Ivar of Waterford

Ivar of Waterford (Irish: Ímar, rí Puirt Láirgi; Old Norse: Ívar) (died 1000) was the Norse king of Waterford from at least 969 until his death in the year 1000, and also reigned as King of Dublin, possibly from 989 to 993, and certainly again for less than a year between 994 and 995, returning after his expulsion from the city in 993 by Sigtrygg Silkbeard, who would expel him for good the next time.

Like his relation and contemporary Ivar of Limerick, and with whom he may actually be confused in one or two instances, Ivar's parentage is a little uncertain. However Clare Downham argues that his claim to Dublin and the names of his sons and grandsons suggest he did belong to the Uí Ímair dynasty. In 1867 James Henthorn Todd suggested him as a son of another Ímar, slain in battle against Ruaidrí ua Canannáin in 950, and assumed to be a son of the powerful Ragnall ua Ímair,King of Northumbria, who occupied Waterford and raided Munster from it in the second decade of the 10th century before moving on to take Scandinavian York. Ivar of Waterford had children and grandchildren also named Ragnall. Mary Valante agrees with Todd.

Ivar had a long and active career, and is first noted in 969 allied with, among several other parties, Mathgamain mac Cennétig of Dál gCais, to defend the Osraige against an attack by Murchad mac Finn, King of Leinster. His activities are then unknown (in the surviving sources) for over a decade, but following the retirement and death of Amlaíb Cuarán, King of Dublin in 980–1, Alex Woolf argues Ivar could have been assuming the role of leader of the Norse-Irish resistance to Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, who had defeated Amlaíb in the Battle of Tara in 980 and to whom Amlaíb's son Glúniairn and the Kingdom of Dublin were now subordinate. In 982 Ivar plundered Kildare in Máel Sechnaill's territory. Next year he joined forces with the King of Leinster Domnall Claen in a major battle against Máel Sechnaill and Glúniairn, in which his side suffered a rout and many were slain, with his son Gilla Pátraic and others of distinction among the dead. Máel Sechnaill then ravaged Leinster. A year later in 984 Ivar appears to have entered into an alliance with Brian Bóruma (successor of Mathgamain), and with the brothers Maccus and Gofraid mac Arailt, Kings of Mann and the Isles, turning from his alliance with Leinster to agree to attack both that kingdom and Dublin. According to Clare Downham, "their combined armies ravaged through the province but do not appear to have reached Dublin". She also suggests that Ivar's dynasty's long alliance with Dál gCais may have aided Brian in his later quest to dominate Ireland, and offers evidence of a similar long alliance with the Osraige.

...
Wikipedia