Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland (1169): Strongbow Arrives

The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland began in May 1169, when a small force of knights and archers from Wales landed in County Wexford to help Diarmait Mac Murchada, the deposed king of Leinster. Within two years Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow, had taken Waterford and Dublin, and in October 1171 King Henry II of England arrived to assert his own authority. These events began more than eight centuries of English, and later British, involvement in Ireland.

Background: Ireland in the 12th century

Twelfth-century Ireland was divided among many kingdoms, grouped under the over-kings of the main provinces such as Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster. The strongest rulers competed for the title of high king of Ireland, but no one ruled the whole island for long. Ports such as Dublin, Wexford and Waterford had grown out of Viking settlements, Dublin among them, and still had Hiberno-Norse populations.

Rivalry between dynasties was intense. Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster since about 1126, was a forceful ruler with many enemies. In 1152 he carried off Derbforgaill, wife of Tigernán Ua Ruairc, king of Bréifne, an act Tigernán never forgave, although she later returned to him.

In 1166 a new high king, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair of Connacht, joined Tigernán against Diarmait. Losing support at home, Diarmait fled Ireland in August 1166.

Diarmait seeks help

Diarmait sailed to Bristol and then travelled to find Henry II, who was in his French lands, probably in Aquitaine. Henry, busy with continental affairs, did not intervene directly but gave Diarmait permission to recruit help from among his subjects.

In south Wales, Diarmait found willing allies among the Cambro-Norman lords, families of Norman descent established in Wales, many of them related to one another through Nesta, a Welsh princess. The most important was Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke, nicknamed Strongbow. He had lost favour with Henry II and had little to lose. Diarmait promised him his daughter Aoife in marriage and the succession to Leinster.

Diarmait himself returned to Ireland in 1167 with a small force and recovered part of his ancestral lands, but he needed more help to regain the kingdom.

Much of what is known about the next few years comes from two sources written from the invaders’ side. Gerald of Wales, whose relatives took part, wrote his Expugnatio Hibernica, or Conquest of Ireland, around 1189. An Old French verse narrative, known as The Song of Dermot and the Earl, drew on the account of Diarmait’s interpreter. Irish annals give a briefer, independent view, so historians treat the numbers and speeches in the Anglo-Norman accounts with care.

The landings of 1169 and 1170

In May 1169 Robert FitzStephen landed at Bannow Bay in County Wexford. According to Gerald of Wales, he brought about 30 knights, 60 other mounted soldiers and around 300 archers on foot; these figures are approximate but show how small the first force was. With Diarmait’s Irish troops, they captured the town of Wexford. Maurice de Prendergast and other leaders arrived soon afterwards.

The Anglo-Normans were effective because of their armoured cavalry, skilled archers and experience of building fortifications. Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair negotiated with Diarmait, who agreed to send away his foreign allies, but he did not do so.

In May 1170 Raymond le Gros, a member of FitzStephen’s extended family, landed at Baginbun Head in County Wexford with an advance party, and defeated a much larger force from Waterford. Strongbow himself landed near Waterford on 23 August 1170 with a larger army, often put at about 200 knights and 1,000 other soldiers. Waterford was stormed two days later.

Strongbow then married Aoife at Waterford, as had been agreed. The combined force marched on Dublin, which fell on 21 September 1170 while its Norse-Irish ruler was negotiating.

Strongbow becomes lord of Leinster

Diarmait Mac Murchada died in May 1171 at Ferns. Strongbow claimed Leinster through his marriage, a claim based on Norman inheritance customs that Irish law did not recognise.

He faced immediate threats. In the summer of 1171 Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair besieged Dublin with a large Irish army, supported by a Norse fleet. After about two months, with food running out, the defenders made a surprise attack on Ruaidrí’s camp at Castleknock and broke the siege.

Henry II comes to Ireland

Henry II was alarmed that one of his own barons might create an independent kingdom across the Irish Sea. He ordered his subjects to return and prepared an expedition. The timing also suited him: after the murder of Thomas Becket in December 1170, some historians suggest Henry welcomed a reason to be away from papal envoys.

Henry landed near Waterford on 17 October 1171 with a large army, often estimated at around 500 knights and several thousand archers and foot soldiers. He was the first English king to set foot in Ireland. Strongbow submitted and was confirmed as lord of Leinster under the crown, while Henry kept Dublin, Wexford and Waterford for himself.

Many Irish kings came to submit to Henry, though Ruaidrí and the kings of the far north held back. A synod of the Irish Church at Cashel in 1171–1172 accepted reforms in line with Roman practice. Henry spent the winter in Dublin and left Ireland in April 1172.

Consequences

Henry used the papal letter Laudabiliter, attributed to Pope Adrian IV around 1155, as support for his claim to lordship over Ireland, though its authenticity is still debated. In 1175 the Treaty of Windsor recognised Ruaidrí as high king of the lands not held by the Anglo-Normans, in return for tribute to Henry; the arrangement soon broke down.

In 1177 Henry named his youngest son John “Lord of Ireland”, a title held by English kings until Henry VIII took the title king of Ireland in 1541. Strongbow died in 1176 and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

Over the following century Anglo-Norman lords such as Hugh de Lacy and John de Courcy expanded into Meath and Ulster, building castles and founding towns. Many settler families later intermarried with the Irish and adopted Irish language and customs. By the late Middle Ages direct English control had shrunk to the area around Dublin known as the Pale.

The invasion was later remembered very differently by different communities. For many Irish nationalist writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, Diarmait became a symbol of betrayal for inviting foreign help, while Daniel Maclise’s famous painting of Strongbow’s wedding presented the events as a national tragedy. Historians today emphasise that Diarmait acted within the normal politics of his time, in which Irish kings often used outside allies.

Timeline

• 1152: Diarmait Mac Murchada carries off Derbforgaill, wife of Tigernán Ua Ruairc.
• August 1166: Diarmait is driven out of Ireland and seeks Henry II’s help.
• May 1169: Robert FitzStephen lands at Bannow Bay; Wexford is taken.
• May 1170: Raymond le Gros wins a battle at Baginbun.
• 23–25 August 1170: Strongbow lands and captures Waterford; he marries Aoife.
• 21 September 1170: Dublin falls to Strongbow and Diarmait.
• May 1171: Diarmait dies; Strongbow claims Leinster.
• 17 October 1171: Henry II lands near Waterford.
• April 1172: Henry leaves Ireland after receiving the submission of many Irish kings.
• 1175: Treaty of Windsor between Henry II and Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair.

Why it matters

The events of 1169–1171 brought Ireland into the political orbit of the English crown for the first time. They shaped landholding, law, language and religion in Ireland for centuries, and the long and often painful relationship between Ireland and England that followed began here. Earlier struggles such as the Battle of Clontarf had been fought among Irish and Norse powers; from 1169 a new force entered Irish politics.