Irish History Tales - A Chronological History of Ireland from the years 1169 to 1923

In 1177, just weeks after John de Courcy’s dramatic seizure of Downpatrick, another Norman commander looked west. In Episode 2.5, we follow Milo de Cogan’s invasion of Connacht, launched with a small but highly mobile Norman force and guided by Muirchertach O’Connor, the rebellious son of High King Rory O’Connor. What followed was one of the most striking defensive campaigns of the early Norman invasion. The Connachtmen burned settlements, destroyed food supplies, removed cattle and denied the invaders the resources they needed to survive. De Cogan pushed as far as Tuam, but after days in hostile territory, the expedition began to unravel. As the Normans retreated towards the Shannon, Rory O’Connor moved to intercept them — and when the survivors finally escaped Connacht, the High King turned his fury on the son who had brought them there.

The year is 1177, and John de Courcy has launched one of the most audacious campaigns of the Norman invasion of Ireland. With just over 300 men, de Courcy marches north from Dublin in the depths of winter and seizes Down, modern-day Downpatrick and catching the kingdom of Ulaid completely by surprise. But Rory MacDunleavy is not prepared to surrender his kingdom without a fight. In this episode, we follow the dramatic events surrounding the capture of Down, the intervention of papal legate Cardinal Vivian, and the first major battle between de Courcy’s small Anglo-Norman force and the vastly larger army of Ulaid. Archers, armour, marshland and brutal hand-to-hand fighting combine in a battle that will establish John de Courcy as one of the most formidable figures in our story. This is the First Battle of Down.

In Episode 2.3, we take a closer look at the ambitious Norman knight John De Courcy and the forces gathering around him in Dublin, and the growing tensions along the northern frontier after the Battle of Slane. We also examine one of the biggest questions surrounding his invasion: did De Courcy actually have King Henry II’s permission to march north? With the Treaty of Windsor still technically in place and William FitzAldhelm pursuing a cautious royal policy, De Courcy’s plans begin to look increasingly like a private gamble for land, wealth and power. By the end of January 1177, that gamble was about to begin.

Strongbow is dead, and the Norman colony in Ireland enters a new and uncertain phase. In 1176, Henry II sends William FitzAldhelm to Ireland to take control of the king’s growing lordship. His arrival brings the remarkable career of Raymond le Gros to an end, while other veterans of the conquest find themselves pushed aside by a new royal administration. But beyond the Norman settlements, the Gaelic kingdoms are watching and fighting back. When the Normans of Slane launch raids into the surrounding countryside, Máel Sechlainn Mac Lochlainn strikes into Meath. The resulting attack on Slane exposes just how fragile Norman power still is beyond its principal strongholds. As settlements are attacked and abandoned, another Norman adventurer arrives in Ireland: John de Courcy. Restless, ambitious and soon to become one of the most extraordinary figures of the conquest, de Courcy is about to turn his attention north. The struggle for Ireland is entering a new phase.

Season Two begins by turning our attention north. While Strongbow, Raymond le Gros and the first Norman invaders were transforming Leinster and Munster, the kingdoms of the north had been fighting wars of their own. Beginning with the dramatic fall of Murtough MacLoughlin in 1166, we explore the political landscape of Ulster and the bitter struggle for supremacy within Cenél nEógain. Rory O'Connor attempts to impose order by dividing Tír Eógain, but instead the rival MacLoughlin and O'Neill dynasties spend the following decade competing for power. We also travel beyond Tír Eógain to examine Ulaid, Airgialla and Cenél Conaill, meeting the kings and dynasties who dominated the north during the first years of the Norman invasion. For most of this period, the Normans were a distant problem. But by 1176, that was beginning to change.