A REPORT ON THE SEA STALLION FROM GLENDALOUGH

On 14 August 2007 in Dublin Port, the Lord Mayor of Dublin and Admiral of the Port, Councillor Paddy Bourke and Mr. Noel Ahern, T.D. Minister of State at the Department of Finance officially welcomed the Viking warship Havhingsten fra Glendalough / Sea Stallion from Glendalough to Dublin.

A 56-person Naval guard of honour greeted the visitors. Danish Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Henrik Reé Iversen, and the Danish Cultural Minister, Mr Brian Mikkelsen, took the salute.

The 19 peal of the bells of Christ Church rang out when the Viking ship passed through the East Link bridge and was joined by the bells of other riverside Dublin churches.

The Bishop of Roskilde Jan Lindhardt, sent two scrolls from Roskilde with Sea Stallion Skipper, Carsten Hvid, bearing greetings to the Roman Catholic Archbishop Of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin and the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough, The Most Reverend John Robert Winder Neill. At the quayside in Dublin these were accepted from the Bishop of Roskilde by the Very Rev Mr Desmond Harman, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral and the Right Reverend Monsignor Eoin Thynne, Head Chaplain of the Defence Forces, on behalf of the Archbishops.

On Wednesday 15th August, the crew of Sea Stallion and officials from the Museum along with the guests of honour travelled to Glendalough at the invitation of the Department of the Environment, where they planted Doire na Lochlannach, The Viking Oakwood, or in old Norse Eikiskógr Víkinga. The trees for the original ship now known as Skuldelev 2 were felled in the Dublin/Wicklow Mountains circa 1042. The newly planted Eikiskógr Víkinga will continue the history of the ship's timbers into the future.

On their return from Glendalough the Lord Mayor of Dublin hosted a reception at City Hall for the crew of Sea Stallion and their families and officials of Roskilde's Viking Ship Museum.