Siege of Wexford (1169)
Encyclopedia
The siege of Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...

took place in early May 1169 and was the first major clash of the Norman invasion of Ireland
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...

. The town was besieged by a combined force of Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 under Robert Fitz-Stephen
Robert Fitz-Stephen
Robert Fitz-Stephen was a 12th century Cambro-Norman soldier, one of the leaders of the Norman invasion of Ireland, for which he was granted extensive lands in Ireland. He was a son of the famous Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last king of Deheubarth . His father was Nest's second husband,...

 and soldiers loyal to Diarmait mac Murchadha. After being ousted as King of Leinster, Diarmait had recruited the Normans to help him regain control of Leinster and the semi-independent Norse-Gaelic
Norse-Gaels
The Norse–Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man, and western Scotland for a part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...

 seaport of Wexford. Although the attackers did not breach the town's walls, Wexford surrendered after almost two days and came under Norman control.

Background

In 1167, Diarmait Mac Murchada had been deposed as King of Leinster
Kings of Leinster
The following is a provisional list of the kings of Leinster who ruled the Irish kingdom of Leinster up to 1632 with the death of Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the last legitimately inaugurated head of the MacMurrough Kavanagh royal line...

  and exiled from Ireland by the High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair
Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair
Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair , often anglicised Rory O'Connor, reigned as King of Connacht from 1156 to 1186, and from 1166 to 1198 was the last High King before the Norman invasion of Ireland .Ruaidrí was one of over twenty sons of King...

 and his ally Tigernán Ua Ruairc
Tigernán Ua Ruairc
Tighearnán Mór Ua Ruairc , anglicized as Tiernán O'Rourke ruled the Kingdom of Bréifne as the 19th king in its Ua Ruairc dynasty...

. Diarmait was determined to regain his kingdom and become High King himself. He fled to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and asked for military aid from the Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...

 King of England, Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

. Henry authorized Diarmait to seek help from the Anglo-Norman and Cambro-Norman
Cambro-Norman
Cambro-Norman is a term used for Norman knights who settled in southern Wales after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Some historians suggest that the term is to be preferred to Anglo-Norman for the Normans who invaded Ireland after 1170 — many of whom originated in Wales. However, the term...

 lords in his kingdom. Those who agreed to help included Richard de Clare
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...

 (nicknamed "Strongbow") and half-brothers Robert Fitz-Stephen
Robert Fitz-Stephen
Robert Fitz-Stephen was a 12th century Cambro-Norman soldier, one of the leaders of the Norman invasion of Ireland, for which he was granted extensive lands in Ireland. He was a son of the famous Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last king of Deheubarth . His father was Nest's second husband,...

 and Maurice FitzGerald
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Maynooth, Naas, and Llanstephan) was a major figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland....

. Fitz-Stephan was accompanied by his half-nephew Robert de Barry
Robert de Barry
Robert de Barry was a Cambro-Norman warrior from Manorbier in Pembrokeshire who participated in the colonisation of the Kingdom of Desmond following the Norman invasion of Ireland.-Nesta:...

. Strongbow was offered Diarmait's daughter Aoife in marriage and promised the kingship of Leinster on Diarmait's death. Robert and Maurice were promised lands inf Wexford and elsewhere for their services.

About the 1st of May 1169, Fitz-Stephen landed at Bannow
Bannow
Bannow is an area situated in the south of County Wexford, in Ireland. An early Norman town was founded at Bannow. This town has since disappeared for unknown reasons, although the ruins of an early Norman church can still be seen there today . The Norman church is located near the former Island...

 Bay with a force of 30 knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s, 60 armsmen
Man-at-arms
Man-at-arms was a term used from the High Medieval to Renaissance periods to describe a soldier, almost always a professional warrior in the sense of being well-trained in the use of arms, who served as a fully armoured heavy cavalryman...

 and 300 bowmen
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

. The next day, Maurice de Prendergast
Maurice de Prendergast
Maurice de Prendergast was a Norman knight, fl. 1169-1174.Maurice was a Fleming from Prendergast, Haverfordwest, Wales, and participated in the Norman invasion of Ireland. He was one of the first members of the expedition to land in Bannow Bay in May 1169, along with Meiler FitzHenry and Miles...

 landed at the same spot with ten knights and 60 bowmen. This force merged with about 500 soldiers commanded by Diarmait and marched to Wexford (Loch Garman).

Skirmish at Duncormac

On its way to Wexford, the army was confronted by Gaels
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland is the name given to the period when a Gaelic political order existed in Ireland. The order continued to exist after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans until about 1607 AD...

 or Norse-Gaels
Norse-Gaels
The Norse–Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man, and western Scotland for a part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...

 at Duncormac
Duncormick
Duncormick or Duncormac is a rural village and surrounding community located the R736 regional road in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2002 census, it had a population of 503. The village is 11 miles from Wexford Town, close to the fishing village of Kilmore Quay which is one of the largest...

 (Dún Cormaic). After a short skirmish, it fought its way across the river and continued northeastwards to Wexford. It is unknown what casualties were inflicted. The 1971 Capuchin Annual
Capuchin Annual
The Capuchin Annual was an Irish annual publication published every year in Dublin by the Capuchins from 1930 to 1977. The motto of the publication was Do chum Glóire Dé agus Onóra na hÉireann .-History:...

(page 399) argues that this skirmish "deserves greater respect in history than it has got" because it was "the first battle of the Norman invasion, the first attempt to stop the foreigners, the first bloody encounter in a struggle which was to endure for eight hundred years".

Siege

Wexford had got news of the approaching army and prepared to fight the invaders on open ground outside the town. However, upon realizing the strength of its opposition, the defenders burnt their outbuildings (so that the attackers would have no cover) and withdrew behind the walls. Gerald de Barri claimed that the defenders numbered about 2,000.

The first attack on Wexford was repulsed at the loss of 18 Normans and 3 defenders. These are believed to have been the only deaths during the siege. FitzStephen then ordered his men to burn all the ships in the town's harbour. The next morning, the attack on Wexford began again. Shortly after, the defenders sent envoys to Diarmait. The defenders agreed to surrender and renew their allegiance to Diarmait. It is claimed that they were persuaded to surrender by two bishops who were in the town at the time.

Aftermath

The besieging army and its commanders garrisoned at Ferns
Ferns, County Wexford
Ferns is a small historic town in north County Wexford, Ireland with a population of about 900. It is 16 km from Enniscorthy, where the Gorey to Enniscorthy N11 road joins the R745 regional road...

 (Fearna), Diarmait's headquarters. FitzStephen was granted ownership of Wexford and a large area of land corresponding to the modern baronies
Barony (Ireland)
In Ireland, a barony is a historical subdivision of a county. They were created, like the counties, in the centuries after the Norman invasion, and were analogous to the hundreds into which the counties of England were divided. In early use they were also called cantreds...

 of Forth
Forth
Forth is a structured, imperative, reflective, concatenative, extensible, stack-based computer programming language and programming environment...

 and Bargy
Bargy
Bargy is a barony in County Wexford, Ireland, where the now extinct Yola language was spoken.-References:*Jacob Poole, T. P. Dolan, and Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, Dialect of Forth and Bargy, Co. Wexford, Ireland, 1867, repub. 1996 ....

. This would become the first Norman colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

 in Ireland.

After about three weeks of inactivity, Diarmait and FitzStephen's forces attacked the territory of Osraighe
Kingdom of Osraige
The Kingdom of Osraighe , anglicized as Ossory, was an ancient kingdom of Ireland. It formed the easternmost part of the kingdom and province of Munster until the middle of the 9th century, after which it attached itself to Leinster...

(anglicized Ossory) on Leinster's western border. They then launched raids to the north, in the territories of the Uí Tuathail, the Uí Broin and the Uí Conchobhair. High King Ruaidhrí Ua Conchobhair marched his forces into Leinster and, with the mediation of the Church, the commanders of the two armies began negotiations at Ferns. An agreement was reached, whereby Diarmait was allowed to remain King of Leinster if he recognized Ruaidhrí as High King and if he agreed to send his Norman allies back to Britain. Although relative peace followed, Diarmait allowed the Normans to remain in Leinster. In May 1170, a second wave of Normans arrived and restarted the invasion.
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