The 'Sea Stallion of Glendalough'


The Viking long ship, 'The Sea Stallion of Glendalough' was painted by me on the East Pier in July 2008.

She was an ocean-going thoroughbred reconstruction of 'Skuldelev 2', a large longship from the Viking Age. Some 30m in length, the long ship was reconstructed by the Viking Ship Museum in Denmark in 2004.

Based on recent wood and tree-ring analyses, the original ship was built in accordance with Scandinavian shipbuilding traditions in Dublin around the year 1042. The ship is thus linked with the Scandinavian expansion westwards and the history of the Vikings in Ireland. Without doubt the ship was also on the scene of many dramatic events that occurred at the end of the Viking Age, after William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066.

In 2007, the Sea Stallion undertook a voyage from her home port, Roskilde, Denmark to Dublin. On reaching the River Liffey, she was lifted and hosted in Collins Barracks Museum where she was on display for visitors for a year until her return to Denmark in 2008.

It was on her return journey home through the Channel Islands and the North Sea that she was forced to berth in Wicklow harbour for two days and nights due to inclement weather, with her crew members put up by local people. A lucky stop-off for me then!

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