page_title: Godred Crovan
section_title: Memory in Manx and Hebridean tradition
hierarchical_section_title: Godred Crovan / Legacy / Memory in Manx and Hebridean tradition
caption_attribution_description: English: Standing Stone below Druim an Stuim The Machrie Hotel is just visible 1 km north.
context_page_description: Godred Crovan, known in Gaelic as Gofraid Crobán, Gofraid Meránach, and Gofraid Méránach, was a Norse-Gaelic ruler of the kingdoms of Dublin and the Isles. Although his precise parentage has not completely been proven, he was certainly an Uí Ímair dynast, and a descendant of Amlaíb Cúarán, King of Northumbria and Dublin.
  Godred first appears on record in the context of supporting the Norwegian invasion of England in 1066. Following the collapse of this campaign, Godred is recorded to have arrived on Mann, at the court of Gofraid mac Sitriuc, King of the Isles, a likely kinsman of his. During the 1070s, the latter died and was succeeded by his son, Fingal. Within the decade, Godred violently seized the kingship for himself, although the exact circumstances surrounding this takeover are uncertain. By 1091, Godred attained the kingship of Dublin, and thereby secured complete control of the valuable trade routes through the Irish Sea region. Godred's expansion may be further perceptible in the Clyde estuary and Galloway, and may well have forced the English to consolidate control of Cumberland in an effort to secure their western maritime flank.
context_section_description: Godred's arrival on Mann is commonly taken as a starting point of Manx history. This elevated place in the island's historiography is partly due to his position as an apical ancestral figure of later kings, and by his preeminent position in the historical account of the Isles preserved by the Chronicle of Mann. In fact, this source appears to have been commissioned by Godred's later descendants as a means to legitimize their claims to the kingship, and the later historiographical emphasis that separates Godred from his predecessors may well be unwarranted. That being said, Godred is possibly the historical prototype of the celebrated King Orry (Manx Gaelic Ree Gorree and Ree Orree) of Manx folklore. This legendary figure appears in the earliest example of Manx literature, the so-called Manannan Ballad, an eighteenth-century text that appears to contain content of sixteenth-century provenance. This traditional account of Mann asserts that, following King Orry's arrival, and his subsequent introduction of the island's legal system, thirteen of his descendants ruled in turn as king before Alexander III's takeover. In fact, this tally appears to conform to the number of historical Manx rulers during the Crovan dynasty's floruit. King Orry, and thus Godred himself, is seemingly referred to in Manx legislation dating to the early fifteenth century, as the term "in King Orryes Days" was recorded at the 1422 sitting of Tynwald. This phrase likely equates to "time immemorial", a time beyond memory, once defined under English law as the time before the reign of the celebrated Richard I, King of England.
  According to local tradition on Islay, Godred's grave is marked by Carragh Bhàn (grid reference NR32834781), a standing stone situated near the settlement of Kintra, on the island's Oa peninsula. The site itself is likely prehistoric, although there is a legitimate late eleventh-century cross-slab found on the island, near Port Ellen (grid reference NR357458), that appears to contain motifs from contemporary Scandinavian- and Irish art. As with Godred on Islay, supposed burial places of King Orry are traditionally marked by prehistoric burial sites on Mann. One such site is the now-mutilated tomb, known as King Orry's Grave (grid reference SC440844), located near Laxey; another is Cashtal yn Ard (grid reference SC463893), also known as Cashtal Ree Gorree, located near Maughold. The so-called Godred Crovan Stone, a massive granite rock, once located in the Manx parish of Malew but destroyed in the nineteenth century, may have owed its name to eighteenth- or nineteenth-century romanticism.
  The area surrounding Dùn Ghùaidhre (grid reference NR38926483), a ruinous mediaeval fortress on Islay, is traditionally associated with Godred, and overlooks some of the island's most fertile lands. The south-east ridge along Dùn Ghùaidhre is named in Gaelic Clac an Righ ("Ridge of the King"). According to local tradition, Godred slew a dragon at Emaraconart, a site only about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the fortress and ridge. Although the present form of the fort's name appears to refer to Godred himself, it is unknown if there is any historical connection between him and the site. A nearby site is Àiridh Ghutharaidh. The etymology of this place name is uncertain. It could be derived from the Gaelic àirigh ("shieling") and *Gutharaidh (a hypothesised Gaelic form of the Old Norse personal name Guðrøðr). The fact that this site is only about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Dùn Ghùaidhre could suggest that the names of both locations refer to Godred. On the other hand, it is possible that the names of the fort, ridge, and shieling are merely the result of folk etymology. Another Islay site associated with Godred is Conisby (grid reference NR262618). This place name is derived from the Old Norse *Konungsbýr ("king's farm"), a prestigious designation that appears to echo the district's not insignificant size and quality of lands. Whether the site was ever owned by a king is unknown, although local tradition certainly associates it with Godred himself.
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caption: Carragh Bhàn, a prehistoric standing stone on Islay.
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