Turgesius

Turgesius (died 845) (also spelled "Turgeis") was a Viking chief active in Ireland who is said to have conquered Dublin. It is not at all clear whether the names in the Irish annals represent the Old Norse Thurgestr or Thorgísl. The prinicpal island on Lough Lene is named after him.

Life

The sole reliable record of Turgesius is report of his death in the "Annals of Ulster". In 845 he was captured by Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid of Clann Cholmáin and drowned in Lough Owel. ["Annals of Ulster", AU 845.8; Crawford, "Scandinavian Scotland", p. 49, describes this as "the only historical fact which can be relied upon".] Less certainly, the "Annals of the Four Masters" associate Turgesius with attacks on Connacht, Mide and the church at Clonmacnoise in the year before his death. ["Annals of the Four Masters", AFM 843.13.]

Myth

By the twelfth century, when the "The War of the Irish with the Foreigners" ("Cogad Gaedel re Gaillaib") was composed to magnify the achievements of Brian Bóruma, Turgesius had become a major figure. [For the origins of the "Cogad", see Ó Corráin, "Ireland, Wales, Man and the Hebrides", pp. 105–106.] Gerald of Wales, who may have had access to a version of this work, included similar accounts in his "Topographia Hibernica". These accounts are not trustworthy. [Sawyer, "Kings and Vikings", p. 22, quotes Ó Corráin, who describes them as a 'farrago'; Crawford, "Scandinavian Scotland", p. 49; Byrne, "Irish Kings and High Kings", p. 267. Ó Cróinín, "Early Medieval Ireland", p. 262, follows Liam De Paor in describing the "Cogad" as "about as good a source of information on the Vikings as 'Star Trek' is for the American space programme". Geoffrey Keating's accounts are derived from Gerald; Ó Cróinín, "Early Medieval Ireland", p. 247.]

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