Gaelic Ireland

Gaelic Ireland is the name given to the period when a Gaelic political order existed in Ireland. The order continued to exist after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans (1169 AD) until about 1607 AD. For much of this period, the island was a patchwork^[1] of kingdoms of various size and other semi-sovereign territories known as túatha, much like the situation in Medieval Germany but in most periods without any effective national overlordship. These kingdoms and túatha very frequently competed for control of resources and thus continually grew and receded with the fortunes of time. Thousands of battles and predatory excursions involving their leaders are recorded in the Irish annals and other sources.

After the Norman invasion of 1169–71, large portions of Ireland came under the control of Norman lords – this territory was known as the Lordship of Ireland. However, the Gaelic system continued to exist in areas outside Norman control, and the government's power gradually shrank to an area known as The Pale. In 1541 the Kingdom of Ireland was established and the English monarchy began to conquer the island. This resulted in the Flight of the Earls in 1607, which marked the end of the Gaelic order.

Culture and society

Gaelic culture and society was centered around the Fine (clann) and, as such, the landscape and history of Ireland was wrought with inter-fine relationships, marriages, friendships, wars, vendettas, trading, and so on. Despite this, Gaelic Ireland possessed a rich oral culture and appreciation of deeper and intellectual pursuits. Filidh and druids were held in high regard during pagan times and carried the oral history and traditions of their people throughout generations. Later, many of the spiritual and intellectual tasks they carried out were passed down to Christian monks, after said religion prevailed from the 5th century onwards. However, the filidh continued to hold a high position in their clanns and territories. Poetry, music, storytelling, literature and various forms of arts were highly prized and cultivated in both pagan and Christian Gaelic Ireland. Hospitality, bonds of kinship and the fulfilment of social and ritual responsibilities were held sacred.

The Gaelic order in Ireland, rather than a single unified kingdom in the feudal sense, was a patchwork^[1] of túatha (singular: túath). These túatha often competed for control of resources and thus continually grew and shrank. Law tracts from the beginning of the eight century describe a hierarchy of kings: kings of túath subject to kings of several túatha who again were subject to provincial over kings.^[2] Already before the 8th century these over-kingships had begun to dissolve the túatha as the basic sociopolitic unit.^[2]

Religion and mythology

Paganism

Before Christianisation, the religion of the Gaelic Irish, as with other Celts, can be described as polytheistic or pagan. They worshipped a variety of gods and goddesses, which generally have parallels in the pantheons of other Celts. They were also animists, believing that all aspects of the natural world contained spirits, and that these spirits could be communicated with.^[3] Burial practices –which included burying food, weapons, and ornaments with the dead– suggest a belief in life after death.^[4] Some have equated this afterlife with the realms known as Mag Mell and Tír na nÓg in Irish mythology.^[5] There were four major religious festivals each year, marking the traditional four divisions of the year – Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain.^[6]

The mythology of Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature. This large body of work is typically divided into three overlapping cycles: the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, and the Fenian Cycle. The first cycle is a pseudo-history of Ireland that describes four invasions (or migrations) by semi-divine peoples. Two of these groups, the Fomorians and Tuatha Dé Danann, are believed to represent the pre-Gaelic and Gaelic pantheons. The second cycle recounts the lives and deaths of Ulaid heroes such as Cúchulainn. The third cycle recounts the exploits of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna. There are also a number of stories that do not fit into these cycles – this includes the immrama and echtrai, which are tales of the 'otherworld' and the voyages to get there.

Christianity

Law

Gaelic law (collectively known as Fénechas)^[7] was originally passed down orally, but was written down in Old Irish during the period 600–900 AD. Most of the laws were developed before Christianisation and are largely secular, but there is some Christian influence. These secular laws existed in parallel, and occasionally in conflict, with Church law. The brithem were the judiciary in Gaelic society and were expected to interpret the written laws and give advice or pass judgement accordingly. Kings would have been able to pass judgement also, but it is unclear how much they would have been able to make their own judgments, and how much they would have had to rely on professionals.^[8] However, unlike other kingdoms in Europe, Gaelic kings—by their own authority—could not enact new laws as they wished and could not be "above the law".^[9]

Gaelic law was a civil rather than a criminal code, concerned with the payment of fines (dire) for harm done. Although Gaelic law recognized a distinction between intentional and unintentional injury, any type of injury required compensation.^[10] The legal text Bretha Déin Chécht goes into great detail in describing compensation based on the location, severity, and type of wound.^[11] Types of fines included coirpdire (body-fine), einachlan (honour-price) and éraic (reparation). The éraic was the fine for murder or manslaughter; the fine for murder being twice that for manslaughter.^[10] State-administered punishment for crime was a foreign concept. Criminals were summoned to appear before a brithem, who heard the case and assessed the amount of fine that should be paid. If the defendant did not pay outright, his property was seized until he did so. Should the offender be unable to pay, his family would be responsible for doing so. Should the family be unable or unwilling to pay, responsibility would extend to the wider fine. If the criminal died, and his crime was purely personal, the fine would be freed of liability. However, if the criminal died and his crime had caused damage/loss of property, the fine was still liable for this loss.^[10] Hence, it has been argued that "the people were their own police".^[10]

Punishment was adjusted to match one's rank or profession. In certain cases, those of higher rank could receive a higher amount of compensation. However, an offence against the property of a poor man (who could ill afford it), was punished more harshly than a similar offence upon a wealthy man. The clergy were more harshly punished than the laity. When a layman had paid his fine he would go through a probationary period and then regain his status, but a convicted clergyman could never regain his status.^[10]

It is generally believed that execution of criminals was rare. If a murderer was unable/unwilling to pay éraic and was surrendered to his victim's family, they might kill him if they pleased should nobody intervene by paying the éraic.^[10] Certain criminals might be expelled from the fine and its territory, even though the fine had been paid. Such people became outlaws (with no protection from the law) and anyone who sheltered him became liable for his crimes. If he still haunted the fine territory and continued his crimes there, he was proclaimed in the fine's public assembly and after this anyone might lawfully kill him.^[10]

The law texts take great care to define social status, the rights and duties that went with that status, and the relationships between people. For example, chieftains had to take responsibility for members of their fine, acting as a surety for some of the actions of members and making sure debts were paid. He would also be responsible for unmarried women after the death of their fathers.^[12]

Structure

In Gaelic Ireland each person belonged to a kin-group known as a clann (plural: clanna) or fine (plural: finte). Each clann was a large group of related people—theoretically an extended family—supposedly descended from one progenitor and all owing allegiance to its chieftain, known as a cennfine or toísech (plural: toísigh). Often, clanna are thought of as based on blood kinship alone; however, clanna also included those who were adopted or fostered into the clann, and those who joined the clann for strategic reasons (such as safety or combining of resources). As Nicholls describes, they would be better thought of as akin to the modern-day corporation. The power of clanna fluctuated, and endemic warfare between clanna was a constant affair. Once-powerful clanna could in time decline in stature and be amalgamated into once-smaller ones. How this "merger" would be dealt with would be a matter of negotiation. Many clanna were also divided into a number of sub-groups known as septs, often when that group took up residence outside the original clann territory.

Lineage was based on the practice of tanistry (rather than primogeniture). At an assembly called a tocomra a relative was elected—prior to the death of a leader—to act as his deputy and then his successor.^[13] To be eligible for election, one had to share the same great-grandfather as the toísech. This group of electable cousins was called the derbfine, and the elected person was called a tanaiste (plural: tanaistí). The clann system formed the basis of society.

Gaelic society was structured hierarchically.

• The top social layer was the nobility (nemed), which included kings or rí, princes or flatha, lords or tiarnaí, and chieftains (toísigh). See also Gaelic nobility of Ireland for their surviving modern descendants.

• Below that were the professionals (dóernemed), which included skilled poets (filid), judges (brithem), craftsmen, physicians, and so on. Masters in a particular profession were known as ollamh. The various professions—including law, poetry, medicine, history and genealogy—were associated with particular hereditary families.^[14] Although most practised only one profession, some exercised more than one. Prior to the Christianisation of Ireland, this group also included the druídecht and fáithe. The druídecht or druids could combine the duties of priest, judge, scholar, poet, physician, and religious teacher,^[15][16] while the fáithe acted as soothsayers and clairvoyants.

• Below that were those who owned land and cattle (bóaire).

• Below that were serfs (bothach) and slaves (mug). Slaves were typically criminals or prisoners of war.

• The warrior bands (fianna) generally lived apart from society. A fian was typically composed of young men who had not yet come into their inheritance of land.^[17] A member of a fian was called a fénnid and the leader of a fian was a rígfénnid.^[18] Geoffrey Keating, in his 17th century History of Ireland, says that during the winter the fianna were quartered and fed by the nobility, during which time they would keep order on their behalf. But during the summer, from Beltaine to Samhain, they were obliged to live by hunting for food and for pelts to sell.^[19]

Although quite distinct, these ranks were not utterly exclusive castes like those of India.^[15] It was possible for persons to rise or sink from one rank to another. Progressing upward could be achieved a number of ways, such as by gaining wealth, by gaining skill in some department, by qualifying for a learned profession, by displaying conspicuous valour, or by performing some signal service to the community.^[15] An example is a person choosing to become a briugu (hospitaller). A briugu had to have his house open to any guests, which included feeding no matter how large the group. To enable the briugu to fulfill these duties, he was allowed more land and privileges,^[13] but if he ever refused guests he could lose this status.^[20]

Marriage, women and children

Commenting on the general view of women, Richard Stanihurst wrote in 1584 that at Irish social gatherings, "the prime place at the table is bestowed upon the woman of the household".^[21]

Apparently the laws on marriage and divorce were wholly pagan, and never underwent any change in Christian times.^[22] Throughout the Middle Ages, the Gaelic Irish kept many of their marriage laws and traditions separate from those of the Church.^[23]

Under Gaelic law, married women could hold property independent of their husbands,^[21][23] the tie between married women and their own families was kept intact,^[22][23] couples could easily divorce/separate,^[21][23] and men could have concubines (which could be lawfully bought).^[22][23] These laws differed from most of contemporary Europe and from Church law.

The lawful age of marriage was fifteen for girls and eighteen for boys.^[22] Upon marriage, the families of the bride and bridegroom were expected to contribute to the match. It was the custom for the bridegroom and his family to pay a coibche and the bride was allowed a portion of it. If the marriage ended due to a fault of the husband then the coibche was kept by the wife and her family, but if the fault lay with the wife then the coibche was to be returned.^[23] It was customary for the bride to receive a spréidh from her family (or foster family) upon marriage. This was to be returned if the marriage ended through divorce or the death of the husband. Later, the spréidh seems to have been converted into a dowry.^[23] Women could seek divorce/separation as easily as men could and, when obtained on her petition, she kept all the property she had brought her husband during their marriage.^[22]

Trial marriages seem to have been popular among the rich and powerful, and thus it has been argued that cohabitation before marriage must have been acceptable.^[23] It also seems that the wife of a chieftain was entitled to some share of the chief's authority over his territory. This led to some Gaelic Irish wives wielding a great deal of political power.^[23]

In Gaelic Ireland a type of fosterage was commonplace, whereby (for certain periods of time) children would be placed in the care of other fine members, namely their mother's family, preferably her brother.^[22] This may have been used to strengthen family ties or political bonds.^[21] Foster parents were required to teach their foster children or to have them taught. Foster parents who had properly done their duties were entitled to be supported by their foster children in old age (if they were in need and had no children of their own).^[22] As with divorce, Gaelic law again differed from most of Europe and from Church law in giving legal status to both "legitimate" and "illegitimate" children.^[22]

Settlements and architecture

The Gaelic Irish typically lived in circular houses with conical roofs. In some areas, walls were built mostly of stone. In others, walls were built with wattle and daub, timber, sods, clay, or a mix of materials. Roofs were made of thatch or sods. These houses (along with livestock) were often surrounded by a circular rampart called a "ringfort".^[21] There are two main types of ringfort. The ráth is an earthen ringfort, averaging 30m diameter, with a dry outside ditch.^[24] The cathair or caiseal is a stone ringfort. Sometimes there were several buildings inside.^[25] Most date to the period 500–1000 CE^[24] and there is evidence of large-scale ringfort desertion at the end of the first millennium.^[25] Between 30,000 and 40,000 survived into the 19th century to be mapped by Ordnance Survey Ireland.^[24] Another type of native dwelling was the crannóg, which were fortified roundhouses built on wooden platforms in lakes.

Monastic settlements emerged in the 5th century. Although there were no towns or villages, the monasteries sometimes became the centre of a small settlement cluster or "monastic town".^[21][25] By the 10th century, there were few nucleated settlements other than these monastic towns and the Norse-Gaelic ports.^[24] It was at this time, perhaps as a response to Viking raids, that many of the Irish round towers were built.

In the fifty years before the Norman invasion (1169), the term "castle" (Old Irish: caistél/caislén) appears in Gaelic writings, although all the recorded examples of pre-Norman castles have been destroyed.^[25] After the invasion, the Normans converted some ringforts into motte-and-baileys.^[25] From the mid 14th century onward, the Normans began to build tower houses in large numbers. These are free-standing multi-storey stone towers usually surrounded by a wall (see bawn) and ancillary buildings.^[24] Gaelic families had begun to build their own tower houses by the 15th century.^[25] As many as 7000 may have been built, but they were rare in areas with little Norman settlement or contact.^[25] They are concentrated in counties Limerick and Clare but are lacking in Ulster, except the area around Strangford Lough.^[24]

In Gaelic law, a 'sanctuary' called a maighin digona surrounded each person's dwelling.^[10] Within this the owner and his family and property were protected by law.^[10] The maighin digona's size varied according to the owner's rank. In the case of a bóaire it extended as far as he, while sitting at his house, could cast a cnairsech (variously described as a spear or sledgehammer).^[10] The owner of a maighin digona could extend its protection to someone fleeing from pursuers, who would then have to resort to legal methods of bringing that person to justice.^[10]

Sustenance

Money was non-existent in Gaelic society; instead, livestock (cows, sheep, pigs and horses) and fishing was the main currency and the main source of sustenance.^[21] Horticulture was practiced; the main crops being oats, wheat and barley, although flax was also grown for making linen. The main exports were fish, hides, wool and linen cloth. The main imports were goods that could not be found in Ireland, such as salt and wine.^[21]

Transhumance was practised, whereby the people moved with their livestock (over short distances) to higher pastures in summer and back to lower pastures in the cooler months.^[21][26] The summer pasture was called the buaile (anglicised as booley) and it is significant that the Irish word for boy (buachaill) originally meant a herdsman.^[26] Many moorland areas were "shared as a common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony".^[26]

Dress

Throughout the Middle Ages, the common clothing amongst the Gaelic Irish consisted of a brat (a woollen cloak or mantle) worn over a léine (a loose-fitting, long-sleeved tunic made of wool or linen). For men these were either thigh-length or knee-length and for women they were longer.^[27] Men sometimes wore tight-fitting truis on the legs, but otherwise went bare-legged.^[28] The brat was usually fastened with a crios (belt) and dealg (brooch), with men usually wearing the dealg at their shoulders and women at their chests.^[27] The ionar (a short, tight-fitting jacket) became popular later on. In Topographia Hibernica, written during the 1180s, Gerald de Barri wrote that the Irish also wore hoods at that time^[29] (perhaps forming part of the brat), while Edmund Spenser wrote in the 1580s that the brat was (in general) their sole garment.

According to Gerald de Barri, most of the Irish wore clothes made of black wool, because most of the sheep in Ireland were black in his time.^[29] The number of colours worn came to indicate the rank or wealth of the wearer; the wealthy often wore cloth of many colours while the poor only wore cloth of one colour.^[27]

Both men and women grew their hair long^[28][29] and often braided it. It is claimed that the Gaelic Irish took great pride in their long hair—for example, a person could be forced to pay the heavy fine of two cows for shaving a man's head against his will.^[10] The glib (short all over except for a thick lock of hair towards the front of the head) was also popular among some medieval Gaels, and the mohawk may have been popular in pre-Christian times (as worn by the Irish bog body known as Clonycavan man). Gaelic men typically let their facial hair grow into a beard,^[28][29] and it was often seen as dishonourable for a Gaelic man to have no facial hair.

Warfare

Gaelic Ireland was a land of continuous warfare, as túatha fought for supremacy against each other and (later) against the Anglo-Normans.^[30] Throughout the Middle Ages and for some time after, outsiders often wrote that the style of Irish warfare differed greatly from what they deemed to be the norm.^[30] The Gaelic Irish preferred hit-and-run raids (the creach), which involved catching the enemy unaware and storming their strongholds. If this worked they would then seize any valuables (mainly livestock) and potentially valuable hostages, burn the crops, and escape.^[30] The cattle raid was often referred to as a táin bó in Gaelic literature. Although hit-and-run raiding was the preferred tactic in medieval times, the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib recounts lengthy pitched battles and the use of boats in tandem with land forces.^[31] It was not unusual for armies to launch long-range attacks, setting up camps along the way.^[31]

A typical medieval Irish army included light infantry, heavy infantry and cavalry. The bulk of the army was made-up of light infantry called ceithern (anglicised kern). The ceithern wandered Ireland offering their services for hire, usually carrying swords, knives, short spears, bows and shields.^[30] The cavalry was usually made-up of a chieftain and his close relatives. They usually rode without saddles but wore armour and helmets and wielded swords, knives and long spears.^[30] One type of Irish cavalry was the hobelar. The heavy infantry were the gallóglaigh (anglicised gallowglass). They were originally Scottish mercenaries who appeared in the 13th century, but by the 15th century most large túatha had their own hereditary force of gallóglaigh.^[30] They usually wore chainmail and helmets and wielded claymores and axes. The gallóglaigh provided the retreating plunderers with a "moving line of defence from which the horsemen could make short, sharp charges, and behind which they could retreat when pursued".^[30] As their armour made them less mobile, they were sometimes planted at strategic spots along the line of retreat. Both the horsemen and gallóglaigh had servants to carry their weapons into battle.^[30]

Warriors were sometimes rallied into battle accompanied by blowing horns and warpipes. Gaius Julius Solinus wrote (in the 2nd century) that the pagan Irish besmeared their faces with the blood of the slain to frighten their enemies.^[27] According to Gerald de Barri (in the 12th century), they did not wear armour, as they deemed it cumbersome to wear and "brave and honourable" to fight without it.^[29] Instead, most ordinary soldiers fought semi-naked and carried only their weapons and a small round shield—Spenser wrote that these shields were covered with leather and painted in bright colours.^[27] Chieftains sometimes went into battle wearing helmets or headpieces adorned with eagle feathers. For ordinary soldiers, their thick hair often served as a helmet, but they sometimes wore simple helmets made from animal hides.^[27]

Gaelic warriors (and Celtic warriors in general) had a reputation as head hunters. Ancient Romans and Greeks recorded the Celtic custom of beheading their enemies and publicly displaying the severed heads (for example by hanging them from the necks of horses).^[32] According to Paul Jacobsthal, "Amongst the Celts the human head was venerated above all else, since the head was to the Celt the soul, centre of the emotions, as well as of life itself".^[33]

Arts

Visual art

Artwork from Ireland's Gaelic period appears on pottery, jewelry, weapons, drinkware, tableware, stone carvings and illuminated manuscripts. Like other types of Celtic art, Irish art from about 300 BC forms part of the wider La Tène art style, which developed in west central Europe. By around 600 AD, after the Christianization of Ireland had begun, a style combining Celtic, Mediterranean and Germanic Anglo-Saxon elements emerged, and was spread widely to Britain and the Continent by the Hiberno-Scottish mission. This is known as Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art, which continued in some form in Ireland until the 12th century, although the Viking invasions ended its "Golden Age". Most surviving works of Insular art were either created by monks or created for use by the monasteries, with the exception of Celtic brooches, which were probably made and used by both clergy and laity. Examples of Insular art from Ireland include the Book of Kells, Muiredach's High Cross, the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Hoard the Derrynaflan Chalice, and the late Cross of Cong, which also uses Viking styles.

Literature

Music and dance

Although Gerald de Barri had a negative view of the Irish, in Topographia Hibernica (1188) he conceded that they were more skilled at playing music than any other nation he had seen. He claimed that the two main instruments were the "harp" and "tabor" (see bodhrán), that their music was fast and lively, and that their songs always began and ended with B-flat.^[29] In A History of Irish Music (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that there were at least ten instruments in general use by the Gaelic Irish. These were the cruit (a small harp) and clairseach (a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), the timpan (a small string instrument played with a bow or plectrum), the feadan (a fife), the buinne (an oboe or flute), the guthbuinne (a bassoon-type horn), the bennbuabhal and corn (hornpipes), the cuislenna (bagpipes - see Great Irish Warpipes), the stoc and sturgan (clarions or trumpets), and the cnamha (castanets).^[34] There is also evidence of the fiddle being used in the 8th century.^[34]

Sport

Assemblies

As mentioned previously, Gaelic Ireland was divided into a large number of clann territories and kingdoms which were called túath (plural: túatha).^[13] Although there was no central 'government' or 'parliament', a number of local, regional and national assemblies were held. These combined features of assemblies and fairs.^[13]

In Ireland the highest of these was the feis at Tara, which occurred every third Samhain.^[13] This was an assembly of the leading men of the whole island — kings, lords, chieftains, druids, judges etc.^[13] Below this was the óenach or aenach. These were regional or provincial assemblies open to everyone.^[13] Examples include that held at Taillten each Lughnasadh, and that held at Uisnech each Beltaine. The main purpose of these assemblies was to promulgate and reaffirm the laws — they were read aloud in public that they might not be forgotten, and any changes in them carefully explained to those present.^[13]

Each túath or clann had two assemblies of its own. These were the cuirmtig, which was open to all clann members, and the dal (a term later adopted for the Irish parliament - see Dáil Éireann), which was open only to clann chiefs.^[13] Each clann had an additional assembly called a tocomra, in which the clann chief (toísech) and his deputy/successor (tanaiste) were elected.

List of clanna, túatha and kings

• List of clanna
• List of túatha
• List of kings

History

Before 400

400 to 800

800 to 1169

Anglo-Norman occupation

Invasion

Ireland became Christianized between the 5th and 7th centuries. Pope Adrian IV, the only English pope, had already issued a Papal Bull in 1155 giving Henry II of England authority to invade Ireland as a means of curbing Irish refusal to recognize Roman law. Importantly, for later English monarchs, the Bull, Laudabiliter, maintained papal suzerainty over the island:

In 1166, after losing the protection of High King Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, the King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, was forcibly exiled by a confederation of Irish forces under the new High King, Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair. Fleeing first to Bristol and then to Normandy, Diarmait obtained permission from Henry II of England to use his subjects to regain his kingdom. By the following year, he had obtained these services and in 1169 the main body of Norman, Welsh and Flemish forces landed in Ireland and quickly retook Leinster and the cities of Waterford and Dublin on behalf of Diarmait. The leader of the Norman force, Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, more commonly known as Strongbow, married Diarmait's daughter, Aoife, and was named tánaiste to the Kingdom of Leinster. This 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.

Henry landed with in 1171, proclaiming Waterford and Dublin as Royal Cities. Adrian's successor, Pope Alexander III, ratified the grant of Ireland to Henry in 1172. The 1175 Treaty of Windsor between Henry and Ruaidhrí maintained Ruaidhrí as High King of Ireland^[35] but codified Henry's control of Leinster, Meath and Waterford. However, with Diarmuid and Strongbow dead, Henry back in England, and Ruaidhrí unable to curb his vassals, the high kingship rapidly lost control of the country. Henry, in 1185, awarded his Ireland to his younger son, John, with the title Dominus Hiberniae, "Lord of Ireland". This kept the newly created title and the Kingdom of England personally and legally separate. However, when John unexpectedly succeeded his brother as King of England in 1199, the Lordship of Ireland fell back into personal union with the Kingdom of England.

Gaelic resurgence

By 1261, the weakening of the Anglo-Norman Lordship had become manifest following a string of military defeats. In the chaotic situation, local Irish lords won back large amounts of land. The invasion by Edward Bruce in 1315-18 at a time of famine weakened the Norman economy. The Black Death arrived in Ireland in 1348. Because most of the English and Norman inhabitants of Ireland lived in towns and villages, the plague hit them far harder than it did the native Irish, who lived in more dispersed rural settlements. After it had passed, Gaelic Irish language and customs came to dominate the country again. The English-controlled area shrank back to the Pale, a fortified area around Dublin. Outside the Pale, the Hiberno-Norman lords intermarried with Gaelic noble families, adopted the Irish language and customs and sided with the Gaelic Irish in political and military conflicts against the Lordship. They became known as the Old English, and in the words of a contemporary English commentator, were "more Irish than the Irish themselves."

The authorities in the Pale worried about the "Gaelicisation" of Norman Ireland, and passed the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1366 banning those of English descent from speaking the Irish language, wearing Irish clothes or inter-marrying with the Irish. The government in Dublin had little real authority. By the end of the fifteenth century, central English authority in Ireland had all but disappeared. England's attentions were diverted by the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) and then by the Wars of the Roses (1450–85). Around the country, local Gaelic and Gaelicised lords expanded their powers at the expense of the English government in Dublin.

Gaelic kingdoms during the period

Following the failed attempt by the Scottish King Edward Bruce (see Irish Bruce Wars 1315–1318) to drive the Normans out of Ireland, there emerged a number of important Gaelic kingdoms and Gaelic-controlled lordships.

• Connacht. The Ó Conchobhair dynasty, despite their setback during the Bruce wars, had regrouped and ensured that the title King of Connacht was not yet an empty one. Their stronghold was in their homeland of Sil Muirdeag, from where they dominated much of northern and northeastern Connacht. However, after the death of Ruaidri mac Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair in 1384, the dynasty split into two factions, Ó Conchobhair Don and Ó Conchobhair Ruadh. By the late 15th century, internecine warfare between the two branches had weakened them to the point where they themselves became vassals of more powerful lords such as Ó Domhnaill of Tír Chonaill and the Clan Burke of Clanricarde. The Mac Diarmata Kings of Moylurg retained their status and kingdom during this era, up to the death of Tadhg Mac Diarmata in 1585 (last de facto King of Moylurg). Their cousins, the Mac Donnacha of Tír Ailella, found their fortunes bound to the Ó Conchobhair Ruadh. The kingdom of Uí Maine had lost much of its southern and western lands to the Clanricardes, but managed to flourish until repeated raids by Ó Domhnaill in the early 16th century weakened it. Other territories such as Ó Flaithbeheraigh of Iar Connacht, Ó Seachnasaigh of Aidhne, O'Dowd of Tireagh, O'Hara, Ó Gadhra and Ó Maddan, either survived in isolation or were vassals for greater men.

• Ulster: The Ulaid proper were in a sorry state all during this era, being squeezed between the emergent Ó Neill of Tír Eógain in the west, the MacDonnells, Clann Aodha Buidhe, and the Anglo-Normans from the east. Only Mag Aonghusa managed to retain a portion of their former kingdom with expansion into Iveagh. The two great success stories of this era were Ó Domhnaill of Tír Chonaill and Ó Neill of Tír Eógain. Ó Domhnaill was able to dominate much of northern Connacht to the detriment of its native lords, both Old English and Gaelic, though it took time to suborn the likes of Ó Conchobhair Sligigh and Ó Ruairc of Iar Breifne. Expansion southwards brought the hegemony of Tír Eógain, and by extension Ó Neill influence, well into the border lordships of Louth and Meath. Mag Uidir of Fear Manach would slightly later be able to build his lordship up to that of third most powerful in the province, at the expense of the Ó Ruaircs of Iar Breifne and the MacMahons of Airgíalla.

• Leinster: Likewise, despite the adverse (and unforeseen) effects of Diarmait Mac Murchada's efforts to regain his kingdom, the fact of the matter was that, of his twenty successors up to 1632, most of them had regained much of the ground they had lost to the Normans, and exacted yearly tribute from the towns. His most dynamic successor was the celebrated Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh. The Ó Brioin and Ó Tuathail largely contented themselves with raids on Dublin (which, incredibly, continued into the 18th century). The Ó Mordha of Laois and Ó Conchobhair Falaighe of Offaly - the latter's capital was Daingean - were two self-contained territories that had earned the right to be called kingdoms due to their near-invincibility against successive generations of Anglo-Irish. The great losers were the Ó Melaghlins of Meath: their kingdom had collapsed, and despite the near-superhuman martial prowess of Cormac mac Art O Melaghlain, the royal family were now reduced to vassal status, clinging to the east shores of the River Shannon. Meath itself ceased to be a separate province and was henceforth incorporated into Leinster, reducing Ireland's provinces to four.

• Munster:
  • Desmond: See Kingdom of Desmond, Barony of Carbery, Battle of Callann
  • Thomond: Despite huge setbacks, the descendants of Brian Bóruma had, by surviving the Second Battle of Athenry and winning the decisive battles of Corcomroe and Dysert O'Dea, been able to suborn their vassals and eradicate the Normans from their home kingdom of Thomond. Their spheres of interest often met with conflict with Anglo-Normans such as the Earls of Desmond and Earls of Ormond, yet they ruled right up to the end of Gaelic Ireland, and beyond, by expedient of becoming the O'Brien Earls of Thomond.

Tudor conquest

From 1536, Henry VIII of England decided to conquer Ireland and bring it under English control. The FitzGerald dynasty of Kildare, who had become the effective rulers of the Lordship of Ireland (The Pale) in the 15th century, had become unreliable allies and Henry resolved to bring Ireland under English government control so the island would not become a base for future rebellions or foreign invasions of England. To involve the Gaelic nobility and allow them to retain their lands under English law the policy of surrender and regrant was applied.

In 1541, Henry upgraded Ireland from a lordship to a full kingdom, partly in response to changing relationships with the papacy, which still had suzerainty over Ireland, following Henry's break with the church. Henry was proclaimed King of Ireland at a meeting of the Irish Parliament that year. This was the first meeting of the Irish Parliament to be attended by the Gaelic Irish princes as well as the Hiberno-Norman aristocracy.

With the technical institutions of government in place, the next step was to extend the control of the Kingdom of Ireland over all of its claimed territory. This took nearly a century, with various English administrations in the process either negotiating or fighting with the independent Irish and Old English lords. The conquest was completed during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I, after several bloody conflicts.

The flight into exile in 1607 of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell following their defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 and the suppression of their rebellion in Ulster in 1603 is seen as the watershed of Gaelic Ireland. It marked the destruction of Ireland's ancient Gaelic nobility following the Tudor conquest and cleared the way for the Plantation of Ulster. After this point, the English authorities in Dublin established real control over Ireland for the first time, bringing a centralised government to the entire island, and successfully disarmed the Gaelic lordships.

See also

• Early history of Ireland
• Gaels
• Celtic Christianity

References

Further reading

• Kelly, Fergus (1988). A Guide to Early Irish Law. Early Irish Law Series 3. Dublin: DIAS. ISBN 0901282952. 
• Duffy, Patrick J.; David Edwards; Elizabeth FitzPatrick, ed (2001). Gaelic Ireland, c. 1250—c.1650: land, landlordship and settlement. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 
• Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth (2004). Royal inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100-1600: a cultural landscape study. Studies in Celtic History 22. Woodbridge: Boydell. 
• Mooney, Canice (1969). The Church in Gaelic Ireland, thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. A History of Irish Catholicism 2/5. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. 
• Nicholls, Kenneth W. (2003) [1972]. Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages (2nd ed.). Dublin: Lilliput Press. 
• Simms, Katherine (1987). From kings to warlords: the changing political structure of Gaelic Ireland in the later Middle Ages. Studies in Celtic History 7. Woodbridge: Boydell.