A longphort (plural longphuirt) is the name of a permanent stronghold constructed by the Vikings on the shores and riverbanks of Ireland. Historic records say the earliest longphuirt were placed at Duiblinn (Dublin) and Linn Duachaill (Louth) in 841 AD.
The first longphort—two words meaning roughly "ship port"—was built by beaching a ship and then throwing up an earthen bank on the landward side. These were used as winter installations by the Vikings, and as such represent the earliest over wintering in Ireland, and used as raiding bases. They were also the "thin edge of the wedge" of Viking occupation, and often developed into more substantial settlements.
Used first in historic documents of the mid-ninth century, longphort came to next mean any military encampment, Irish or Scandinavian. Eventually the word came to be roughly equivalent to "settlement".
Archaeologist John Sheehan suggests that "longphort" be used as a specific type of site: a Viking fortified settlement on the Irish coast or near a navigable river or lake, occupied between the mid- to late ninth and early tenth centuries. These settlements include a D-shaped enclosure, defined by a bank and ditch, and Viking artifacts including silver hoards. Construction of these settlements have some similarities to Viking sites of Birka and Hedeby.
- Read about the founding of Ath Cliath, a Viking longphort that eventually became Dublin, Ireland
Examples: Dunrally, Lisnarann, Ballaghkeeran Little, Rathmore, Woodstown, Ath Cliath (Dublin)
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the Viking Age and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Sheehan, John 2008 The Longphort in Viking Age Ireland. Acta Archaeologica 79:282-295.
