28. ANGLO-IRISH DIPLOMACY IN AID OF IRISH TENANTS (1319)
INTRODUCTION
When the Remonstrance failed to lead the papacy to check English royal predations against the Irish, and the invasion of Edward Bruce ended with his death, Anglo-Irish magnates whose families had settled more than a hundred years before on the island took matters into their own hands. As peers of the realm, John fitzThomas, Earl of Kildare, and Baron John de Bermingham might have felt that they had better access to the ear of the king—in this instance King Edward II (r. 1307–1327)—and therefore took it upon themselves to petition the Crown for Irish subjects to gain access to English law. John fitzThomas had just been elevated to the earldom by the king, so he must have felt that he had an advantage in the negotiations. The petition seems to have done the trick, at least for the Irish tenants of Earl John fitzThomas and Lord John de Bermingham.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
The Anglo-Norman settlers who followed the conquest of Ireland in the 1170s had intimate ties of marriage and family not only to each other but also to noble families in Wales and England. The ones who chose to remain in Ireland—many who held land in Ireland did so as absentees, which created its own set of problems—considered themselves a unique group; they came to be referred to as “Old English” in comparison to the “New English” settlers sent by fourteenth- and fifteenth-century kings to expand English influence on the island.
Document 1: Ancient Petitions, no. 5944
Petition of Earl Thomas fitzJohn of Kildare and John of Bermingham that all the Irish who so desire may embrace English law and custom [1319].
To our lord king and his council, the gentlemen Thomas fitzJohn Earl of Kildare and John de Bermingham, in order to maintain the good estate of the king and expand his power in Ireland, pray that the lord king grant and give the power by commission to his justiciar of Ireland to receive all the Irish into the law and custom of England who desires it, and who pray to be at peace and faith with our lord king; and that they and their heirs be able to enjoy and maintain themselves under English law in the land [of Ireland] for all their days. And they additionally pray that the lord king, for the profit of this said land, grant the aforementioned Thomas and John power by his commission to receive the Irish in their lands and on the marches to the law aforementioned in the form written below so that they have the power to certify for the king concerning those who are thusly received into the peace and who pray to have the aforementioned law, and that they are able to have charters of the king.
Dorse
The king concedes this petition by fiat.
Source: Documents on the Affairs of Ireland before the King’s Council. Edited by G. O. Sayles. Dublin, 1979. P. 90. Translated by editor.
AFTERMATH
Although some Irish tenants took advantage of gaining access to English law, most of the native population, especially those living outside the area of English rule known as “The Pale,” had little if any interest in becoming more anglicized. It is not clear that the English kings much cared either, as the Statutes of Kilkenny of 1366 demonstrates. English political control of the lordship of Ireland dwindled during the course of the fourteenth century, as did royal revenues.
ASK YOURSELF
Why would Irish people want to have access to English legal institutions?
What benefits would the English lords derive from having their Irish tenants have access to English law?
What role does ethnic identity have in deciding whether or not to live under a different system of law?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
Consider the relationship between the Remonstrance and the request to place Irish people under the rule of English law.
Consider the role of the Anglo-Irish baronage in the competition between Irish and English law and customs in Ireland.
Further Information
Duffy, Patrick. “The Nature of the Medieval Frontier in Ireland.” Studia Hibernica 22/23 (1982/1983): 21–38.
Gwynn, Aubrey. “Edward I and the Proposed Purchase of English Law for the Irish, c. 1276–80.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 10 (1960): 111–127.
Mitchell, Linda E. “Gender(ed) Identities? Anglo-Norman Settlement, Irish-ness, and the Statutes of Kilkenny of 1367.” Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 37, no. 2 (2011): 8–23.
Sheehy, Maurice. “English Law in Medieval Ireland.” Archivium Hibernicum 23 (1960): 167–175.