1425
Castles like Bunratty and Blarney, erected by native Gaelic families, symbolise the Gaelic revival of the late medieval Ireland. There was great flowering of the arts, in particular the music and poetry of the travelling bards as well as translations into Irish of continental religions and philosophical texts. Gerald, the third Earl of Desmond, in Muster was praised as a “witty and ingenious composer of Irish poetry” such was the integration of the settlers into Gaelic culture. The Lancastrian Tudors were in powering England, and were sensitive to the fact that the Irish had supported the defeated Yorkist. Once again the English tried to impose loyalty to the crown and in 1494 a parliament in Drogheda introduced “Poynings Law” which reinforced the Kilkenny Statutes but also made the Irish parliament subject to the English king.
1480
Existence of the Pale, an area of English
jurisdiction centred on Dublin.
1536
Henry VIII decided to take a more active interest
in Irish affairs than had any of his predecessors. Concerned that his enemies
in Spain and Ireland would join forces against him, he decided to launch total
conquest of the country. After a series of battles, most of Gaelic lords,
except those in Ulster, submitted to the English crown, gave up their lands
and promised to obey English law. But the tudors wanted more than allegiance
to the English Crown. Henry had broken from the Roman Catholic Church, establishing
himself as head of the Church of England and wanted to impose the new religion
on Ireland too. During his daughter Elizabeth’s reign, monasteries such as
Timoleague were suppressed, but the old religion, uniting old Anglo –Irish
and proved to be a force for Irish unity.
