Irish Hisotry SynopsisStatutes of Kilkenny

The Statutes of Kilkenny were passed and signed into law in Nov 1366
by the Irish Parliament and signed by The Duke of Clarence second
son of Edward III. Clarence has married Elizabeth de Burgo daughter
of the famous Red Earl of Ulster and therby inheirited from her the
lands of both Ulster and Connact.[the irish script spelling]

He was appointed lieutenant in 1361 and came over to Ireland a tall
handsome young man to please the anglo irish who wanted a prince of
the blood to rule over them.
He brought with him 64 Lords who had been absentee to occupy their
estates in Ireland and an amry of 1500 men.
After some years rule which was mostly restoring recovered lands to
the anglo irish conquerors(normans) Lionel the Duke of Clarence of
the house of York summoned an assembly to enact laws pertaining to
the rule of Ireland.
These were the 35 acts of the Statutes of Kilkenny which provided for
in the Norman French than the language of the land the following
provisions:

There would be no fosterage of children among the Irish
Nor marriage
Or gossipred(godparenting and baptism)
no cases at dispute would be decided in the Brehon Law or the March
Law
No Irish minsterals, poets or storytellers were to be allowed
no selling of horses or armour in times of peace
no selling of food in times of war
all names must be english surnames
all must speak english language Irish forbiden
All use of english customs and dress
the english Norman saddle,the heavy saddle, (the irish rode bereback)
and the study of the bow and arrow were to be used*

*Note; The saddle of the Norman calvery and mailed Knight was
cumbersome and heavy like our western saddle. The English lite and
small saddle is more like what the Irish might have used when a
saddle was used at all.

To speak the Irish tongue was to forfiet all lands to the Lord until
English was spoken exclusively

All Irish were excluded from the English cathederals abbeys and
benfices

All Engish chiefs to arrest any of their own found to be 'evildoing'
and turn them over to the law
Kerns and hired soldiers to be maintained only at the Marches (ie the
currah)
four keepers in each county to determine fitness for service of the
english in their army

the 'mere irish' were denied English citizenship or protection of the
english law
Irish were not allowed to own land, inherit land, hold office or seek
justice in the courts.

the 'mere Irish' were styled in the statute 'the Kings irish enemies'

the Irish were held to be in a condition of servitude.

These statutes were effective in all conquored lands in Ireland.

They were endorsed by the archbishops of Tuam,Cashel and Dublin with
the concurrence of the bishops of Waterford-lismore, Killaloe,
Ossery, Leighlin and Cloyne.

Individual Charters were to be granted by the king to those who
submitted to English law and where therby granted the rights of a
leige or a subject.

After making these Laws Lionel Duke of Clarence of the house of York
left Ireland for good and later died in Itlay in Oct of 1368. He left
one child Philippa who married Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March who
through her inherited the Earldom of Ulster which later passed to the
Crown.

A third of the Irish land was in the hands of the families of
Burke,Butler, Roches and Geraldines these were than known as
the' 'captains of their nations' along with the native gaelic chiefs
still reamining the five bloods ONeill , O Brian, Mc Murrough, O
Connor the O Donnell.
The statute was intended to effectively separate these two races from
one another in all aspects of common life and to place English king
and English cultures the only culture or language or controlling
power in the Island.


Some years later under these restictive legislations 35 of the ruling
gaelic chiefs submitted to Richard II in 1395 therby receiving their
lands in return for allegiencs and military bonnachts to the king and
accepting english law as ruling and english dress and language as
their own.
the O Niell , the Mc
Carthy, the Obrien, the Oconnor ,O Reilly, O Bryne, and finally Mc
Murrough in Jan 1395 on a sunday in lent submittd followed by O Bryne
O Toole and O Connor.
This submission was never ratified by the English king or parliament.
Nial More submited at Drogeda with all his chiefs following but O
Donnell and his vassels [oireacht] Fernmagh and Sligo -the McGuire
and the Oconnor don- and the chiefs of the Connact seaboard.
On Marh 16 1395 Nial Og O Neill submitted for his father, prince of
the Irish of Ulster, surrendering the bonnacht all lands liberties
and lordships.
Taig McCarthy More surrendered along with Mc Carthy of Muskerry,
Turlough donn O Conor of Connact and O Kennedy of Munster and Brian O
Brien of Thumond.

Richard died at Ravenspur, Derby in 1399. These early surrender and
regrant submissions was used by Henry VIII to claim his surzanity in
Irleand in 1540.


SONA LA CAISE GO LEIR

[ Happy Day Easter to all or entirly]


Judi Donnelly
Copyright august 1 2007




Wed Apr 4, 2007 1:48 pm




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