A Viking Ship

Upload to this page

Add your photos, text, videos, etc. to this page.




The Vikings were famous for using ships to travel.

They used such ships (also known as longboats or longships) to travel from Scandanavia to Britain and Ireland.

They also used them to travel around the Irish coast and up Irish rivers.

The exercise below shows what a Viking vessel would have looked like.

Why do you think that they designed it long narrow and shallow? What would the Vikings have used it for?

A Viking Street

We have seen that Vikings were called "Ostmen", by the people of Cork. This means "Eastmen".

The Ostmen may also have settled along French's Quay in Cork City. Near French's Quay is Keyser Hill.

The word 'Keyser' is a Viking word meaning "the passage to the water".

Many streets, towns, and other placenames in Ireland come from the Vikings. Here are some - Wexford, Waterford and Limerick.

Are you aware of any other major towns or cities whose name comes from the Vikings? There may well be streets in your local town named after the Vikings.

Click on the image to look at a picture of Keyser Hill.

Do you notice how Viking streets were narrow and did not go in straight lines?

Viking streets were like this to make it harder for an enemy army to launch a big attack. Other streets are like this in older parts of towns in Ireland which had Vikings living in them such as Cork, Dublin, Waterford and Wexford.