Doyle Family name

Doyle Family Name and Viking Connection
Scandinavia and Ireland

Doyle or Ó Dubhghaill

Danish seamen about to invade England.
from "Miscellany on the life of St. Edmund"12c.
wikimedia commons.

Although we have no real proof of the ancestors of our James Doyle, we do have some interesting history of name of Doyle. We find that the root of the name goes back to the Irish word Ó Dubhghaill which comes from the combination of dubh "black" + gall "stranger". It is also used in combination with Scottish and Irish prenoum such as MacDougall, McDougall, MacDowell and McDowell. The word was used as a description of Vikings, either Norse(Northerners) or Danes. Mostly it was associated with the Danes who were dark haired (perhaps fur covered) and wore armor as opposed to Fionnghoill("fair foreigners"). Being "dark" in Ireland seems to have been an interesting distinction at that time and some believe it refers to "being dark hearted". Viking from the Old Norse word for "sea rover" or "pirate". The Vikings started their invasions with the St. Colmcille monastery on the island of Lambay in 795 ad off the coast of Ireland. Periodic raiding over the next 25 years also brought more familiarity and understanding of the indigenous tribes. During this same period the Irish tribes were also making almost three times as many invasions of other Irish communities. Alliances eventually were formed, settlements followed and trade routes established.

The Norse fleets ravaged the coastal cities repeatedly. They also traveled fairly easily up most the major rivers including the River Liffey at Dublin, the River Barrow in Waterford, the River Shannon in Limerick, and the River Boyne as far as the Hill of Tara. By 950 Dublin, Waterford, Wexford were major winter encampments. In 902 the Vikings were temporarily forced off the island only go on raids in England and France. They return again by 914 to Dublin.

There have been recent discoveries in the main site of Doyle in Wexford. It has turned out that there was a major trading center here with a supporting city of several thousand before the tenth century.

The Doyle name is one of the 20 most common names in Ireland. It is associated with the areas in which the Vikings eventually created major settlements at Wexford, Waterford, Limerick and Dublin among others. Its hard to find a place in Ireland that Doyle is not written on a sign for some business and bars-a-plenty.

Viking invasions. [Ridpath]

source:

Ridpath (1), John Clarke. With the Worlds' People. Washington, D.C.: Clark E. Ridpath, 1917.
The Viking Answer Lady
wikimedia commons.

| Irish Potato Famine | email to Cheryl Grubb ______________________________________________________________________________

Cheryl's Family Index || Ancestor Chart #1 || Regional History || Surname Index || Occupations

All information and photos included within these pages are here for the express purpose of personal genealogical research and may not be included or used for any commercial purpose or included in any commercial site without the express permission of Cheryl and Elroy Christenson. Copyright Elroy Christenson 1998-2016.

web pages created by Elroy Christenson- elroy@next1000.com - last updated 3/25/16