IRELAND. 
£96 
that the grievous diftrefs of that country gave him great 
uneafinels; fo that he tranfmitted his mandate to the pre¬ 
lates of Ireland, requiring them to interpofe their fpiritual 
authority for compofing the public diforders. About 
the fame time, the Irilh who lay contiguous to the En¬ 
glifh, and who dwelt among them, prefented a petition 
to the king, offering to pay him 8000 merks, upon condi¬ 
tion that they were admitted to the privileges of Englilh 
fubjefts. To this petition he returned a favourable an- 
fwer; but his good intentions were defeated-by the licen¬ 
tious nobility, who knew that thefe laws would have cir- 
cumfcribed their rapacious- views, and controuled their 
violence and oppreffion. Petitions of the fame kind were 
feveral times repeated during this reign, but as often de¬ 
feated ; though l'ome means were ufed for the peace of 
the kingdom, fuch as the frequent calling of parliaments, 
appointing fheriffs in fome new counties, &c. 
Alfemblies of prelates, nobles, and commons, had be¬ 
fore this period been convened as colonial parliaments, or 
bodies reprefenting the Englifh in Ireland ; but the firft 
that had the appearance of a regular parliament was lum- 
moned in 1295, by fir John Wogan, an able chief go¬ 
vernor who laboured to heal the diforders of the country. 
Belides the regular lummoning of the lords, fpiritual and 
temporal; the writs to the fheriffs directed them to return 
two knights for each county, and liberty, or privileged 
diftriif, included within a county. Though this parlia¬ 
ment was but thin from the abfence of many who de¬ 
clined to attend, yet the object of their meeting, the dil- 
cuffion of pvtblic grievances, appears to have been atten¬ 
tively conduced ; and, from the remedies decreed, we 
learn the abufes which then exifted. By the acts of this 
aflembly we find, that the divifion of the counties was 
difproportionate, and inconvenient for the execution of 
the Englifh laws ; that the lords marchers, charged with 
the defence of the borders, negle£ted their duty, and re¬ 
filled in the fecurer parts of the country ; that many 
nobles poflefTing Irilh eftates conftantly refided in Eng¬ 
land, without contributing to the general defence of the 
colony, or attending to the fecurity of their tenants, who 
were thus left unprotected againlt the incurfions of ene¬ 
mies ; that colonilis, inftead of uniting againft the common 
foe, frequently refilled to aflift their neighbours when at¬ 
tacked; that the barons kept bands of idle retainers, and 
oppreffed their dependents by arbitrary exactions ; that 
the Irilh, when they intended to attack an Englifh fettle- 
ment, often made a truce with the colonifls of the adja¬ 
cent diftricts, who were thus prevented from aiding their 
fellow-fubjeCfs; that hoftile incurfions were fometimes 
made on the Irilh after infidious truces, which occafioned 
bloody repril'als on innocent perfons ; that the country 
was in bad condition in refpeCf to roads and bridges; 
and, that the Englifh colonilis had begun to conform to 
the licentious manners of the natives, difguifing them- 
lelves under the Irilh garb and form of the hair, that they 
might be exempt from the reftraints of the Englifh law, 
though by fo doing they expofed themfelves to the dan¬ 
ger of being killed with impunity as Irilh excluded from 
its protection. 
The efforts of this parliament and of the chief governor 
were not altogether without effeCf. They ferved to give 
fome check to the diforders of the realm, though by no 
means to terminate or fubdue them. The incurfions of 
the natives were repreffed, and the Englifh lords began to 
live on better terms with each other; and, in 1311, under 
Edward 11 . the moft powerful of them were reconciled by 
the marriage of Maurice and Thomas Fitz-john, after¬ 
wards the heads of the illuftrious houfes of Defmond and 
Kildare, to two daughters of the earl of Ulfter. But juft 
at this happy period, when the nation feemed to have 
fome profpeCt of tranquillity, more dreadful calamities 
than any hitherto related were about to take place. The 
Scots had juft recovered their liberty under Robert Bruce, 
and feemed in 110 danger of being again enfkved by a fo¬ 
4 
reign power, Edward, the king's brother, as a recoin- 
pence for his fervices, demanded a fhare of the royal au¬ 
thority. This was refuted by Robert, and Edward was 
for the prelent fatisfied by being declared heir apparent 
to the crown. But the king, wifely coniidering the ne- 
ceffity of finding out fome employment for a youth of 
fuch an afpiring and ambitious dilpofition, pointed out 
to his brother the ifland of Ireland, the conqueft of which 
would be eafy, on account of the diftradfed ltaie in which 
it almoft always was, and which would make him an in¬ 
dependent fovereign. This propofal was eagerly em¬ 
braced by Edward, and preparations were immediately 
made for the expedition. On the 25th of May, 1315, he 
landed on the north-eaffern coaft of Ireland with &000 
men, to all'ert his claim to the fovereignty of this king¬ 
dom. The Irifh lords of Ulfter, who had invited and en¬ 
couraged him to this enterprife, were ready to receive their 
new monarch, flocked with eagernefs to his ftandard, and 
prepared to wreak their vengeance on the common ene¬ 
my. Their progrefs-was marked by defolation and car¬ 
nage. The Englifh fettlers were flaughtered, or driven 
from their pofleillons, their caftles levelled with the ground, 
and their towns fet on fire. The Englifh lords were nei¬ 
ther able to refill the invafion, nor fufficiently united 
among themfelves. The confequence was, that the ene¬ 
my for fome time met with no interruption. An 
intolerable fcarcity of provifions prevented Bruce from 
purfuing his advantages; and, though his brother landed 
in Ireland with a powerful army, the famine pre¬ 
vented him from being of any effential fervice. The 
forces which he left behind him, however, proved of con- 
fiderable advantage; and, by means of this reinforcement, 
he was enabled to take the city of Carrickfergus. 
The terrible devaftations committed by Bruce and his 
afibciates now induced fome Englifh lords to enter into 
an affociation to defend their poiTeffions, and repel thefe 
invaders. For this purpofe, they railed a coniiderable 
body of forces ; which, coming to an engagement with 
Fedlirn prince of Connaught, one of Bruce’s principal al¬ 
lies, entirely defeated and killed him with 8000 of his 
men. This defeat, however, had very little effect on the 
operations of Bruce himfelf. He ravaged the country to 
the walls of Dublin, the citizens of which fet fire to the 
fuburbs on his approach with fuch precipitation, that their 
cathedral fuffered by the extenfion of the flames. Deter¬ 
red from an aflault by the formidable appearance of de¬ 
fence, he then traveried the diltrift of Ofl'ory, and pene¬ 
trated into Munfter, deftroying every thing with fire and 
fword. The Englifh continued to increafe their army, 
till at laft it amounted to 30,000 men ; when Bruce, no 
longer able to oppofe fuch a force, found it neceftary to 
retire into the province of Ulfter'. His retreat was eft'efled 
with great difficulty; and, during the time of his inacti¬ 
vity, the diIIrefles of his army increafed to fuch a degree, 
that they are faid to have fed upon the bodies of their 
dead companions. At laft an end was put to the fuffer- 
ings and the life of this adventurer in the battle of Dun¬ 
dalk, in 1318, when he was defeated by the Englifh un¬ 
der fir Robert Birmingham. A brave Englifh knight, 
named Maupas, rufhed forward to encounter Bruce 
himfelf, and both antagonifts killed each other; the 
body of Maupas being found, after the battle, ftretched 
upon that of Bruce. The king of Scotland had been ad¬ 
vancing with powerful fuccours to his brother ; but Ed¬ 
ward, confident of victory, refufed to wait his arrival ; 
and Robert, on hearing of his brother’s death, inftantly 
retired. 
The defeat of the Scottifh invaders did not put an end 
to the difturbances of this unhappy country. The con¬ 
tentions of the Englifti with one another, of the Irifh 
with the Englifh, and among themfelves, ftill kept the 
ifland in a ftate of the utmolt barbarity and confufion. 
An attempt was made indeed, in the reign of Edward II. 
to eftablifh an univerfity in Dublin; but,for want of pro¬ 
per 
