1 Why did the Vikings attack the monasteries and the abbeys?
2 (Chapter 8) What did the Vikings steal from Kilfenora abbey?
3 (Chapter 8) Where was Abbot Finguirt standing?
4 What were the Vikings threatening to do to him?
5 Which was the first monastery in Ireland to be attacked by the Vikings?
Draw...!
Draw a picture of a a round tower.
Fact File
The Vikings first came to Ireland because they were attracted by the wealth of their monasteries.
In 795 AD they attacked the monastery at Lambay Island near Dublin. From then on, until the eleventh century, the Vikings attacked monasteries and abbeys all over Ireland. The monks built round towers, but raids went on, even on an island called Inishmurray off Mayo.
Explore...!
Is there a round tower near you?
If so, see if you can be taken to see it.
Find out how high it is.
How did the monks get into it?
Imagine......!
1 Imagine that you were an Irish monk and the news comes that the Vikings are on their way to raid your abbey. Write a description of your feelings and tell what you would do.
An Irish monk wrote: The wind is rough to-night.....I need not fear the fierce Vikings racing across the sea. Imagine what had happened to him a few weeks before he wrote this poem. Write a description of it in his words.
