained from earlier projects conducted in Ireland on the Viking Age. For example, the book Viking Graves and Grave-Goods in Ireland (Harrison & Floinn, 2015) is the result of a 15-year project to catalogue and discuss all Viking Age burials in Ireland uncovered until that point. Also, the genetic research by Margaryan et al. (2020) was undertaken by scholars from 64 different institutions across Europe, including Ireland and Scandinavia. These studies demonstrate the potential for international research collaboration on projects relating to the Viking Age in Ireland as they can draw immense interest from state institutions and scholars across time and geographical boundaries.

14.4 Part III: Policy Recommendations: Outlining Critical Research Areas and Potential Projects that Serve to Further the Development of Arctic and Northern Studies in Ireland

14.4.1 Recommendation No. 1

The first recommendation is that the Irish Government should continue to support existing political, cultural, and academic linkages in select Nordic cities and regions but also seek to strengthen connections in regions where Irish linkages exist but are less visible. The purpose of providing in-depth information on two key historical themes is to demonstrate that there is considerable scope for the further development of Irish historical research in Arctic and Northern studies, in addition to the creation of museum exhibits, tourist attractions, and heritage events. The Irish Government engages in cultural diplomacy as a method to advance not only its economic and trade interests in the Nordic region but also to avail new opportunities for research. Of course, successful bilateral relations in cultural diplomacy goes both ways and, in this regard, the Norwegian Embassy in Ireland (2017) and the Embassy of Denmark in Ireland (2017) respectively have each demonstrated that they are actively engaging in cultural diplomacy efforts to advance Irish-Norwegian and Irish-Danish bilateral relations. The current chapter demonstrates these relationships by highlighting some events that have taken place in the recent past including the 2018 St. Sunniva and Viking Dublin conference events, organized by a consortium of Irish and Norwegian partners, and the 2004 recreational voyage of the Danish-Irish Sea Stallion Viking longship launched by Irish and Danish dignitaries in Copenhagen.

However, much room exists for building on existing cultural ties with other Nordic countries that Ireland shares historical connections, including Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Less is known by us regarding present day Irish-Icelandic and Irish-Faroe political, cultural and historical relations, although we think that historical and cultural linkages can be easily uncovered as demonstrated in Part II of this chapter. From a diplomatic perspective, it must be noted that although Ireland has a consulate office in Reykjavík, there is not an Irish Ambassador in full-time residence.Footnote 17 Similarly, the Icelandic Government has a consulate office in Dublin, but this is listed under the Embassy of Iceland in London.Footnote 18 This structure may partially explain why less attention is paid to Irish-Icelandic cultural relations by both governments, and the absence of embassies may be indicative of there being only a small expat community in each country. Nonetheless, the DFA’s (2021b, p. 17) Action Plan states that Ireland will seek to

further develop its relationship with Iceland through an increased frequency of official and ministerial visits, reflecting our strong shared experience and cultural links, as well as a wide range of common interests, including on environment, maritime, social, and EU/EEA topics.

Regarding the Faroes, Ireland does not have a consulate office in the Faroe Islands. However, this area is served by the Irish Embassy in Denmark because the islands are an autonomous self-governing region that forms part of the Kingdom of Denmark.Footnote 19 As an interesting suggestion for a future Irish-Faroe cultural event, we encourage the DFA to organize a celebration honouring the fiftieth anniversary of the Brendan voyage which would occur in 2026.

Cultural events to celebrate Irish-Icelandic linkages have taken place in Ireland. For example, in December 2018, a special event was held in Dublin to mark a century of Icelandic sovereignty. This event, “Celebrating a Century of Icelandic Sovereignty: History, Culture, and Irish Connections,” was organized as part of the project Cultural Memory and Contemporary Europe: Ireland, Iceland, and the Atlantic Periphery, a collaboration between University College Dublin (UCD) (2021) and the University of Iceland. During this event, a roundtable discussion titled “Iceland and Ireland Cultural Dialogues and Parallel Histories” was held and included a panel of Irish and Icelandic academics. Podcasts of the speakers were recorded by Real Smart Media and are available online from the UCD website.Footnote 20 Two of the academics who participated in the Dublin event—Fionnuala Dillane and Gunnþórunn Guðmundsdóttir—later published the book Ireland—Iceland: Memory, Literature, Culture on the Atlantic Periphery in 2022.

In addition to strengthening connections where Irish historical and cultural linkages exist but are less visible, as in the cases of Iceland and the Faroe Islands, we also believe it is important to foster new connections with Northern and Arctic Indigenous communities. Cultural exchanges and events could be co-organized in partnership with Irish universities or other relevant organizations on themes including but not limited to traditional music, folklore traditions, literature, and best practices in the preservation of minority languages and the arts. These connections would be mutually beneficial and culturally enriching for all partners involved, while at the same time could also assist creating new academic links with the aim of furthering a Northern and Arctic research agenda on the island of Ireland.

Current Irish-Canadian cultural relations serve here as an example of best practices owing to the leading role that the Canada-Ireland Foundation (https://www.canadairelandfoundation.com/) has played in promoting cross-cultural and multidisciplinary research. This organization supports academic exchanges and provides funding grants for Irish-Canadian research, although currently their emphasis is on promoting exchanges within a delineated geographic area akin to the eastern Canadian coastal provinces. In the future, the NARI could perform a similar role with respect to facilitating Irish-Nordic research via sharing information on upcoming funding grants and coordinating academic exchanges between Irish, Northern, and Arctic universities. In this way, the NARI could assist the Irish Government’s political objectives of increasing academic collaboration, demonstrating that Ireland can make valuable contributions on Northern and Arctic issues.

14.4.2 Recommendation No. 2

The second recommendation is to construct LIS supports in Ireland for Arctic and Northern studies. Adequate LIS services are an essential component to this agenda for ensuring the advancement of NARI’s HSS Working Group. Furthermore, constructing LIS supports in Ireland for Arctic and Northern studies would also contribute to the fulfilment of the Irish Government’s policy objectives within its Nordic Strategy. As outlined in Part I of the chapter, the Irish Government intends to enhance cultural and heritage connections with Nordic countries. Objective III of the Nordic Strategy clearly states that the Government of Ireland (2021, p. 18) intends to

encourage media collaboration focused on cultural, historical, and contemporary links between Ireland and the Nordic countries [in addition to] map business and cultural connections (on a phased basis) and develop links between regions and cities by facilitating collaboration between universities, Chambers of Commerce, city councils and businesses.

Unfortunately, neither the Nordic Strategy nor the Action Plan—which mainly focuses on Objective I and II—provides a clear roadmap for how this objective will be achieved. Thus, we believe that our recommendation to develop LIS supports serve as a concrete actionable step towards fulfilling this policy objective, and we offer this suggestion for inclusion in a future Action Plan. We also propose two further actions as contributions to the development of LIS supports for Arctic and Northern Studies in the HSS. First, we propose establishment of an Arctic and Northern studies digital archive to support media and cultural collaboration discussed in more detail in Sect. 14.4.3. Secondly, we endorse the creation of an Irish university consortium which we discuss in Sect. 14.4.4.

14.4.3 Recommendation No. 3

Our third recommendation is the creation of an Arctic digital archive to support Irish HSS research in Arctic and Northern studies. As demonstrated through the creation of the NARI, Ireland’s political aspirations for attaining observer status in the AC is a driving factor behind the coordination of Irish Arctic research. These aspirations have invigorated efforts to coordinate Arctic research on the island of Ireland through the NARI, a key stakeholder organization within Ireland’s Nordic Strategy. Going forward, the NARI’s HSS Working Group should seek to organize the compilation of reading lists of literary and online sources on the research topics outlined in Table 14.1. This endeavour could be done in one of two ways: by updating the NARI website, or alternatively, becoming involved with the creation of an Irish digital archive. Such a collection might include both historical and contemporary material pertaining to the Arctic and Northern studies. This creation of a digital archive echoes a broader trend within Arctic research projects to preserve digital resources and databases online while also creating centralized platforms that provides information on Arctic issues and programs such as, for instance, the Arctic Portal gateway (https://arcticportal.org/) and EU-Polarnet (https://eu-polarnet.eu/). Such digital hubs also offer Arctic researchers a clearer picture of work that is being undertaken and gaps in the research that need to be filled. Regarding the preservation of Arctic cultural heritage, a good example is the University of Calgary’s digital collections (https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/).

Internationally, previous discussions took place on how a digital archive and library could materialize. For example, in 2016 and 2017, representatives from Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States participated in two workshops that focused on exploring the potential for creating an Arctic digital library (Fitzhugh & Nordlander, 2018). The aim was to discuss how to best integrate primary source material relating to the Arctic in one digital space. With the digital library, a user could access resources on a particular topic from multiple institutions located in different countries. This platform would help users connect disparate bits of data to create an interdisciplinary picture of a research question. Ultimately, the vision to develop truly international and collaborative Arctic research projects would benefit from an integrated digital research platform as doing so would greatly assist in transcending national boundaries and from which exciting new relationships and understandings of the Arctic could emerge. The NARI could assist in this endeavour by creating a single repository where Irish research projects relating to the Arctic are listed. An undertaking such as an Arctic digital library could either direct researchers to the external NARI site or incorporate that information into their repository to the benefit of Arctic scholars globally.

On a national scale, Ireland demonstrates considerable expertise in the building of digital repositories for the preservation of Irish culture and history. Such efforts began to emerge in the 2010s when the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) (https://www.dri.ie/) was founded in 2011. The mission of the DRI is to ensure the long-term digital preservation of Ireland’s humanities, social science, and cultural heritage resources.Footnote 21 Sandra Collins, a member of the DRI Management Board, emphasized that “so much of our national memory is recorded in digital format and is gravely at risk right now. In 100 years from now, in 1000 years, what we collect, and curate now will shape the national memory in the future and tell the story of humanity” (DRI, 2023, para. 2). The DRI was originally built by a research consortium of six academic partners working together to deliver the repository, policies, guidelines, and training. Three core academic institutions continue to manage the repository: Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Royal Irish Academy, and Maynooth University (MU).

The Digital Preservation Coalition (2023, para. 1) describes the DRI as “a major initiative to safeguard Ireland’s digital heritage…[that] stands as an exemplar of cooperation and best practice adoption in digital preservation because of its national cross-institutional structure, as well as its integration in the international network data repositories and e-infrastructures.” Should an Irish-Arctic digital library be created or integrated into the DRI in the future, there exist two pathways that an organization may take to gain deposit authorization into the DRI repository: (1) an organization may decide to become an official DRI member, or (2) an organization may utilize the expertise and domain knowledge of one of the three existing DRI members. The first option allows for the possibility of the NARI becoming a DRI member. Alternatively, should the second option be pursued, a group of individual NARI researchers could coordinate with one or both of the two existing Irish university partners, those being TCD and MU.

Another database deserves mention here: the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (https://nationalinventoryich.chg.gov.ie/). As stated by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media (2023, para. 1):

Intangible cultural heritage refers to the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts, and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.

This project can be traced back to 2015 when Ireland ratified UNESCO’s (2003) Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Ireland’s obligations under the Convention included establishing a national inventory for intangible cultural heritage. Following the appointment of “an Expert Advisory Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage, in July 2019 the Minister for Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht approved the inscription of thirty cultural heritage elements on Ireland’s permanent National Inventory” (Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media, 2023, para. 2).Footnote 22 Efforts to raise awareness on Ireland’s Arctic and Northern heritage would benefit greatly from the organizational structure of the DRI and National Inventory and serve as templates for the potential development of new collections relating to historical Arctic and Northern topics of interest.

14.4.4 Recommendation No. 4

The fourth and final recommendation is the development of an Irish university consortium for Arctic and Northern studies, as well as a supporting Irish-Nordic university database. A key goal of the NARI is to promote education on the Arctic North within Ireland, yet it should be noted that cultural diplomacy can also make use of educational tools such as scholarship programs. For example, in recent years, the DFA in partnership with the Marine Institute, has offered a scholarship for an Irish Arctic researcher to attend the annual Arctic Frontiers Emerging Leaders program in northern Norway. The Emerging Leaders program is an opportunity for post-graduate students and early-career professionals to engage with their counterparts from Arctic and non-Arctic states.

Going forward, we believe it is essential to further promote Irish-Arctic linkages through establishing university partnerships and create opportunities for educational exchanges, scholarships, field-research trips, and conferences to strengthen research collaboration. This activity coincides with the current Action Plan which identifies under objective II the goal of “encouraging Irish universities and relevant agencies to engage with their Nordic counterparts on promoting Irish expertise” and furthermore, to “establish new research partnerships with Nordic institutes and companies by 2025” (DFA, 2021b, pp. 12–13). Further action points relating to this goal include “consult with Irish universities to determine existing formal links with Nordic universities” and produce a “data-map showing Irish alumni in Nordic states” (DFA, 2021b, p. 18). In alignment with this specific action point, we propose that the creation of an Irish university consortium focused on multidisciplinary Northern and Arctic studies in HSS is beneficial to enable flexible learning opportunities that allow for the broadening of university curricula, and also to serve as a means for the sharing of knowledge and educational resources within HSS. In particular, courses offered online as distance learning will produce more opportunities for students and Arctic researchers to expand their knowledge on specific Northern and Arctic research areas within HSS. With the global COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching has become the new norm and technology allows greater flexibility with respect to the delivery of academic courses. The creation of new arts and humanities degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels that include interdisciplinary studies will provide students with a deeper knowledge of the Arctic and Nordic countries, in addition to tailoring students’ research and flexibility to remotely partake in elective classes offered at different institutions than their ‘home’ university.

In support of this consortium, we also envision the development of an information database of Irish and Nordic universities involved in HSS research that could be made available through the NARI website. Such a database could be created as either a standalone listing or integrated within a general university database for all academic disciplines relating to the Arctic and the North. However, we feel that with respect to Arctic and Northern studies within the HSS disciplines, such a database would be vital as HSS research is often less visible than the natural sciences, particularly when it comes to Arctic research. This database would provide specific details including the names and titles of university departments, contact personnel, and any existing academic exchange agreements or partnerships that Irish universities have with those in the Nordic countries. An Irish-Nordic university database would make it is easier to support existing partnerships, identify potential new connections, and reveal where gaps are present. Such gaps relate not only to research but also to university courses and curricula.

Two of the distinct historical periods on which Part II of this chapter focuses (i.e., early Christian Era and the Viking Age) demonstrate the important role that Irish and Celtic studies have in promoting Irish-Nordic historical connections. Students and academics involved in Irish-Nordic research on the island of Ireland currently participate in academic networks and international symposia such as the Societas Celtologica Nordica, a well-established Swedish symposium.Footnote 23 In contrast, however, the structuring of Irish and Celtic studies degree programs offered within the Republic and north of IrelandFootnote 24 do not, at present, offer the possibility of studying Nordic culture or languages alongside Irish. Given the strong and evident historical ties between Ireland and the Nordic region, such degree courses should be developed in the future and modelled on Celtic-Nordic study programs that exist in neighbouring countries. For example, the University of Edinburgh in the UK offers a Master of Arts degree in Celtic and Scandinavian studies, combining literary studies in early Irish, medieval Welsh, and Scottish Gaelic with Scandinavian studies.Footnote 25 This degree could serve as a template for developing a similar program offered partially, or fully, online through one or more universities on the island of Ireland. In the Republic, the development of this type of degree could be a multidisciplinary educational initiative serving to promote Ireland’s Nordic Strategy, especially if such a program could offer tuition in both the Irish and Nordic languages, thus providing ongoing opportunities for language exchange programs with Nordic partner universities.

Regarding development of international academic partnerships, new connections are already being established by Irish universities. On the same day that the NARI was officially launched (i.e., 20 February 2020), the Centre for the Environment at TCD announced that it had applied to the University of the Arctic (UArctic) (https://www.uarctic.org/) network and subsequently became the first UArctic member from Ireland. Endorsed by the Arctic Council, the UArctic network was launched in 2001 as an international association based in Finland. UArctic’s activities are summarized as “a network of universities, colleges, research institutes, and other organizations concerned with education and research in and about the north” (UArctic, n.d., para. 1). The Halpin Centre for Research and Innovation, based in the National Maritime College of Ireland, a constituent college of MTU Cork, applied for UArctic status early in 2023, and was met with approval at the UArctic Assembly meeting in Québec in May 2023. It should be noted that the two above mentioned Irish UArctic members and their affiliated departments/research centres do not specialize in HSS research. However, expanding the number of Irish partners involved within the UArctic network is an important step in fostering international university collaboration between Ireland and Arctic partner universities and could also facilitate with the development of an Irish-Nordic university database.

14.5 Conclusion

This chapter began by framing Ireland’s Northern and Arctic connections through a discussion on contemporary political developments, namely how Ireland’s application for observer status in the AC provides a stimulus to organize and invigorate Northern and Arctic research in Ireland. Although it was a disappointing setback that Ireland did not achieve this status in 2021, there were many positive outcomes from the process of applying, including creation of the NARI and organization of events surrounding the launch of Ireland’s AC application and release of its Nordic Strategy—these all helped raise the profile of Northern and Arctic research in Ireland. While these efforts may be perceived as largely government-led, academic researchers have an important contribution to make regarding how different Northern and Arctic identities, and especially Irish perceptions of these, are perceived and represented in the public domain. Through the creation of the NARI and subsequent HSS Working Group, this representation has a formal structure that could be utilized for future collaboration. Yet more work is needed particularly with respect to providing online resources and reading lists. The digitization of artefacts and documents relating to Northern and Arctic heritage as part of national digitalization projects, or an international Arctic digital library and archive, are reasonable next steps.

The present chapter adds to the literature and contributes to representation by raising important questions surrounding Ireland’s newly emerging Northern and Arctic identities. By using the three categories of Arctic identities devised by Lanteigne, this chapter posits that Ireland potentially qualifies to claim all three. Furthermore, the chapter argues in support of Ireland being recognized as an Arctic-adjacent state that has political and economic interests in the Arctic region while also claiming rich and diverse historical linkages with the Nordic states. Through a brief analysis of Ireland’s Nordic Strategy, the chapter points out that the Irish Government recognizes the value of utilizing historical and cultural connections with Nordic states to strengthen cultural diplomacy in the Nordic and Arctic region. The early Christian Era and Viking Age are successful themes for historical and cultural events while also proving popular with the public, in addition to strengthening Ireland’s bilateral relations with Nordic states. However, for Ireland to fully achieve the objectives outlined in its Nordic Strategy, the Irish Government also must ensure a strong academic research base upon which to demonstrate regional expertise and scientific engagement.

Concerning input from the broader field of HSS, there will be challenges to this endeavour arising from ongoing funding and pedagogical issues that are not constrained to the Irish example alone (e.g., the structure and content of university courses, as well as the false divisions within and between academic fields). Although such influences do not lend well to the creation of a strong Irish interdisciplinary Arctic and Northern studies field in HSS, these challenges are not insurmountable. This process would require diligence and much work on behalf of Irish HSS researchers but could be achieved with the necessary funding supports. At the same time, this interdisciplinary field must be created with direct involvement of library and information science to help raise public awareness and provide both the necessary intellectual and networking supports for this endeavour.