FOURTH, OR NORMAN PERIOD.

FROM A.D. 1168 TO A.D. 1509,

PRINCIPAL EVENTS.

DERMOT MAC MURROUGH SEEKS THE ASSISTANCE OF HENRY II. TO ENABLE HIM TO RECOVER HIS KINGDOM-ARRIVAL OF STRONGBOW-HIS MARRIAGE WITH EVA MAC MURROUGHVISIT OF PRINCE JOHN TO IRELAND-GRADUAL ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ANGLO-NORMAN NOBLES IN IRELAND--THE NATIVE PRINCES DRIVEN GRADUALLY FROM THEIR POSSESSIONS-FEUDS BETWEEN THE BURKES OR DE BURGOS, AND THE GERALDINES OR FITZGERALDS-RISE OF THE BUTLER FAMILY-THE FAMOUS EARL OF KILDARE VISITS HENRY VII.

THE NORMAN INVASION.

157

CHAPTER XII.

A.D. 1168 To A.D. 1176.

SECTION I.

Dermot MacMurrough asks the assistance of Henry II. to recover his petty kingdom, from which he was expelled.

THE

HE period of Irish History of which we now treat at present is most important and full of interest, because here we find the first link in the chain by which Ireland was united to the British dominions. When Dermot fled to Henry II. for assistance no one could have foreseen what great results would follow. Still, there is evidence, that for some short time previous to this event the English monarchs had looked anxiously across the Channel, and hoped at some time to annex the island which lay so near them to their other dominions.

Henry II. inherited Anjou and Lorraine from his father, and Normandy and Maine from his brother. He had married Eleanor, the divorced wife of Louis of France. Through her he acquired seven provinces; hence he possessed more territorial authority in France than the monarch of that country. At the very commencement of his reign he had obtained a bull from Pope Adrian IV., granting him the right 'to enter the island of Ireland, to subject its people to obedience of laws, to eradicate the seeds of vice, and also to make every house pay the annual tribute of one penny to the blessed Peter, and preserve the rights of the Church of that land whole and entire.' There can be no doubt whatever of the authenticity of this bull. It is quite evident, however, that the state of Ireland at that

period was represented in the very worst light to the Holy See for the purpose of obtaining it. But there can be no question that, both morally and religiously, the state of the people had deteriorated greatly. Many of the monastic houses had been destroyed by the Danes, and many more had been destroyed by the Irish chiefs themselves in their domestic wars. These wars also were, as such wars must always be, a source of national deterioration.

Henry was too much occupied with his own affairs to attempt an invasion of Ireland, and it is impossible to conjecture how long this attempt might have been deferred if Dermot had not appealed to him for assistance. The bull was granted in A.D. 1155. In the year 1168 Dermot fled from Ireland to Bristol, where he hoped to find Henry, but the king was then in Aquitaine, and thither the Irish chieftain followed. Dermot only asked for assistance to recover his kingdom, from which he had been expelled, and it cannot be ascertained how much or how little he told the English monarch of the circumstances. Henry granted his request without a moment's hesitation, and in return for the subjoined letter, in which he took him into the bosom of his grace and benevolence,' he only required that he should pay a vassal's homage for his own estates. The royal letter ran thus:-'Henry, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, to all his liegemen, English, Norman, Welsh and Scotch, and to all the nation under his dominion, sends greeting. As soon as the present letter shall come to your hands, know that Dermot, prince of Leinster, has been received into the bosom of our grace and benevolence: wherefore, whosoever, within the ample extent of our territories, shall be willing to lend aid towards this prince as our faithful and liege subject, let such person know that we do hereby grant to him for said purpose our licence and favour.' It is remarkable that there is no allusion in this letter to the bull of Adrian, and in whatever light we may view this omission, it is certainly inexplicable.

For some time Dermot failed in his efforts to obtain assistance. After some fruitless negotiations with the needy and lawless adventurers who thronged the port of

LANDING OF THE ANGLO-NORMANS.

159

Bristol, he applied to the earl of Pembroke, Richard de Clare. This nobleman had obtained the name of Strongbow, by which he is more generally known, from his skill in archery. Two other young men of rank joined the party; they were the sons of the beautiful and infamous Nesta, once the mistress of Henry I., but now the wife of Gerald, governor of Pembroke and lord of Carew. The knights were Maurice FitzGerald and Robert FitzStephen. Dermot had promised them the city of Wexford and two cantreds of land as their reward. Strongbow was to succeed him on the throne of Leinster, ånd to receive the hand of his young and beautiful daughter, Eva, in marriage.

There is considerable uncertainty as to the real date and the precise circumstances of Dermot's arrival in Ireland. According to one account, he returned at the close of the year 1168, and concealed himself during the winter in a monastery of Augustinian canons at Ferns, which he had founded. The two principal authorities are Giraldus Cambrensis and Maurice Regan; the latter was Dermot Mac Murrough's secretary. According to his account, Robert FitzStephen landed at Bannow, near Waterford, in May 1169, with an army of three hundred archers, thirty knights, and sixty men-at-arms. A second detachment arrived the next day, headed by Maurice de Prendergast, a Welsh gentleman, with ten knights and sixty archers, Dermot at once assembled his men, and joined his allies. He could only muster five hundred followers; but with their united forces, such as they were, the outlawed king and the needy adventurers laid siege to the city of Wexford. The brave inhabitants of this mercantile town at once set forth to meet them; but, fearing the result if attacked in open field by well-disciplined troops, they fired the suburbs, and entrenched themselves in the town. Next morning the assaulting party prepared for a renewal of hostilities, but the clergy of Wexford advised an effort for peace terms of capitulation were negotiated, and Dermot was obliged to pardon, when he would probably have preferred to massacre. It is said that FitzStephen burned his little fleet, to show his followers that they must conquer or die. Two cantreds of land, comprising the present baronies

: