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T H E F I R S T N O R M A N S A R R I V E D I N I R E L A N D O N T H E 1 ST
OF MAY 1169.
THEY WERE FROM NORMANDY IN NORTH-WEST
FRANCE.
THE NORMANS CAME TO IRELAND TO FIGHT FOR LAND.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE NORMANS IN IRELAND WAS THE
START OF 800 YEARS OF CONFLICT.
THE NORMANS CONTROLLED OVER HALF OF IRELAND
BY 1250
THE NORMANS ARRIVED AT BANNOW BAY IN
WEXFORD.
MOST OF THE NORMANS WERE FROM WALES AND
ABOUT A QUARTER OF THEM WERE FROM FRANCE.
WHEN THE FIRST NORMANS CAME TO IRELAND THEY
LIVED IN A MOTTE AND BAILEY (A BIT OF A FIELD
WITH A WOODEN FENCE AROUND IT. THE NORMANS
LIVED IN IT AND GREW ALL THEIR FOOD IN IT).
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AFTER A WHILE IN IRELAND, THE
NORMANS BUILT CASTLES TO LIVE IN.
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THE NORMANS BROUGHT TWO NEW
LANGUAGES TO IRELAND WITH THEM:
ENGLISH AND FRENCH.
Many Irish families came to work for Norman lords. They learned how
to grow many new crops. They divided the land into three long strips
or fields and learned different ways of tilling the soil. Every year a
different crop was grown in each field and one field was left fallow
(idle). In this way the soil regained its goodness.
Crop Rotation
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The King of England, Edward the Confessor, died in January
1066. He had no heir so there was an argument about who would
be the next king.
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Before Edward died, he had chosen his brother-in-law, Harold,
to be the next king. However William, Duke of Normandy,
claimed that Edward promised him that he could be next king.
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William and his army decided to invade England. It took several
months for William to prepare his army. He had over 7,000
soldiers. Most of them were knights. Over 700 ships were
needed to take all his soldiers from France to England.
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The two armies met at Hastings. The Battle of Hastings took
place on October 14th 1066. King Harold and his army were
defeated. King Harold was killed and on Christmas Day 1066
William (Duke of Normandy) was crowned King of England. After
the Battle of Hastings, William was called William the Conqueror.
Dermot MacMurrough was the King of Leinster in the 1160s. He
called on the Normans to help him with a row he was having with
another king at the time. He did a deal with a Norman Lord
called Richard de Clare (nickname Strongbow) – he promised him
the Kingdom of Leinster and his daughter Aoife, if he would
help.
In August 1170, Strongbow (Richard de Clare) landed near
Waterford with a group of about 1200 Normans (200 knights
and 1000 soldiers). They defeated the Vikings and the Irish
who lived in Waterford and captured the city. Then Strongbow
got married to Aoife.
Soon after this MacMurrough and Strongbow captured Dublin
City. Dermot MacMurrough died suddenly, in May 1171, and
Strongbow became king of Leinster.
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The Normans were excellent
soldiers
They wore armor and
carried shields, spears and
swords. They wore a coat of
chain mail – this could stop
arrows.
The coat of chain mail was
made by linking circles of
chain together into a coat.
The Irish, or the Vikings in
Ireland, didn’t have chain
mail or armor.
There are many examples of Norman castles in Ireland
Trim Castle in Co. Meath is the largest Norman castle in Ireland. It was built by Hugh
de Lacy in 1173.
Blarney Castle, Co Cork
Kilkenny Castle
Dublin Castle