Brendan Smith - Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland: The English in Louth, 1170-1330

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The English in Louth, 11701330

This book examines the development of English colonial society in the eastern coastal area of Ireland now known as county Louth in the period 11701330. At its heart is the story of two relationships: that between settler and native in Louth; and that between the settlers and England.

Fifty years before the arrival of the English, Louth was incorporated into the Irish kingdom of Airgialla, and experienced rapid change in the political and ecclesiastical spheres under the leadership of Donnchad Ua Cerbaill. This provides the context in which the achievements of the English in Louth are assessed. The book asks why well-to-do members of local society in the west midlands of England were prepared to participate in the Irish adventure in the reigns of Henry II and his sons and examines their experience in the wider setting of contemporary English colonial projects in Wales and Scotland.

BRENDAN SMITH is Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Bristol.

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Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought
Fourth series

General Editor
D. E. LUSCOMBE
Leverhulme Personal Research Professor of Medieval History, University of Sheffield

Advisory Editors :
R. B. DOBSON
Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Christs College
ROSAMOND MCKITTERICK
Professor of Early Medieval European History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Newnham College

The series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought was inaugurated by G. G. Coulton in 1921. Professor D. E. Luscombe now acts as General Editor of the Fourth Series, with Professor R. B. Dobson and Professor Rosamond McKitterick as Advisory Editors. The series brings together outstanding work by medieval scholars over a wide range of human endeavour extending from political economy to the history of ideas.

For a list of titles in the series, see end of book.

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Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland

The English in Louth, 11701330

Brendan Smith

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PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING) FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Brendan Smith 1999

This edition Brendan Smith 2001

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 1999

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

Typeset in 10/12 Bembo [CE]

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data

Smith, Brendan.
Colonisation and conquest in medieval Ireland: the English in
Louth, 11701330 / Brendan Smith.
p. cm. (Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 57320 3
1. Louth (Ireland: County) History. 2. Normans Ireland Louth
(County) History To 1500. 3. Ireland History English Conquest,
11661186. 4. Ireland History To 1603. I. Title. II. Series.
DA990.L89S65 1999
941.825 dc21 9838421 CIP

ISBN 0521 57320 3 hardback

eISBN 0511 00639 X virtual (netLibrary Edition)

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For Andrew

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I have had the pleasure in the course of writing this book of meeting many people from Louth who have kindly shared their knowledge of their county with an outsider. I have been particularly fortunate to have had at my disposal the Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal , the best of all the Irish local history journals, and its editor, Mr Noel Ross, deserves my special thanks for his kind assistance.

I have accumulated more debts of gratitude on both sides of the Irish Sea while writing this book than I can hope to acknowledge here. My Ph.D. supervisor at Trinity College Dublin, Professor James Lydon, has been unfailingly helpful at all stages, while Professor Pdraig Riain of University College Cork has generously made available to me his knowledge of twelfth- and thirteenth-century Irish hagiography. I am grateful to the University of Bristol Arts Faculty Research Fund Committee for financial support and to Mrs Sue Grice of the Department of Archaeology for designing the maps. My fellow medievalists at the University of Bristol, Mr Ian Wei, Dr Marcus Bull, Dr Penny Galloway and Mr John Moore have provided me with much encouragement and I am indebted to Dr Fernando Cervantes, Dr Teresa Bridgeman, Dr Don Mowbray and Dr Eugene Flanagan for their friendship and advice. The kind assistance of Miss Caroline Palmer at proof stage is also much appreciated. Finally I would like to thank my parents without whose constant support this book would not have been written.