The first Viking raids recorded in Ireland date to 795 AD, and then they rapidly appear in the historic record. Traditionally the early Viking activity in Ireland falls into three phases, the first being a period of lightning hit-and-run raids which took place from the 790’s until the 820’s. This was followed by a phase of intensive Viking campaigning in the area dating to the 830’s when the Annals first begin to mention the presence of Viking bases known as longphorts - literally ship ports. This phase then ends in 902 when the Ui Imar (the Viking Dynasty founded by Ivar the Boneless) is expelled from Dublin, and many of the longphorts are thought to have been destroyed by Irish
