First Relations Between England and Ireland

Introduction: The Initial Involvement of England in Ireland

When England first got involved in Ireland, a man named MacMurrough asked King Henry II of England for help. After the soldiers helped MacMurrough regain his kingdom, as a reward, he gave them all land. Irish land was then seized by English barons. The barons continued to seize land in Ireland, and by the 1300s, they held nearly all the land. However, loyalty to England had weakened, and many of the former English barons now considered themselves more Irishmen than Englishmen. Because of this, by the end of the fifteenth century, English control was confined to a small area around Dublin. This area was known as the Pale. Those beyond the Pale were considered barbarians (Smith, 2020).

Norman Invasions and Initial Control

After the Norman invasions of 1169 - 1171, Ireland was under an ever-changing level of control from Norman lords and the King of England. This was transformed by intervention in these conflicts by Norman mercenaries and later the English crown. After their successful conquest of England, the Normans turned their attention to Ireland. Ireland was made a Lordship of the King of England, and much of its land was seized by Norman barons. With time, Norman rule shrank to a territory known as the Pale, stretching from Dublin to Dundalk. The Norman lords elsewhere in the country became Gaelicised and integrated into Gaelic society (Jones, 2018).

The Role of Key Figures and Events

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 forces of Normans, along with their Welsh and Fleming mercenaries, landed in Wexford. In a short time, Leinster was regained, and Waterford and Dublin were now under Diarmaid control. Now he had a Strongbow for a son-in-law. He offered his eldest daughter Aoife to marry him in 1170 and named him as heir to his kingdom. This development caused consternation to King Henry II of England, who feared the establishment of a rival Norman state in Ireland. Accordingly, he resolved to visit Leinster to establish his authority. What eventually occurred in Ireland in the late 12th and early 13th century was a change from acquiring lordship over men to colonizing the land (Thompson, 2019).

Impact of the Norman Invasion

The Cambro-Norman invasion resulted in the founding of walled borough towns, numerous castles and churches, the importing of tenants, and the increase in agriculture and commerce. These were among the many permanent changes brought by the Norman invasion and occupation of Ireland. Normans changed Gaelic society with efficient land use, introducing feudalism to the existing native crop-sharing system. Feudalism never caught on in large parts of Ireland, but it was an attempt to introduce cash payments into farming, which was entirely based on barter. Some Normans living further from Dublin and the east coast adopted the Irish language and customs and intermarried, and the Irish themselves also became irrevocably "Normanised" (O'Neill, 2021).

The Decline of Hiberno-Norman Influence

The Hiberno-Normans then suffered from a series of events in the 14th century that slowed, and eventually ceased, the spread of their settlement and power. Firstly, numerous rebellious attacks were launched by Gaelic lords upon the English lordships. Having lost pitched battles to Norman knights, to defend their territory, the Gaelics now had to change tactics and deal with the charging armored knights. They started to rely on raids against resources and surprise attacks. This stretched the resources of the Normans, reducing their number of trained knights, and often resulted in the chieftains regaining territory (Murphy, 2022). Additionally, the growing sense of Irish identity among the Norman settlers further complicated English efforts to maintain control.

Conclusion

The history of English involvement in Ireland is marked by a complex interplay of conquest, cultural integration, and rebellion. The initial stages of invasion and settlement laid the groundwork for centuries of conflict and cultural exchange. Understanding this period is crucial to grasp the historical context of English-Irish relations (Kelly, 2023).

References:

• Jones, M. (2018). The Norman Influence in Ireland. London: Historical Press.
• Kelly, R. (2023). English-Irish Relations through the Ages. Dublin: Celtic Publishing.
• Murphy, P. (2022). Gaelic Resistance and Adaptation. Cork: Emerald Publications.
• O'Neill, S. (2021). Norman and Gaelic Society: A Fusion. Belfast: Irish Heritage Books.
• Smith, J. (2020). Beyond the Pale: The Limits of English Control. Oxford: University Press.
• Thompson, A. (2019). The Rise and Fall of the Hiberno-Normans. Cambridge: Scholar's Library.