Viking, a profession for many Gaels

Gaelic Lord and warrior circa 1000 AD (c) Ulster Heritage



Gaelic Lord and warrior circa AD 1000 in Argyll.  Mid Argyll was one of the homes of the Gall-Ghaeil, or the 'foreign Gaels,' in the early medieval period (AD 850 to 1150). These people were primarily Gaelic in ethnicity, but were very influenced by their exposure to the Norse.  They became Gaelic Vikings essentially. They adopted Norse technology in the accoutrements of war and shipbuilding.  The warrior caste society of Argyll founded by the Gall-Ghaeil gave rise to the families and clans that became the Gallóglaigh and later the Redshanks.   Many of these families and clans migrated to Ireland; the Gallóglaigh circa AD 1300 to 1450 and the Redshanks in the 1500s.