In Search of Ireland’s Heroes: The Stories of the Irish from the English Invasion to the Present Day
by Carmel McCaffrey
Summary
[This is] the story of the struggle between English and Irish aspirations in the centuries since the first English incursions into Ireland in the twelfth century. It is a narrative history filled with powerful personalities and families who fought in battle and through constitutional means to free Ireland from English control. With an extensive use of original sources—letters, personal accounts, and parliamentary documents—Ms. McCaffrey brings these individuals to life and tells their story. We meet the intrepid O’Neills, the colorful O’Donnells, the wily Fitzgeralds, and many others whose passion for freedom and for Ireland could not be conquered…. To this stirring history Ms. McCaffrey brings the same adroitness that prompted Terry Golway of the New York Observer to call her first book “marvelous...fine storytelling and analysis.” With 25 black-and-white photographs and a map.
Excerpt
The Incomplete Conquest
As significant an event as it would turn out to be, the English invasion of Ireland went almost unnoticed by the Irish when the first incursions occurred in the mid-twelfth century. Coming as a result of a kingship dispute within Ireland and a claim by the papacy that the Irish church was corrupt, the Irish themselves took little notice of it. The Annals of Inisfallen simply record the moment in 1167 as: “Dermot MacMurrough returned from overseas, and Uí
Chennselaig was taken by him.” What lay behind this innocuous statement recorded so faithfully by an Irish annalist?
Dermot MacMurrough was king of the province of Leinster. He had sought English help with his political problems and his ambitions for the high-kingship of Ireland. In the protracted struggle among a number of regional kings, MacMurrough was deposed in 1166 from his own kingship. Undeterred, he traveled to the English Norman King Henry II for help. The Normans had conquered England a century previously in 1066 when William the Conqueror defeated the Saxon king at the Battle of Hastings. Consolidating their power in England and expanding their territory was to be a central part of their perspective and ambitions. Henry II was only too pleased to assist Dermot, but he was occupied with a dispute with the French and was initially unable to get directly involved. Instead the English king gave Dermot permission to gather a force of Norman knights and take them to Ireland to restore Dermot to his lost
kingship of Leinster. Dermot arrived in Ireland in 1167 with a small band of Anglo-Norman knights and quickly took control of Ferns and his home base of Uí Chennselaig.
The high king of Ireland, Rory O’Connor, immediately took steps to prevent Dermot from reclaiming the kingship of Leinster. O’Connor confined Dermot’s power to Ferns, but the Anglo-Norman presence in Ireland did not end with reestablishing Dermot in his home. In fact, Dermot was only biding his time for another, larger force to arrive. It came on May 1, 1169, when three shiploads of soldiers landed at Bannow Bay in Wexford and quickly took over the town. Within a short time the soldiers marched on Dublin, the economic center of Ireland, determined to take the town. Dubliners tried to resist them and called for support from the high king, but the Normans reached and seized the city before the Irish could mobilize. The immediate effect on the capital was disastrous. Many buildings were burned and citizens killed. The Anglo-Normans soon established themselves as conquerors, and Dublin was theirs. Dermot was restored to his Leinster kingship but with a significant difference. He now owed allegiance to Henry II of England.
Henry II’s Hidden Agenda
There was in fact a darker truth to Henry’s willing response to the kingship dispute in Ireland. Dermot’s problem and appeal for support gave Henry the opportunity he had long wanted: to invade Ireland and make it a part of his kingdom....
From In Search of Ireland’s Heroes, copyright © 2007 by Carmel McCaffrey, by permission of Ivan R. Dee, publisher.
Reviews
"The hero stories engage, the scene-setting shines…and the character descriptions run deep....Magnificent collection"—Michael Phelps, Examiner
"[A] history of Ireland which is completely accessible without losing credibility"—Irish Emigrant
"There’ve been plenty of books on Irish history but none quite so vivid and accessible asIn Search of Ireland’s Heroes…”—California Bookwatch
Author's Biography
Carmel McCaffrey is a native of Dublin and lectures on Irish history, literature, culture, and language at Johns Hopkins University and at the Smithsonian Institution. She is a Gaelic speaker and frequently travels to Ireland. Her earlier book, In Search of Ancient Ireland, written with Leo Eaton, was a companion to the PBS series. She lives in Mount Airy, Maryland.