Saturday, May 17th, 2008
Above: St. Laurence O’Toole
In the early part of this period the condition of the Church, and the state of religion generally present a sad contrast to the glories of the period before the coming of the Norsemen. The continued warfare had played havoc with the Church, and had, to a great extent, demoralised the people. The persistent manner in which the Norse had singled out churches and monasteries for their attacks had left many of the sanctuaries deserted, and many districts deprived of the exercise of religion. Not a few of the Irish chiefs, unfortunately, followed the example of the invaders, and displayed the loss of the old reverence by frequent attacks on some of the most venerated monasteries, by appropriating the church lands, and by claiming the right, frequently asserted by force, of imposing their own nominees upon Church offices. The corruption of manners is also illustrated by frequent breaches of faith and acts of cruelty.
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Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Above : Picture Of St. Laurence O’Toole
Two of the great seaports on the eastern coast were now in the possession of the invaders. Greater than either, however, was Dublin. Like them, it was occupied by inhabitants of Norse descent, and, like Wexford, it was situated in Laighin, and Diarmuid, therefore, had claims over it. All the Norse, however, had fiercely resisted the supremacy of Diarmuid, and they were even less friendly disposed towards the Norman barons and their armies of Flemish soldiers, whose record of pillage in England was well known to them. The Norse of Dublin had a special reason for fearing Mac Murrough, for they had murdered his father and given him an ignominious burial. Accordingly when Diarmuid sent messengers demanding their submission, their King, Asculph Mac Torkill defied him, and, on the other hand, besought the help of the Ard Ri.
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Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Above : Picture Of King Henry II
- A War of Plunder.—During more than a century Ireland was torn and harassed by the efforts of the Norman barons to occupy the lands thus allotted to their enterprise by their King. These grants were made, as we have seen, in utter disregard of the rights of the Irish owners ; they violated the spirit in which some of the Irish chiefs submitted ; many were in faithless breach of specific treaties ; others affected territories whose chiefs had never paid homage to Henry. Destitute of moral sanction, they had not even the excuse of successful conquest and future peace for the lands were not yet occupied, and could not be without bitter warfare. They were, in fact, an utterly callous inducement to a general war of extermination—” letters of marque authorising them to rob, plunder, and steal whatever they could, and to hold as of right whatever they could steal.”*
- Isolated Fighting.—The fighting that resulted was, for the most part, isolated and local. Each Norman endeavoured to seize his own particular piece of country ; each clan defended its own territory against the assailant. On neither side was there unity or cohesion. Th« barons were far from being loyal to the King, and the King, for his part, was far from trusting them; from the first the rivalries between the adventurers were fierce, and often broke out in open warfare, sometimes marked by treachery. But they were the attacking parties, and could choose their time and place, relying upon the power of the Crown until opportunity offered. The clans, on the other hand, content to restrict themselves to the defence of their respective territories, could not know when or whence an attack might come. It was a situation which demanded constant vigilance, but, too often, the opening for the attack was afforded by the rivalries of clans and the dissensions of families.
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