Mac Murrough, say the Annals, had been ” brought low ” by Richard’s formidable army.   But the Irish quickly recovered.     The O’Byrnes, although defeated  by the  Dublincitizens at Bray,captured Newcastle, which guarded the coast road, while the O’Moores also defeated the English.    

Above:Map of  County Wexford

Above : Irish Family Map (Click for larger image)

Nothing was of greater importance to the clans of Ireland than the records of their ancestry. Until the time of the final destruction of the clan system itself, every tribe jealously preserved the tradition of its descent from some famous ancestor. In early times these records were of vital importance : they were the title deeds of the clan to the territory it occupied ; they formed the bond which united various clans into one great tribe ; they justified the tributes which the different Kings imposed upon their subordinate clans. The genealogies of the clans were,’therefore, carefully recorded, especially in the cases of those ” riding clans ” who imposed tribute upon their neighbours, and who afterwards supplied the Kings who ruled over the great divisions of the island.

Above : Map Of Leinster

Power of the Great Lords.—The story of the Norman settlement is not, however, to be found in the records of the appointments and dismissals of nominal Chief Governors in Dublin. It follows, indeed, no single course, but varies with the varying fortunes of the great families to whom had been granted the right of plunder in so many Irish territories. The history of the early Normans is the history of the great Lordships and of the families upon whom they were conferred. The grants had been accompanied by almost sovereign rights, and in their own territories the great lords made peace and war, granted lands, created nobles and officials, and erected castles, independently of the Crown. Over them the King’s governor had no control; he was merely a rival competitor. The events connected with the development and fate of the four great Lordships—that of Strongbow in Leinster, of De Lacy in Meath, of De Courcey in ” Ulster,” and of De Burgh in Connacht—comprise nearly the whole history of the Normans in Ireland during this period.