Gofraid ua Ímair

Gofraid ua Ímair or Guthfrith of Ivar (Old Norse: Guðrøðr [ˈɡuðˌrøðz̠], Latin: Guthfridus, fl.

Sitric's early reign was marked by raids he conducted against the Gaelic (Native-Irish), including one at Armagh.

Sitric Cáech died in 927 and Gofraid left for Northumbria, delegating authority in Dublin to his sons.

[3] Archaeological evidence suggests Dublin remained occupied in the years immediately following this expulsion, perhaps indicating only the ruling elite were forced to leave.

[7] 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".

[9] In 917 the Irish Annals describe two grandsons of Ímar, Sitric Cáech and Ragnall, leading their fleets to Ireland.

Niall Glúndub, overking of the Northern Uí Néill, saw these Vikings as a threat, and he marched an army south to repel them.

[17] Two years later his son Albann[nb 3] led a raiding force north, landing at Linn Duachaill on 4 September.

The Irish annals record the Gofraid left Ireland that year, along with a great many others from Dublin and Linns to claim Sitric's throne.

In his version, Gofraid goes to "Scotia" following Sitric's death, to attend a meeting at Dacre with Æthelstan, Constantine II of Scotland, and Owen I of Strathclyde.

[21] In 931 Gofraid left Dublin for Mag Raigne in Ossory, where the rival Vikings of Limerick had set up a camp following a failed attack on Connaught the previous year.

The annals report that Gofraid's aim was to expel a grandson (or great-grandson) of Ímar from Mag Raigne, perhaps one of the sons of Sitric who had seized Dublin in 927 probably allied with the Limerick-based Tomrair mac Ailchi.

Downham suggests that the establishment of the camp at Mag Raigne was an attempt by the Vikings of Limerick to limit the ability of Gofraid and his kin to project their power through Ireland.

One possible reason for the lack of a patronym might be that Gofraid was the child of a son of Ímar who never ruled Dublin, or who spent most of his time outside Ireland, thus making Gofraid's legitimacy to rule Dublin dependent on the identity of his grandfather, not his father.

His son Amlaíb succeeded Gofraid as King of Dublin, and eventually reclaimed Northumbria for the Vikings too.