Analysis: They were the colonial elite of Ireland and the forefathers of families who would shape Irish politics for four centuries
By John Marshall, TCD
In the late twelfth century, vast swathes of Ireland were conquered by English knights. The arrival of King Henry II of England (r. 1154–89) in Ireland in the winter of 1171 put the royal stamp on the conquest and marked the moment when Ireland was absorbed into an empire which at one time stretched from Dublin to the Pyrenees.
Though now part of the English 'empire', throughout the Middle Ages the kings of England only came to Ireland in 1171, 1210, 1394, 1399, and then not again until 1690. Hence, the preservation of English power in Ireland relied on the presence of powerful men, whom, in the Middle Ages, were frequently referred to as the ‘barons of Ireland’ in English record material.
One of the most important tasks of the barons of Ireland was to aid the king’s justiciar, who was the main royal representative in Ireland, with their counsel. On 23 July 1213, for instance, Henry of London, who was the archbishop of Dublin, was appointed justiciar of Ireland, King John (r. 1199–1216) writing that the magnates of Ireland were to lead him with their counsel and aid for the safekeeping of the land. Although the counsel of the barons of Ireland was primarily in support of the colony, they could also collectively criticise the English administration. In October 1233, for instance, during the revolt of the earl of Pembroke and lord of Leinster Richard Marshal, the barons of Ireland sent a letter to the king demanding the dismissal of the faction of Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, from the Plantagenet court. Plantagenet being the royal house of England, which reigned from 1154 to 1485.
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Much more frequently the barons of Ireland took the lead in their relations with the king of England through petitions. On 23 March 1208, for instance, King John instructed that Irish robbers were to be expelled from the country by the counsel of William Marshal, lord of Leinster, Walter de Lacy, lord of Meath, and the king’s other barons of Ireland who were present, but not named.
The same was the case in July 1248, when King Henry III (r. 1216–72) wrote to the barons of Ireland having heard their requests through their representatives. The barons were looking to extend their liberties as English landholders in Ireland, that is, their rights which primarily pertained to justice. In response, the king sent a writ to the justiciar of Ireland outlining the liberties which he was prepared to grant, the justiciar then tasked with obtaining the views of the barons.
While the barons of Ireland were vital in the day-to-day running of English Ireland, they were also of great importance within the politics of the wider Plantagenet dominions and were stalwart supporters of the kings of England in their times of need. In 1208, King John had refused to receive an archbishop appointed by Innocent III (pope from 1198 to 1216), and so the pope placed England under interdict which lasted until 1214.
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Hence, in 1213 all the magnates of Ireland signed a declaration affirming their support for their king over the pope, stating that with the king they were prepared to live and die. This letter was headed by William Marshal, earl of Pembroke and lord of Leinster, who was joined by twenty-six named barons of Ireland and also by ‘all the magnates of Ireland’ so the letter claimed. Whether these barons were acting of their own initiative or at the direction of the king we cannot be sure, yet it is clear that it was perceived by all involved that a collective affirmation of support for the king by the barons of Ireland would help the king’s cause in Rome.
The barons also backed up their support for the Plantagenets with military might. This was most clear in the 1260s, during the revolutionary reform government of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester. By 1265, Henry III had begun to regain his power, and in August 1265 royal forces defeated and dismembered Simon on the field of Evesham. If we are to believe the writer of the annals of Waverley Abbey – and there seems no reason not to – several of the ‘barons and nobles of Ireland’ arrived just after Simon’s defeat, and bolstered the royal forces over the next year against Simon’s supporters, in what has been known as the War of the Disinherited (1264–6).
The named barons in the annals were the landed elite of Ireland, including Maurice fitz Gerald, Maurice fitz Maurice (also a Geraldine), Walter de Burgh, Theobald Butler, and many others who were not named. These men were the colonial elite of Ireland, and indeed were the forefathers of the families who would shape Irish politics for the following four centuries.
The ‘barons of Ireland’ underpinned the institutional fabric of Plantagenet power in medieval Ireland. Their vast lands in Ireland gave them a role in high English politics in Ireland, during which they were instrumental in supporting the justiciar and the colonial government more broadly. As the English elite of Ireland, these barons were united by common customs and rights, and on numerous occasions they petitioned the king to ensure that these rights and liberties were defended.
By teasing through the records of the Plantagenet bureaucracy we can ascertain the names of a number of these barons of Ireland. This is made all the more important due to the fact that all of the English colonial records housed in Ireland were destroyed in the Four Courts in 1922 during the Irish Civil War. And so, perhaps this is the most salient point on which to end this piece: In that by petitioning the king and proving themselves indispensable to the maintenance of royal governance in Ireland, these barons of Ireland left their names to posterity.
John Marshall is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at Trinity College Dublin and an RHS Centenary Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, London.
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