Earlier this month, a "civil rights activist" (which can often be read as "blatant opportunist") named Bob Brown filed a lawsuit demanding reparations for African slavery from President George W. Bush, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, French President Jacques Chirac, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Pope John Paul II, and 66 other defendants.   

Of course, Mr. Brown has no proof that any of these particular people ever actually owned slaves or participated in the trade, nor can he prove that he was ever actually a slave himself.  To people like him, "reparations" are owed by anyone who might be descended from a slave owner, to anyone descended from anyone who might have been enslaved. No proof of any actual wrongdoing by or to specific individuals is required.  In other words, it's a scam to get free money and publicity.

I've been thinking about this reparations deal, and I've decided that I want in on the scam... I mean, I want justice for damages done to my ancestors, too.  Therefore, in the name of my forebears, I am demanding reparations from the governments of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and all countries once considered part of Scandinavia.  Now, all I have to do is get a lawyer and wait for the cash to roll in, right?

You see, I'm part Irish.  And the Vikings, it's been proven, engaged in vicious and unprovoked attacks on my people for hundreds of years. They even occupied parts of Ireland from 837 AD to 1014 AD.

It is possible, that an attack on the Northern Ireland coast and the Hebrides in 617 AD was the Vikings, but this cannot be proven. The first official attack on Ireland by the Vikings took place in 794 AD, about 10 years after the first attacks on the English coast, at Rechru (now the island of Lambay) very close to what is now Dublin. The raids continued for approximately 40 years, until finally in 832 AD the Vikings attacked in force under command of warrior named Tuirgeis.

One thousand warriors were under the command of Tuirgeis, and they sailed up the Liffey and the Boyne rivers raiding the interior of Ireland and establishing forts. Another fort was established as a base for the Vikings in 837 AD at Ath Cliath, which was also, called Dubhlinn (Dublin).

And yes, my ancestors were enslaved and sold in the far corners of the world, too.

This relatively concentrated population would have afforded  the Vikings a source for a valuable commodity: slaves. Although slave taking was part of the early raids it reached significant proportions later when in 869 AD Amlaib captured over a thousand people in Armagh. Many of these found their way to Scandanavia and Iceland. In many of the Icelandic sagas Irish slave women are mentioned along with the genealogies of the Icelandic heroes.

As the descendant of the unfairly subjugated, taxed and enslaved Irish people, I think I'm owed reparations -- just as much as the descendants of enslaved Africans are.  So if you happen to be Scandanavian royalty or a member of the various governments, email me. Hey, I even accept PayPal!