Bruce campaign in Ireland
medieval campaign in Ireland
The Bruce campaign was a three-year military campaign in Ireland by Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish king Robert the Bruce. It lasted from his landing at Larne in 1315 to his defeat and death in 1318 at the Battle of Faughart in County Louth. It was part of the First War of Scottish Independence against England, and the conflict between the Irish and Anglo-Normans.
After his victory at the Battle of Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce decided to expand his war against the English by sending an army under his younger brother Edward to invade Ireland. Some native Irish leaders also asked him to send an army to help drive the Anglo-Normans out of Ireland, offering to crown his brother High King of Ireland in return. Another reason for the expedition was that supporters of the exiled House of Balliol, rival competitors for the Crown of Scotland, had fled to Ireland.
The campaign effectively ended with Edward's defeat and death in the Battle of Faughart in 1318.
Historical background
By the early 14th century, Ireland had not had a high king since Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (Rory O'Conor) who had been deposed by his son in 1186. Further, the Plantagenet dynasty had claimed a right to take control of Ireland by the papal document Laudabiliter in 1155 and indirectly ruled much of the eastern part of the island. The country was divided between the Gaelic dynasties that survived the Norman invasion and the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bruce campaign in Ireland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.