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The Papar (; from Latin papa, via Old Irish, meaning "father" or "pope") were Irish monks who took Hermit residence in parts of Iceland before that island's habitation by the Norsemen of Scandinavia. Their existence is attested by the early Icelandic sagas and recent archaeological findings.
An earlier source that could possibly refer to the Papar is the work of Dicuil, an early 9th-century Irish monk and geographer, which included mention of the wandering of "holy men" to the lands of the north. However, it is not known whether Dicuil is speaking about Iceland, as Gaels-Irish hermits also settled in other islands of the north such as Orkney and Shetland.
Several Icelandic toponymy have been linked to the Papar, including the island of Papey and the Vestmannaeyjar ("islands of the Vestmenn"), but no archaeological evidence in these places has yet confirmed the link.
Another theory is that the two sources were conflated and that Þorgilsson based his history on the writings of Dicuil.
The Landnámabók (The Icelandic Book of Settlements), possibly dating from the 11th century in its original form, clearly states on page one that Irish monks had been living on Iceland before the arrival of Norse settlers. According to this account, the basis behind this knowledge was monks' leaving behind numerous reminders of their stay, including Irish books, bells and , helping the Norse to identify their predecessors. According to the Landnámabók, the Irish monks left the island either when the Norse arrived or were no longer living there when the Norse arrived.
Some of the sagas suggest that Grímr, a Norse explorer, may have been responsible for driving them out, despite probably being a Norse–Gael himself:
Ekrem and Mortensen point out: "The author of HN does not agree with the earlier work of Ari (''Íslendingabók''), who writes that they were Christians and Irish. More recent research confirms the Irish Celtic Christian missionaries, principally through Dalriadic Gaels prior to Norwegian rule.
Historian Joseph Anderson noted in his Introduction to Orkneyinga Saga several Island toponyms deriving from Papar, suggesting their influence upon the region:
William Thomson suggests that "perhaps Papay Tercia was the Holm of Papay – not a separate papar-site but a holm subsidiary to Papa Westray".Thomson, William P.L. " The Orkney Papar-names" in Ballin Smith (2007) p. 517
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