[tanuki]

The Vikings seem to have been underestimated civilizers. Ireland as a nation would not exist but for them.

As riverine traders and marauders they were also immensely influential. The name ‘Russia’ apparently derives from a term meaning river vikings.

One could go on about the influence of Normandy, the Normans of Sicily, the Varangian guards of the Byzantines and others.

One day when Western scholarship drops its blinkered view of the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ and recognizes it as the robust period of civilizational development it was, the full contributions of the Vikings can at last be appreciated.

[Cronos]

"The Vikings seem to have been underestimated civilizers. Ireland as a nation would not exist but for them."?

huh? could you give me clarity on why you say that about Ireland?