Arms of Edward Bruce, High-King of Ireland

Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

King of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...

. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 struggle for the Scottish crown, then pursued his own claims in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Proclaimed High King of Ireland in 1315 and crowned in 1316, he was eventually defeated and killed by Anglo-Irish forces of the

Lordship of Ireland The Lordship of Ireland ( ga, Tiarnas na hÉireann), sometimes referred to retroactively as Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England (styled as "Lord of Ireland") and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between ...

at the

Battle of Faughart The Battle of Faughart (or Battle of Dundalk) was fought on 14 October 1318 between a Hiberno-Norman force led by John de Bermingham (later created 1st Earl of Louth) and Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick, and a Scottish and Irish army command ...

in County Louth.

Early life

Edward was one of five sons of

Robert de Brus Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, but the order is uncertain.

was the eldest; in the past there was some dispute over whether Edward was second, or third behind

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English language, English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walte ...

, but one recent account has him fourth behind Nigel and Alexander. His date of birth is unknown, but it was probably not very long after Robert was born in 1274; he was old enough to be fighting in 1307 and to be given an independent command not long after. The Irish medievalist Seán Duffy suggests that he was probably fostered in Ireland as a child, likely by the O'Neills of Ulster, while Archie Duncan suggests some period of time spent with the Bissetts of the

Glens of Antrim The Glens of Antrim,Logainm.ie
(

guerrilla. The three younger Bruce brothers Nigel,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, and

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

were all captured and executed by the English during this period, but Edward survived. He played an important role capturing and

slighting Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

English-held castles in south-west Scotland, including Rutherglen castle which he successfully recaptured from the English in 1313. It was he who made a possibly ill-judged pact with the English governor of Stirling Castle, which led to the English sending a large army to relieve the castle. This led to the Battle of Bannockburn on 23–24 June 1314, where he commanded a Scottish schiltrom.Traquair, Peter ''Freedom's Sword Some time between 1309 and 1313, Edward was created

Earl of Carrick Earl of Carrick (or Mormaer of Carrick) is the title applied to the ruler of Carrick (now South Ayrshire), subsequently part of the Peerage of Scotland. The position came to be strongly associated with the Scottish crown when Robert the Bruce, ...

, a title previously held by his maternal grandfather Niall of Carrick, his mother and his elder brother.

Family life

In 1317 he was granted dispensation by the Pope to marry Isabella daughter of William, Earl of Ross, although it is doubtful that the marriage took place. He did have an illegitimate son, Alexander Bruce, who would later inherit his father's earldom.Britain's Royal Families, Weir A., Bodley Head, London (1989) Alexander's mother was Isabella, daughter of John de Strathbogie, 9th Earl of Atholl.

The invasion of Ireland

Historical background

By the early 14th century, Ireland had not had a recognised High King since Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, (''Rory O'Connor''), who had been deposed by his son in 1186. The country was divided between Irish dynasties and Anglo-Irish lords, each ruling separate parts of Ireland. (In 1258 some of the dynasties and clans had elected Brian Ua Neill to the position of High King; however he was defeated and killed by the Normans at the

battle of Down The Battle of Down, also known as the battle of Drumderg (Irish: ''Druim Dearg'') took place on or about 14 May 1260 near Downpatrick, in modern-day County Down, Northern Ireland. A Gaelic alliance led by Brian O'Neill (High-King of Ireland) a ...

patrick in 1260.) As a descendent of Aoife MacMurrough (died 1188), Edward could also claim extensive royal Gaelic Irish ancestry that included

Brian Boru Brian Boru ( mga, Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig; modern ga, Brian Bóramha; 23 April 1014) was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill and probably ended Viking invasion/domination of Ireland. Br ...

(High King from 1002 to 1014) and

Dermot MacMurrough Diarmait Mac Murchada ( Modern Irish: Diarmaid Mac Murchadha), anglicised as Dermot MacMurrough, Dermod MacMurrough, or Dermot MacMorrogh (c. 1110 – c. 1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deposed by the High King ...

(

King of Leinster The kings of Leinster ( ga, Rí Laighín), ruled from the establishment of Leinster during the Irish Iron Age, until the 17th century Early Modern Ireland. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasion ...

from 1126 to 1171); and also the Hiberno-Norse king

Olaf Cuaran Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" a ...

(died 980). (The Bruce brothers also descended from the Kings/Lords of Galloway, who were themselves a branch of the same Kings of Mann and the Isles which produced

Somerled Somerled (died 1164), known in Middle Irish as Somairle, Somhairle, and Somhairlidh, and in Old Norse as Sumarliði , was a mid-12th-century Norse-Gaelic lord who, through marital alliance and military conquest, rose in prominence to create the ...

(died 1164), progenitor of Clan Donald, Clan Dougall, and Clan Ruari.) Edward's main mission in invading Ireland involved opening a second front in Scotland's ongoing war against England and depriving the English of much-needed men, materials and finance by causing havoc in Ireland. This became critical when English-backed Scots recaptured the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

from King Robert's control in January 1315, thereby threatening the south and south-west of Scotland and also reopening up a potential channel of aid to the English from the Anglo-Irish and native Irish. In addition, Domhnall mac Briain Ó Néill, the King of Tír Eóghain in present-day Ulster, asked for assistance. Ó Néill had been troubled by Anglo-Irish incursions into Tír Eógain from the south-east (the de Verdons), the east (tenants of the

Earl of Ulster The title of Earl of Ulster has been created six times in the Peerage of Ireland and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1928, the title has been held by the Duke of Gloucester and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's elde ...

) and the west (also by the Earl of Ulster). In order to retain his lands, he and some twelve of his vassals and allies jointly requested aid from Scotland. The Bruce brothers agreed, on condition of Irish support for Edward as King of Ireland – the brothers envisaged themselves as separate rulers of Scotland and Ireland, while Robert would regain Man and Edward would possibly make an attack, with Welsh support, on English-controlled

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The brothers thus envisaged "a grand Celtic alliance against the English", combining Scotland and Ireland – since both countries had a common Gaelic heritage. Ó Néill approved of the conditions for himself and on behalf of his vassals, and preparations began. At about this point,

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marria ...

, received news from Irish sources that an invasion was about to take place, and made his way to Ireland where he held land, mainly in and around the castle and town of Trim. (He had previously fought against the Bruces at Bannockburn where he was taken prisoner and freed to return King Edward II's royal seal, lost in the rout.) On 26 April 1315 a Scottish parliament met at

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

(just across the North Channel from Antrim). As King Robert did not yet have any legitimate male heir, Edward was proclaimed his legal heir and successor as King of Scotland and to all other titles in case of Robert's death. Edward's invasion fleet also mustered there, having received calls to assemble as early as the previous month.

Arrival and the Campaign of 1315

On 26 May 1315 Edward and his fleet (estimated at in excess of 6,000 men) landed on the Irish coast at points at and between Olderfleet Castle at

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

, and Glendrum. His brother had sailed from Tarbert for the

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

with his son-in-law Walter Stewart, to subjugate them till ''"all the isles, great and small, were brought to his will."'' Edward meanwhile was swiftly faced by an army led by vassals of the

such as the de Mandevilles, Savages, Logans and Bissets of the Glens, and their Irish allies, led by Sir Thomas de Mandeville. However they were defeated in battle by the Scots under Thomas Randolph. Subsequently, the Scots managed to take the town, though not the castle, of

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

. In early June, Ó Néill and some twelve fellow northern Kings and lords met Edward Bruce at Carrickfergus and swore fealty to him as King of Ireland. The Irish annals state that de Brus "took the hostages and lordship of the whole province of Ulster without opposition and they consented to him being proclaimed King of Ireland and all the Gaels of Ireland agreed to grant him lordship and they called him King of Ireland." In fact, de Brus was never to receive anything more than purely nominal recognition from any of the more powerful Irish Kings, and despite entreaties at various times over the next three years, was ignored by those whom he did not directly interest. He did however directly or indirectly rule much of eastern and mid-Ulster. In late June, Edward proceeded with his army from Carrickfergus along Magh Line (

Six Mile Water The Six Mile Water is a river in southern County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is an indirect tributary of the River Bann, via Lough Neagh. Name The river was historically called the ''(river) Ollar'' and is known in Irish as ''Abhainn na bhFiodh ...

), burning Rathmore, near Antrim town, which was a holding of the Savages. He then went south by way of the Moiry Pass; called ''"Innermallan"/"Enderwillane"/Imberdiolan"'' in contemporary accounts, between

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. This ancient routeway had been for centuries the passage south out of Ulster into the

Kingdom of Mide Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all o ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

and Munster but because of its narrowness Ulster armies had frequently ambushed and been ambushed at the pass. Here he was met by Mac Duilechain of Clanbrassil and Mac Artain of Iveagh, both of whom had submitted to him at Carrickfergus. Their attempted ambush ended in their defeat and the army pressed on, destroying de Verdon's fortress of Castle Roche, and on 29 June attacked

. The town, another possession of the de Verdon's, was almost totally destroyed with its population, both Anglo-Irish and Gaelic, massacred alike. In July, two separate armies opposing Edward met and assembled at Sliabh Breagh, the high ground south of

Ardee Ardee (; , ) is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. The town shows evidence of development from the thirteenth century onward but as a result of the continued deve ...

. One was led out of

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

by Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and his ally, the King of Connacht, Felim mac Aedh Ua Conchobair. The second consisted of forces raised in Munster and

by Justiciar, Sir Edmund Butler of Ormonde (father of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormonde). The Scots-Irish army was located at Inniskeen, ten miles north. In between Sliabh Breagh and Inniskeen was the village of Louth. De Burgh moved his army north of Louth and set up camp while his cousin, William Liath de Burgh attempted to ambush Edward's forces. While some skirmishing did result in a number of Scots deaths, Edward refused to give battle and instead, with the Ó Néill, retreated northwards to Coleraine via Armagh. Edward and Domhnall Ó Néill sacked and burned Coleraine, threw down the bridge over the river Bann and faced off de Burgh's pursuing army on the opposite bank. While both sides now were experiencing shortages of food and supplies, de Brus and Ó Néill could at least draw support from local lords such as Ó Cathain and Ó Floinn. Mindful of this, de Burgh eventually withdrew back forty miles to Antrim, while Butler had to return to Ormond due to lack of supplies. In addition to this, Edward sent separate messages both to King Felim and a rival dynast, Cathal Ua Conchobair, promising to support them if they withdrew. Cathal managed to return to Connacht and had himself proclaimed king, leaving Felim with no choice but to return to put down his rebellion. Worse was to follow: De Burgh found himself deprived of not two but three allies and their armies when his kinsman, Walter mac Walter Cattach Burke deserted back to Connacht at the head of several hundred men, probably to guard his own estates from the upcoming conflict. Thus when in August Edward and his men crossed the Bann in four ships supplied by Scots sea captain, Thomas Dun, de Burgh retreated still further to Connor, where on either the first or ninth of September a charge by the Scots-Irish led to his defeat. William Liath was captured and taken as hostage to Scotland by Moray who arrived there on 15 September 1315 to raise more troops, "his ships filled with booty". De Burgh retreated back to Connacht, while other Anglo-Irish took refuge in

Carrickfergus Castle Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Be ...

. Finally apprised of the seriousness of the situation, Edward II had on 1 September ordered an assembly of the leading Anglo-Irish, which met at

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in late October, but no decisive action was taken. On 13 November, Edward marched further south via Dundalk where, incredibly, "some gave them the right hand" (a fight), occupied Nobber on the 30th, and advanced to Kells, where he was met by Mortimer. Mortimer had managed to raise a large force consisting both of his Anglo-Irish and Gaelic vassals, in addition to forces of other magnates. At the same time, Edward de Brus was reinforced by Moray who had returned from Scotland with around five hundred fresh troops and supplies. The Battle of Kells was fought on 6 or 7 November, with Mortimer being decisively defeated by de Brus. Mortimer was forced to retreat to Dublin while his lieutenant, Walter Cusack, held out at Trim. He almost immediately set sail for England to urge Edward II for reinforcements. At the same time, Governor of Ireland (and Bishop of Ely) John Hotham began to take drastic action to defend Dublin from de Brus, such as leveling entire tenements and churches. After sacking and burning Kells, Edward Bruce proceeded to do the same to

Granard Granard () is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland, and has a traceable history going back to AD 236. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne, at the point where the N55 nation ...

, Finnea, the Cistercian monastery of Abbeylea and raided Angaile (Annaly), the lordship of Gaelic lord O Hanely. De Brus spent Christmas at de Verdon's manor of Loughsewdy, consuming its supplies entirely and before leaving, razing it to the ground. The only manors left alone belonged to Irish lords intimidated to join him, or that of a junior branch of the de Lacy family who in an effort to gain lands voluntarily joined him.

Famine

At first the Irish/Scottish alliance seemed unstoppable as they won battle after battle. In less than a year they had most of Ireland in their control. However, by the beginning of 1317 famine had stricken most of the country making it difficult for King Edward to provide food to most of his men. Shortly King Robert returned to Scotland and management of his own kingdom, but promised more aid and more volunteers to help his brother. For almost a year the Anglo-Norman barons did little to retake any land since the famine made it difficult for either side to provide food to soldiers in the field.

Irish kings' Remonstrance of 1317

As rule over Ireland had been offered to the Plantagenets by the papal bull ''

Laudabiliter ''Laudabiliter'' was a bull issued in 1155 by Pope Adrian IV, the only Englishman to have served in that office. Existence of the bull has been disputed by scholars over the centuries; no copy is extant but scholars cite the many references to ...

'' in 1155, Edward's allies, led by Donall O'Neill, sent a remonstrance to Pope John XXII in 1317. This asked for ''Laudabiliter'' to be revoked and informed the Pope that they had chosen Edward as their king: The Papacy neither recognised Edward's claim, nor agreed with the Remonstrance, and his rule remained ''de facto'' over parts of Ireland and never ''de jure'' over the whole island.

Battle of Faughart

Then in the late summer of 1318, Sir John de Bermingham with his army began a march against Edward de Brus. On 14 October 1318, the Scots-Irish army was badly defeated at the Battle of Faughart by de Bermingham's forces. Edward was killed, his body being quartered and sent to various towns in Ireland, and his head being delivered to

King Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to the ...

. The '' Annals of Ulster'' (erroneously under the year 1315) summed up the hostile feeling held by many among the Anglo-Irish and Irish alike of Edward de Brus:

"Edward de Brus, the destroyer of Ireland in general, both Foreigners and Gaels, was killed by the Foreigners of Ireland by dint of fighting at Dun-Delgan. And there were killed in his company Mac Ruaidhri, king of Insi-Gall Hebrides and Mac Domhnaill, king of Argyll, together with slaughter of the Men of Scotland around him. And there was not done from the beginning of the world a deed that was better for the Men of Ireland than that deed. For there came death and loss of people during his time in all Ireland in general for the space of three years and a half and people undoubtedly used to eat each other throughout Ireland."

References

External links

The Annals of Ulster

Sources

* ''Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland'', GWS Barrow, 1976. * ''Annals of Ireland 1162–1370'' in ''Britannia'' by

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Ann ...

; ed.

Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reachi ...

, London, 1789. * ''Robert the Bruce's Irish Wars: The Invasions of Ireland 1306–1329'', Sean Duffy, 2004. *''The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March'', Ian Mortimer, 2004. *''The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Ireland 1306–1328'', Colm McNamee, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Edward 13th-century births 1318 deaths Edward Bruce 14th-century Scottish earls Edward Bruce Edward Bruce Edward Norman warriors Scoto-Normans Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action 14th-century Scottish people Scottish people of the Wars of Scottish Independence Scottish knights Scottish generals Scottish rebels Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters