Birsay was the principal seat of Pictish authority in Orkney and the site of a significant early Christian community connected to the Pictish church. The Norse attack on Birsay was one of the final acts of Pictish resistance in Orkney before the complete Norse takeover. The Brough of Birsay subsequently became the seat of the Norse earls of Orkney, symbolising the complete replacement of Pictish with Norse authority.
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