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… that the first settlers on the Faroe Islands were Irish
monks. They introduced sheep and oats to the Faroes. Latest archaeological
excavations indicate that this could have been as early as in the 6th
century. |
| … that the Faroe Islands have an ancient Irish name, Na
Scigirí, which means ‘land of bearded men’. |
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… that there is historical substance enough to presume that Irish monks went to
remote islands, like the outer lying Irish and Scottish Isles and the Faroes, to
seek solitude and shelter from the barbarians who invaded Europe at the time
destroying the culture of the Roman empire. Irish historians claim that these
monks went to remote places to
help save the ancient literature of the Greeks and the Romans copying them on
sheepskin. This was a common undertaking of Irish monks in remote
areas from the 4th to the 6th century, they say. Whether this
was the undertaking of the monks in the Faroes also is left unanswered. But if
it was, it might explain why there were so many sheep in the Faroes already in these early years of settlements. Since no trace
has been found of sheep skin copies of ancient literature in the Faroes, this is
just a theory. The monks could, presumably, have brought their work with
them back to Europe later – or it was destroyed somehow by the Vikings taking
over the islands. |
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… that the Irishman St. Brendan 'The Navigator' sailed to some islands north of
the Scottish isles in
the 6th century. Many believe these islands must have been the Faroe
Islands from the way St. Brendan described them. By that time there seems to have been quite a
substantial amount of sheep
already in the Faroes, because St. Brendan described the largest island he visited as the
Island of Sheep. This could have been the island of Streymoy. A little bay in the village
of Kirkjubøur
in the southern part of Streymoy, is called Brandansvik (St. Brendans Bay),
named after St. Brendan who, according to the locals, landed there during his
voyage. St. Brendan also mentiones another of the islands he visited as a "bird
paradise". This could be the island of Mykines. There are several
other places in the Faroes named after the Irish monks who called themselves
"Papar"- among them some remotely lying caves. One can only speculate why... |
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… that the monks were displaced by Vikings in the 9th
century and, being good monks, have left no blood line.
However, the Faroes were part of a trade network with Dublin as a hub, and many
Irish women made their way there as wives or slaves. DNA analysis shows that
84pc of Faroese females are of Irish or Scottish descent. (Read
the Article about the Faroese Gene Pool in European Journal of Human Genetics
(2006) 14, 497–504. published online 25 January 2006. Subject: Highly discrepant
proportions of female and male Scandinavian and British Isles ancestry within
the isolated population of the Faroe Islands - by Thomas D Als, Tove H
Jorgensen, Anders D Børglum, Peter A Petersen, Ole Mors and August G Wang.) |
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… that according to Færeyinga Saga, emigrants who left Norway
to escape the tyranny of Harald I of Norway settled in the islands about the end
of the 9th century. For many years it was common belief
that the Vikings drow the Irish monks out of the Faroes more or less violently
but later excavations indicate that the Norwegian Vikings and the Irish monks
might have lived together in peaceful coexistense for many years - and that
the Irish monks graduately died out as they did not have offspring.
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... that it seems that the people in the Faroes must have been peaceloving -
also in Viking times - because almost no weapons have been
found in archeologigal excavations in the Faroes.
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… that it is claimed that 150 years before the Icelander Leif
Eriksen, also known as Leif the Lucky, found North America in the year 1001, it
was his great great grandfather, the Faroese navigator Naddoddr, that presumably
first spotted the land Leif later went to look for and called the “Wine Land,
and thus should be granted the honour of being the first man to find the
Americas.
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… that according to Færeyinga Saga, Sigmundur Brestisson
brought Christianity to the islands in 999. However, archaeology from a site in
Leirvík suggests that Celtic Christianity may have arrived 150 years earlier, or
more. |
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... that the Faroe Islands have been under the control of
Denmark since 1388, when Norway entered the Kalmar Union with Denmark, which
gradually evolved into Danish control of the islands.
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… that the Reformation reached the Faroes in 1538.
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… that after the Reformation, the ruling Danes outlawed the
use of Faroese in schools, churches and official documents. The islanders
continued to use the language in ballads, folktales, and everyday life. This
maintained a rich spoken tradition, but for 300 years the language was not
written down.
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… that Magnus Heinason (1545 - 18 January 1589) was a Faroese
naval hero, trader and privateer. He was the son of Heine Havreki, a Norse
priest from Bergen who immigrated to the Faroe Islands and who helped introduce
the Lutheran Reformation to the Faroe Islands. Magnus Heinasons son, Rasmus
Magnussen (1560–1670), lived to the age of 110 years old, and at the age of 103
was himself father of a son. Magnus Heinason served William the Silent and his
son Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange for 10 years as a privateer, fighting
the Spanish in the Dutch Revolt. Magnus Heinason was given the trading rights to
the Faroe Islands by Frederick II of Denmark and Norway from 1559 to 1588. Later
he received letters of marque to sink or capture pirate ships and English
merchant ships. Magnus built the first fortifications in Tórshavn. Only one year
later, he was captured and sent to Copenhagen on the orders of the Danish
Treasurer and Statholder, Christoffer Walkendorf who was ruling Denmark at that
time. Magnus Heinason was tried, and shortly thereafter he was beheaded. His
remains were excavated and taken to Ørslev kloster in Denmark where he lies to
this day.
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… that the man
who founded New York in USA, Jonas Bronck (1600?–1643) was originally from
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, where his father was a pastor in the Lutheran Church.
Bronck arrived at New Amsterdam in 1639, and his name is perpetuated in Bronx
Borough, Bronx Park, Bronxville, in New York. An old street in Tórshavn also has
his name - Jónas Broncksgøta. He made the voyage to America in his own ship,
called Fire of Troy, manned by himself, accompanied by a friend who was an
officer in the Danish army, Capt. Joachiem Pietersen Kuyter. They each brought
their family and a number of herdsmen or farmers since their cargo was cattle.
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… that Nólsoyar Páll (originally, Poul Poulsen Nolsøe) (11
October 1766 in Nólsoy - 1809 in Sumba) is a Faroese national hero. Páll was a
seaman, trader, poet, farmer, and boat builder. In Vágur in 1804 he built a
schooner, Royndin Fríða, the first Faroese ship capable of crossing the Atlantic
Ocean since the Middle Ages. In 1809, with this ship he would travel to Britain
and stock up on food supplies so as to ward off a famine in the islands.
Nólsoyar Páll wrote Fuglakvæðið – a popular folk ballad which is a tribute to
Faroese independency. |
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… that the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 terminated the
Danish-Norwegian union and Norway came under the rule of the King of Sweden,
while the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland remained possessions of Denmark.
Subsequently the Løgting, the Faroese Law Thing, was abolished in 1816, and the
Faroe Islands were to be governed as a regular Danish amt, with the Amtmand as
its head of government.
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… that Faroese members of the clergy who have had historical
importance include V. U. Hammershaimb (1819-1909), Frederik Petersen (1853-1917)
and, perhaps most significantly, Jákup Dahl (1878-1944), who had a great
influence in making sure that the Faroese language was spoken in the church
instead of Danish.
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… that in 1851 the Løgting was resurrected, but served mainly
as an advisory power until 1948.
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… that Jóannes Patursson (May 6, 1866 - August 2, 1946) was a
Faroese nationalist leader and poet. He was the great-grandson of the Faroese
national hero Nólsoyar Páll. His brother Sverre Patursson was an important
writer and his sister Susanna Helena Patursson the first feminist of the Faroe
Islands. In 1865 the Danish trading monopoly had been lifted from the Faroe
Islands and the islanders were experiencing a fast development from a medieval
agricultural society to a modern nation of fishermen. In 1888, the Faroese
national movement was "officially" created at the legendary Christmas Meeting,
Jóannes Patursson being one of the main participants. In 1901, the 35-year-old
Patursson was elected into the Folketing for the first time. In 1903 he
published his book Færøsk politik (Faroese politics) wherein he formulated five
guidelines/demands, which were revolutionary at the time while today they are a
standard of Faroese politics. In 1906, Patursson founded the Independence Party,
Sjálvstýrisflokkurin. In 1939 he was again co-founder of a party, the People's
Party Fólkaflokkurin, becoming their vice-chairman. |
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… that on 12 April, 1940, the Faroes were occupied by British
troops. The move followed the invasion of Denmark by Nazi Germany and had the
objective of strengthening British control of the North Atlantic.
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… that in 1942-43 the British Royal Engineers built the only
airport in the Faroes, Vágar Airport.
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… that control of the islands reverted to Denmark following
the war.
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...that the end of the Second World War a portion of the
population favoured independence from Denmark, and on 14 September 1946 a public
election was held on the question of secession. The outcome of the vote produced
a small majority in favour of secession, but the coalition in parliament could
not reach a resolution. A compromise was made and the Folketing in Demark passed
a home-rule law, which came into effect in 1948. The Faroe Islands' status as a
Danish amt was brought to an end with the home-rule law that granted a high
degree of local autonomy; the Faroe Islands were given a high degree of
self-governance, supported by a substantial annual subsidy from Denmark. |
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… that the Faroes declined to join Denmark in entering the
European Community (now European Union) in 1973. |
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… that the islands experienced considerable economic
difficulties following the collapse of the fishing industry in the early 1990s,
but have since made efforts to diversify the economy. |
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… that full independence is the first objective of the
Republican Party. The islanders are about evenly split between those favouring
independence and those who prefer to continue as a part of the Kingdom of
Denmark. |
