See also
| Husband: | Godred + CROVAN (1050-1092) | |
| Wife: | Ragnhild + HAROLDSDOTTIR (1050- ) | |
| Children: | Olaf I + GODREDSSON (1080-1153) | |
| Lagmann (c. 1085- ) | ||
| Harald (c. 1087- ) | ||
| Fergus + (1090-1161) | ||
| Name: | Godred + CROVAN | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Nickname: | King Orry | |
| Father: | Imar + MAC ARALT (1000- ) | |
| Mother: | - | |
| Birth | 1050 | Isle of Man |
| Title | frm 1079 to 1095 (age 28-45) | King of the Isle of Man1 |
| Norse Kings of Man and the Isles alias Sudreys The Norse Kingdom of Man and the Isles Hiberno-Norse Lords of the Hebrides Godfred mac Fergus c.836-853 Sub-Kings under Norse Dublin Rule Caitill Find Tryggvi c.870-c.880 Asbjorn Skerjablesi c.880-899 Disputed between the Norse Dublin and York Rule 899-914 Direct Norse York Rule 914-921 Sub-Kings under Norse Kings of Dublin & York Gibhleachan 921-937 Mac Ragnall 937-942 Sub-Kings under Norse Dublin Rule Magnus I 972-978 Godfred I 978-989 Sub-Kings under Orcadian Rule Harald I 989-999 Godfred II 999-c.1000 Ragnald I Godfredson c.1000-1005 Kenneth Godfredson 1005-c.1014 Sub-Kings under Norse Dublin Rule Swein Kennethson c.1014-1034 Harald II Svarte the Black c.1034-1052 Margad Rganallson 1052-1061 Murchaid mac Diarmait 1061-1070 Fingal Gofredson 1070-1079 Norse Kings of Man & the Isles Godfred IV Crovan 1079-1095 Magnus II Barfod Barelegs 1095-1102 Lagman 1102-1104 Sigurd 1104-1130 Domnall mac Teige 1114-1115 Murchadh O'Brian 1115-1137 Olaf I Bitling the Red 1137-1153 Godfred V the Black 1153-1158 Somerled 1158-1164 In 1164 the Isles broke away from Man and became an independent Kingdom |
||
| Occupation | King of the Isle of Man | |
| Title | frm 1086 to 1094 (age 35-44) | Norse-Gael Ruler of Dublin |
| Death | 1092 (age 41-42) | Island Islay, Western Isles, Scotland |
| Name: | Ragnhild + HAROLDSDOTTIR | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | Haakon + IVARSSON (1031-1079) | |
| Mother: | Ragnhild + MAGNUSDATTER (1041-1135) | |
| Birth | 1050 | Yorkshire, England |
| Name: | Olaf I + GODREDSSON | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Ingeborg + HAKONSDATTER (1106- ) | |
| Birth | 1080 | Isle of Man |
| Occupation | King of the Isle of Man | |
| Title | King of the Isle of Man | |
| Death | 1153 (age 72-73) | Isle of Man |
| Name: | Lagmann | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1085 (est) | |
| Name: | Harald | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1087 (est) | |
| Name: | Fergus + | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Elizabeth + (1095- ) | |
| Birth | 1090 | Galloway, Perthshire, Scotland |
| Occupation | Lord of Galloway | |
| Title | Lord of Galloway | |
| Death | 1161 (age 70-71) | Holyrood Abbey, Edinburg, Edinburghsire, Scotland |
Godred Crovan (died 1095) was a Norse-Gael ruler of Dublin, and King of Mann and the Isles in the second half of the 11th century. Godred's epithet Crovan may mean "white hand" (Middle Irish: crobh bhan).[2] In Manx folklore he is known as King Orry.
The notice of Godred's death in the Annals of Tigernach calls him Gofraid mac meic Aralt or Godred, son of Harald's son. As a result, it has been suggested that Godred was a son, or nephew, of the Norse-Gael king Ímar mac Arailt (or Ivar Haraldsson) who ruled Dublin from 1038 to 1046, who was in turn a nephew of Sigtrygg Silkbeard and grandson of Amlaíb Cuarán.[3] This would make Godred a dynast of the Uí Ímair. The Chronicles of Mann call Godred the son of Harald the Black of Ysland, variously interpreted as Islay, Ireland or Iceland,[4] and make him a survivor of Harald Hardraade's defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. They say that he took refuge with his kinsman Godred Sigtryggsson, then King of Mann and the Isles. Irish annals record that Godred was subject to the Irish King of Dublin, Murchad son of Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó of the Uí Cheinnselaig. Godred Sigtryggsson and Murchad both died in 1070 and the rule of the Isle of Man passed to Godred's son Fingal.
[edit] Invasions of the Isle of Man
Main article: Battle of Skyhill
In 1079, the Chronicles of Mann say that Godred invaded the Isle of Man three times:
“ In the year 1056 [1079], Godred Crovan collected a number of ships and came to Mann; he gave battle to the natives but was defeated, and forced to fly. Again he assembled an army and a fleet, came to Mann, encountered the Manxmen, was defeated and put to fight. A third time he collected a numerous body of followers, came by night to the port called Ramsey, and concealed 300 men in a wood, on the sloping brow of a hill called Sky Hill. At daylight the men of Mann drew up in order of battle, and, with a mighty rush, encountered Godred. During the heat of the contest the 300 men, rising from the ambuscade in the rear, threw the Manxmen into disorder, and compelled them to fly. ”
[edit] Conquest and loss of Dublin
Standing stone at Carragh Bhàn, Islay
The Chronicles say, and Irish sources agree, that Godred then took Dublin although the date is unknown. In 1087 the Annals of Ulster record that "the grandsons of Ragnall" were killed on an expedition to the Isle of Man. In 1094 Godred was driven out of Dublin by Muircheartach Ua Briain. He died the following year, "of pestilence" according the Annals of the Four Masters, on Islay. According to tradition a standing stone at Carragh Bhàn just north of Loch Finlaggan marks his grave.[5]
[edit] Issue and legacy
Godred left three known sons, Lagmann, Olaf and Harald. Harald was blinded by Lagmann and disappears from the record, but the descendants of Lagmann and Olaf ruled the Kingdom of the Isles until the rise of Somerled and his sons, and ruled the Isle of Man until the end of the kingdom 1265 and its annexation by Alexander III, King of Scots. Even as late as 1275 Godred son of the last King of Mann tried to seize the island.
"King Orry" is remembered in song and he gave his name to the Milky Way, which was known as raad mooar ree Gorry (the great track of King Gorry) in the Manx language.[6]
| 1 | "Britannia.com/history" (http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/man.html). |