New EU project shines the spotlight on Cork's vibrant Viking heritage

It may be more than a millennium since there was a sizable Viking presence on the banks of the Lee, but University College Cork has just launched a major EU project exploring how the Vikings continue to shape culture, identity, and politics here.

Cork’s Viking history dates to at least AD820, when the monastery at Corcach Mór na Mumhan was raided, and its valuables plundered.

It was again raided four or five times in the following century, according to historian and former lord mayor of Cork Kieran McCarthy.

The marshy environment would not have been entirely welcoming, but the raiders nonetheless established a settlement or longport here.

“We cannot be sure of the exact location of the Viking town, but it is known that in AD848 a settlement base called Dún Corcaighe, or Fort of the Marshes, was besieged by Olchobar, King of Caiseal from North Munster,” Mr McCarthy said.

“It is thought that it was located on an island, the core of which could be marked by South Main Street, an area that was developed in ensuing centuries by other colonialists.”

A century later, the Norwegian presence in Corcach Mór na Mumhan was interrupted by invaders from Denmark, and those Danish Vikings would in turn settle here too.

Influence of Viking invaders

An initiative, NorseMap, a five-year European research project led by University College Cork (UCC) and funded through a €2m European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant, will explore the rich influence of those Viking invaders.

The project examines how Viking history has been remembered, interpreted, and reimagined across Europe over the past thousand years, using innovative digital mapping and public participation to explore the enduring legacy of the Viking Age.

The launch last week of NorseMap, and its app iViking, featured an acoustic concert in St Peter’s Church which was performed on Saturday by acclaimed Norwegian musician Einar Selvik, founder of the pioneering Nordic music group Wardruna.

Mr Selvik’s performance brought Viking music back to one of Ireland’s oldest Norse settlements, marking the beginning of a major European project exploring the enduring and complex legacy of the Vikings.

Professor Tom Birkett, principal investigator of NorseMap and senior lecturer in Old English and Old Norse at UCC, said the Viking influence could be seen everywhere in the modern world.

“They are used to entertain, promote tourism, underpin political movements, support diverse identities, and sell products,” he said.

“NorseMap asks how the Viking past is used today, how public understanding of the Vikings has evolved over time, and what that tells us about our politics, culture, and European identity.

“Cork was founded as a Viking settlement, so it’s incredibly fitting that we launch NorseMap here by bringing the sounds of the Viking Age back to the city after a thousand years.”

The project explores how the Viking past has been remembered, reimagined, and sometimes manipulated over the last 1,000 years, shaping identities, inspiring cultural, and political movements across Europe.

Innovative crowdsourced platform

At the heart of the project is NorseMap, an innovative crowdsourced platform inviting people across Europe to help build the first comprehensive map of the legacy of Vikings.

Through the iViking app, members of the public are invited to capture and upload photographs of Viking and Norse heritage encountered in everyday life, from souvenirs, sport, books, and artworks to advertising, marketing campaigns, and other contemporary uses of Viking imagery and culture.