Anglo Irish
(1172 AD- 1489 AD)
DBA #144
By Eric Lindberg
History | Enemies | Army
list | Painting Guide | Tactics
History
This list starts with Henry II's acquisition of the title of Lord of
Ireland and ends with the Tudor period, when pike and shot were first
introduced into Ireland.
Pre-Norman Ireland was contested by various feuding clans and Norse Irish
settlers. In the mid twelfth century, Norman mercenaries were called in to
support Dermot MacMurrough, the Irish King of Leinster. Upon Dermot's death
in 1171, the Normans seized Leinster for themselves. King Henry II responded
with an invasion of his own, in part to secure the Normans' control, and in
part to prevent his vassals from creating their own powerbase. After a brief
campaign, Henry forced the Irish nobles to submit to him and granted
extensive lands to his nobles.
Neither Henry's goal of creating a fully English ruling class, nor of
preventing Ireland from becoming a powerbase for rivals was completely
successful. The Gaelic Irish lords were not all replaced, and slowly regained
some of their power over time. Nor were the Anglo-Irish nobles a bulwark of
royal power. Described often as "more Irish than the Irish," the Anglo-Irish
adopted Irish customs and language, and more disturbing to the crown, favored
decentralized Irish feudal tradition over the centralized English monarchy.
English settlements were established in Leinster and Munster, but the Gaelic
Irish were allowed limited control over the remainder of Ireland. In 1315,
Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish King Robert Bruce, invaded and declared
himself King of Ireland. He gained support from some of the Gaelic Irish nobles.
After a number of stunning victories over the English, Edward was defeated and
killed at the battle of Faughart in 1318. The Black Death further weakened
English power in the mid-14th century. This erosion of English power allowed
the Gaelic Irish to regain some of the border regions formerly under English
control. Edward III and Richard II both sent or led armies into Ireland in an
attempt to put down the "Wild (i.e. Gaelic) Irish", but failed to bring about
any permanent change. Laws forbidding intermarriage between the English and
Irish, or the speaking of the Irish language were instituted, but generally
ignored.
The nominal administrator of Ireland in the king's stead was the Justiciar,
later called the Lord Lieutenant, and then the Viceroy. In practice, this office
either went to the most powerful Anglo-Irish lord, or else to an English
favorite of the king. Few of these were able to translate the office into
real power, even when given command of an army to go with it.
The fragile balance of power between crown, the Irish nobles, and the
Anglo-Irish nobles began to fall apart by the time of the Wars of the Roses.
Richard of York used Ireland as a powerbase during his term as Lieutenant of
Ireland. Garret Mor Fitzgerald, earl of Kildare and Viceroy of Ireland after
Richard, generally supported the Lancastrians during the Wars, but had backed
the Yorkist pretender, Lambert Simnel in 1487, giving Henry VII the opportunity
to weaken the powerful Fitzgerald family. In 1494, Henry VII, wishing to restore
the Crown's power in Ireland, attempted to make the Irish parliament subservient
to the English parliament. Later, his son, Henry VIII attempted to establish the
new Protestant religion in Ireland. By the reign of Elizabeth I, these two
themes, religious conflict and the independence of the Irish government, tore
apart the old order. To a great extent, they have dominated Irish politics to
this day.
Enemies
Norse Irish (112), Scots Common (140), Medieval Irish (164)
If smaller conflicts are included, then Anglo-Irish (144) should be added to
represent the feuds between Anglo-Irish nobles. Also, Scots Isles & Highlands (128)
might plausibly be counted as a historical opponent.
Army list
| 1 x 3Kn |
The Justiciar or Lord Lieutenant, or else a promenent Anglo-Irish nobleman, with Norman, English, or Anglo-Irish knights in attendance. |
| 2 x 3CV |
The Anglo-Irish knights. These are less heavily armored than the English knights, riding smaller Irish horses. |
| 1 x 2LH |
Native Irish hobilars. Unarmored and armed chiefly with javelins |
| 2 x 4Lb |
Colonist longbowmen. In DBM, these are of varying quality, being superior Welsh longbowmen in the early era, inferior troops after the campaigns of Edward Bruce, and ordinaries in the 15th century. In all cases, they are liveried professional troops. |
| 2 x 4Bd |
English billmen or Scots Galloglaich. The former are liveried troops armed with bill. The latter are axemen originally from Scotland, usually armored in mail. |
| 2 x 3Aux |
Bonnachts. These are Irish professional infantry, armed with sword or spear, probably also with javelin. Some would be in mail armor. |
| 2 x 2Ps |
Kerns. These are the native Irish skirmishers, relying on javelins but capable of close combat. In DBM, these are divided between javelin-only skirmishers and tougher troops armed with sword and shield, as well. |
Painting Guide
Knights -- These should be very similar to contemporary English knights. There are a wide number of sources for Irish heraldry.
Cavalry -- These are generally less well-armored than the knights, and armed with light lance or javelin. The shields might include heraldic devices, but the soldiers are less likely to be wearing liveries.
Hobilars -- Light horse armed with javelins. Cloaks and jackets could be decorated with traditional Irish designs.
Bonnachts -- Possibly armored with a mail shirt, and carrying an axe or sword as well as a javelin.
Kerns -- Unarmored, some armed only with javelins, other with shield, sword, and javelin. By the fifteenth century, Irish soldiers favored a loose-fitting saffron yellow tunic
Galloglaich -- These Scots mercenaries would be armed similarly to the Bonnachts, though probably more heavily armored, and favoring axes.
Billmen and Longbowmen -- Both would be dressed in the typical livery of English Medieval infantry (usually white).
Tactics
This is a definite combined arms force, with a little bit of everything, but
nothing in abundance. The Anglo-Irish army has more heavy mounted troops than the
other Irish armies (Norse Irish or Medieval Irish), reflecting the presence of
both English and Anglo-Irish knights. This advantage should be pressed against an
Irish or Scots Common army. Against the more traditional medieval armies heavy in
knights, the Anglo-Irish might want to fall back on the traditional Irish strategy
of letting rough going constrain the enemy's movements. In either case, the best
attack the Anglo-Irish can usually hope for is to pin some of the enemy with the
blade, bow, and heavy mounted, while using the light horse and skirmishers to
overlap the flanks. This means that the tactics and/or terrain have to involve
forcing the enemy to split the army so that a part of it can be flanked this way.
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