Ireland
Ruler: the King of England via his Lieutenant, currently Edward Earl of March
.In 1166, King Dermot of Leinster lost his lands in a squabble over the wife of O'Rourke of Breifne. Determined to regain his kingdom, Dermot asked help of King Henry II of England. Henry's permission for his subjects to aid Dermot in his struggle resulted in the Earl of Strigul succeeding Dermot as King of Leinster, having married his daughter.
Henry did not want a nation of fierce Irish united under an independent marcher lord so he promptly took an army over the sea with the intent of conquering the entire country. But, overawed by his power and majesty, the Irish kings and lords flocked to acclaim him and Henry found himself lord of all Ireland without striking a blow. He made few changes, confirming his subjects' recent conquests and taking only a small strip of the East Coast for himself, called the Pale. Most of the native Irish were left untouched but though Henry shed no blood, his marcher lords bloodily carved lordships held from the English Crown but the Irish kept much land, leading to a cultural divide between Anglo-Irish and Gaels.
The power of the Crown was never great and as the Anglo-Irish intermarried with Gaels, many 'went native', using Gaelic customs and resenting rule from England. This reduced the ability of the King's lieutenants to enforce his will until today the King's Writ carries only in the Pale.
A few Kings tried to bring the Irish to rule of law: John went as Lord of Ireland in 1185 and again as King in 1210. Edward Bruce of Scotland spent years trying to do the same before his murder in 1318. And of course, Richard II came in 1394 and again in 1399, his second trip allowing Henry of Derby to depose him. None of these secured any lasting success but it is the Irish who suffer most from their own disorder. With the King powerless to intervene, the time-honoured solution to dispute remains that of bribery, corruption and violence.
Outside the Pale, Ireland is a patchwork of lordships owing allegiance to the Crown on their lords' whims. The principal protagonists are the Fitzgerald earls of Desmond and Kildare and the Butler Earls of Ormond, whose lordships straddle Ireland in a diagonal from Dublin to Cork. [See map.]
The Crown rules this motley state through lieutenants; magnates of English birth and Irish lands, paid to govern in the King's name. Generally, they've been forced to let the Irish do as they will but a few like Old Talbot, father of the current Earl of Shrewsbury, managed to instil a degree of order at the expense of alienating most of the nobles.
The Irish wanted a lieutenant of Royal blood, whose authority would come directly from the King. In 1449, they finally got their wish in the person of Richard Duke of York, who holds the earldom of Ulster and the lordships of Trim, Connacht and Leix. York impressed the Gaels and Anglo-Irish, in just a few months becoming the most successful and popular lieutenant ever. Desmond and Ormond became joint godfathers at the christening of York's son, George.
The Irish recalled York fondly enough to offer refuge when he fled England in 1459 after Ludford Bridge, recognising his lieutenancy ahead of James Earl of Wiltshire. The Irish Parliament declared itself only bound by those English laws it ratified and that no Irish resident could be summoned to answer charges in England.
However, not all Irish are Yorkists. The Butlers have long supported Lancaster; the current earl married Old Talbot's daughter and is allegedly Queen Margaret's lover. Whatever the truth in the rumours, she made him Earl of Wiltshire and he is a unique case of an Irish lord entering English politics.
The earls of Desmond, Ormond and Kildare strive for supremacy, manipulate and are manipulated by lesser lords. Desmond was foremost under York, but both men came to England last year and Kildare took immediate advantage of their absence and that of James Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire. He inveigled himself into the post of deputy under the Earl of Oxford, York's successor. Kildare manipulated Earl James' youngest brother, Sir Thomas Butler, into rebellion and when Oxford returned for the May Parliament, took the opportunity to raise his estates and the Pale and overran the Butler supremacy, incarcerating Sir Thomas in his own dungeon.
Kildare's extremism horrified the rest of Ireland and his support in the Pale waned. When recently York's son, Edward Earl of March, replaced Oxford, he was feted perhaps even more than his father, even Desmond is reputed to be joining him to liberate the Butlers from Kildare oppression, a thing unbelievable a year ago.
However, with his father's government in crisis, it remains to be seen if Edward will get the chance to turn things around before a fifth lieutenant in eighteen months replaces him.
