232 



IRELAND. 



History. 



Invaded by 

 the Nor- 

 thumbrians. 

 A. I). 684. 



and Ost- 

 men. 



Contests be- 

 tween them 

 and the na- 

 tives. 



Henry! I. 



attempts its 

 conquest. 

 A. D. 1155. 



depending more en his ability to enforce it, than on any 

 sense of duty or strong attachment. 



Notwithstanding this form of government (if such 

 it can be called) contained within itself the seeds of 

 disunion and warfare, and thus presented a strong 

 temptation, and a favourable opportunity to foreign in- 

 vaders ; yet Ireland seems to have enjoyed comparative 

 peace and prosperity till near the end of the seventh 

 century. At this time, A. D. 684, it was invaded by 

 order of Egfrid, King of Northumberland, and its 

 lands, churches, and monasteries were laid waste. This 

 invasion was soon followed by another, still more dread- 

 ful and destructive; for, towards the close of the ninth, 

 or beginning of the tenth century, t!.e northern barba- 

 rians, called by the Irish Duff-galls and Fin-galls, black 

 and white foreigners, the Ostmen of the English, who 

 came from Norway and .Denmark, invaded Ireland 

 with a considerable force. One of their most celebrated 

 leaders was Turgesius, a man who, to all the ferocity 

 and barbarism of the times, his country, and the life he 

 led, seems to have united a considerable degree of acti- 

 vity and vigour of mind. The era of his landing in 

 Ireland is not accurately known; but it took place either 

 in the beginning or middle of the ninth century. His 

 success seems to have been very great, and for thirty 

 years he retained the power and the dominion which 

 he had forcibly acquired. At the end of this period he 

 was seized and put to death by the Irish King of 

 Meath, in what manner is not accurately recorded, and 

 his countrymen were compelled to retire to the sea 

 coast. 



The Norwegians, however, having experienced the 

 facility of the invasion of Ireland, soon re-appeared on 

 its coasts ; not indeed as enemies, but under the pre- 

 tence of commerce. Their chiefs were three brothers, 

 who possessed so much precaution and adroitness, that, 

 without the aid of force, they obtained possession of 

 Dublin, Waterford, and Limeric, at this time the most 

 important and populous cities in Ireland. Thus fixed 

 firmly in different parts of the country, they were ready 

 to take advantage of the domestic quarrels of the Irish ; 

 and by these they profited so much, that they soon ex- 

 tended their possessions far beyond the lands imme- 

 diately adjacent to these cities. 



For nearly 300 years, that is, from the death of Tur- 

 gesius to the landing of the English, the Irish annals 

 are filled with uninteresting details of the wars be- 

 tween the natives and the Ostmen. In those wars the 

 latter generallylproved successful; and the Ostmen, who 

 were settled at Dublin, increasing in strength by their 

 victories over the Irish, as well as by accessions of 

 force from their own countrymen, found themselves so 

 secure in their conquests, that they even ventured, and 

 were able to carry on, a piratical warfare against the 

 Welsh. In one of these plundering invasions of Wales, 

 they laid waste the city of St. David's, and carried off 

 the riches of the shrine of that saint. 



These invasions appear to have afforded a pretext to 

 Henry II. to attempt the conquest of Ireland. In the 

 year 1155, this monarch summoned a council at Win- 

 chester, to consult about the expediency of such a 

 measure, having the year before obtained from the 

 Pope a bull to authorise his attempt, whenever a fa- 

 vourable opportunity should be afforded. It is proba- 

 ble that the state of Ireland, almost always distracted, 

 and weakened by domestic broils, would have afforded 

 this opportunity in a very short time after the bull was 

 granted, but Henry's affairs in France did not permit 

 him to attend to the conquest of Ireland till some years 

 afterwards. 



In the year 1162, Dermod was the sovereign prince Hi- 

 of Leinster. To great strength of body, he added a do- - '" ' 

 gree of courage and activity that rendered -him formi- ] j 1 * u j n ,j 

 dable to the Ostmen, whom he defeated in battle, and | re nce. 

 kept within their own boundaries. Contemporary with 

 him was Roderic O'Connor, who was styled King of A D jjpj 

 Ireland. It was not likely that two Irish chieftains 

 should long continue at peace with each other. A 

 cause of quarrel soon arose. In the district of Breff- 

 ney, which consisted principally of the modern county 

 of Leitrim, O'Roirk reigned ; Dermod seduced, or ra- 

 vished his wife ; and, not content with this outrage, he 

 also drove O'Uoirk from his territories. The exiled 

 prince sought the assistance of Roderick. The pro- 

 vince of Leinster was invaded : The inhabitants, wea- 

 ried and dispirited by the tyranny of Dermod, received 

 the invader as their friend and liberator ; and Dermod, 

 in his turn, was compelled to flee from Leinster, and 

 seek refuge in England. 



At this period, Henry was unable himself to assist 

 Dermod, or to invade Ireland ; but he caused an edict 

 to be issued in his favour, in which he stated that he 

 had received Dermod under his protection, and pro- 

 mised the royal licence to such of his subjects as 

 would aid him in the recovery of his territories. As soon 

 as Dermod obtained this edict, he proceeded to the 

 neighbourhood of W r ales, both on account of keeping 

 up an intercourse with Ireland, and because in Wales 

 there were several of the nobility, who, from various 

 causes, were most likely to assi-t him in his endeavours 

 to be reinstated in his territories. In this expectation 

 he was not deceived; for soon after the royal edict was 

 read, and money and land were offered to those who 

 would assist him, Richard, son of Gilbert de Clare, Earl 

 of Strigul and Chepstow, engaged to come over to Ire- 

 land the following spring, on condition that he should 

 receive in marriage Eva, the only daughter of Dermod, 

 and with her the right of succession to all his property 

 in Ireland. Other adventurers followed his example. 

 Of these, the most famous was Robert Fitzstephen, a 

 man who seems to have possessed most of the virtues, 

 with but a small proportion of the vices- of that age. 



In A. D. 1169, Dermod returned to Ireland; and Fitzste- 

 the following year, Fitzstephen, with 1 30 of his own P Ilcn Iand * 

 kinsmen, 60 men in armour, -and 300 archers and foot 

 soldiers, landed at a short distance from Wexford. The 

 first attempt of the united forces of Fitzstephen and 

 Dermod was against this city, but they were repulsed 

 by the inhabitants. The attack, however, was renew- 

 ed the next morning by the English, and the inhabi- 

 tants capitulated. Wexford was delivered up to Fitz- 

 stephen. Roderic alarmed at the success of these for- 

 midable strangers, and sensible of his inability to cope 

 with them, concluded a treaty, by which Dermod re- 

 gained the province of Leinster, on condition that he 

 acknowledged Roderic as sovereign -of. Ireland. Der- 

 mod having thus attained his object, and having been 

 reinforced by the arrival of some more English troops 

 under Maurice Fitzgerald, marched to the attack of 

 Dublin, the inhabitants of which he obliged to take 

 the oath of allegiance. Strongbow or Strigul was still 

 in England ; but being called upon by Dermod to 

 fulfil his engagement, he applied to King Henry, re- 

 questing either the restoration of his paternal property, 

 of which he had been deprived, or liberty to seek his 

 fortune in Ireland. To this application Henry gave an 

 ambiguous answer; but Strongbow construed it to 

 his own desire and advantage, and resolved to go 

 to Ireland. Previous to his embarkation, however, he 

 sent over a young man attached to his family, on 





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