1 - Hiberno-Manx Coins in the Irish Sea

Summary

Abstract

Innovatively tapping into the extensive numismatic evidence, Helen Davies analyzes the complex political and economic dynamic that extended across the Irish Sea, particularly between the Viking kingdom of Dublin and the rulers of the Isle of Man, during the late first and early second millennium CE. This period provides the background to the author's study of the evidence for a more subtle balance of power obtaining in this relationship than what previous studies have proposed.

Keywords: Glenfaba hoard, Dublin, Hiberno-Manx coins, Godred Crovan, Viking Age, kingship

The Hiberno-Manx coinage of the late Viking Age provides a window onto the economic and political situation of this period. Limited textual material survives to illuminate the years of the Hiberno-Manx mint, approximately 1020–65. Extant archaeological evidence provides intriguing hints, but these coins greatly increase the surviving material record. The coins, which derive from the Hiberno-Norse Dublin Phase II “Long Cross” type, were first identified by Michael Dolley in 1976. These artifacts support recent arguments about the connection between the Isle of Man and the Hiberno-Norse city-state based in Dublin. The creation of local coinage based on the Dublin model highlights political ties and movement of ideas within this obscure era of Manx history, allowing us to shed new light on Man's role in the politics of the Irish Sea region.

This article treats the numismatic evidence alongside the surviving textual and archaeological record in an effort to further understand the political situation in the Isle of Man shortly before the establishment of the kingdom of Man and the Isles. To this end, I will first introduce the documentary and material evidence as a way of examining the current level of understanding about late Viking Age Man, underscoring the gaps in our knowledge about this period that the coin evidence can fill. The second part of this essay provides a detailed description of the numismatic evidence with reference to the recent work on Manx hoarding. Here, I lay out the significance of the valuable data we can glean from the coins and the startling richness of this Manx material, especially when contrasted with comparable physical evidence from the surrounding Irish Sea region. The essay draws to a close with conclusions regarding the political ties and independence of Man.