Reading through accounts of viking exploration ("The Vikings", by G. Jones is particularly interesting for me) I've noticed that pretty much everywhere they went, they found Irish monks there already. It seems like they clung on to every rock big enough that stuck up out of the sea. You're right - their history (and achievements) seem to be pretty much overlooked. Having said that, there are still people in the great unwashed who think that Columbus was the first European to set foot upon the Americas.