In Search of the Sea-Kings: the lost Kingdom of Man and the Isles, 1079-1275

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Nine hundred years ago, in the central Middle Ages, a small island became the nexus of a maritime empire ruled by formidable sea kings.  Although this resembles something from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, or George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, in fact, the island is the Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea, which lay at the heart of the largely forgotten medieval maritime kingdom of Man and the Isles. In this talk, Brock University Professor of History Dr. R. Andrew McDonald introduces the medieval Isle of Man and the Norse-Gaelic Vikings / sea kings who dominated the western seaways of Britain between the 1070s and 1260s.

BIOGRAPHY
Dr. R. Andrew McDonald is Professor of History at Brock University in St Catharines. He has a longstanding interest in medieval Manx and Hebridean history and has published widely in the field. His books include A Visitor’s Guide to the Medieval Kingdoms of Man and the Isles (2023), The Sea Kings: The Late Norse Kingdoms of Man and the Isles, c. 1066–1275 (2019), Manx Kingship in its Irish Sea Setting (2007), and The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland’s Western Seaboard c. 1100–c. 1336 (1997). He is also co-editor with Angus Somerville of The Viking Age: A Reader (4th ed. 2025). His passion for the history of the region is matched by his enthusiasm for exploring historical sites, and he has made many visits to Man and many of the Hebridean islands.