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1111 Cuinche was adopted by the Synod of Rathbreasail as a boundary mark for the diocese of Killaloe and that of Limerick. This confirms that the placename ‘Cuinche’ pre-dates the arrival of the Normans and also suggests that Cuinche was a significant landmark on the ecclesiastic map.

‘The see of Luimneach, the Maoilchearn eastward, Ath ar Choinne, Lodan and Loch Gair, and the Laitheach Mhor from Aine westward, and Ard Padraig to the south and Bealach Feabhradh and Tulach Leis, the Feil westward and Tairbeart and Cuinche in Thomond, and Crossa in Sliabh Uidhe an Riogh and the Dubhabhann. Whoever shall go against these boundaries goes against the Lord and Peter the Apostle and St. Patrick and his comhorba and the Christian Church. And the Church of Mary in Luimneach is its principal church’.

1169 Start of the Norman invasion of Ireland led primarily by Richard De Clare (Strongbow, 1130-1176).

1171 When Henry II visited Ireland, Dónal Mór submitted to him at Cashel and paid homage, thus acknowledging Henry’s lordship of Ireland. In agreeing to pay tribute to Henry II, Dónal Mór became in effect, a tenant-in-chief of the English king.

1172 They had reached Limerick and by 1199, from their base in Limerick city, they felt able to grant territory to their supporters north of the River Shannon, in Thomond. A castle, built on the orders of King John and bearing his name, was completed around 1210

1173 Shortly after this submission Henry attempted to deprive Dónal Mór of his kingdom by granting all of Thomond to one of his knights, Philip de Braose.

1174 When Philip and other Normans, including Strongbow, tried to enforce this claim by invading Thomond, they were repulsed by Dónal Mór’s army at the battle of Thurles, in which over 700 were slain.

1175 Raymond le Gros, another leading Norman adventurer, captured Dónal Mór’s capital of Limerick by bringing a fleet up the Shannon. A year later, however, Dónal Mór re-gained the city and burnt it, rather than suffer it to be held by foreigners. From 1176 up to his death in 1194 the Normans made no further inroads into Thomond.

1189 Richard De Clare’s (Strongbow) earldom passed through Richard’s daughter Isabel de Clare and to her husband, William Marshal after his son Gilbert died childless.

1194 Start of the Norman invasion of Thomond on the death of Dónal Mór O’Brien (who had built alliances with the Normans through the marriage of his daughter to Richard De Burgh and helping Strongbow in defeating some fellow Gaels). His three sons began feuding to replace him, thereby weakening their defences against the Normans and opening the door to conquest of much of Thomond.

1222 Henry III handed Thomond to Donnchad Cairbreach. When he died in 1242, ownership did not pass to his son through inheritance.

1248 Henry III handed over Tradaree to Robert De Muscegros

1275 Robert de Muscegros handed over his castle of Bunratty in Ireland to the king, on condition that as soon as the contention between the king and his subjects in Ireland is settled, and the said Robert has paid all expenses for its repair, munitions, upkeep, and custody while in the king’s hand, it shall be restored to him or his heirs

1276 Richard De Clare’s grandson Thomas De Clare(1245 – 1287) is granted the lordship of Thomond (after 2 other Norman knights failed to overthrow the O’Briens to take up their assignment). Thomas de Clare granted Robert de Muscegros the manors of Aldworth, Compton, and Hampstead Norris, Berkshire, Alvescot, Oxfordshire, and Cottesmore, Rutland, in exchange for Bunratty Castle, Tradaree cantred, and Ui-Corbmaig, all in County Clare. A grant by Edward to him of all of Thomond, to be held as a fief of the crown for the comparatively small service of ten knights.

After receiving the grant, Thomas commanded a large expedition against the Irish in Wicklow; if it was successful he had been promised by the king a supply of knights to help conquer Thomond. His army was severely defeated at Glenmalure and he was lucky to avoid capture.

1277 He was part of another campaign in Wicklow, this time apparently successful. Soon afterwards he moved to Thomond and began to aid the dispossessed Irish king, Brian Ruad O’Brien (who he subsequently murdered while under his protection at Bunratty).

1278 A petition to the king for aid probably resulted in a grant of the knights’ service of Ireland, which he used in laying the foundations of a large castle at Quin in 1279.

1279 Cil Cuinche was burned by the Irish over some of De Clare’s soldiers. (Description, R.S.A.I., 1900, and a view, R.S.A.I., 1890, p. 292). The ‘Annals of the Four Masters’ tells us that De Clare rebuilt this church in 1278 (before laying the foundations for the castle?). This church is assumed to be the present St Finghins. Is this the location of the original Cil Cuinche?

1280 Thomas sat on the king’s Irish council, advising the justiciar, Robert of Ufford , who with Theobald Butler led a large expedition into Thomond, which put down resistance and allowed the completion of Quin in 1281.

1284 He returned to England but would be engaged in battle with the MacNamara’s for the next 8 years to obtain control and exercise this claim.

1287 He died on his return in 1286. The baton was handed on to his son Richard to conquer the MacNamara’s.

1315 – 1317 The political scenario was radically transformed and complicated by the invasion of Robert de Bruce, King of Scotland, and his brother Edward. King Donogh O’Brien and clan Brian elected to support Edward Bruce and to oppose the English settlement in Ireland. Richard de Clare was now an enemy of Donogh and clan Brian, while he had always opposed clan Turlough. Without the support of Richard de Clare King Donogh fled to Connaught and he later joined the Bruce camp. His rival Muirceartach was now supreme in Clare.

1318 Richard de Clare led an expedition against Conor O’Dea and his clan of Dysart O’Dea, who were faithful supporters of Muirceartach O’Brien and the clan Turlough. Conor O’Dea called upon his neighbouring clans under Felim O’Connor and Loughlin O’Hehir to assist him (Muirceartach was in East Clare at the time). On the tenth of May 1318, Richard de Clare and a strong force of Normans, with the support of the sons of Mahon O’Briain and Brian O’Brian a brother of the late King Donogh, approached O’Dea’s territory. Confidently, de Clare divided his force into three sections. With an inferior force in men and arms O’Dea’s strategy was to set up a trap for de Clare at the ford of Ballycullen near Dysart O’Dea. Richard de Clare at the head of his section raced across the ford after some of O’Dea’s men acting as decoys. Then Conor O’Dea and his army came out of hiding and cut off de Clare’s retreat. Richard de Clare was killed along with most of his section. The remainder of de Clare’s army forced a crossing of the ford and surrounded O’Dea’s army, which retreated towards a wood. Then Felim O’Connor’s and Loughlen O’Hehir’s men joined the battle giving some relief to O’Dea’s men. Still the issue was in doubt until late in the day, Muirceartach O’Briain unexpectedly arrived at the battle scene and routed the remnants of de Clare’s army pursuing them as far as Bunratty. Thus Norman power in Thomond was violently ended thanks mainly to Conor O’Dea and his neighbouring clans.

Upon hearing of the death of her husband and most of his army, de Clare’s widow hastily abandoned Bunratty to government control and fled to England with her only son, then a minor. Young Thomas de Clare, the last male representative of his family died in 1321. The de Clare properties in Thomond, now lost to O’Briain control (except Bunratty Castle), were divided between his aunts Matilda, wife of Robert de Welles and Margaret, wife of Bartholemew de Baddlesmere – both wealthy English landowners who did not pursue their seemingly hopeless claims in such a troublesome area as Thomond. Muirceartach O’Brian now had no rival, either Gaelic or Norman, in Thomond and he ruled without opposition until his death in 1343. De Clare’s castle of Quin was re-captured and destroyed by the McNamaras in 1320, while Bunratty castle, reputedly burnt in 1318 by de Clare’s widow, was captured and demolished by Muirceartach O’Brian and the McNamaras in 1322

What did the Anglo Normans ever do for us?

We are well aware of the impact of the Anglo-Norman invasion on our history, the undermining of Gaelic society and the replacement of our native structures. Poor old Diarmuid MacMurrough takes a lot of blame for all of this, despite the fact that Henry II in England had already sought and had been given approval by Pope Adrian to invade and civilise us. Henry was just waiting to finish his war in France before sorting us out!

Anyway, in they came, conquered, settled, married and eventually becoming more Irish than even ourselves, ‘níos gaelaí ná na Gaeil féin’! But besides building towns and castles, robbing our women (and probably taking our jobs!), what did the Anglo-Normans do for us – if anything?

Well, for one, they gave us a whole new suite of names, both forename and surname, to choose from.

The Norman influence on Irish surnames

Following the invasion of 1169, a large number of Anglo-French first and last names entered into Ireland. Many, such as Power, Browne, Fleming, Joyce, Burke, Barry, Costello, Nagle, Nugent, D’arcy, Roche and Walsh/Welsh/Wallace, are nowadays considered Irish and are commonly found in Clare. So, too, are those with the Fitz prefix such as Fitzmaurice, Fitzgerald, Fitzgibbon and Fitzpatrick which most people would regard as Irish as the shamrock. Fitz, meaning ‘son of’, can be considered the Norman version of Mac (it derives from the Latin/French ‘fils de’, meaning ‘son of’). Burke came from de Burgh, Roche from de Roiste, Power from de Paor.

In 1366, a law was passed that “Every Englishman do use the English language, and be named by an English name, leaving off entirely the manner of naming used by the Irish.” This was introduced to dissuade the settlers from adopting Celtic prefixes or forms of surname. It didn’t have much affect as many settler families added Mac or ‘O’ and Norman names evolved into an Irish form (eg McHenry, McArthur).

In 1465 a law was passed enacting “that every Irishman that dwells betwixt or amongst Englishmen in the County of Dublin, Myeth, Vriell, and Kildare … shall take to him an English Surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trym, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale; or colour, as white, blacke, browne; or arte or science, as smith or carpenter; or office, as cooke, butler ….”

Many of the trades of the early medieval period such as Archer, Butler, Cooper, Carpenter, Draper, Skinner, Tanner found their way into our surnames. Other introductions from this period came from the mercenary soldiers who accompanied the Norman invasion: Walsh (meaning Welsh), Joyce and Fleming (from Flemish mercenaries) are examples.

Incidentally, the Normans usually took their surnames from the place of their family origins. So, D’arcy originates in Arcy in Normandy. De Clare originates in Clare in Suffolk where the Anglo-Norman family were based. While De indicated their place of origin, Le was used to describe them, eg Le Poer meant ‘a poor person’.

De Burgh – Burke – from a placename in Suffolk, France

Le Botilier – Butler – Occupation bottle steward

De Barra – Barry – from an estate in Wales

Le Waleys – Walsh – the Welshmen

De Angulo – Costello/Nangle – from Nangle Pembrokeshire

What of their influence on forenames?

 Many of the Normans forenames introduced here were of a biblical or European saintly origin.

 In 1922, Reverend Patrick Woulfe wrote extensively on the topic of Irish name origins as follows:

In the same manner Norman and English names became current in Irish families during the thirteenth and subsequent centuries. These have now almost completely supplanted the old Gaelic names. The names borne by the Normans and by them introduced into Ireland, were of three kinds :

 (1) names of Scandinavian origin which their ancestors had carried with them to Normandy ;

(2) names of Germanic origin which the Frankish conquerors had brought across the Rhine and which had ousted the old Celtic and Latin names from France ; and

(3) Biblical names and Latin and Greek names of saints,, which the Normans began to adopt about the beginning of the eleventh century.

Together with these came in a few Celtic names from Brittany, a small number of Anglo-Saxon names, some Danish and Norse names from England, and one or two British or Welsh names. These were nearly all very rare and most of them soon died out. Of the Anglo-Saxon names, only two, Edmund and Edward, survived. Alfred has been revived in recent times. At the period of the Invasion, Frankish names were by far the most popular among the Normans, but Biblical and saintly names were coming rapidly into favour.

The following is a list, in order of frequency, of the more common names borne by the early Anglo- Norman invaders, the Biblical and saintly names of Latin and Greek origin being printed in italics :

William, Robert, Richard, John, Walter, Roger, Ralph, Adam, Hugh, Henry, Thomas, Nicholas, Gilbert, Geoffrey, Elias, Peter (Piers), Osbert, Reginald, Jordan, Simon, Alan, Stephen, Philip, David, Arnold, Alexander, Laurence, Baldwin, Herbert, Martin, Maurice, Godfrey, Andrew, Alfred, James, Samson, Turstein, Warin, Ailward, Daniel, Edward, Gregory, Bernard, Benedict, Hamon, Matthias, Michael, Gerard, Gervase, Lambert, Wilkin, Patrick, Edmund, Edwin, Hubert, Ivor, Joseph, Oliver, Mark.

 The following in alphabetical order were rare :

 Abraham, Adelard, Ailmer, Antony, Augustine, Brian, Clement, Constantine, Estmund, Eustace, Everard, Gocelin, Isaac, Leonard, Luke, Matthew, Miles, Milo, Odo, Osbern, Osmund, Pagan, Ponce, Randulf, Redmund, Rodulf, Silvester, Turold, Ulf, Vincent.

 The following names only came in, or at least became popular, at a later period :

Bartholomew, Christopher, Francis, Gerald, George, Paul, Roland, Theobald.

 Women’s names among the Normans were nearly all of the Biblical or saintly class:

 Agnes, Alice, Amelina, Anastasia, Annabella, Catherine, Cecily, Christina, Dorothy, Egidia, Eleanor, Evelyn, Frances, Honora, Isabella, Johanna, Matilda, Margaret, Susanna.

 The name Mary does not seem to have come into use in Ireland before the end of the16th century. Brigid only began to be used about the same period.

 

Extracted from ‘Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall’, Patrick Woulfe 1922

Out with the old, in with the new

The Anglo-Normans also brought with them new animal species such as the rabbit and fallow deer, new foods such as wheat, orchard fruits, mutton and farming practices such as hay-making. They introduced us to continental European religious saints and practices of the Roman Church. European religious orders soon followed such as the Franciscans, Augustinians, Cistercians, Dominicans etc. These replaced the structures of the native Irish Christian Church.

Up to then, the Irish natives did not adopt the name of saints as they considered this to be placing themselves on a par with the saint. Such naming convention was reserved for those of higher status in the monasteries. This was circumvented by use of the prefix Maol or Giolla meaning follower or servant. The Normans changed all of that and it was now acceptable to be called Peter, James, Michael, John, Mary, Brigid or Margaret.

Very few of us to this day do not have either a forename or surname that is not of Norman origin. Eventually, arising from the Gaelic Revival in the late 19th century, new Irish language versions of these forenames appeared such as Séan, Seamus, Peadar, Máire, Bríd, Mícheál, Cathal and many more appeared.

The Irish Church did not condemn the practice of slave-trading by the Irish until the invasion by the Anglo-Normans and the encroachment of the Roman Church. The story of Patrick (Patricius, son of a Roman administrator), which was introduced here after the Norman conquest, presents the native Irish as uncivilised pagan slavers who needed to be brought to heel. So the Normans inadvertently gave us our native saint and a forename for a good chunk of our population for generations following.

Out with the new, in with the old

Children are rarely given these European saint names today. Authentic Gaelic forenames are much more popular. We are nevertheless, unlikely to see the demise of the Anglo-Normans surnames that were introduced here. But all of us Mikes, Jimmies, Johnnys, Paddys, Kittys, Cathys, Maggies and Bridies can thank the Normans for what they brought us!