Among the most remarkable coins found in Ireland are those with Kufic inscriptions. Although these are not evidence for a direct Irish-Arabic trade, they are indicators of the extent of the wider Viking trade networks – particularly the Baltic/Byzantine route. It is thought that they came to Ireland, via Scandinavia.

Viking trade routes (blue dotted line) included Baghdad, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Russian cities along the Volga River

العملات الإسلامية القديمة في أيرلندا

aleumlat al'iislamiat alqadimat fi 'ayrlanda

• Townland/Site Name
  • Site Type
    • Comments
      • Reference(s)

• Carrowreilly, Co. Sligo
  • Rath
    • Two quarters of Kufic (Tashkent) coin – ‘Caliph Al-Mutadid’ (A.D. 892-907)
      • Kenny 1991b, 170-73.
• Drogheda, Co. Louth
  • ?
    • Hoard of Kufic coins (lost)
      • Hall 1973-74, 73.
• Dunmore Cave, Mohil, Co. Kilkenny
  • Cave
    • Ten coins in total – Kufic (Armenia) – ‘Caliph Al-Mu’tamid’
      • Hall 1973-74, 73
• Dysert, Lough Ennell, Co. Westmeath
  • ?
    • Six Kufic coins – Abbasid dynasty
      • Kenny 1987, 521
• Dysert, Lough Ennell, Co. Westmeath
  • ?
    • Eight Kufic coins – Samanid dynasty
      • Kenny 1987, 521
• Dysert, Lough Ennell, Co. Westmeath
  • ?
    • Five Kufic coins – unidentified
      • Kenny 1987, 521
• Glasnevin, Co. Dublin
  • ?
    • Two Kufic dirhams.
      • Hall 1973-74, 73.
• Leggagh, Co. Meath
  • ?
    • Ten coins in total – Kufic (Samarkand) – ‘Nasr ben Ahmed II’
      • Hall 1973-74, 73.
• Magheralagan, Co. Down
  • ?
    • Several Kufic coins (Baghdad) – ‘al-Mahdi’
      • Briggs & Graham-Campbell 1976, 21-22.
• Woodstown, Co. Waterford
  • Longphort
    • Kufic coin
      • http://tia.ie/Archaeology/N25WaterfordBypassWoodstown/

      • 

        The Umayyad dirham from Woodstown, Co.Waterford

• Unlocated, Co. Kildare
  • ?
    • One Kufic dirham.
      • Hall 1973-74, 74.
• Unlocated, Co. Londonderry
  • ?
    • Hoard of Kufic coins
      • Hall 1973-74, 82.
• Unlocated, Co. Meath
  • ?
    • One Kufic coin – ‘Harun ar-Rashid’
      • Hall 1973-74, 77.

Further Reading:

• O’Brien Coin Guide: An Introduction to the Islamic coins found in Medieval Ireland
• EARLY MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT (EMAP)
  • Report 4.5 Early Medieval Ireland: Archaeological Excavations, 1930-2009
  • Aidan O’Sullivan, Finbar McCormick, Thomas Kerr and Lorcan Harney (Dec 2010)
    • Available online