The siege of

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

took place in early May 1169 and was the first major clash of the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...

. The town was besieged by a combined force of

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

under

Robert Fitz-Stephen Robert FitzStephen (died 1183) was a 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 ...

and soldiers loyal to Diarmait mac Murchadha. After being ousted as

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 ...

, Diarmait had recruited the Normans to help him regain control of Leinster and the semi-independent Norse-Gaelic 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

( ga, Laighin) and exiled from Ireland by the

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned an ...

Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair Ruaidrí mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair ( Modern Irish: Ruairí Ó Conchúir; anglicized as Rory O'Conor) ( – 2 December 1198) was King of Connacht from 1156 to 1186, and High King of Ireland from 1166 to 1198. He was the last High King o ...

and his ally Tigernán Ua Ruairc. Diarmait was determined to regain his kingdom and become High King himself. He fled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and asked for military aid from the

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 *Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature *Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...

King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Baili ...

, Henry II. Henry authorized Diarmait to seek help from the Anglo-Norman and

Cambro-Norman Cambro-Normans ( la, Cambria; "Wales", cy, Normaniaid Cymreig; nrf, Nouormands Galles) were Normans who settled in southern Wales, and the Welsh Marches, after the Norman invasion of Wales, allied with their counterpart families who settled E ...

lords in his kingdom. Those who agreed to help included

Richard de Clare Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

(nicknamed "Strongbow") and half-brothers

and Maurice FitzGerald. Fitz-Stephan was accompanied by his half-nephew Robert de Barry. Strongbow was offered Diarmait's daughter

Aoife Aoife ( , ) is an Irish feminine given name. The name is probably derived from the Irish Gaelic ''aoibh'', which means "beauty" or "radiance". It has been compared to the Gaulish name ''Esvios'' (Latinized ''Esuvius'', feminine ''Esuvia''), whic ...

in marriage and promised the kingship of Leinster on Diarmait's death. Robert and Maurice were promised lands in Wexford and elsewhere for their services. About 1 May 1169, Fitz-Stephen landed at Bannow Bay with a force of 30

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

s, 60 armsmen and 300 bowmen. The next day,

Maurice de Prendergast Maurice de Prendergast was a Norman knight, fl. 1169–1174. Maurice was from Prendergast, now in Haverfordwest, Wales, and was hired in 1169 by the ruler of the Irish kingdom of Osraige, Domnall Mac Gilla Pátraic, to resist the Leinster ...

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 Duncormick

On its way to Wexford, the army was confronted by

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langua ...

or Norse-Gaels at Duncormac (''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 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 (For the Glory of God and the Honour of Ir ...

'' (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. Fitz-Stephen 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 A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

(''Fearna''), Diarmait's headquarters. Fitz-Stephen was granted ownership of Wexford and a large area of land corresponding to the modern baronies of

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

and

Bargy Bargy is a barony in County Wexford, Ireland. From the 12th century Bargy and the surrounding area, including the barony of Forth, saw extensive Anglo-Norman settlement following the Norman invasion of Ireland. A distinctive Anglic language, ...

. This would become the first Norman

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

in Ireland. After about three weeks of inactivity, Diarmait and Fitz-Stephen's forces attacked the territory of

Osraighe Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of t ...

(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.

References

''Expugnatio Hibernica'' (extract)
by Gerald de Barri (1189) - reproduced by permission of ''The Medieval Source Book'' on Britannia Internet Magazine
Norman Invasion of Ireland
from ''An Illustrated History of Ireland'' (second edition, 1868) by Margaret Anne Cusack *''History of England during the early and middle ages: Volume 1'' by Charles Henry Pearson (1867), p. 522

Ireland's History in Maps

The Ireland Story {{DEFAULTSORT:Wexford (1169), Siege of Norman invasion of Ireland Battles involving the Laigin Conflicts in 1169 1169 in Ireland Sieges involving Ireland History of County Wexford