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1235 CE - Richard de Burgo & Maurice Fitzgerald, the justiciar, invade Connacht
by Larry Chamberlin
After these two carved up Connacht between them, only Leitrim and Roscommon remained in Irish control. On the other hand, the Irish were not defeated. The Irish kings moved when the Normans came, but they generally did not go far. The lesser chiefs would usually just drive their cattle higher into the mountains, either waiting out the Normans or establishing new territory in the former wilds. The more influential chiefs, recognizing an incurable weakness in the small numbers of the invaders, sued for peace, made family ties through intermarriage, exchanged fosterlings and became nominal liegemen. Within two generations, the Normans became 'more Irish than the Irish themselves.' The young Norman inheritors were raised by Irish mothers, spoke Irish as their native language, were blood related to most of the tuatha in their territories, and owed little allegiance beyond the Irish Sea.
Under the Normans, the lives of the Irish peasantry, the betaghs, improved but with a loss of nominal freedom. The Normans put an end to the ceaseless local wars and cattle-raids. The betaghs were able to begin farming, where before they were forced to rely upon herding (cattle and sheep could be driven out of harms way, crops in the ground were exposed).
One of the primary difference in Ireland was that the Viking towns were no longer left to the Ostmen. Irish chiefs had remained in their native territories, with their own people. The Irish betaghs were not tradesmen or shop keepers. Prior to the coming of the Normans, the larger towns were populated by the descendants of the original Vikings (the Ostmen) and the tradesmen and shopkeepers were of various descent, but not often Irish. With the Normans came their retainers and their suppliers. These people settled in the towns, under the protection of their Norman lords. Many of them ventured out and started new trading centers. The Irish chiefs gained new means of contact with the technology of the continent. Previously unused land began producing an abundance of surplus food. International trade became an important economic feature. Foreign bankers became interested in Ireland and set up financial institutions in the major towns that opened new sources of wealth for the Irish and Norman middle class. Ireland entered a period of relative peace.
Sources:
Oxford History of Ireland, ed. R. F. Foster, Oxford University Press, (c)1989, ISBN 0-19-285271-X
A History of Ireland, Peter & Fiona Somerset Fry, Rutledge, (c)1988 & Barnes & Noble [reprint] 1993, ISBN: 1-56619-215-3
Chronicles of the Celts, Iain Zaczek, Collins & Brown, London, (c)1996, ISBN: 1-85585-407-4
The Geraldines, an Experiment in Irish Government, 1169 - 1601, Brian Fitzgerald, The Devin-Adair Company, New York, 1952; Staples Printers Ltd., Rochester, Kent, (c)1951
The World of the Celts, Simon James, Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1993, ISBN 0-500-0567-8
The People of Ireland, ed. Patrick Loughery, New Amsterdam Books, N.Y., (c)1989, ISBN: 0-941533-55-7
***The Celts, Jean Markale (orig. publ. as "Les Celts et la Civilsation Celtique" by Payot, Paris, 1976; U.S. ed. publ. by Inner Traditions, Rochester, Vermont, 1993, ISBN: 0-89281-413-6)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: *** = These tracts deal with mythical legends and historical events, without clearly distinguishing between the two. Markale, while presenting the historical texts of the contemporary writers in great detail and with a fine critical analysis, nonetheless includes events from Irish legend without properly disclaiming their authenticity. Despite this shortcoming, if one is cautious enough to note the sources, the books is excellent.
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