Ragnall mac Gofraid

King of the Isles

Ragnall was a son of Gofraid mac Arailt, King of the Isles (died 989). Ragnall belonged to the Meic Arailt, a family named after his paternal grandfather, Aralt. The latter's identity is uncertain, although he may well have been a member of the Uí Ímair kindred. From at least 972 to 989 Gofraid actively campaigned in the Irish Sea region, after which the political cohesion of Kingdom of the Isles—perhaps shaken by Orcadian encroachment in the 980s—seems to have diminished.

There is evidence to suggest that Sigurðr Hlǫðvisson, Earl of Orkney (died 1014) extended his authority from Orkney into the Isles in the late tenth- and early eleventh century. According to various Scandinavian sources, Sigurðr oversaw numerous raids into the Isles during his career. For instance, the thirteenth-century Njáls saga states that one of Sigurðr's followers, Kári Sǫlmundarson, extracted taxes from the northern Hebrides, then controlled by a Hebridean earl named Gilli. Also noted are additional assaults conducted by accomplices of Sigurðr throughout the Hebrides, Kintyre, Mann, and Anglesey. The thirteenth-century Orkneyinga saga makes note of Sigurðr's raids into the Hebrides, whilst the thirteenth-century Eyrbyggja saga states that his forces reached as far as Mann where he collected taxation.

The extent of Gofraid's own authority in the Hebrides is unknown due to his apparent coexistence with Gilli, and to the uncertainty of Orcadian encroachment. Gofraid's successor is likewise uncertain. On one hand, he may have been succeeded by Ragnall himself. Although it is conceivable that either Gilli or Sigurðr capitalised on Gofraid's death, and extended their overlordship as far south as Mann, possible after-effects such as these are uncorroborated. Although it is possible that Gilli controlled the Hebrides whilst Gofraid ruled Mann, the title accorded to the latter on his death could indicate otherwise. If so, the chronology of Gilli's subordination to Sigurðr may actually date to the period after Ragnall's death in 1004/1005. Little is certain of Ragnall's reign. Certainly, he was accorded the kingship of the Isles by the time of his death, and it is possible that he faced opposition from Sigurðr during his career.

Njáls saga specifically states that the latter and his men overcame a king on Mann named Gofraid after which they plundered the Isles. Whilst this royal figure may well refer to Ragnall's father, another possibility is that source actually refers to Ragnall himself. Contemporary Orcadian expansion may be perceptible in the evidence of the land-assessment system of ouncelands in the Hebrides and along the western coast of Scotland. If Sigurðr's authority indeed stretched over the Isles in the last decades of the tenth century, such an intrusion could account for the numbers of silver hoards dating to this time. The remarkable proportion of silver hoards from Mann and the Scandinavian regions of Scotland that date to about 1000 seem to reflect the wealth of Sigurðr's domain at about the apogee of his authority. The hoards from Argyll that date to this period could be indicative of conflict between Sigurðr and Ragnall.

At some point in the decade following Gofraid's demise, Sveinn Haraldsson, King of Denmark (died 1014) was forced from his own realm. According to Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum by Adam of Bremen (died c. 1085), Sveinn fled to Æthelræd II, King of the English (died 1016), before he found shelter with an certain "rex Scothorum". Whilst this unnamed monarch could be identical to the reigning Cináed mac Maíl Choluim, King of Alba (died 995), the term Scoti can refer to the Irish just as well as the Scots. Adam is otherwise known to have been less than well-informed of affairs in Britain, and it is possible that was confused as to the king's true identity. For instance, Adam may well have referred to a Scottish, Irish, Cumbrian, or Norse-Gaelic monarch. In fact, Ragnall's position of power in the Irish Sea could well have led Adam to regard him as an Irish royal. In 995, the "B" version of the eleventh–thirteenth-century Annales Cambriæ, the thirteenth/fourteenth-century texts Brenhinedd y Saesson and Brut y Tywysogyon, report that Mann suffered an invasion from Sveinn. One possibility is that this assault was directed at the Uí Ímair. Certainly, Ragnall does not appear to have achieved the same level of success as his father, whilst Sveinn's invasion coincided with a bitter struggle for Dublin between Ímar, King of Waterford (died 1000) and Sitriuc mac Amlaíb, King of Dublin (died 1042)—strife amongst the Uí Ímair that was also capitalised upon by Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, King of Mide (died 1022) within the year.

Death

In 1004 or 1005, Ragnall died in Munster. His death is recorded by the eleventh–fourteenth-century Annals of Inisfallen, the fifteenth–sixteenth-century Annals of Ulster, and the twelfth-century Chronicon Scotorum. The circumstances surrounding Ragnall's demise are uncertain. One possibility is that he was attempting to take control of Limerick. Another possibility is that he may have been exiled from the Isles, which could account for the fact that no military engagement is associated with his obituaries.

Alternately, the record of Ragnall's death in Munster could indicate that he was attempting form an alliance with Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, King of Munster (died 1014). In 1004 or 1005, at about the time of Ragnall's death, Brian is styled imperator Scottorum ("emperor of the Scotti") by the ninth-century Book of Armagh. This title may be evidence that Brian claimed authority outwith Ireland, and could indicate that he indeed came to an accommodation with Ragnall and some of the men of the Isles. If so, such an aligned by Ragnall may have been undertaken in the context of countering the encroachment of Sigurðr's influence into the Isles. Whether Ragnall was subdued by Brian or merely formed an alliance with him, a possible aftereffect of Brian's apparent extension into the Isles may have been Sveinn's campaigning in the region, a venture possibly undertaken in an effort to offset Brian's influence.

There is evidence to suggest that Ragnall's family indeed held an alliance with Brian and his family. In 974, for example, Gofraid's brother, Maccus (fl. 974), is recorded to have attacked the monastic site of Inis Cathaig, where Ímar, King of Limerick (died 977)—an apparent foe of Brian's family—was taken prisoner. Explicit evidence of an alliance between Brian's family and the Meic Arailt is preserved by the Annals of Inisfallen which reports that the Meic Arailt rendezvoused with the sons of Brian's father at Waterford in 984, and exchanged hostages with them in an apparent agreement pertaining to military cooperation. This compact seems to indicate that Brian's family sought to align the Vikings of the Isles against those of Dublin.

In 1006, Brian mustered a massive force in southern Ireland and marched throughout the north of the island in a remarkable show of force. A passage preserved by the twelfth-century Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib claims that, whilst in the north, Brian's maritime forces levied tribute from Saxons and Britons, and from Argyll, the Lennox, and Alba. If Brian had indeed patronised Ragnall before his death, the attested actions of Gofraid and Maccus on Anglesey, and the campaigning of Gofraid in a region identified as Dál Riata, coupled with the record of Æthelræd's ravaging of Mann in 1000—an act which could have been undertaken in retaliation for depredations inflicted upon the English by the Meic Arailt—could have contributed to the boast of Brian's tribute by Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib.

Whilst Ragnall may have been driven from the Isles by Sigurðr's encroachment, it is also possible that it was Ragnall's overseas death—and a resultant power vacuum—that lured Orcadian comital power into the realm. Ragnall's near rival in the Isles may have been Gilli, who could have likewise seized upon Ragnall's death. The elimination of Ragnall from the region could have also been a factor in the remarkable invasion of England by Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Alba (died 1034) in 1006.

An apparent brother of Ragnall was a certain Lagmann mac Gofraid who is attested on the Continent commanding mercenary operations in the following decade. Lagmann's overseas campaigning could reveal that Brian also capitalised upon Ragnall's demise, and forced Lagmann into exile. An apparent son of Lagmann, a certain Amlaíb mac Lagmainn, is recorded to have fought and died against Brian's forces at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Amongst the multitude of slain were both Brian and Sigurðr. If Lagmann also died at about this time, the lack of a suitable native candidate to succeed as King of the Isles may account for the record of the region falling under the control of the Norwegian Hákon Eiríksson (died 1029/1030). Evidence that Knútr installed Hákon as overlord of the Isles may be preserved by the twelfth-century Ágrip af Nóregskonungasǫgum, which states that Hákon had been sent into the Isles by Óláfr Haraldsson, King of Norway (died 1030), and that Hákon ruled the region for the rest of his life.

Possible descendants

Ragnall may have been the father of Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin and the Isles (died 1064/1065). Other possible parents of this Norse-Gaelic monarch include two like-named rulers of Waterford: Ragnall mac Ímair, King of Waterford (died 1018), and this man's apparent son, Ragnall ua Ímair, King of Waterford (died 1035). Echmarcach appears to first emerge in the historical record in the first half of the eleventh century when the ninth–twelfth-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reveals that he was one of the three kings who met with Knútr Sveinnsson (died 1035), ruler of the North Sea Empire comprising the kingdoms of Denmark, England, and Norway. This source's record of Echmarcach in company with Máel Coluim and Mac Bethad mac Findlaích (died 1057)—the two other named kings—could indicate that he was in some sense a 'Scottish' ruler, and that his powerbase was located in the Isles. Such an orientation could add weight to the possibility that Echmarcach was descended from Ragnall. If Hákon had indeed possessed overlordship of the Isles, his eventual demise in 1029 or 1030 may well have paved the way for Echmarcach's own rise to power.

There is evidence to suggest that Ragnall had a daughter who married into the Uí Briain. Specifically, in 1032, the Annals of Inisfallen states that Donnchad mac Briain, King of Munster (died 1064) married the daughter of a certain Ragnall, adding: "hence the saying: 'the spring of Ragnall's daughter'". Upon her death about two decades later, the Annals of Tigernach identifies this woman as Cacht ingen Ragnaill (died 1054), and styles her Queen of Ireland. Like Echmarcach himself, Cacht's patronym could be evidence that she was a daughter of Ragnall, or a near relation of the like-named men who ruled Waterford.

Ragnall may have also been the paternal grandfather of Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill, King of Dublin (died 1075). The latter's apparent father, Amlaíb, could well have been the father of Sitriuc mac Amlaíb (died 1073), a man whose fall in an attack on Mann with two members of the Uí Briain is recorded by the Annals of Ulster in 1073. Decades afterwards in 1087, two men identified as descendants of a certain Ragnall are reported to have been slain in another invasion of Mann by the same source. Whilst Amlaíb may have been the father of these two as well, it is also possible that they were sons of Echmarcach or Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill.