Kirkwall & St Ola

Kirkwall - Capital of Orkney

Orkney Map - Kirkwall

Kirkwall (ON Kirkjuvagr, Kirk Bay) is first mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga when Earl Rognvald Brusison built a church here and dedicated to his foster father, King Olaf of Norway, who was killed at a battle at Stiklastad in 1030. Rognvald returned to Orkney about 1035, after being in Sweden and Holmgard (Novgorod) in Russia, to share the Earldom with Earl Thorfinn the Mighty for about eight years. The Orkneyinga Saga states that Thorfinn’s base was in Birsay, and Rognvald was the first Earl named as living at Kirkwall and thus may have been the builder of the first large drinking hall here as well. He was killed on Papa Stronsay by Earl Thorfinn, with the help of Thorkell Fostri, in about 1046, while collecting malt to make ale for Yule.

Kirkwall Harbour Basin on a summer evening, the Girnel is on the right

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