Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland
| Norman Invasion of Ireland | |||||||||
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 The result of the Norman Invasion of Ireland a century-and-a-quarter later. Over the course of the century following the date of this map, the majority of Ireland would be reclaimed as Gaelic terrirotry, with the notable exception Dublin. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Normans:  Welsh, |
Irish Kingdoms:  Norsemen | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Robert Fitz Stephen, |
Askuluv | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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Note: All figures may vary according to source. Wales 12,000+, |
Norsemen30 ships | ||||||||
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a Norman military expedition to Ireland that took place on 1 May 1169 at the behest of Dermot MacMurrough (Irish Diarmait Mac Murchada), the King of Leinster. It was partially consolidated by Henry II on 18 October 1171 and led to the eventual English rule of Ireland. Immediate consequences were the end of the Irish High Kingship.
Dermot MacMurrough, Strongbow and the invasion of 1169
After losing the protection of Tyrone Chief, Muirchertach MacLochlainn, High King of Ireland, who died in 1166, MacMorrough was forcibly exiled by a confederation of Irish forces under the new High King, Rory O'Connor.
MacMurrough fled first to Bristol and then to Normandy. He sought and obtained permission from Henry II of England to use the latter's subjects to regain his kingdom. By 1167 MacMurrough had obtained the services of Maurice Fitz Gerald and later persuaded Rhys ap Gruffydd Prince of Deheubarth to release Fitz Gerald's half-brother Robert Fitz-Stephen from captivity to take part in the expedition. Most importantly he obtained the support of the Earl of Pembroke Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow.
The first Norman knight to land in Ireland was Richard fitz Godbert de Roche in 1167, but it was not until 1169 that the main body of Norman, Welsh and Flemish forces landed in Wexford. Within a short time Leinster was regained, Waterford and Dublin were under Diarmait's control. Strongbow married Diarmait's daughter, Aoife, and was named as heir to the Kingdom of Leinster. This latter development caused consternation to Henry II, who feared the establishment of a rival Norman state in Ireland. Accordingly, he resolved to visit Leinster to establish his authority.
Pope Adrian IV, the first English pope, in one of his earliest acts, had already issued a Papal Bull in 1155, giving Henry authority to invade Ireland as a means of curbing ecclesiastical corruption and abuses. Little contemporary use, however, was made of the Bull Laudabiliter since its text enforced papal suzerainty not only over the island of Ireland but of all islands off of the European coast, including England, in virtue of the Constantinian donation. The relevant text reads:
"There is indeed no doubt, as thy Highness doth also acknowledge, that Ireland and all other islands which Christ the Sun of Righteousness has illumined, and which have received the doctrines of the Christian faith, belong to the jurisdiction of St. Peter and of the holy Roman Church".
References to Laudabiliter become more frequent in the later Tudor period when the researches of the Renaissance humanist scholars cast doubt on the historicity of the Donation of Constantine.
Henry landed with a large fleet at Waterford in 1171, becoming the first King of England to set foot on Irish soil. Both Waterford and Dublin were proclaimed Royal Cities. Adrian's successor, Pope Alexander III ratified the grant of Irish lands to Henry in 1172. Henry awarded his Irish territories to his younger son, John, with the title Dominus Hiberniae ("Lord of Ireland"). When John unexpectedly succeeded his brother as king, the "Kingdom of Ireland" fell directly under the English Crown.
Henry was happily acknowledged by most of the Irish Kings, who saw in him a chance to curb the expansion of both Leinster and the Hiberno-Normans. This led to the ratification of the Treaty of Windsor in 1175 between Henry and Ruaidhrí. However, with both Diarmuid and Strongbow dead (in 1171 and 1176 respectively), Henry back in England and Ruaidhrí unable to curb his nominal vassals, within two years it was not worth the vellum it was inscribed upon. John de Courcy invaded and gained much of east Ulster in 1177, Raymond le Gros had already captured Limerick and much of north Munster, while the other Norman families such as Prendergast, fitz Stephen, fitz Gerald, fitz Henry and le Poer were actively carving out virtual kingdoms for themselves.
Gallóglaigh
The importation of galloglas into Ireland was a major factor in containing the Cambro-Norman invasion of the 12th century, as their ranks stiffened the resistance of the Irish lordships. Throughout the Middle Ages in Ireland, gallowglass troops were maintained by Gaelic Irish and Hiberno-Norman lords alike. Even the English Lord Deputy of Ireland usually kept a company of them in his service.
List of captains present at the Norman Invasion of Ireland
William Camden claims the following list of people present at the invasion.[1]
Persons who collaborated with Dermot MacMorrogh during the Invasion of 1169
- Maurice de Prendergast
- Robert Barr
- Meiler Meilerine
- Maurice Fitz-Gerald
- Redmond nephew of Fitz-Stephen
- William Ferrand
- Miles de Cogan (Cogan)
- Gualter de Ridensford
- Gualter and Alexander sons of Maurice Fitz-Gerald
- William Notte
- Richard Caddell (Progenitor of the Blake family)
- Robert Fitz-Bernard
- Hugh Lacie
- William Fitz-Aldelm
- William Macarell
- Hemphrey Bohun
- Hugh De Gundevill
- Philip de Hasting
- Hugh Tirell
- David Walsh
- Robert Poer (First Poer le Poer in Ireland)
- Osbert de Herloter
- William de Bendenges
- Adam de Gernez
- Philip de Breos
- Griffin nephew of Fitz-Stephen
- Raulfe Fitz-Stephen
- Walter de Barry
- Philip Walsh
- Adam de Hereford
- Tommy De Downes
Others claimed to have been present during the Invasion of 1169
- John Courcy
- Hugh Contilon
- Redmund Fitz-Hugh
- Miles of St. David's Walynus, a Welshman who came to Ireland with Maurice Fitzgerald
- Sir Robert Marmion, with Strongbow
Those present during the invasion of Henry II in 1172
- Risteárd de Tiúit
- William de Wall
- Randolph FitzRalph, with FitzStephen
- Alice of Abervenny, with Raymond FitzWilliam Le Gros
- Richard de Cogan, with Strongbow
- Phillipe le Hore, with Strongbow
- Theobald Fitzwalter, with Henry II
- Robert de Bermingham, with Strongbow
- d'Evreux, with Strongbow
- Eustace Roger de Gernon, with Strongbow
- de la Chapelle (Supple)
- Gilbert d'Angulo and sons Jocelyn and Hostilo (Costello), with Strongbow.
A baron of Hugh de Lacy, the MacCostellos (Mac Oisdealbhaigh) were one of the first Norman families in Connacht, settling in Mayo in what became the Barony of Costello, which originally included part of neighboring County Roscommon (their sixteenth-century seat was near Ballaghadereen, now in Roscommon). They were the first of the Norman invaders to adopt a Gaelic name, which marks their descent from Oisdealbh, son of the famous Gilbert de Nangle (Latin: de Angulo), who was one of the first Cambro-Norman invaders. His family, the de Angulos, obtained vast estates in Meath, where they were Barons of Navan. The family thence spread into Leinster and Connacht, where the leading family adopted the Gaelic patronymic Mac Oisdealbhaigh, as we have seen. Those in Leinster, and those in Connacht that did not adopt this form, became Nangles (de Nogla); while those in Cork became Nagles. The Waldrons (Mac Bhaildrin) are a branch of the MacCostellos in Mayo
Notes
- ^ William Camden (1610) Britannia