Linn Duchaill: Ireland's unlikely Viking capital

A windswept barley field just south of Dundalk seems an unlikely spot for Ireland's capital.

But if things had been different, Annagassan near Castlebellingham might have been the principal city on the island of Ireland.

Twelve hundred years ago it was the site of Linn Duchaill, one of the first Viking settlements, which rivalled Dublin in size and importance.

Folklore said it was there, but all traces of it had disappeared, until a group of archaeologists and local historians set out to prove its existence.

Extensive field research and test digs have now done that....