Kingdom of Dublin

The first reference to the Vikings comes from the Annals of Ulster and the first entry for 841 AD reads: "Pagans still on Lough Neagh". It is from this date onward that historians get references to ship fortresses or longphorts being established in Ireland. The Vikings may have first over-wintered in 840–841 AD. The actual location of the longphort of Dublin is still a hotly debated issue. Norse rulers of Dublin were often co-kings, and occasionally also Kings of Jórvík in what is now Yorkshire. Under their rule, Dublin became a significant port in trading slaves. The hinterland of Dublin in the Norse period was named in . Over time, the settlers in Dublin became increasingly Gaelicized. They began to exhibit a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism, and are often referred to as Norse-Gaels. In 988, Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill led the initial Gaelic conquest of Dublin. As a result, the founding of Dublin is counted by some from the year 988, although a village had existed on the site of Dublin nearly a thousand years earlier. Coins were minted in Dublin by about 995, and on Mann by about 1025. In the mid-11th century, the Kingdom of Leinster began exerting influence over Dublin. The last king of Dublin was killed by the Norman conquerors of Dublin in 1171. ==Geography==