PUTTING HISTORY STRAIGHT!! EVERYONE BLAMES THE *ENGISH!* AND IT WASNT US...!! THE NORMAN INVASION OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1177 A.D Extract from THE GREY FOREIGNERS The Norman Conquest of Celtic Ireland The Gaelic Princes of Ulster (Northern Ireland) had never sworn allegiance to King Henry, thus were even more exposed to the advances of the land grabbing Norman Marcher Lords than their southern Irish neighbours. One such Marcher Lord was John de Courcy, in 1177 A.D he gathered together an army of about 350 men and set out to conquer Northern Ireland. ... Within three days the Normans arrived at the town of Downpatrick and captured it by complete surprise. Half starved and cold from the winter weather they pillaged the town, stripping it of everything they could lay their hands on. Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe (The petty King of Ulaid) assembled a massive native army comprised of wild men from the north and marched towards the Norman position. Few in number, Courcy decided their best option was to meet the Irish in open battle rather than risk a lengthy siege. The two armies clashed together, but the desperate situation of the Normans only made them more determined to gain victory from the jaws of defeat. John de Courcy led by example and was seen lobbing off the heads and arms of the Irish who confronted him. The battle raged on and hung in the balance, until the Normans broke the spirit of the Ulidians who fled the field. Some of the Irish survivors headed for the shore but were swallowed up by the treacherous quicksands. amazon.co.uk/mn/search/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=The%20Grey%20Foreigners%3A%20The%20Norman%20Conquest%20of%20Celtic%20Ireland&linkCode=ur2&tag=heralances-21&url=search-alias%3Daps
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:11:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015