Sitric Cáech

Norse King of Dublin and King of York

Sitric Cáech or Sihtric Cáech or Sigtrygg Gále, ( , , died 927) was a Hiberno Scandinavian Viking leader who ruled Dublin and then Viking Northumbria in the early 10th century. He was a grandson of Ímar and a member of the Uí Ímair. Sitric was most probably among those Vikings expelled from Dublin in 902, whereafter he may have ruled territory in the eastern Danelaw in England. In 917, he and his kinsman Ragnall ua Ímair sailed separate fleets to Ireland where they won several battles against local kings. Sitric successfully recaptured Dublin and established himself as king, while Ragnall returned to England to become King of Northumbria. In 919, Sitric won a victory at the Battle of Islandbridge over a coalition of local Irish kings who aimed to expel the Uí Ímair from Ireland. Six Irish kings were killed in the battle, including Niall Glúndub, overking of the Northern Uí Néill and High King of Ireland. In 920 Sitric left Dublin for Northumbria, with his kinsman Gofraid ua Ímair succeeding him as king in Dublin. That same year Sitric led a raid on Davenport, Cheshire, perhaps as an act of defiance against Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo Saxons. In 921 Ragnall ua Ímair died, with Sitric succeeding him as King of Northumbria. Though there are no written accounts of conflict, numismatic evidence suggests there was a Viking reconquest of a large part of Mercia in the following few years. An agreement of some sort between the Vikings of Northumbria and the Anglo Saxons was achieved in 926 when Sitric married a sister of Æthelstan, perhaps Edith of Polesworth. Sitric also converted to Christianity, though this did not last long and he soon reverted to paganism. He died in 927 and was succeeded by his kinsman Gofraid ua Ímair. Sitric's son Gofraid later reigned as king of Dublin, his son Aralt (Harald) as king of Limerick, and his son Amlaíb Cuarán as king of both Dublin and Northumbria.

The ruling Vikings of Dublin were expelled from the city in 902 by a joint force led by Máel Finnia mac Flannacán, overking of Brega and Cerball mac Muirecáin, overking of Leinster. Those Vikings that survived the capture of the city split into different groups; some went to France, some to England, and some to Wales. Archaeological evidence suggests Dublin remained occupied in the years immediately following this expulsion, perhaps indicating only the ruling elite were forced to leave. However, Viking raids on Irish settlements continued, and in 914, a large Viking fleet travelled to Waterford. The arrival of this fleet marked the re establishment of Viking rule over parts of Ireland, and was followed by more Vikings settling in Limerick the following year. The main historical sources for this period are the Norse sagas and the Irish annals. Some of the annals, such as the Annals of Ulster, are believed to be contemporary accounts, whereas the sagas were written down at dates much later than the events they describe and are considered far less reliable. A few of the annals such as the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland and the Annals of the Four Masters were also compiled at later dates, in part from more contemporary material and in part from fragments of sagas. According to Downham, "apart from these additions [of saga fragments], Irish chronicles are considered by scholars to be largely accurate records, albeit partisan in their presentation of events".

In the annals Sitric is sometimes identified by the use of one of his epithets, or by the use of "ua Ímair", meaning "grandson of Ímar", but never with a patronymic. As such, it is not possible to identify which of the three known sons of Ímar (Bárid, Sichfrith or Sitriuc) – if any – was the father of Sitric. One possible reason for the lack of a patronym might be that Sitric was the child of a son of Ímar who never ruled Dublin, or who spent most of his time outside Ireland, thus making Sitric's legitimacy to rule Dublin dependent on the identity of his grandfather, not his father. Another possibility is that Sitric was a grandson of Ímar through a daughter, again with his right to rule dependent on his grandfather. The Annals of Clonmacnoise mention two sons of Sitric, Auisle and Sichfrith, falling at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937. Another son, Aralt, ruled as King of Limerick for an unknown length of time until his death in battle in 940. Sitric's son Amlaíb Cuarán (d. 981) reigned twice each as King of Dublin and King of Northumbria, and may have been the basis of the Middle English romance character Havelok the Dane. Gofraid (d. 951) may have been another son though his father is only named as "Sitric", leaving his relationship to Sitric ua Ímair unclear. Orkneyinga saga tells that a daughter of Sitric named Gytha was married to Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway. According to Hudson, this is unlikely to be correct, since the marriage is said to have occurred sixty three years after Sitric's death. It is much more likely that Gytha was actually a granddaughter of Sitric through his son Amlaíb Cuarán. Sitric married an unnamed sister of Æthelstan in 926. William did not know her name, but traditions first recorded at Bury St Edmunds in the early twelfth century identify her as Saint Edith of Polesworth. The truth of his identification is debated, but regardless of her name it is likely that she entered a nunnery in widowhood. According to some late sources, such as the chronicler John of Wallingford, Amlaíb Cuarán was the son of Sitric and this West Saxon princess.

Sigtrygg appears as a character in The Saxon Stories, a series of historical novels by Bernard Cornwell. In the books he is portrayed as the brother of Ragnall ua Ímair, and he marries Stiorra, the daughter of the book's protagonist, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

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