Unger, R. W. The Ship in the Medieval Economy, 600–1600.
London: Croom Helm and Montreal: Mc Gill-Queens Uni-
versity Press. 1980.
See also Adomnán; Dicuil; Naval Warfare;
Trade; Ports
SICK, MAINTENANCE OF THE
See Brehon Law
SITRIUC SILKENBEARD
(Sigytryggr Silkiskeggi), son of Amlaíb (Óláfr)
Cuarán, was king of Dublin for a period of almost fifty
years between 989 and 1036 During this period, the
great growth in trade and economic prosperity that had
begun under the reign of his father continued to flour-
ish, and the first coinage to be minted in Ireland
appeared in Dublin around 997, with the inscription
SIHTRIC REX DYFLIN and variants thereof.
Several short interruptions punctuated the long
reign of this Hiberno-Scandinavian king. In the early
990s, an ongoing rivalry between the descendants of
Amlaíb Cuarán and those of Ímar (Ivarr) of Waterford
was manifested in a struggle for control of Dublin.
Sitriuc managed to expel Ímar and three ships of Ímar’s
men from Dublin in 993, but was himself expelled in
994, the kingship going to Ragnall mac Ímair. Upon
Ragnall’s death in 995, Sitriuc returned to power, only
to be expelled again in 999 by Brian Boru. Sitriuc’s
expulsion followed Brian’s successful siege of Dublin
in the aftermath of the Battle of Glenn Máma; however,
after submitting to Brian and giving him hostages,
Sitriuc was allowed to return to his kingdom the sub-
sequent year. Sitriuc’s third departure—a pilgrimage
to Rome in 1028—was voluntary. During this third
absence, Sitriuc’s son Amlaíb (Óláfr) appears to have
become king of Dublin, ceding authority back to his
father at some point before 1031. Sitriuc’s pilgrimage
is a reflection of the Christian devotion characteristic
of his family since the conversion of his father, the
most marked legacy of which was Sitriuc’s founding
of Christ Church cathedral (c. 1030).
The family’s conversion to Christianity no doubt
helped to further facilitate the marital alliances that
had been taking place between Norse and Irish dynas-
ties since the mid-ninth century. Not only was Sitriuc
himself the product of such a union—his mother was
Gormfhlaith, daughter of the Uí Fáeláin king of Leinster
Murchad mac Finn—but he was also a partner in one
through his marriage to Sláine, daughter of Brian Boru.
Sitriuc’s sister Máel Muire, meanwhile, was married
to the king of Tara Máel Sechnaill II, whereas another
sister, Ragnall (Ragnhildr), was the wife of Domnall
mac Congalaig, king of Brega. The potential benefit
of such marriage alliances is seen to best effect in the
case of the mutual support afforded between Sitriuc
and his mother’s brother, Máel Mórda, king of Leinster
from 1003 to 1014. It was Máel Mórda who killed
Ragnall mac Ímair in 994, thereby enabling Sitriuc’s
return to power, whereas Sitriuc returned the favor in
995 by helping his uncle seize the current king of
Leinster, Donnchad mac Domnaill of the Uí Dúnchada,
thus clearing the way for Máel Mórda’s accession.
Thereafter, the two supported each other consistently,
most notably in their unsuccessful stands against Máel
Sechnaill II and Brian Boru at Glenn Máma in 999,
and against Brian in the battle of Clontarf in 1014.
Clearly, Sitriuc’s bonds to Máel Sechnaill and Brian
by marriage were in no way as effective as his bonds
by blood to the Uí Fáeláin.
While Sitriuc’s relations with Máel Sechnaill were
generally strained across the board, those with Brian
were more mixed. After Brian reinstated Sitriuc fol-
lowing the events of 999, the Dublin king, in conjunc-
tion with the Leinstermen, regularly accompanied
Brian on his hostings throughout the country. In 1013,
however, this cozy relationship changed when Sitriuc
joined with Máel Mórda against Brian in the hostilities
that eventually led to Clontarf. According to contem-
porary sources, Sitriuc and the Leinstermen were
assisted at Clontarf by contingents of Scandinavians
from the Orkneys and Hebrides; in later sources this
alliance becomes exaggerated to include representa-
tives from almost every corner of the Viking world.
The later sources also relate that Sitriuc stayed inside the
battlements of the city throughout the conflict, defending
his fortress from within, while his Scandinavian allies
fought alongside the Leinstermen from without. Given
that Sitriuc survived to rule Dublin for more than
twenty more years after the battle, despite huge casu-
alties on the parts of his Leinster and Scandinavian
allies as well as of Brian’s forces, this account of his
whereabouts may indeed reflect the truth.
Ultimately, it was Sitriuc’s fellow Hiberno-
Scandinavians rather than any Irish ruler who put an end
to his reign as king of Dublin. In 1035, Sitriuc murdered
Ragnall Ua Ímair, king of Waterford, enflaming the feud
with the descendants of Ímar. The following year, one
such descendant, Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, took over
control as king of Dublin and Sitriuc went into exile
“across the sea,” possibly Wales, and died in 1042.
ANNE CONNONReferences and Further Reading
Clarke, Howard B., Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, and Raghnall Ó Floinn,
editors. Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age.
Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998.SITRIUC SILKENBEARD