Godred's arrival on Mann, rather than Dublin, may well be explained by the varying political alignments in the Irish Sea region. Whilst he had allied himself to the cause of the invading Haraldr, the cause of the defending Harold was clearly adhered to by Diarmait, the contemporary overlord of Dublin. In fact, the latter seems to have lent Harold's family—the Godwinsons—assistance in the decade before the Norwegian invasion. He later sheltered Harold's sons following the eventual English defeat at the hands of the Normans, and further gave the Godwinsons military assistance in their insurrections against the new Norman regime in 1068 and 1069.