History of Ireland - Documentary

Ireland the island takes its name from the old Irish word arrrooo the name of a goddess a word meaning bountiful or prosperous the people of this island have ancient roots to it and its history is likewise long rich mysterious and important not only for the Irish but for the millions of people living across the world whose ancestors came from this island in this video we're going to discuss the history of Ireland and fall the story of druids and Christians rebels and loyalists natives and invaders struggles and successes all of which made Ireland what it is today it's likely that Ireland was first inhabited around the Year 12,500 BC by hunter-gatherer groups during this time sea levels were lower and Ireland belonged to continental Europe geographically by 4000 BC farming had likely made its way to the island and become commonplace Ireland entered the Bronze Age around 2000 BC being in a fortunate location for this age as it was heavy in copper and near Cornwall which produced him the iron age began around 600 BC it is during the Iron Age that Ireland's modern identity begins to take shape as Celtic peoples from mainland Europe and Britain began migrating to the island and mixing with the indigenous population prior to the arrival of the Celts Ireland was very sparsely inhabited and unorganized the Celts would bring it on its path toward higher civilization for such main waves of Celtic migrations would occur it was the Celts who had brought the iron age to Ireland along with religion that would form the basis of the paganism of the British Isles language which would evolve into the modern Irish language trade connections the main continent and his social structure and culture which would dominate the island for centuries the first writings of the island come from the Greek and Roman explorers who refer to the island under a variety of names and made a number of reports about the island though many of these reports were likely false and a time is fantastical they would last in the Roman impressions of the island giving ancient Ireland and the Celts in general a mysterious aura which truth be told lasts to this day in a way the first person to actually give a fairly accurate report of the island was julius caesar who called the island Hibernia a corruption of the ancient greek word for the island the land of the Avani which would come to mean the land of winter sharing a common root with the word hibernate Caesar also said that it was located to the west of Britannia and about half its size one of the most accurate descriptions of Ireland up to that point though some Romans like Agricola considered it the Romans would never invade he Barnea but they did interact primarily because of Rome's presence on the island of Britain archeological findings of Rome coins on Ireland suggests complex interaction and trade it's possible that the Romans set up trading outposts in certain areas of Ireland and perhaps military outposts with the purpose of protecting his trade one such commodity which they traded would have been slaves the Romans no doubt purchased them from the Irish to work on the agricultural centres of Roman Britain it is likely that the Irish took part in Roman conflicts as barbarian mercenaries which was common in the Roman Empire especially in the later years they also likely who were at times Raiders and pirates who assaulted the western coasts of Britannia but also settled it Rome would never invade Hibernia for two main reasons the first was that there wasn't a major tactical advantage in doing so it was unknown territory on the border of the known world it would have been very complicated trying to subdue the island and the Romans weren't sure what they gain from it economically strategically or politically accordingly resources and manpower were better utilized slightly east against the pics of modern Scotland the moment Rome moved troops from batana to Hibernia the Picts would likely seize the opportunity and attack if Rome had ruled the whole island maybe they would have gone to Ireland as well though we'll never know though there was interaction with the Romans Ireland was one of the few areas of Western Europe which was allowed primarily to develop on its own during this time the Irish relied on small communities of subsistence farming where cattle or sometimes other goods like slaves were essentially their form of currency and some writings it is said that one slave girl was equal and worth to about six cows they lacked major towns and cities but they did have early kinds of towns and rows between them even through bogs and marshes the island was as I said divided among many different tribes who were often at war with each other a main cause of warfare were these cattle primarily disputes over ownership and the theft of them the Celts introduced new power structures to Ireland when they came and there would have been perhaps a hundred to two hundred Kings across Ireland ruling their own small countries due to the land differences in the various tribes four distinct regions would form in Ireland Ulster Leinster Munster and these divisions dating back to ancient times lasts to this day the final and most notable group of Celts were the gales whose influence would eventually extend across the whole island and even the parts of western Scotland in the fifth century their culture and identity would be firmly rooted and permanent in Ireland to this day the Irish language calls itself Galaga and in English the word Gaelic is still synonymous with the people and culture of Ireland though they did write using a nagham writing system on stones and wood the Irish at this time lacked books and literature their pagan religion which was banned by Rome in modern England thrive there we don't know a lot about this religion from their perspective or much about their home and people in this time in general because of their lack of extensive writing much of what we know comes from the Greeks and Romans and centuries later Christian monks who recorded tales which were preserved verbally naturally the Romans who sought to convince their people that they had to conquer the Celts and the Christians who sought to convert the pagans aren't considered the most reliable or honest sources thankfully however important parts of this time survived which along with archaeology allows us to understand them better the Irish Celts were animistic they saw spirits in the natural world around them such as trees water rocks animals fire etc and thus had a deep spiritual connection to the natural world they worshipped many gods and spirits some were local others were comin across Celtic culture they believed in an Otherworld which could have meant many different things though it was primarily in afterlife a world of spirits and the dead some said it existed to the west across the sea others said it ran parallel to our own world sometimes the barriers between this world and the other world were broken leading to a number of strange events to interpret this complex religion with a jury known in English as a Jewett's the Druids were not only priests but also legal authorities leaders philosophers historians and doctors often times they held as much power as the Kings whom they advised one of the more shocking aspects of this paganism was human sacrifice though Roman sources likely exaggerated the amount of human sacrifice occurring at the time it was present in pagan Ireland before Roman contact and likely still continued after it the details of it however are unclear because the Irish was somewhat isolated from both Rome and the rest of the world Irish society was not fractured when the Empire began to fall in fact rather the Irish saw an opportunity in the collapsing Rome in Britain and began raids on it nevertheless Rome's religion Christianity would not only outlive it but would spread rapidly in the centuries following its collapse with Ireland right in its sights Christianity would transform Ireland and connected to the rest of the world in important ways and the man would bring it there was first a Romana Britain teenager captured as a slave by the Irish name tsukete better known by his Christian name Patrick there are a number of details missing from Saint Patrick's life such as when and where exactly he was born and while many details have been filled in with myths historians agree widely that he was a real person Patrick was lucky born in Wales or Western England in a late fourth century at the age of 16 he was captured by Irish Raiders and taken back to Ireland where he worked as an enslaved Shepherd for six years until he escaped and returned back to Britannia during his enslavement he held on to something which he formerly hadn't cared about much his home religion Christianity upon returning home he joined the church studying and working throughout France and Britain until his piety and dedication earned him an important assignment from the Pope to travel back to Ireland and spread Christianity there Patrick of course had plenty of reason not to go back to the country which had made him a slave but also in his eyes plenty of reason to do so he knew the Irish language he knew how the people worked he knew how the religion work and above all he claimed to have received a vision from God in a dream commanding him to return Patrick wouldn't be the first or only missionary to Ireland but it was for these reasons that he'd likely be the most effective so he went forward with it he returned to Ireland and though the Irish were not fond of him he was able to escape or talk his way out of becoming enslaved again or killed or something of that nature though in multiple incidents he came close the Irish particularly the Kings and the druids were not fond of Patrick coming and stirring things up due to the importance of religion in his time period in Ireland he was humble and generous which eased concerns that this was an attempt to grab power despite opposition Patrick is said to have converted and baptized thousands of people and he ordained priests who would go on to found the monasteries of Ireland he is said to have performed a number of miracles most of them probably metaphorical such as driving up the snakes of Ireland and converting Celtic warriors who were hundreds of years old he used nature which was already deeply a part of Irish life to help the Irish understand Christianity he also mitigated conversion by arguing that the values of the Irish had a greater place in Christianity and converted so their customs and practices into Christian ones one of the most notable examples of this practice though not directly from st. Patrick was turning the pagan holiday of saw one into the Christian holiday of Halloween Patrick would continue his work in Ireland until the end of his life the importance of this was not only that the Irish changed religions it in fact sparked a revolution in Irish society by connecting it with the rest of Europe as the Dark Ages began to creep over Europe an event which you can learn about in detail in my Dark Ages documentary Ireland which was formerly regarded as a backward and dark place actually became an area of enlightenment and preservation and learning at a time when only 1% of the European population could read the monasteries in Ireland worked diligently on preserving the written works of Europe and spreading education and enlightenment they did this to such a degree that many came from Britain and a European mainland to study in Ireland not only were these works in Latin but they also wrote in Irish an unusual habit as Latin was generally preferred to the vernacular throughout Europe though gradually becoming united on a Christianity Ireland was still not unified as a nation nor would it be throughout the Middle Ages and the 5th 6th and 7th centuries however larger kingdoms began arising on the island such as Munster wood Kanak and Mees however they were not nation states as we have now nor would they really actually kingdoms because there was a sense that the land belonged to the tribe not the kings they were really groups made up of loosely you netic clans tribes and families which they called the - ahaa plural of TOA one of the most powerful families in ireland at the time were the email the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages one of the first great kings of Ireland a figure of both myth and fact this family would dominate much of the north governing the life of the Irish were the Breton laws a unique set of laws which the Irish said were as old as a rocks and which would seem unusual to us as they weren't enforced by kings or state authorities nor were they made by them they were kind of held commonly the Breton's which were illegal authorities in a sense acted more like mediators that are modern judges laws applied to everyone and in fact at times the wealthier and more powerful you were the more you paid for your crimes early Ireland placed great emphasis on the family and tribe much less individualistic than the modern West and thus the families of criminals were sometimes liable for certain crimes at least financially and would have to compensate the alienated family if found guilty though these laws were very ancient they were effective and very organized and they actually do not necessarily fade into a better legal system as we shall see rather they meet the disapproval of the English now at the centres of these kingdoms were actually the monasteries in a society still lacking major cities monasteries were not only places a religion learning and study but gradually became places of economic and political power the church in this time period had no reserves about getting involved in Wars and in fact monasteries in Ireland were not only responsible for taking part in wars but at times directing them against each other wars remained common all able-bodied males except for the well-educated in the priests were expected to be available to fight for the kings and times of war at this time as well kingdoms began forming in England Wales and Scotland many of those in England were the formations of the anglo-saxons a group of barbarians from northern central Europe who gradually began taking over the remains of Roman Britain laying the foundations for what would become eventually England these anglo-saxons were along with the Picts of Scotland to the north still pagan adding an ironic reversal of roles from the Roman era as now Ireland was a seat of Christianity in the British Isles the Irish who were religiously active throughout Europe got to work on converting their neighbors from the kingdom of dollar which spanned both Ireland and Scotland Irish missionaries such as Colombo ventured into the dark pagan wild to convert pic lund to Christianity it's worth mentioning also that this was not yet Scotland the name Scotland is actually an English misnomer which comes from the Latin scottie which actually referred to the Gaels and later the Gaels living in Scotland and then of Scotland in other words the Scottie were Irish Columba would have great success here and would found the powerful and important Abbey on Iona another important Irish figure of this age was Columbanus who set up a number of monasteries in Europe debate exists about the legitimacy of the term Dark Ages especially relative to the darkness of other ages regardless of the darkness of this they were compared to others however Ireland was one of the brightest places to be in the first part of the early Middle Ages in the late 8th and early ninth century that would begin to change as Ireland still continued in this era and even as much of Western Europe was crawling out of illiteracy and intellectual decline under Charlemagne new threats from outside christened them began to close in the greatest threat and impediment to the Irish were the Vikings as you know if you've seen my other videos including my documentary on the Vikings the Vikings had a major effect on Europe and Ireland was no exception they came first as Raiders plunderers and murderers but later as we shall see they became builders and creators the first attack on Ireland came in the year 795 on Rathlin Island near Antrim modern-day Northern Ireland the Vikings attacked the church on the island plundered what they could kill the monks burned everything and left a trend which was consistent throughout the Viking Age similar the famous raids on Lindisfarne just two years earlier though these were not the same group of Vikings while Danish Vikings preferred to focus on Britain and Charlemagne's empire those who concentrated on Ireland were at first likely Norwegians Ireland much like Britain occupied a very unfortunate position in the Viking Age it was an island the Vikings were master sailors though the Vikings would attack other notable locations that year under the rule of Irishman such as Iona and inish Murray in the late eighth and early ninth century Viking raids on Ireland weren't constant they were perhaps only once or a few times a year with some years not seeing any Viking activity at all nevertheless the raids struck fear into the hearts of the Irish the Vikings can attack without warning almost anywhere on the island from out of nowhere a group of large ferocious warriors from a strange unknown country across the sea could descend upon your village and you could lose your home your family and your own life they spared no one there was no bargaining with them and little means stopping them it took some time but the Irish eventually began responding to this threat and began being the Vikings around 30 years after their presence was first felt though disrupting Irish society the true permanent mark on Ireland came when the Vikings arrived not the raid but to settle the process of a heavier Viking presence on Ireland began in 837 with events centered around a Viking named Fergus who is said to have married a witch performed pagan rituals on Christian altars and committed a number of atrocities though his existence is uncertain one of the first major settlements was that of Dublin in 841 Dublin which in Irish means Blackpool would serve as the most important Viking stronghold in Ireland one of the most important in fact in the British Isles and would later evolve into Ireland's capital city of Dublin along with Dublin the Vikings would also be responsible for founding a number of other major Irish cities such as Waterford Limerick cork and Wexford from these bases Viking terror on the British Isles intensified this period is remembered in Irish as cognate god--all regala the War of the Irish with the foreigners the Vikings came at an ideal time as this was when the email in the north and the monster Irish in the south were involved in a conflict preventing a unified resistant to them at first cooperative resistance would come though and then 845 it is recorded the king of mead mail shag mail captured Fergus and drowned him a United Irish effort was repelling Viking incursions saving Ireland from complete Norse domination though Norseman continued to move into Ireland including now Danish Vikings the death of tourists or an equivalent great victory it again remains uncertain disrupted and organised invasion and around the year 850 a civil war erupted between two groups of one-side whom the irish called the white foreigners possibly Norwegians led by a viking known as aloft the white and the black foreigners possibly the danish led by a viking that the irish called Emaar possibly I bought a boneless the same Viking who would later be one of the leaders of the great heathen army the Irish were not only glad to see this division erupt but also took part in it with some like mal'chik nail fighting what was in his eyes a holy war of expulsion another group important in this conflict were the high burden Norse or Norse gales a group of people of both Irish and Norse heritage resulting from Irish and Viking interaction and marriage their existence was a sign of Viking permanence on Ireland the Vikings eventually ended their civil war and announced a joint rule of Dublin and 857 in the eyes of many Irish the Vikings would now be harder the budge a unified resistance of the Vikings was losing ground and male shag nail would ultimately be unsuccessful in his efforts and he would die of seemingly natural causes in 862 with Ireland divided between various Viking and Irish kingdoms and his kingdom becoming divided among successors these kingdoms would now not only interact but form alliances against each other in certain circumstances with their position now secured many hibernal Vikings would now focus on the much wealthier opportunities of the anglo-saxon kingdoms and 870s however sources indicate that both Olaf and II more likely died while campaigning in Britain leading to a less vigorous Viking presence in Ireland and 9:02 as a result of this a group of Irish under male phonemic Flanagan and Kerbal mcmerkin routed the Vikings from Dublin essentially ending the first Viking Age in Ireland this victory was short-lived as the Vikings returned in 914 reclaiming Dublin and expanding in other parts of the island despite they returned they would not make much effort to control Ireland again still focusing on England and as a result their power began fading in the early 10th century the Viking invasions started coming to an end around the Year 950 and this state is often considered to be the end of the Viking Age in our though not at all the end of the north presence in Ireland the north still in Ireland especially the north scales as we shall see remained active and retained their rule primarily in the south and east as they had been militarily unsuccessful in the north albeit more as kings of nations than heads of raiding parties nevertheless this would be the beginning of a slow process where the Vikings started to assimilate into Irish custom speak Irish follow Irish religion and live like Irishmen around this time across the Irish Sea in England the many anglo-saxon kingdoms were beginning to unite under Wessex becoming a more modern kingdom of England similar changes were happening elsewhere in Europe as well and a movement to consolidate power under a single ruler in Ireland was inevitable such a movement would come from the ruler of a less powerful Kingdom of Munster by a man named Brian Boru Brian was a son to King of DA cosh kinetic Maclaurin when his father died in 951 rural pasture Brian's older brother magaman magaman said about trying to become the king of all monster capturing a rock of cashel the historic capital of the region this naturally invited conflict with his Irish and Norse neighbors and in 976 he was murdered during a negotiation which was claimed to be peaceful by his rival male muadh Brian inherited the throne and said about trying to continue his brother's work Brian is described as a born warrior he had learned a considerable amount about not on the Irish warfare but also Viking warfare as a result you place an emphasis on naval superiority he would go to war with male mooood and the Viking Kingdom of Limerick defeating them both and extending his authority across Munster he would kill male mood but interestingly his son Qian would be spared and and throughout Brian's life remained an ally the Norse of Limerick as well wealthy and powerful were allowed to live peacefully so long as they remained loyal to Brian Brian then turned his ambitions outside monster into neighbouring areas specifically Leinster Connick and Mead this would draw him into conflict with mal'chik male king of mead who claimed to be the High King Marland the conflict would be long and bloody but by 996 Brian controlled Leinster and was proving himself to be militarily superior this essentially forced a peace negotiation with Brian laying claim of the south and Czech nail the north though peace externally had been secured momentarily stability was threatened on the insight as well not all the kings of Ireland were content to recognise Brian as hiking and rebellion and Leinster occurred not long after this aided by the hibernal Norris of Dublin in a war ending in the year 999 at the Battle of Glen Mama Brian defeated both armies and captured Dublin as well the wealthy centre of the island now brian was ready to break the peace he had made with check mail and he invaded Mead defeating the kingdom in 1002 now the only region which Brian had the gain was Ulster in the Northeast Ulster would not be quite so easily obtained and that first Brian's armies were defeated much of his advanced us was left to cooperation with the Catholic Church which was an elite in Ireland notably by recognising their authority and bribing them with a church on his side Brian would begin seeing more success in obtaining Ulster in the year 1008 by 1011 Brian had defeated the canal Connell of Western Ulster he was now truly high king of ireland or as a church called him Imperator Scot Oram meaning emperor of the Scots or as you recall emperor of the Gaels it is also around this time that he also received his surname Beru or an old Irish bar uma this is related to the modern Irish word beau meaning cow he was Brian of the cattle tributes in a society where cattle were the symbol of wealth this was a great title Brian and the church were now seemingly beginning to realize her vision a united Ireland under the authority of one king yet there was still work to be done it would be more correct to view Brian not as the king of a single kingdom but the king on top of other Kings which ruled their own kingdoms furthermore while the Norse gale kingdoms like Dublin and Limerick also recognized Brian as their High King they were much more removed Irish society and still functioned to a strong degree independently under their own law how far Brian could have gone is high King of All Ireland remains uncertain as not long after he accomplished this it began to break apart discontented Kings in Leinster and Ulster rose up in rebellion in 1012 and attacked Mead and later Norse gales specifically Dubliners would join in on the rebellion which will be led by male morta to make matters worse as fighting intensified male chanel king of mead betrayed brian the two sides would meet at the Battle of cantar April 23rd 1014 the battle ended with a mix of results the Irish under Brian had won the battle thus curtailing the power of the high Bertone or significantly an event which is often regarded as a true end of the kaga guile regard however Brian was actually killed in this battle it's not exactly known how but legend states that he was decapitated by a rogue Viking named Broder who cut through Irish Lions and found Brian in his tent then aged around probably seventy in prayer hopes of the united Ireland died for a time with brian boru as contenders all began struggling for the throne brian is the sentence however would continue to rule Munster this family is known as the O'Brien's a name which like the email who became the O'Neill's would persist throughout Irish history through the modern day and even into the 24th century Brian's family and monster made efforts to reclaim the title of High King and his son Duncan mcbrian would claim the title though it was not widely recognized and he was one of many who be known as a re-air and Khafre Sabha high king with opposition while they made considerable gains and had notable successes they would be ultimately unsuccessful especially as his descendants turn on each other when Mira talked who was Brian burrows grandson gave up his position as king powers shifted for Munster to conduct and the O'Connor family specifically Turla O'Connor Turla said about trying to win the true title of High King but had we control over much of Ireland and never controlled Ulster his son Rory O'Connor would succeed him but he would face a united invasion from Leinster under Dermot McMurray and Ulster under Murtagh mcLaughlin as a result he allied himself with Tiernan O'Rourke of breath nee and war ensued O'Connor and O'Rourke were victorious and in 1166 o'connor was crowned high king and dublin o'connor ruled as a true high king with the political and religious figures of ireland all recognizing his authority Dermot McMurray of Leinster however had escaped and fled eastward with no intention of letting this be final Dermot fled to England and then to France in search of Henry the second grandson of William the Conqueror the king of the Norman Empire and subsequently King of England the Normans descendants of a mix of Vikings in French were one of the strongest military forces in Europe unable to beat O'Connor on his own he realized foreign aid would be the key to retaking his throne in Leinster as a result of this Dermot is often regarded by the Irish as one of the worst a long line of Irishmen who betrayed their country for the favours of foreigners namely the English for now Dermot was inviting a neighbor into his own nation with whom unbeknownst to him of course the Irish would quarrel for nearly a thousand years Dermot met with Henry the second and Henry agreed to support Dermot in exchange for his loyalty Henry would not join Dermot personally but granted him the right to recruit English soldiers and mercenaries for his conquest Dermot found a number of powerful norman allies including robert fat stephen maurice fitzgerald and richard fitz gilbert known in his land as are we shot at for richard Strongbow Dermot offered Strongbow a very enticing deal in exchange for his help he would allow him to marry his daughter Eva and would name him his successor as king of Leinster effectively transferring rule of an Irish kingdom over to a Norman loyal to another king there was also money to be made in land grab in Ireland which Strongbow and his allies figured would enhance their power and prestige Dermot did not introduce the concept of invading Ireland to Henry the second Henry had actually been considering it for some time and even received support from the church as Pope Adrian the fourth and Alexander the third were concerned about the independent nature of the Irish Church however he did provide Henry with an opportunity that he couldn't refuse Dermot in Strongbow assembled an army of Normans Saxons and Welshman and attacked Wexford in 1169 those strong bows stayed behind the time Dermot then began pushing further into Ireland but was eventually met by o'connor who began to feeding his forces the two sides met at ferns for new creations which were mediated by the church it was agreed that Dermot could once again become king of Leinster as long as he continued to recognize Rory O'Connor as High King later in private they are said to have agreed to stop bringing foreigners into Irish bytes but it was too late for that Strongbow arrived in 1170 and took Dublin and began to feeding O'Connor as winter set in and the two armies seized Rory O'Connor began fearing that he wouldn't be able to best strong though in May of 1171 matters complicated further when Dermot died Dermot McMurdo had essentially died before he could enjoy the rule of Leinster for which in the eyes of his countrymen he sold Ireland's soul though historically speaking with or without Dermot the Normans probably would have come to Ireland anyway Dermot son tried to claim the throne of Leinster in accordance with the Breton laws but Strongbow who had married Dermott's daughter by this point had been guaranteed a throne and was militarily more powerful succeeded him this concerned not only the Irish but King Henry as well henry was suspicious of strong Beau's motives especially given the strong bus father was an opponent who had opposed his accession during a civil war known as the anarchy in England now Strongbow had married into the Irish nobility and ruled as king of Leinster unsure of his loyalties Henry felt he had to invade Ireland though at first Strongbow ignored him henry was able to secure his loyalties with only the threat of invasion nevertheless power in ireland still remained unsteady strong Beau's governance was disliked by the norse gales and the Irish kings and the Irish Church were not very happy with a Norman arrival either and would likely oppose it again violently so Henry decided to invade that year Henry invaded with a force of around 5,000 these soldiers were highly trained and well armed and armoured many Irish Kings felt that resistance was futile especially as they weren't only dealing with the English but a force which had the backing of the Vatican they thus began submitting to Henry the first being Donal McCarthy the king of Desmond gradually much of Ireland fell to English rule with mostly on the north holding out in 1172 Henry began encouraging English colonization of Ireland and allowed Hugh de Lacy to push in the mead Ireland was now a nation of four languages Irish anglo-norman French Latin and Old English which would have a lasting effect on the linguistics of Ireland the Normans began solidifying their position in Ireland as they had done in other regions including England a century earlier this along with the Catholic Church moving into Ireland and pressing reforms intermarriage and attempts to reorganize the country territorially and legally by introducing feudalism and replacing breton law with english law would have a permanent effect on ireland as well the english felt that they were civilizing ireland much like the romans the irish weren't content with us and though facing a stronger occupying force would begin resistance in wars marking the beginning of Anglo Irish conflict which would last for centuries though Rory O'Connor and Henry agreed to terms with the Treaty of Windsor O'Connor failed to control the other Irish kings and Henry at times failed to control his own Norman subjects as well many were busy carving out kingdoms and territories for themselves and 1177 Henry made his son John Dominus Hibernia Lord of Ireland when he was only 10 years old he would of course not assume command of his position until he was matured and trained but an 1185 at the age of 18 he left England for Dublin much to his father's disappointment and the resentment of the Irish kings he was expected to rule john acted like a clown an example of this is that when he first encountered them he mocked the beards of the Irish kings and pulled on them when he got to work ultimately he failed in the conflicts against the Irish wouldn't pay his soldiers and failed to secure royal authority over the English settlers there he left that December returning back to England in 1199 King John unexpectedly came to the throne Ireland remained divided between English and Irish rule some lands were steadily English but others much less so and many areas of the country still defiantly under Irish rule though remembered as an insane and an effective ruler in English history John did work on capitulating Ireland considerably by reorganizing the system of governance on the island ensuring loyalty to him nevertheless rebellion even among John's own subjects would sprout up and it is at this time that we see another feature of the Anglo Irish conflict emerge the Irish turned to the enemy of their enemy France for support though these rebellions were unsuccessful for as long as England would control Ireland England's enemies specifically France and Spain would take an interest in encouraging trouble in Ireland the anglo-norman would continue attempting to expand into Ireland throughout the reign of Henry the 3rd John successor specifically into regions such as conduct where High King O'Connor had originally hailed this became more and more difficult as some Anglo Normans in Ireland were ruling more and more independently and others had lost interest in Ireland altogether furthermore the Irish were adopting the technology and tactics of the rest of Europe and working with Scottish mercenaries against English rule allowing them to refuse to pay tribute and to raid the English lands which was contributing to a weakening Norman presence on the island importantly in the 13th century the ideals of the English nobility which had been emphasized in reaction to King John's tyrannical rule that eventually led to the Magna Carta spread into Ireland as well this became much more evident in the reign of Edward the 1st when in 1297 the Irish parliament formed this was not necessarily a move to grant the English in Ireland more independence but rather was an attempt to ensure English law was upheld in Ireland as well as English culture at a time when the English there were becoming worryingly Irish a trend which would continue for centuries it was also though a move to let the Anglo Irish deal with their own problems because Edward had enough of his own namely in France and Scotland resistance under the leadership of a nobleman named William Wallace was beginning in Scotland tensions between England and Scotland were heating up and Ireland would feel the effects of this and see opportunity within it independent Ireland and Scotland were at this time culturally historically linguistically ethnically etc similar and with a mutual enemy a cooperative effort was likely to form Edward the first died in 1307 and was succeeded by his son Edward the second in Scotland a year earlier Robert the Bruce had become King the Lords of Arlen's saw a potential ally in Robert Bruce and Bruce felt likewise knowing that an independent Ireland could be crucial in the feeding England in 1315 Robert the Bruce along with his younger brother Edward devised a plan and their efforts to defeat England Edward would take a force of around six thousand soldiers to help liberate Ireland and in exchange the Irish Kings would recognize Edward as High King this would open up a distracting second front in the anglo-scottish Wars and creates what they called a grand Gaelic alliance with Robert as King of Scotland and Edward as king of Ireland from there they could move into the Isle of Man and secure a similar arrangement in Wales and invade there Edward landed with his army in May of 1315 in eastern Ulster he was joined by Irish soldiers and began his campaign seeing a great amount of success against the English there and kept pushing into English territory within a year Edward was crowned king of Ireland however it was very premature unfortunately this war in a second front had begun during a harsh time a period of famine which lasted until 1317 affecting all of Europe with no exception in Ireland where perhaps up to a quarter of the population succumb to the famine feeding the troops was a major burden and though Robert the Bruce's arrival in the winter of 1316 was encouraging it only increased a number of mouths to feed and by 1317 fighting between the two sides was slowing down as both sides lacked the ability to continue to fight that year the Irish began splitting off in the main Scottish army into their own movements and when Edward failed to capture Dublin and Limerick seas which were considerably loyal to England the movement began to fall apart and later in October of 1318 Edward the brew died in battle despite a technical English victory Ireland was becoming too difficult to control this war had torn apart English authority on the island and English power began waning in the area over the course of the 14th century though controlling many parts of the island the English monarchy only truly held power in the areas around Dublin in 1327 Edward the third came to the throne he began attempting to bring order to Ireland once again by various means including increasing and administrative presence backed by a military presence and executing political rivals in Ireland while viewing the Anglo Irish with contempt and barring them from public offices the Anglo Irish protested claiming these new reforms would bring instability to the island yet the policies held but all the while the Irish were constantly causing havoc on the borders with instability and war constant in Ireland the Black Death reached the island in 1348 exacerbating everything and killing likely over half the population of Ireland the plague was most intense the talons and cities where English power was concentrated and thus the native Irish gained more power and authority by 1360 the situation was so desperate that the anglo-irish wrote to the king and forming him that if nothing was done Ireland would be lost in response Edwards sent his son Lionel to Ireland with an army to restore Authority primarily to ensure Ireland's loyalty and economic profitability during war with France Lionel was not greatly successful and many in England complained that the resources required to hold on to Ireland far outweighed its economic Worth and even if it were worth it England had more significant problems like France and Scotland as well as these sicknesses and famines which caused havoc on the nation by this point the Anglo Irish were becoming now truly worryingly Irish as they were speaking Irish dressing like the Irish intermarrying with them starting to follow Breton law and altogether living like the Irish as a result Lionel called together the Irish parliament at cocoa and created a new set of laws known as the statutes of cocaine concerning the lives of the anglo-irish the intention of these laws was to bring the anglo-irish back to their english roots by banning Englishmen from speaking irish dressing like them interacting with them in various ways such as marriage in certain kinds of business and even banning their Irish names forcing them to anglicize them this sounds like an effective means of bringing the island back under English control but unfortunately for the English they retained little power over the Anglo Irish at this point and the statutes didn't change much outside of the pale and in fact it worsen tensions with the Irish themselves who are now viewed as second-class citizens Edward died in 1377 with a situation in Ireland worsening his 10 year old grandson Richard the second succeeded him when Richard the second came of age the Irish parliament again called on the King for help fearing the loss of the entire island at first Richards focus was in France fighting a Hundred Years War but later in his reign he sought peace with the French as for Ireland however he prepared an invasion to subdue the island by force Ireland had become somewhat of an embarrassment to the English it said that when Richard was suggested as an heir to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire they basically mocked the concept of him being the savior of Europe from the Muslim Turks that the Germans needed when he couldn't in their eyes even maintain rule of a primitive inferior nation in 1394 Richard landed in Waterford bringing with them around 8,000 soldiers he was the first English King to visit Ireland in almost two centuries he had a great deal of success in reinstating royal authority and tried to reorganize administration of the island again Richard's success here wasn't gained through many battles but more through a show of force and diplomacy it seemed to have worked but when he left in 1395 orders started to unravel again and the country turned back to division and warfare when he returned in 1399 things did not go as smoothly in fact it was a completely different outcome this was a time when the throne of England became much more unstable and Richards claim to it wasn't certain leading to a late response what was going on in Ireland and poor coordination of his campaign the Irish along with some Anglo Irish fought back against Richard this time mostly through guerrilla warfare during this unsuccessful campaign Richards rival hoods throne Henry Bolingbroke took control of the throne from him deposing him rather easily as he had become an unpopular King Bolingbroke became Henry the fourth Henry who had kicked Richard off the throne was now not keen on leaving it for adventures in Ireland nor did England really have the funds to do so leading to a continuation of the slow loss of English power in Ireland over the course of the 15th century as famine caused by poor weather and plague hit yet again English power in Ireland retracted to the pale the area around Dublin which was firmly loyal to England anyone living beyond the pale was considered a foreigner including the Anglo Irish settlers and in the eyes of the English savage barbarians in the eyes of the Anglo Irish English power was collapsing and their slow integration into Irish society now hastened as they had to fend for themselves in the eyes of the Irish the foreign oppressor was retreating many returned back to England the statutes of Kilkenny were irrelevant and Gaelic rule was beginning to thrive again as Irish kings began to rise to power as they had in the olden days still however there was no Irish unity to expedite this process the Irish remained divided in 1413 Henry was succeeded by Henry becoming Henry the fifth who would do little in Ireland focusing instead on France when Henry died from dysentery his infant son Henry would succeed him becoming Henry the sixth Henry the sixth was a weak King who was viewed as incompetent and likely suffered from a strong degree of mental illness he would lose the war in France and more importantly would lose his throne in a conflict that would make Ireland important to the English again the War of the Roses which divided not only England but Ireland as well in 1449 Henry and his wife decided to position Bridget of York a potential threat to throne in Ireland this wasn't merely a banishment as Richard was Earl of Ulster and an interest in Ireland but it was very much with the intention of getting him away from England nevertheless Richard made the most of his stay in Ireland the friending the O'Neill's in the north as well as the kings of Leinster this worried Henri as Richard was gaining the support of the Irish kings who would potentially aid him in a conflict Richard left Ireland in 1450 placing the Earl of Ormond James Butler in charge of his post unfortunately for him however the Earl died in 1452 and his son also named James a Lancastrian the rival faction of the Yorkists succeeded him regardless Richard had the majority of the Irish supporting him he had effectively done what the English had long feared turned Ireland into a base from which a foreign invasion could come in 1453 Richard had returned to England and took control the throne while Henry was in the middle of a mental breakdown his rule would not last however and while England came under the rule of Henry again Ireland continued to recognize Richard as king ignoring the rule of London effectively making Ireland independent most of Ireland was with him including primarily the Geraldine's of Munster in Kildare however the Butler's in particular as I said were Lancastrians this divide would Rock Ireland as a dead England in 1460 Richard returned to England securing an agreement that he would succeed Henry the sixth but it didn't last and the war continued Richard would die at the Battle of Wakefield and be succeeded by his son Edward in his efforts who would later force Henry to exile in Scotland in Ireland events were culminating toward the Battle of kill town where the Geraldine's and butlers would face off the York aside when and the butler's would never recover insuring Geraldine power in Ireland Thomas this James Fitzgerald was May head of the Irish government during his time accordingly as the Yorkist Irish increased their wealth he was much more of an Irishman than an Englishman and favored traditional Irish culture and law except in Dublin where English rule was emphasized in 1466 he was removed from power by the O'Connor's however and was later executed on false charges when caused further conflict unfortunately for the Irish the Lancastrians once again gained power in England but but the Irish remained Yorkists it would not be long before the throne went back to the Yorkist again and Gerald became Earl of Kildare Gerald will be known as Jared more Garrett the Great in Ireland effectively ruling as king and all of a name honor Gerald the war and conflict continued in many parts Arland entered a short period of development trade and relative peace this began to change again in 1485 when Henry Tudor a Lancastrian finally ended the war the Roses by securing throne he did not rule as a Lancastrian technically rather as a tutor which was meant to be a house which unified it to however his position still meant that he viewed the Irish who had opposed him with contempt nevertheless he allowed Gerald to keep his position knowing it would cause unnecessary and taxing problems in Ireland if he did not despite this luck Gerald and other Irish Yorkists favoured a supposed heir to the Yorkist throne Lambert Simnel who was in reality a fake which Gerald probably knew to replace Henry the seventh and actually invaded England to secure this Henry crushed the invasion but pardoned both Gerald and Lambert and Gerald who indeed had the luck of the Irish returned to his post Henry would later son an army into Ireland when the possibility of yet another threat from a fake heir came and in 1492 Gerald was temporarily removed from office though he likely wasn't involved in this plot his disloyalty in the past wasn't enough justification this period saw a resurgence of conflict with the butler's making a grab for power now that the Geraldine's had been the post this conflict would concern Henry who sent an army into Ireland again and would put Sir Edward pointings in charge of administration to work alongside Gerald Ehrlich Adair who returned to power as the English realized he was a necessary evil in stabili governing Ireland pointings would bring an end to any concept of Irish self-rule during the War of the Roses Ireland had been making many of his own decisions and laws but now it had to go through the approval of the king in England and could no longer be diversified locally this would begin a reversal and England's gradual loss of Ireland until pointings Ireland had gradually been slipping from England ever since a time of the Normans to the point at which it began operating independently in all but name once again when Henry the seventh died in 1509 his son Henry the eighth would further transform the relationship between England and Ireland bringing the two nations closer together but also driving the two peoples further apart Henry the eighth's is remembered as one of the most important monarchs in English history though certainly controversial Henry's main legacy begins with the troubles of producing an heir with his first wife Catherine of Aragon Catherine failed to give Henry a male heir after seven children all of them died young except for their daughter Mary Henry realized Catherine wouldn't likely produce a male heir and thus wanted a divorce which was a rare and often impossible concept in the 16th century especially among ability the Pope with pressure from the Spanish who wanted their marriage with England intact catherine was actually the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain denied it outright and thus Henry desperate for a male heir joins the Protestant Reformation occurring in Europe and makes himself the head of his own Anglican Church effectively breaking off from the Catholic Church in July of 1533 Henry was excommunicated and Catholic Europe namely Spain was beginning to view England as bitterly hostile Henry's Church will be founded in blood as he beheaded citizens who favored the Pope officials who questioned his power and even some of his own wives Catholicism was not to be tolerated and with Ireland under pointings law Ireland was expected to follow through as well but the Irish would resist and saw this as an opportunity for rebellion rebellion would come under Thomas Fitzgerald Earl of Kildare known as silk'n Thomas whose father had been imprisoned and killed by Henry Henry planned to execute Thomas as well but Thomas took up arms and he declared Henry a heretic and launched be called a holy crusade against him he was met by Sir William Skeffington who commanded a force of around 2,300 well-equipped men silk and Thomas was defeated by Skeffington Thomas along with much of his family and scores of his supporters were executed by Henry shortly after the situation in Ireland remained unresolved though the pale naturally followed in step with Henry's movements but Ireland outside the pale was much less loyal and Catholicism remained firm routed Henry's sent forces into Ireland to attempt to bring them more firmly under his rule under Lord Leonard gray but gray was opposed by a coalition of Irish Lords known as the Geraldine League orchestrated by menace' Donal the league managed to even pillage the pale but was eventually put down by Lord Grey in 1539 Henry as was his style later had Lord gray executed and switched to a tactic of negotiation with the Irish he encouraged them to surrender and swear loyalty to the crown and agreed to follow English law customs and culture in return he would guarantee them their lands under English law grant them in English title and ensure them a place in Anglo Irish government this offer applied to both Anglo Irish and native Irish in an attempt to bring control to the whole country amid these changes to Irish society and increased English presence in rural Ireland Henry changed his title from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland this was effectively much more than a change of title Ireland and England were now more clearly joined under a single monarch and the Irish Lords had a much more clear legal position henry was eager to rule ireland more closely and began a process that would begin to draw Ireland closer to England after centuries of lackluster effort in Ireland by the English why would Henry begin turning things around well from the War of the Roses he learned the importance of controlling Ireland a hostile Ireland had been the base of not only Richard of York but later pretenders as well and the Irish also nearly overthrew the English monarchy furthermore henry knew that a religious divide would threaten the stability and the Catholic Ireland would open the door for the Catholic French and Spanish to use the island against England despite these efforts however as I said Henry had little effect outside of the pale and many Irish nobility agreed to the surrender and we grant policy as its called and later ignored it Henry died in 1547 he had laid claim to all of Ireland and begun a process which would link the two countries further but ultimately failed as monarchs had before him to bring control of the whole island it would be his successors who achieve that in the next video we'll look at the efforts of his short-lived son Henry his daughters Mary and Elizabeth and King James in Ireland in a crucial period in English history we'll look at how Ireland functioned under English and eventually British rule and its uneasy role in the empire which would come to dominate the world and later its effort to break off from that Empire once and for all and become the nation it is today or rather Nations as the island remains divided for reasons we'll get into if you enjoyed this video I have made others like it we fully cover the history of England and the United States in a similar way and I've done other documentaries on histories such as the ones on the Dark Ages and the Vikings I've also done documentaries on subjects like the history of coffee the science of dreams the science of aliens and terraforming and the whole array of videos on other subjects and and of course invite you to come check them out on my channel to be updated on part 2 as well as to keep up with many videos like this coming up in the future I invite you to subscribe to fire of learning thank you for watching

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 860,004

Rating: 4.8135405 out of 5

Keywords: History, Ireland, Documentary, FIre of Learning, Eire, Irish history, Northern Ireland, Munster, Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Doc, Gaelic, Gaels, Gaeilge, Irish revolution, Tale, Celts, Celtic

Id: fbJKanTrf8c

Length: 57min 30sec (3450 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 21 2018