We will examine Irish, Scottish, and Welsh history and culture from 500 BC to the present. In particular, lectures and discussions will focus on the early cultural identity of the Irish, Scots, and Welsh and their customs and mythologies; the influence of Roman culture and Christianity on these lands and peoples; the English conquest and colonization of these lands and peoples; and, finally, on the process of political devolution in all three areas. These aspects of Irish, Scottish, and Welsh history will be examined through historical documents and literature, art, music, and film clips. Students will emerge from the class with a clear sense of the events that shaped the early history and culture of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales and how those events continue to shape these areas even to the present day.

1. Ireland shortly before the conquest
• Brian Boruma
– King of Munster, 965-1002
– High King, 1002-1014
• Marriage to Gormflaith, daughter of the king of Leinster;
mother of Sihtric Silkenbeard, king of Dublin Vikings 9891036
• Battle of Clontarf, 1014
– Brian Boruma, Munster, and Limerick Vikings vs.
Leinster and Dublin Vikings
– Máel Mórda mac Murchada, king of Leinster and
brother of Gormflaith

2. Ireland circa 1014

3. The aftermath of Clontarf
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High king (ard rí), king of Ireland (rí Erenn), and king with opposition
(rí co fesabra)
Donnchadh O’Brien, king of Munster and high king, 1014-1063
[Rule of Munster and Connacht, but loss of Leinster]
Dermot mac Mael na mBo, king of Leinster 1032-1072 and ‘king
with opposition’ (Uí Cheinnselaig) [Rule of Leinster and Meath]
Turlough O’Brien, king of Munster 1063-1086 and ‘king of Ireland,’
1072-1086. [Rule of Munster, Leinster, Meath, and Connacht]
Murtagh O’Brien, king of Dublin 1075-1088, ‘king of Ireland’ 10881119. [Rule of Munster, Leinster, Connacht, and Meath].
Turlough O’Connor, king of Connacht and ‘king of Ireland’ 1118/91156. [Rule of Connacht, Munster, Leinster, and Meath].
Murtagh Mac Loughlin (Uí Néill), king of Ulster and ‘king with
opposition’, 1156-1166. [Rule of Ulster, Meath, and Leinster].
Rory O’Connor, king of Connacht and ‘king of Ireland’ 1166-1186.
[Rule of Connacht, Munster, Leinster, and Meath].

4. Religious reform in Ireland
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The connection with Rome
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The connection with Canterbury
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Established two archbishoprics at Cashel and Armagh
The establishment of the Cistercian order in Ireland, circa 1140
Synod of Kells, 1152
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Pope Gregory VII (r. 1073-1085) to Turlough O’Brien, king of Munster, reform the Irish
church! (and particularly those uncivilized marriage laws)
Synod of Ráith Bressail, 1111
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Bishops of Dublin consecrated in England in 1074, 1085, 1096, 1121
Bishop of Waterford consecrated in England in 1096
Many of these men educated in England
The Gregorian Reform in Ireland
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King Sitric of Dublin’s pilgrimage to Rome, 1028
Bishoprics after the Roman model established in Viking held cities from 1050 onward
(Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick)
First synod to be presided over by a legate sent from Rome
Added two archbishoprics, Dublin and Tuam
Primacy of Armagh confirmed
Pope Adrian IV, Laudabiliter, 1155

5. Laudabiliter, 1155
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Laudably and profitably does your majesty [Henry II] contemplate spreading
the glory of your name on earth and laying up for yourself the reward of
eternal happiness in heaven, in that, as becomes a catholic prince, you
purpose to enlarge the boundaries of the Church, to proclaim the truths of
the Christian religion to a rude and ignorant people, and to root out the
growths of vice from the field of the Lord…
Whereas then, well-beloved son in Christ, you have expressed to us your
desire to enter the island of Ireland in order to subject its people to law and
to root out from them the weeds of vice, and your willingness to pay an
annual tribute to the blessed Peter of one penny from every house, and to
maintain the rights of the churches of that land whole and inviolate: We
therefore, meeting your pious and laudable desire with due favour and
according a gracious assent to your petition, do hereby declare our will and
pleasure that, with a view to enlarging the boundaries of the church,
restraining the downward course of vice, correcting evil customs and
planting virtue, and for the increase of the Christian religion, you shall enter
that island and execute whatsoever may tend to the honour of God and the
welfare of the land…

6. The conquest of Ireland
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Dermot Mac Murrough, king of Leinster 1134-1171
Abduction of Derbhforgaill, 1152
– Wife of Tigernan O’Rourke, king of Brefni
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Dermot allied to Murtagh Mac Loughlin, king of Ulster and ‘king with
opposition’ 1156-1166
Tigernan O’Rourke allied with Rory O’Connor, king of Connacht and ‘king of
Ireland’ 1166-1186
Dermot expelled in 1166, appealed to Henry II of England for help
Dermot’s assistants were younger sons of Anglo-Norman lords in Wales:
– FitzGilberts
• Richard de Clare, aka Strongbow
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FitzHenries
FitzGeralds
FitzStephens
Carews
Barrys

7. The conquest of Ireland
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1167, Dermot Mac Murrough returned to Leinster
1169, Dermot’s mercenaries arrive, Wexford falls
1170, Waterford and Dublin fall, Dermot marries his daughter Aoife to
Strongbow
1171
– Strongbow becomes king of Leinster upon Dermot’s death
– Henry II arrives in Dublin; Strongbow submits and receives Leinster as a fief
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1172
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Henry issues a royal charter for Dublin
Waterford and Wexford receive royal garrisons
Petty kings of Leinster submit
Meath granted to Hugh de Lacy; De Lacy subsequently made justiciar for Ireland
Irish clergy recognize Henry as their secular overlord
1175, Treaty of Windsor
– Rory O’Connor submitted to Henry II in exchange for overlordship of Connacht,
Ulster, and Munster
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1177, Prince John named Lord of Ireland

8. The kingdom of Henry II

9. The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife,
by Daniel Maclise, 1854, National Gallery of Ireland

10. Anglo-Norman authors on the
conquest
• Gerald of Wales’ History and Topography of Ireland and
Conquest of Ireland (1185-1195) [Gerald accompanied
John to Ireland in the 1180s; Gerald’s FitzGerald
relatives also participated in the conquest]
• From the Conquest of Ireland
– “…O’Rourke, prince of Meath, having gone on an expedition into
a distant quarter, left his wife… in a certain island of Meath
during his absence; and she, who had long entertained a
passion for Dermot took advantage of the absence of her
husband, and allowed herself to be ravished, not against her will.
As the nature of women is, fickle ad given to change, she thus
became the prey of the spoiler by her own contrivance. For as
Marc Antony and Troy are witnesses, almost all the greatest
evils in the world have arisen from women…”

11. King John’s castle, Limerick, Ireland,
building begun in late 12th century

12. The conquest of Ireland
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Dublin and Anglo-Norman lordships under English Common law
Anglo-Norman families established in Ireland
– De Clares/Marshalls in Leinster; male line died out in 1245
– Fitzgeralds in Leinster, made earls of Kildare in 1316 and earls of Desmond in
1329
– Butlers in Leinster/Munster, made earls of Ormond in 1328
– De Lacys, earls of Ulster; male line died out in 1243
– De Burghs, conquered parts of Connacht in 1235, earls of Ulster after 1263
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English institutions in Ireland
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Justiciars, from 1172
Exchequer, from 1200
Treasury, from 1217
Justices in eyre, from 1218
Chancellor, from 1232
Dublin Castle, 1212
Dublin Parliament, 1297
The Pale

13. The conquest of Ireland
• The role of the Irish church
– Efforts at anglicization
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The creation of parishes
The arrival of the Dominican order, 1224
The arrival of the Franciscan order, 1231
Archbishops of Dublin (all English) refuse to recognize
primacy of Armagh
• English monasteries refused entrance to Irish candidates
– Irish resistance
• Archbishops of Armagh and Tuam almost exclusively Irish
• Irish monasteries refused entrance to English candidates

14. The conquest of Ireland
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From mid 1200s, Irish used gallóglach (gallowglass), foreign mercenaries to
fight the English [origin of the Mac Donnells and Mac Sweeneys]
The war of Edward Bruce, 1315-1318
– Edward the brother of Robert Bruce, king of Scotland and son-in-law of Richard
de Burgh, earl of Ulster 1286-1320
– Sent by Robert, but also offered the kingship of Ireland by Donal O’Neill of Ulster
– After battles in Ulster, Connacht, and Leinster, Edward crowned king of Ireland in
1316
– Donal O’Neill sends “Irish Remonstrance” to the papacy in 1317, asking for papal
support of the new king
– Bruce killed in battle in 1318
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1341, Edward III of England attempted to void grants made in Ireland after
1307 (Kildare, Ormond, and Desmond)
1343, Edward III appointed a new justiciar, whose actions drove the earls of
Desmond and Kildare to revolt
The Statutes of Kilkenny, 1366
1394, Richard II of England arrives with 10,000 men; most native Irish lords
swore loyalty, few Anglo-Irish lords did

15. The Statutes of Kilkenny
• II. No marriage alliances, no fostering of children; no
sale of horses or weapons to the Irish
• III. English must speak English, have English names,
wear English clothes, and never speak Irish even among
the Irish; saddles are required for those with means
£100/year
• IV. English common law the only law
• VI. Hurling outlawed, to be replaced by ‘gentlemanlike’
games
• XIII and XIV. No Irish to be admitted to any church office
or monastery in English lands
• XV. No contact with Irish spies (i.e. musicians, poets,
singers)

16. Maps of Ireland before (l) and after
(r) the Anglo-Norman conquest