1 00:00:00,239 --> 00:00:06,559 ♪♪ 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,599 In the late 12th century, 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,160 foreign armed forces invaded Ireland. 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,080 We remember them as the Anglo-Normans. 5 00:00:17,518 --> 00:00:21,040 The Anglo-Normans could see that there were massive gains 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:22,639 to be made in Ireland, 7 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:25,559 and they knew that it was an untapped resource. 8 00:00:25,639 --> 00:00:26,879 Allez! Allez! 9 00:00:26,919 --> 00:00:28,559 The consequences of all this was that Ireland 10 00:00:28,599 --> 00:00:30,239 would be changed forever. 11 00:00:30,319 --> 00:00:34,319 The newcomers laid down the template for our modern nation. 12 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,120 Now, science reveals more about them 13 00:00:37,199 --> 00:00:41,800 and how they drew Ireland closer to the continent than ever before. 14 00:00:41,879 --> 00:00:45,080 The Anglo-Normans brought us closer to Europe. 15 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,598 Yet today, England is further from Europe than it was back then. 16 00:00:50,519 --> 00:00:54,639 But in the autumn of 1170, everything still hung in the balance 17 00:00:55,279 --> 00:00:57,680 because the invaders had yet to capture 18 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,080 Ireland's largest and wealthiest city: 19 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:01,239 Dublin. 20 00:01:07,199 --> 00:01:15,040 ♪♪ 21 00:01:19,599 --> 00:01:21,839 In August 1170, 22 00:01:21,919 --> 00:01:25,400 a foreign army besieged and captured Waterford. 23 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,360 Its commander's name remains etched in the nation's memory: 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:30,480 Strongbow. 25 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:32,919 Allez. 26 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,040 He came not at his own behest, 27 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:36,959 but at that of an Irish ruler. 28 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,559 In a real-life Game of Thrones, 29 00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:43,319 Dermot Mac Morrough had been ousted from his Kingdom of Leinster. 30 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,519 He was desperate to win it back. 31 00:01:46,599 --> 00:01:51,800 Strongbow was offered the kinship of Leinster by Dermot Mac Morrough. 32 00:01:51,879 --> 00:01:54,839 That was part of the deal that secured his assistance. 33 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,000 He married Mac Morrough's daughter, Aoife, 34 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,599 And with that, he was Dermot Mac Morrough's successor. 35 00:02:05,559 --> 00:02:06,680 But for now, 36 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,919 Strongbow was Dermot's heir in name only. 37 00:02:13,199 --> 00:02:14,839 To secure his inheritance, 38 00:02:14,879 --> 00:02:17,879 He had to capture Ireland's largest city. 39 00:02:20,239 --> 00:02:21,559 I think the Dublin population would have 40 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,400 been absolutely terrified to hear of all the Anglo-Normans coming. 41 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,559 It would have been a frantic effort to try and get into the city walls, 42 00:02:28,599 --> 00:02:30,559 and he had to make it in before the gates closed. 43 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,639 Archeologist Lindsay Simpson 44 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,959 is an expert on Dublin's medieval defenses. 45 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,639 Well, Dublin was very well protected with the city walls. 46 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,160 You can see it here behind me, 47 00:02:42,199 --> 00:02:44,120 probably about seven meters high at this point, 48 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,239 and it's a formidable defense. 49 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:49,080 You can see how difficult yourself it would be to get up here. 50 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,919 It's got a burm coming out, which is an incline. 51 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,760 We're also standing in a very deep, mucky, water-filled moat. 52 00:02:56,839 --> 00:02:58,680 So you can't get horses up. 53 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,279 It's very hard to get ladders up 54 00:03:00,319 --> 00:03:02,080 because we're actually dealing with water. 55 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,000 And the only thing they could really do is try and identify a weak spot, 56 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,480 a corner or an angle that they maybe go in and undermine. 57 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,519 And other than that, the only other way was to really try 58 00:03:11,559 --> 00:03:14,239 and trick their way in or force their way into one of the city gates 59 00:03:14,279 --> 00:03:17,760 because that was where the city was vulnerable. 60 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,760 The exact circumstances remain a mystery, 61 00:03:22,279 --> 00:03:25,839 but somehow the Anglo-Normans got past the walls. 62 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,599 The contemporary sources tell us that it was a surprise assault. 63 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,480 They must have gained access into the gate. 64 00:03:33,559 --> 00:03:35,279 But once that happened, and once they were in, 65 00:03:35,319 --> 00:03:38,000 the sources record there was a considerable slaughter. 66 00:03:41,559 --> 00:03:45,400 The Anglo-Normans take Dublin, and everything is going to plan. 67 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,919 They have now got Wexford, Waterford, 68 00:03:47,959 --> 00:03:50,760 Dublin, and it seems only a matter of time 69 00:03:50,839 --> 00:03:55,360 before Dermot's Kingdom will be rightfully restored to him. 70 00:03:56,519 --> 00:03:59,599 But Dermot would not live to see his dream fulfilled. 71 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,720 In May 1171, he died suddenly at Ferns. 72 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,279 It's said he lies buried here near the monastery he founded, 73 00:04:11,319 --> 00:04:13,319 St. Mary's Abbey. 74 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,080 The broken shaft of a high cross marks his grave. 75 00:04:20,559 --> 00:04:21,480 To this day, 76 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:23,559 we remember Dermot as a traitor, 77 00:04:23,599 --> 00:04:26,400 the man who ushered in the invaders, 78 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,599 leading to centuries of foreign occupation. 79 00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:33,519 But does he deserve this dark reputation? 80 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,040 There have been attempts by historians, 81 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,760 especially in the last generation or two, to try to rehabilitate him. 82 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,319 In one sense, he was a progressive figure, 83 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:47,639 but in many other respects, 84 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,400 quite a negative person, an unpopular person. 85 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,559 On one particular occasion, 86 00:04:53,639 --> 00:04:57,040 he either murdered or he blinded 87 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:01,639 17 of the under kings and nobles of Leinster. 88 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,160 That was literally unprecedented, 89 00:05:04,238 --> 00:05:07,879 and it was widely condemned in Ireland at the time. 90 00:05:10,599 --> 00:05:13,559 There's no doubt about it that Dermot Mac Morrough is a 91 00:05:13,599 --> 00:05:16,400 brutal king. 92 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,879 He's clearly also a very capable, a very ambitious, 93 00:05:19,919 --> 00:05:22,040 and a very talented individual. 94 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,680 I don't think he is quite the antichrist 95 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,160 that people have called him out to be, 96 00:05:27,238 --> 00:05:31,120 and nor do I think he's quite the scapegoat that he's been cast as. 97 00:05:32,199 --> 00:05:35,720 I think it's really important not to view 98 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,440 Dermot through the lens of what happens to Ireland later. 99 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,000 Ireland under the British Empire does suffer terribly. 100 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,080 So if we look back and say Dermot is responsible for that, 101 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:47,400 then of course, he's a traitor. 102 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:50,120 But I think that's a mistake. 103 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,839 There's hundreds of years in between these events, 104 00:05:53,879 --> 00:05:58,440 and there's all to play for still in Irish politics. 105 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,680 Dermot's death sent a shockwave through Ireland. 106 00:06:03,559 --> 00:06:05,839 The dead king's relatives now disputed 107 00:06:05,879 --> 00:06:07,879 Strongbow's claim to Leinster, 108 00:06:09,319 --> 00:06:13,279 and soon the Anglo-Normans faced an even greater challenge. 109 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,238 On the outskirts of Dublin, 110 00:06:18,319 --> 00:06:23,599 the Westlink Bridge soars over the River Liffey and its lush valley. 111 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,279 The M50 motorway runs for 45 kilometres, 112 00:06:27,319 --> 00:06:30,440 almost surrounding the city. 113 00:06:30,519 --> 00:06:35,599 In 1171, an Irish high king set up camp not far from here. 114 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:40,120 He also surrounded the city, not with roads, 115 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,360 but with men. 116 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:48,160 Dublin was placed on were a siege by the high king, Rory O'Connor, 117 00:06:48,238 --> 00:06:50,360 and he gathered together all of his vassals, 118 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,559 all of the kings throughout the country, 119 00:06:52,599 --> 00:06:54,720 and they encircled Dublin at that stage. 120 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,839 Three of the Irish kings led armies to Clontarf, 121 00:06:59,879 --> 00:07:02,199 Kilmainham, and Dalkey, 122 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:08,160 a fleet of 30 ships in Dublin Bay cut off escape by sea. 123 00:07:08,959 --> 00:07:13,559 Rory O'Connor himself took up position at the hill of Castleknock, 124 00:07:13,599 --> 00:07:17,760 around seven kilometres from the city. 125 00:07:17,959 --> 00:07:19,199 This is a very ancient site. 126 00:07:19,279 --> 00:07:23,199 It's a natural hillock, which at some stage in probably late 127 00:07:23,279 --> 00:07:27,839 prehistory was ringed by ramparts and made into some fortress, 128 00:07:27,879 --> 00:07:29,760 some citadel. 129 00:07:30,319 --> 00:07:31,360 This would have been well known 130 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:34,360 to everybody in the period of the Anglican-Norman invasion. 131 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,800 And I think you could imagine Rory standing where I am today, 132 00:07:37,839 --> 00:07:41,319 talking to his forces and reminding them of the history 133 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:45,919 of this place and the mission that they were going to embark on. 134 00:07:46,599 --> 00:07:49,879 The Irish forces outnumbered Strongbow's army. 135 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:55,720 Archeologist, Tadhg O'Keefe, 136 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,040 believes Rory O'Connor was confident of success. 137 00:08:00,319 --> 00:08:04,000 My suspicion is that Rory felt he was on a roll. 138 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,239 He'd been traveling across Meath, burning castles, 139 00:08:07,279 --> 00:08:11,000 and probably felt emboldened to attack Dublin. 140 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,760 So when he came here to Castleknock and 141 00:08:13,839 --> 00:08:16,440 got his army together and was thinking, I'll get this done. 142 00:08:16,519 --> 00:08:17,760 This is not a problem. 143 00:08:17,839 --> 00:08:21,360 And of course, it turns out it was a problem. 144 00:08:23,239 --> 00:08:26,239 So this is the original northern wall of the medieval city, 145 00:08:26,279 --> 00:08:27,959 the wall that dates to 1100. 146 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,040 And this is the wall that was the barrier 147 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:31,720 to Rory O'Connor taking the city. 148 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,639 At that early stage, the River Liffey would have been lapping 149 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,000 up against the base of the wall here at high tide. 150 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,639 So that's the picture that would have 151 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,000 faced Rory O'Connor when trying to take the city in 1170. 152 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:48,239 Rather than attack the powerful walls, 153 00:08:48,519 --> 00:08:52,040 O'Connor gambled on achieving a bloodless victory. 154 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,480 So the strategy of Rory O'Connor was to besiege the city, 155 00:08:56,519 --> 00:08:57,839 so all the city would have been surrounded. 156 00:08:57,879 --> 00:09:00,400 But it was particularly serious on this northern side, 157 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,559 because this is where the supplies were being unloaded, 158 00:09:02,599 --> 00:09:03,639 where the ships were coming in. 159 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:04,879 All that activity stops. 160 00:09:04,958 --> 00:09:08,040 You have to imagine the city wall now becomes a prison. 161 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:09,599 It's almost like a Jewish ghetto. 162 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:10,879 The people are hemmed in. 163 00:09:10,919 --> 00:09:12,839 They can't get in, and they can't get out, 164 00:09:12,879 --> 00:09:14,360 and they get no food supplies in. 165 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:15,958 The water source were very limited. 166 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,760 The River Liffey is tidal, so it's brown, 167 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:21,519 and it's contaminating the water supply. 168 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:22,639 The population of Dublin was probably 169 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,400 quite considerable at that stage, so crammed into the city walls. 170 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:26,639 It wouldn't have taken very long 171 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,760 for the conditions to be pretty dire... 172 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:34,000 Uisce. Uisce le thoil. Uisce. 173 00:09:35,958 --> 00:09:38,958 With his water supply's dwindling, 174 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,360 Strongbow had no choice but to confront the situation. 175 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:58,440 He sent two envoys to O'Connor's camp to discuss peace terms. 176 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,958 The Archbishop of Dublin, 177 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:03,360 Laurence O'Toole, 178 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:05,120 and the Flemish mercenary, 179 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,000 Maurice de Prendergast. 180 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,440 O'Toole was one of the most respected churchmen of the day, 181 00:10:15,958 --> 00:10:20,879 while de Prendegast was a trusted associate of Strongbow. 182 00:10:20,958 --> 00:10:24,639 But the deal they offered did not impress. 183 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,519 So Strongbow makes an offer to Rory O'Connor 184 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,160 that Strongbow will hold Leinster, 185 00:10:31,199 --> 00:10:34,080 but Rory O'Connor will be Overlord. 186 00:10:34,599 --> 00:10:36,720 And O'Connor, perhaps surprisingly, 187 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,720 turns down this offer and says, no. 188 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,120 Strongbow can hold just Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin, 189 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:45,958 and perhaps a little of their hinterland, 190 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,199 but that he would hold the rest of Leinster 191 00:10:48,239 --> 00:10:50,400 and indeed the rest of the country. 192 00:10:52,239 --> 00:10:56,639 Rory O'Connor was confident that Strongbow would accept his terms. 193 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:02,480 After all, his enemies were surrounded and desperate for water. 194 00:11:09,919 --> 00:11:12,919 O'Connor was willing to compromise with these new invaders, 195 00:11:12,958 --> 00:11:15,440 and in particular, he was willing to allow 196 00:11:15,519 --> 00:11:17,319 them to hold on to the towns, 197 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,319 but I think it was too little too late at that stage. 198 00:11:20,919 --> 00:11:23,279 The Anglo-Normans could see that 199 00:11:23,319 --> 00:11:26,679 there were massive gains to be made in Ireland, 200 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:31,160 and they knew that it was as an untapped resource, 201 00:11:31,199 --> 00:11:34,919 the whole of Ireland was potentially up for grabs. 202 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,400 Strongbow's followers have come on this adventure 203 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,279 on the understanding that they are going to get the conquered land. 204 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,639 They are going to set themselves up with a castle, with a manor, 205 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:50,040 with income, and therefore, the stakes are high. 206 00:11:50,279 --> 00:11:51,720 It's all or nothing, really. 207 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,120 They would rather go down fighting 208 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,239 than retreat with a tail between their legs. 209 00:11:58,839 --> 00:12:03,040 ♪♪ 210 00:12:07,199 --> 00:12:11,400 I suspect that Strongbow, when the negotiations didn't happen, 211 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:15,360 was okay with that, but I doubt very much that he ever feared that 212 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,839 he was going to be beaten by an Irish army coming in from the west. 213 00:12:19,879 --> 00:12:22,080 These Anglo-Norman mercenaries had 214 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,000 descended from a long line of fighters, of warriors. 215 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,400 They had practice in warfare in all sorts 216 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:33,040 of different terrains with new techniques, with new weaponry. 217 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:41,400 And while the Irish were no fools when it came to the art of warfare, 218 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,559 they were a long way behind their Anglo-Norman enemies. 219 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,239 So if you're looking at these events from a perspective 220 00:12:51,279 --> 00:12:52,599 of wanting an Irish victory, 221 00:12:52,639 --> 00:12:55,639 there's just two different types of warfare come into conflict. 222 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:00,120 And on the whole, the Norman one is the more effective one. 223 00:13:00,199 --> 00:13:03,958 A good bowman, firstly, 224 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,639 you've got tremendous upper body strength. 225 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,760 It takes quite a bit of energy to draw a bow. 226 00:13:10,839 --> 00:13:12,879 And these bowmen were incredible. 227 00:13:12,919 --> 00:13:14,958 They were the machine gunners of the Middle Ages. 228 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:17,360 You've got very little protection against them, 229 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,199 and they're quite terrifying, particularly if the people you're 230 00:13:21,279 --> 00:13:25,080 attacking aren't familiar with this type of warfare. 231 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:39,720 ♪ ♪ 232 00:13:40,919 --> 00:13:44,599 Fortune favoured the daring surprise attack. 233 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:47,319 Strongbow and his Lieutenant, Raymond le Gros, 234 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,879 caught the Irish completely off guard, 235 00:13:49,919 --> 00:13:53,360 killing many and scattering the rest. 236 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,000 They now had undisputed control of Dublin. 237 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,559 That was really a turning point, 238 00:13:59,599 --> 00:14:03,400 because once they had secured control of Dublin, 239 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,480 there wasn't any going back from that point onward. 240 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,639 And that was the event that turned it into an international affair. 241 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,040 Now, Strongbow and his men ran Dublin. 242 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:18,160 That was headline news throughout Northwestern Europe, 243 00:14:18,239 --> 00:14:21,839 and that was a really landmark event 244 00:14:21,879 --> 00:14:25,319 in the Anglo-Norman seizure of Ireland. 245 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:30,360 The Normans were in the ascendancy. 246 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,800 And Strongbow now stood a real chance of becoming king, 247 00:14:33,839 --> 00:14:35,319 not just of Leinster, 248 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:41,239 but of Ireland, a prospect that worried his overlord, Henry II. 249 00:14:41,319 --> 00:14:44,959 From Henry's perspective, the events in Ireland are deeply disturbing. 250 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,160 A Norman rival, high king of Ireland, 251 00:14:48,199 --> 00:14:53,120 would have been an enormous problem for the English Crown. 252 00:14:53,199 --> 00:14:56,559 So Henry has to rush over to Ireland. It's really important. 253 00:14:56,639 --> 00:14:58,720 It's a big priority. 254 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:16,720 1171, Henry II was one of Europe's most powerful monarchs. 255 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:22,120 He controlled England, much of Wales, and over half of France. 256 00:15:23,959 --> 00:15:27,879 Five years earlier, Henry had given Dermot Mac Morrough permission 257 00:15:27,959 --> 00:15:31,760 to recruit Norman allies for his campaign in Ireland. 258 00:15:31,839 --> 00:15:38,680 Now Dermot was dead, and Henry longed to add Ireland to his empire. 259 00:15:51,279 --> 00:15:53,400 In a remote corner of South Wales, 260 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,040 stand the mighty towers of Pembroke Castle. 261 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,599 In a land known for its medieval strongholds, 262 00:16:00,639 --> 00:16:02,839 this is one of the greatest. 263 00:16:04,879 --> 00:16:06,959 In the autumn of 1171, 264 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:12,160 Henry II went to Pembroke with one thing on his mind. 265 00:16:12,239 --> 00:16:16,879 The king was determined to take control of the situation in Ireland. 266 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,480 But to do so, he had to make peace with an old enemy. 267 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,959 Strongbow, throughout Henry's reign, had really been out of favour. 268 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,040 Strongbow was heir to the Earls of Pembroke, 269 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,000 who had helped subdue Wales. 270 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:35,480 Henry was denied buying him Pembroke as his inheritance. 271 00:16:35,919 --> 00:16:38,080 So when Strongbow did go to Ireland 272 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,279 and won for himself an independent kingdom, 273 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,120 which is what happened in Leinster, 274 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,239 this must have been shocking to Henry. 275 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:51,440 Here is a senior vassal who has gone to Ireland against 276 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:57,480 his specific instruction and is now moving close towards 277 00:16:57,559 --> 00:17:00,480 the possibility of becoming a high king of Ireland. 278 00:17:00,559 --> 00:17:03,519 The king summons Strongbow to Pembroke. 279 00:17:03,599 --> 00:17:07,760 When the two men met there in October 1171, 280 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,800 no one could say what the outcome would be. 281 00:17:10,879 --> 00:17:14,119 There's a lot of antagonism between the two of them. 282 00:17:14,199 --> 00:17:17,080 But as often happens politically, 283 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:22,599 both men realised that the best way for them to gain success 284 00:17:22,638 --> 00:17:26,519 in their aspirations was to work together. 285 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:28,160 A deal was reached. 286 00:17:28,239 --> 00:17:31,559 Henry would take possession of Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford. 287 00:17:31,638 --> 00:17:36,559 In return, he'd allow Strongbow to rule Leinster, 288 00:17:36,599 --> 00:17:39,440 subject to his over lordship. 289 00:17:40,919 --> 00:17:44,638 But Henry didn't trust this to happen in his absence. 290 00:17:44,919 --> 00:17:48,040 He decided to go to Ireland in person, 291 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:54,239 and in such a way that no one would question his authority. 292 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:59,239 The king had given orders for a huge army to assemble. 293 00:17:59,879 --> 00:18:01,720 In nearby Milford Haven, 294 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,519 hundreds of ships lay waiting to transport them. 295 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,919 On the 16th of October, 296 00:18:09,959 --> 00:18:12,720 Henry's fleet set sail. 297 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,359 The next day, they reached Waterford Harbour. 298 00:18:17,839 --> 00:18:20,720 The sailors hauled the ships onto the beach, 299 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,800 and then 4,000 soldiers disembarked. 300 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:27,800 With them were 500 knights, 301 00:18:27,839 --> 00:18:30,440 led by the king himself. 302 00:18:30,519 --> 00:18:34,359 It was the most powerful army Ireland had ever seen. 303 00:18:37,879 --> 00:18:40,000 Strongbow had returned with Henry. 304 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,480 Soon afterwards, he formally submitted to him. 305 00:18:43,559 --> 00:18:49,720 So too did all the Anglo-Normans and almost all the Irish Kings. 306 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:55,959 Henry II arrives in Ireland in 1171 with a huge force 307 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,040 by the standards of the day, 308 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,000 and nobody stands against him. 309 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,559 He doesn't have to engage in combat. 310 00:19:03,638 --> 00:19:06,720 Everyone sees his army and submits. 311 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,000 That might seem odd, but one has to understand 312 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,800 the context of Henry II's arrival in Ireland. 313 00:19:13,879 --> 00:19:17,000 Henry was compared by contemporaries to Alexander the Great. 314 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,440 He was someone who controlled territories 315 00:19:19,519 --> 00:19:22,680 from the Pyrenees up to the border with Scotland. 316 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,919 He arrived at the head of a massive army. 317 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,359 So there was little prospect 318 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,359 that Rory O'Connor or the other Irish Kings, who, let's not forget, 319 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,239 had just been routed in Dublin in September, 320 00:19:34,279 --> 00:19:39,279 would be able to muster up support and face him on the battlefield. 321 00:19:40,519 --> 00:19:45,480 With winter closing in, Henry took up residence in Dublin. 322 00:19:45,559 --> 00:19:47,720 This was now a royal city, 323 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,559 and the king wanted to populate it with loyal citizens. 324 00:19:58,519 --> 00:20:02,199 Henry II had a good relationship with the citizens of Bristol, 325 00:20:02,239 --> 00:20:04,000 so Henry granted to the citizens 326 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,559 significant holdings in Dublin to basically 327 00:20:07,599 --> 00:20:11,080 reward them for their loyalty, but also build 328 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,199 on their existing knowledge through trade connections with Ireland. 329 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,599 The Bristolians were some of the first settlers 330 00:20:19,638 --> 00:20:22,160 to arrive following the invasion. 331 00:20:22,239 --> 00:20:26,040 In 2023, archeologists discovered 332 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:29,680 fascinating remnants of their presence in Dublin. 333 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:38,239 We're here on Bride Street, 334 00:20:38,319 --> 00:20:39,959 carrying out an excavation in advance 335 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,040 of a redevelopment of a block. 336 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:46,519 We're finding potentially small cellars or under crops 337 00:20:46,559 --> 00:20:48,760 that would have set beneath buildings. 338 00:20:48,839 --> 00:20:52,680 And we're talking about the late 12th century, 339 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:54,160 early 13th century. 340 00:20:54,239 --> 00:20:56,559 It shows us that the Normans may have 341 00:20:56,638 --> 00:20:58,760 been coming in and inhabiting 342 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,599 and taking on buildings that were already here. 343 00:21:02,319 --> 00:21:06,720 This type of ceramic here is very rare, 344 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,080 a survival of a full intact wine jug 345 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:12,119 from probably the early 13th century. 346 00:21:16,559 --> 00:21:18,638 These two faces, as you can see, 347 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,239 they're actually the spouts for wine jugs, 348 00:21:21,279 --> 00:21:22,839 for very ornate wine jugs. 349 00:21:22,879 --> 00:21:24,959 And we know by the fabric, and by the shape, 350 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,680 and by the typology that they're from Bristol, 351 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:29,720 and they're coming in around the same time 352 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,599 as this influx of people from Bristol 353 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,480 after Henry II grants Dublin to the Bristolians. 354 00:21:36,839 --> 00:21:40,319 ♪♪ 355 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,959 Another discovery opened an even bigger window 356 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:45,839 into the settlers' lives. 357 00:21:47,599 --> 00:21:52,638 It's connected with Henry II's other reason for coming to Ireland. 358 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:01,638 One of the most controversial events of the Middle Ages. 359 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,800 A murder in a cathedral. 360 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,559 Henry had made his former friend, Thomas Becket, 361 00:22:11,638 --> 00:22:15,440 Archbishop of Canterbury, in the expectation that he would be 362 00:22:15,519 --> 00:22:18,800 a friend who would enable him to control the church. 363 00:22:20,239 --> 00:22:24,760 Thomas Becket suddenly developed notions of the entitlement 364 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,519 of the church to be independent of royal authority, 365 00:22:27,599 --> 00:22:32,680 which meant that he immediately fell out with Henry II. 366 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,319 Their feud was acrimonious, 367 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,839 and it built and built until Henry, 368 00:22:40,879 --> 00:22:43,000 an exasperated King Henry, 369 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,119 uttered words that are lost in time, but seemingly saying, 370 00:22:47,199 --> 00:22:49,638 How can these knights surrounding me 371 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,720 let a lowborn clerk treat me like this? 372 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,279 Four of Henry's knights took the hint. 373 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,040 They went to Canterbury, burst into the cathedral, 374 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,279 and murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury 375 00:23:01,319 --> 00:23:03,919 in his own the cathedral. 376 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:09,319 We have eyewitness accounts of this that were spread throughout Europe. 377 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,000 It caused a scandal because the King of England 378 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,919 seemingly had had the Archbishop of Canterbury murdered. 379 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:21,480 Henry's Irish expedition in 1171 was therefore very well-timed. 380 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:26,519 He wants to come, of course, 381 00:23:26,599 --> 00:23:29,160 to make sure that his subjects submit to him, 382 00:23:29,199 --> 00:23:31,119 but he also wanted a distraction 383 00:23:31,199 --> 00:23:34,319 from the controversy privacy surrounding the murder of Beckett. 384 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:38,000 And coming to Ireland and presenting himself 385 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,239 as a great advocate on the side of church reform 386 00:23:41,279 --> 00:23:45,359 would have helped to rehabilitate his image after the murder. 387 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:58,919 The King ensured that Dublin would long remember the slain Archbishop. 388 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,800 St. Catherine's Park in the middle of the Liberties in Dublin. 389 00:24:02,879 --> 00:24:04,279 This was the site of one of the largest 390 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:09,279 and most well-endowed monasteries in Ireland at the time. 391 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:16,000 The Abbey would have been composed of primarily a huge central church. 392 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,559 We're talking a very prestigious building. 393 00:24:19,638 --> 00:24:24,638 It would have challenged in size and opulence the likes of 394 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,638 St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral. 395 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,279 Coming off the southern side was a cloister, 396 00:24:31,319 --> 00:24:33,800 and then the usual old buildings set off that, 397 00:24:33,879 --> 00:24:37,919 the refectories and the dorm trees for the canons were in the abbey. 398 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:45,559 This magnificent foundation was the Abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr, 399 00:24:45,638 --> 00:24:50,760 founded by Henry the second to atone for the killing of Thomas Becket. 400 00:24:52,599 --> 00:24:57,279 Today's street names are the only visible signs that ever stood here. 401 00:24:59,839 --> 00:25:03,519 But other signs lie concealed to eat the ground. 402 00:25:03,839 --> 00:25:07,199 In 2018, archeologist Paul Duffy 403 00:25:07,279 --> 00:25:12,559 investigated a site off Thomas Street and made an extraordinary discovery. 404 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,440 We had the opportunity to conduct quite 405 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,279 a large scale excavation on the site just behind us here. 406 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,919 We were quite shocked by the amount of burials that we came across. 407 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:31,000 The archeologists uncovered the burials of 124 individuals. 408 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,760 They had found the Abbey Graveyard. 409 00:25:37,239 --> 00:25:40,440 Maeve Tobin is an osteo-archeologist, 410 00:25:40,519 --> 00:25:44,040 specialising in the study of human remains. 411 00:25:44,919 --> 00:25:50,480 She had the Thomas Street skeleton analysed and discover their origins. 412 00:25:50,559 --> 00:25:53,000 They were radiocarbon dated to between 413 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,519 the 12th century and the 13th century, 414 00:25:55,599 --> 00:25:59,800 which coincides with the first 100 years of the Abbey of St. Thomas. 415 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,839 So what we're looking at is the first generation of Anglo-Norman 416 00:26:07,879 --> 00:26:13,400 citizens of Dublin moving into the area and settling in the area. 417 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,919 Now, there were a few individuals of note. 418 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,519 There were two individuals who had a perforated scalp shell. 419 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:27,519 And that's a sign that these individuals 420 00:26:27,599 --> 00:26:32,040 had made the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. 421 00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:37,680 And that's remarkable if you consider that pilgrims today, 422 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,638 starting off on their route to Santiago, 423 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,040 are leaving down the road here from the St. James's Gate. 424 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,440 As it was then, it still is now. 425 00:26:46,519 --> 00:26:50,440 It was an arduous journey, and it wasn't undertaken lightly. 426 00:26:50,519 --> 00:26:53,800 They had suffered some osteoarthritis, 427 00:26:53,839 --> 00:26:56,199 a lot of heavy or hard living, 428 00:26:56,279 --> 00:26:59,919 possibly irritated or exasperated by the pilgrimage. 429 00:27:01,638 --> 00:27:04,919 Their teeth both show very heavy wear patterns, 430 00:27:04,959 --> 00:27:07,319 and perhaps this indicates that they lived 431 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:09,000 on a very different diet for the period 432 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:10,959 of the months that they were away on pilgrimage. 433 00:27:11,638 --> 00:27:15,199 Analysis reveals some interesting trends about the settlers 434 00:27:15,239 --> 00:27:19,080 and how they compare with Ireland's native inhabitants. 435 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,119 The osteological analysis has showed us 436 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,279 that this community were much healthier. 437 00:27:25,319 --> 00:27:26,359 They lived healthier lifestyles. 438 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,638 They had access to a wider food space 439 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,959 than their contemporaries in rural Ireland at the time. 440 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,239 They lived less arduous lifestyles. 441 00:27:35,319 --> 00:27:40,160 Their bodies were subject to less intensive labour. 442 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,839 Studies like this suggest that soon after the invasion, 443 00:27:44,879 --> 00:27:48,199 Ireland became a two-tier society. 444 00:27:48,279 --> 00:27:52,599 Foreign settlers enjoyed greater status than the native Irish. 445 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,800 For centuries, these inequalities would 446 00:27:55,839 --> 00:27:58,440 colour the politics of a troubled island. 447 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:09,040 But for Henry II, Ireland would soon be a distant consideration. 448 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:12,239 In April 1172, 449 00:28:12,279 --> 00:28:17,599 the King of England departed these shores, never to return. 450 00:28:17,638 --> 00:28:21,119 Henry's departure raised a stark question: 451 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,599 who would control Ireland in his absence? 452 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:27,959 Strongbow seemed the most likely candidate. 453 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:32,239 Once sidelined and penniless, he now ruled Leinster, 454 00:28:32,279 --> 00:28:35,440 Ireland's largest and wealthiest region. 455 00:28:36,879 --> 00:28:40,639 But Strongbow did not live long to enjoy his success. 456 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,199 He died a few years later 457 00:28:43,239 --> 00:28:46,559 and was buried in Dublin's Christchurch Cathedral. 458 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,720 Other than Dermot Mac Morrough himself, 459 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,879 Strongbow was the man most associated with the invasion. 460 00:28:55,879 --> 00:28:58,360 His name was written into Irish history, 461 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,639 never to be erased. 462 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:04,319 But his death left a power vacuum, 463 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,599 and soon another Anglo-Norman Lord filled it. 464 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,720 His name was Hugh de Lacy. 465 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,919 His family originally came from Lassay in Normandy, 466 00:29:13,959 --> 00:29:15,519 hence the name. 467 00:29:15,599 --> 00:29:20,959 And he was a trusted confidante and a supporter of Henry II. 468 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,519 And Henry calls Hugh de Lacy to him, 469 00:29:24,559 --> 00:29:26,919 and he grants him by charter the whole 470 00:29:26,959 --> 00:29:29,000 of the ancient Kingdom of Meath, 471 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,239 which stretches all the way from the Irish Sea to the Shannon, 472 00:29:32,279 --> 00:29:34,839 800,000 or 850,000 acres or so. 473 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,199 ♪♪ 474 00:29:38,639 --> 00:29:41,120 When he was granted the Kingdom of Meath, 475 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,440 it was a parchment lordship. 476 00:29:43,519 --> 00:29:44,879 It hadn't been conquered. 477 00:29:44,959 --> 00:29:48,279 That territory was claimed by Tiernan O'Rourke, 478 00:29:48,319 --> 00:29:49,559 the King of Bréifne. 479 00:29:49,639 --> 00:29:51,680 Hugh arranged for a parlay to be held 480 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,839 at the Hill of Ward with Tiernan O'Rourke. 481 00:29:54,919 --> 00:29:56,120 In 1172, 482 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:01,000 the two men and their retinue arrived to speak at the hill, 483 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,959 incidentally said to be the home of Halloween in Ireland, 484 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,639 and there certainly were fireworks because a fight, a row, 485 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,000 an altercation between the two groups, 486 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,639 and ultimately, Tiernan O'Rourke is killed. 487 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,400 This was a message to any of those who stood in Hugh's way. 488 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,080 This is what will happen to you. 489 00:30:22,319 --> 00:30:25,959 Tiernan O'Rourke's other quarrel with Dermot Mac Morrough 490 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,760 had precipitated the Anglo-Norman invasion. 491 00:30:29,839 --> 00:30:33,959 Now, just a few years later, both Both he and Dermot were dead. 492 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:41,800 We start to see a new wave of settlers coming in, 493 00:30:41,839 --> 00:30:45,440 a new wave of people in charge taking the reins. 494 00:30:45,519 --> 00:30:48,440 Hugh de Lacy has clearly become a big player. 495 00:30:48,519 --> 00:30:52,599 Hugh de Lacy needs to select an administrative centre, 496 00:30:52,639 --> 00:30:57,599 a hub, and he chooses Trim on the banks of the Boyne for this. 497 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,959 And Hugh de Lacy selected the site on high ground, 498 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,120 overlooking the river for his new castle. 499 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,519 De Lacy's power increased so much 500 00:31:09,559 --> 00:31:12,199 that he became Ireland's King in all but name. 501 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,279 But in 1186, 502 00:31:17,319 --> 00:31:21,800 his career met a swift and sudden end. 503 00:31:23,919 --> 00:31:26,639 Hugh de Lacy was building a castle in Durrow. 504 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,440 The Anglo-Normans 505 00:31:28,519 --> 00:31:30,879 chose to build castles at ancient monastic sites 506 00:31:30,919 --> 00:31:32,720 if they were available because these 507 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,680 were places of importance to the local people. 508 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:37,720 The evidence that we have is that 509 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,680 he went down into the ditch of the castle. 510 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,120 He was called in by an Irishman who was involved in digging the ditch, 511 00:31:44,199 --> 00:31:47,839 and the Irishman then pulled out an axe and chopped his head off. 512 00:31:48,959 --> 00:31:52,279 A man like De Lacy is always going to pick up plenty of enemies. 513 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,480 He wasn't short of people who were willing to assassinate him. 514 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:03,400 De Lacy had suffered a degrading end, but he left an important legacy, 515 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:08,000 not just in Ireland, but also on the continent. 516 00:32:09,639 --> 00:32:11,440 There's a very long-standing connection 517 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:13,519 between Ireland and France. 518 00:32:13,599 --> 00:32:17,120 That was clearly strengthened under the Anglo-Normans. 519 00:32:17,199 --> 00:32:22,000 The Anglo-Normans accelerated a process of Europeanising. 520 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,360 With the invasion of 1169, 521 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,199 we are nearer to Europe than we've been before. 522 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:44,400 ♪♪ 523 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,879 The town of Évreux in Normandy has a long and turbulent history. 524 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:58,040 Past centuries have seen it ravaged by war and fire. 525 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,120 But some medieval buildings still remain. 526 00:33:04,199 --> 00:33:07,000 Among them, the Church of Saint-Touran, 527 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:12,400 once home to a community of Benedictine monks. 528 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:15,040 Archivist, Thomas Roche, 529 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:19,160 is exploring its unique link with Ireland, 530 00:33:19,199 --> 00:33:23,160 recorded in a medieval church manuscript. 531 00:33:23,239 --> 00:33:26,160 Anglo-Norman lords keep familial 532 00:33:26,199 --> 00:33:29,080 and feudal connections with Normandy. 533 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,919 In 1173, Hugh de Lacy came to Normandy, 534 00:33:35,959 --> 00:33:41,000 and he took opportunity to strengthen this Norman connection. 535 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:46,239 And he gave churches, lands, woods, 536 00:33:46,279 --> 00:33:51,639 to religious houses to which his family was already connected. 537 00:33:54,559 --> 00:33:58,199 The church manuscript records one such transaction. 538 00:34:01,199 --> 00:34:06,959 Here is the Cartulaire of Saint Taurin. 539 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:12,800 Here is the earliest known text of the charter 540 00:34:12,839 --> 00:34:15,360 by which Hugh de Lacy, 541 00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:17,559 Hugo de Lassy, 542 00:34:17,919 --> 00:34:25,480 gave to the Church of Saint Taurin, the churches of Fore in Westmeath, 543 00:34:25,559 --> 00:34:29,480 which was the site of an old Gaelic Monastery. 544 00:34:29,559 --> 00:34:31,480 So there was this transfer of property 545 00:34:31,518 --> 00:34:37,400 from Gaelic establishments to Norman ones. 546 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,719 The monks of Saint-Taurin built a great Abbey at Fore. 547 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:46,719 For centuries, 548 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,400 it would serve as a daughter house of their monastery in Évreux. 549 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,080 The monks introduced French practices to Ireland. 550 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,518 They even built a dovecote to house their pigeons, 551 00:35:01,559 --> 00:35:05,639 a valuable source of food and fertiliser. 552 00:35:06,199 --> 00:35:13,120 Today, Fore and Saint-Taurin stand testament to a forgotten history. 553 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,319 I think one of the great ironies 554 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:19,800 of history, of Irish history, 555 00:35:19,879 --> 00:35:26,080 is that the Anglo-Normans brought us closer to Europe than we'd been. 556 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:31,480 Yet today, England is further from Europe than it was back then. 557 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:34,800 The Franco-Irish connection is certainly 558 00:35:34,839 --> 00:35:36,120 something that's been overlooked, 559 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:37,680 probably because it's been overshadowed 560 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,518 by the Anglo-Irish affairs of the intervening centuries. 561 00:35:41,599 --> 00:35:43,839 There's a very long-standing connection between 562 00:35:43,879 --> 00:35:44,919 Ireland and France. 563 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:46,800 That was clearly strengthened under 564 00:35:46,879 --> 00:35:51,279 the Anglo-Normans through the late 12th and into the 13th century. 565 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,959 A Frenchman named Geoffrey de Geneville 566 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:55,639 helped temper this connection. 567 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,120 Geoffrey de Geneville was from Joinville, 568 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,599 in the northeast of France. 569 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,000 His older brother was Jean de Joinville, 570 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:09,239 who was the historian and friend of Saint Louis or King Louis. 571 00:36:11,879 --> 00:36:16,279 Geoffrey, in 1252, becomes Lord of Meath. 572 00:36:17,639 --> 00:36:19,279 He moves to Trim. 573 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,279 On the outskirts of Trim, 574 00:36:28,319 --> 00:36:32,360 archeologists investigate a plot of land. 575 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,199 They're digging up the remains of the Black Friary, 576 00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:40,839 a Dominican monastery founded by Geoffrey de Geneville. 577 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,239 De Geneville endowed the Dominicans with the lands here. 578 00:36:46,319 --> 00:36:47,839 They set up their friary, 579 00:36:47,879 --> 00:36:49,959 and we have discovered that it's probably 580 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:54,760 one of the largest Dominican friaries that was built in Ireland. 581 00:36:55,559 --> 00:36:59,839 The footprint is about 80 meters from north to and there 582 00:36:59,919 --> 00:37:05,639 were two cloisters or courtyards, church, extensive buildings. 583 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:08,120 We're sitting just outside the north precinct 584 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,000 and the northern boundary of the precinct. 585 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,080 The archeologists have discovered many artifacts here, 586 00:37:18,559 --> 00:37:24,800 including pottery from the winemaking Saint-Ange region, near Bordeaux. 587 00:37:25,599 --> 00:37:27,440 We have a reconstruction jug, 588 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,279 simply to show what a complete jug would have looked like 589 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:33,800 because we find so many broken bits of pottery. 590 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,719 Wine merchants would be bringing in barrels and barrels of wine 591 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:43,160 and handing out jugs of wine as a free sample. 592 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:48,279 So you'd get your free Saint-Ange jug with your wine. 593 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,800 Geoffrey de Geneville died in 1314. 594 00:37:53,879 --> 00:37:57,639 He was buried in the Church of the friary at Trim. 595 00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:00,040 De Geneville was one a number of individuals 596 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,480 who came not just to hold land, 597 00:38:02,518 --> 00:38:05,599 but to live and live out the rest of their lives here in Ireland. 598 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,518 This created a bond between Ireland and France 599 00:38:12,559 --> 00:38:14,760 that has existed right down to the present day. 600 00:38:17,319 --> 00:38:19,360 What's interesting about our perception 601 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:21,518 of the Anglo-Normans is that we probably 602 00:38:21,599 --> 00:38:25,400 wait too much the Anglo bit as opposed to the Norman bit. 603 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,599 And we forget that for several generations, 604 00:38:27,639 --> 00:38:31,120 these people still had a primary focus on France. 605 00:38:31,199 --> 00:38:32,719 France was the homeland. 606 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:34,160 I mean, even the Court of Henry, 607 00:38:34,199 --> 00:38:37,199 and we're talking a long time after William the Conqueror, 608 00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:38,518 was French-speaking. 609 00:38:38,599 --> 00:38:40,919 The French bit was very important. 610 00:38:49,839 --> 00:38:54,639 But in time, the invaders would enact harsh policies in Ireland. 611 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:56,440 Ultimately, 612 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:01,559 the position of the invaders hardened towards the native Irish, 613 00:39:01,639 --> 00:39:08,120 and they did become second-class citizens in their own land. 614 00:39:12,919 --> 00:39:14,400 In 1185, 615 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:18,639 a scholar and clergyman called Gerald of Wales visited Ireland. 616 00:39:23,279 --> 00:39:26,599 He wrote a book about the invasion that had just taken place, 617 00:39:26,639 --> 00:39:29,480 and another about the country itself. 618 00:39:30,518 --> 00:39:34,199 Gerald's writings are a vital source of knowledge, 619 00:39:34,279 --> 00:39:38,279 but they portray the Irish in very unflattering terms. 620 00:39:39,839 --> 00:39:42,680 The Irish are a rude people, 621 00:39:42,879 --> 00:39:46,400 subsisting on the produce of their cattle only, 622 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:50,480 and living themselves like beings. 623 00:39:50,559 --> 00:39:54,000 A people that has not yet departed from 624 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:57,440 the primitive habits of pastoral life. 625 00:39:57,639 --> 00:40:00,680 This people then is truly barbarous. 626 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:05,000 Indeed, all their habits are barbarisms. 627 00:40:05,559 --> 00:40:09,400 Whatever natural gifts they possess are excellent, 628 00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:12,360 but in whatever requires industry, 629 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:15,360 they are worthless. 630 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:18,440 According to Gerald, Ireland and the Irish 631 00:40:18,518 --> 00:40:21,360 were both in need of conquest to justify 632 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,239 the conquest that had just taken place. 633 00:40:24,319 --> 00:40:27,199 So according to Gerald, the Irish were lazy. 634 00:40:27,279 --> 00:40:30,760 They were at a lower level of civilisation than the English, 635 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,239 so they needed a helping hand to build up. 636 00:40:33,319 --> 00:40:36,839 Ireland, on the other hand, was a land ripe for cultivation, 637 00:40:36,919 --> 00:40:39,120 and it was only because of the laziness of the Irish, 638 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,559 these barbarians, these irreligious barbarians, 639 00:40:41,599 --> 00:40:44,160 that it wasn't meeting its true potential. 640 00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,959 He wants to justify the actions of Henry II. 641 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:54,319 He wants to justify the actions of his own relations in Ireland. 642 00:40:54,639 --> 00:40:55,599 To do this, 643 00:40:55,639 --> 00:41:01,000 he makes the Irish seem both barbaric and like bad Christians. 644 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:05,599 He says they are Christians in name, pagans in fact. 645 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,800 We don't have other evidence that this is the case. 646 00:41:08,879 --> 00:41:13,959 He's just trying to make the Anglo- Norman invasion seem justified. 647 00:41:16,518 --> 00:41:21,319 In 1199, Henry II's son, John, became king of England. 648 00:41:21,599 --> 00:41:22,719 Under his rule, 649 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:26,680 the anti-Irish bias would be written into law. 650 00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:30,040 King John, when installing an English 651 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:33,919 administration in Ireland, cap this off in 1210 by declaring 652 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,199 that English law should be the only law within Ireland. 653 00:41:37,279 --> 00:41:40,879 Differentiation between those with access to English law, 654 00:41:40,919 --> 00:41:43,959 mostly the settlers, and those who did not 655 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:49,040 have access to English law, mostly the Irish, was a big problem. 656 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:52,319 So if an Englishman killed an Irishman, 657 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:55,839 then they would merely have to pay a fine. 658 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:59,559 Whereas if an Irishman killed an Englishman, 659 00:41:59,599 --> 00:42:04,800 he would have forfeited his own life. 660 00:42:06,199 --> 00:42:08,319 Ireland was conquered. 661 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:10,800 The Irish people were conquered, 662 00:42:10,839 --> 00:42:15,800 and they did become second-class citizens in their own country. 663 00:42:15,879 --> 00:42:21,440 It is the case that they were denied access to the law. 664 00:42:24,319 --> 00:42:27,719 So the idea that a rich hybrid culture 665 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:29,559 might have developed between the two, 666 00:42:29,599 --> 00:42:32,360 where the Irish gained some of the benefits, 667 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:37,400 and the Anglo-Normans might blend productively with the native Irish, 668 00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:40,199 that moment, if you like, was lost in Ireland. 669 00:42:50,639 --> 00:42:55,239 The invasion also had consequences far beyond our shores. 670 00:42:55,319 --> 00:42:58,719 It may even have changed European history. 671 00:43:00,839 --> 00:43:02,599 At the height of his power, 672 00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:05,000 Henry II controlled over half of France, 673 00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:08,239 as well as most of Britain and Ireland. 674 00:43:11,279 --> 00:43:14,360 Historians call this the Angevin Empire. 675 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:21,319 But under King John's rule, the empire started to fall apart. 676 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:26,400 In 1204, John lost Normandy to the king of France. 677 00:43:27,639 --> 00:43:29,360 So the heart of the Angevin Empire had 678 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:31,279 been torn out with the loss of Normandy. 679 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:35,000 And so from 1204, John tried to replicate 680 00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:39,000 in Ireland the administration that he enjoyed in England, 681 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,680 with the expressed intention of extracting 682 00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:44,199 as much income from Ireland as possible 683 00:43:44,279 --> 00:43:48,199 to be sent to France to recapture what he had lost. 684 00:43:50,279 --> 00:43:54,239 So John ordered that a strong castle be built in Dublin 685 00:43:54,279 --> 00:43:57,800 to house the treasury, to house the administration. 686 00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:01,199 They're trying to recover all of these estates 687 00:44:01,239 --> 00:44:03,959 that they've lost in France. 688 00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:05,160 And how do you do that? 689 00:44:05,199 --> 00:44:06,559 How do you fund these campaigns? 690 00:44:06,639 --> 00:44:09,959 Well, if you've opened up new access to Irish supplies, 691 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,080 Leinster is producing vast amounts 692 00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:17,360 of wheat and oats and barley that can be exported to France. 693 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:23,199 So they bring grain from Ireland to facilitate the campaigns of English 694 00:44:23,279 --> 00:44:28,080 kings, intent upon recovering their ancestral lands in France. 695 00:44:28,839 --> 00:44:31,760 Ireland produced maybe a 10th of the revenue 696 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,080 that the Kingdom of England could. 697 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:39,319 Most of that revenue went to fund the Crown's Wars, first in Normandy, 698 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:43,239 and in Poitou, and eventually, Gascony. 699 00:44:43,559 --> 00:44:45,599 But of course, Ireland's contribution 700 00:44:45,639 --> 00:44:48,040 was more than money to those wars. 701 00:44:48,919 --> 00:44:54,239 Irish contingents also served in the English King's armies in France. 702 00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:03,879 In 1337, the struggle between England and France 703 00:45:03,919 --> 00:45:09,879 escalated into a long and bitter conflict, the Hundred Years War. 704 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:16,199 The fighting dragged on for decades until at last, 705 00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:19,599 Joan of Arc inspired the French to victory. 706 00:45:22,559 --> 00:45:24,000 On both sides, 707 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:27,919 the Hundred Years War cemented a sense of national identity. 708 00:45:29,839 --> 00:45:33,239 It helped create two separate nations, 709 00:45:33,279 --> 00:45:38,559 France and England. 710 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,919 But if the Anglo-Normans hadn't invaded Ireland, 711 00:45:44,959 --> 00:45:47,639 history might have been very different. 712 00:45:48,279 --> 00:45:52,440 The conquest of Ireland added another element to political 713 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:55,959 instability in Europe that meant this conflict between England 714 00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:58,839 and France raged on for a lot longer than it would have done otherwise. 715 00:45:58,919 --> 00:46:01,239 Of English Kings did use the resources 716 00:46:01,319 --> 00:46:04,680 from Ireland to fund their wars in France and led to this 717 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:10,919 very messy series of battles that we call the Hundred Years War. 718 00:46:20,959 --> 00:46:25,080 Not all the invasion's consequences were negative 719 00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:29,559 because the Anglo-Normans helped create the Ireland we know today. 720 00:46:31,518 --> 00:46:33,480 In terms of the impacts, 721 00:46:33,518 --> 00:46:38,080 a shift to more intensive and more arable agriculture, 722 00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:41,080 the clearance of a lot of forest, 723 00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:45,000 and increased urbanisation. 724 00:46:45,239 --> 00:46:50,440 We can see it in the landscape and street scapes around us. 725 00:46:51,239 --> 00:46:55,160 Most of our major towns were established or expanded 726 00:46:55,199 --> 00:46:56,800 by the Anglo-Normans. 727 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,080 Our language, both English and Irish, 728 00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:04,480 are heavily influenced by Norman French. 729 00:47:04,559 --> 00:47:08,199 We can look back at this as 850 years of oppression, 730 00:47:08,239 --> 00:47:09,919 but it's a much more complicated 731 00:47:09,959 --> 00:47:14,279 and nuanced picture than some people would have us believe. 732 00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:17,199 The Anglo-Norman invasion, 733 00:47:17,279 --> 00:47:21,919 all we can talk about is whether it was a big thing or a small thing. 734 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:27,319 And it was a big thing in terms of the way in which it changed Ireland. 735 00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:31,360 Ireland today is predominantly, for good or ill, 736 00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:33,440 an English-speaking country. 737 00:47:33,518 --> 00:47:35,440 We're a common law country. 738 00:47:35,518 --> 00:47:38,480 The basis of our law, it is English common law. 739 00:47:38,559 --> 00:47:41,279 We're a parliamentary democracy. 740 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:44,719 And I suppose thinking, if you think of most Irish people, 741 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:47,680 most of our primary loyalty is not to the country, 742 00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:49,120 it's to our county. 743 00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:54,319 I know the GAA is primarily responsible 744 00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:56,279 for strong county loyalty. 745 00:47:56,719 --> 00:47:58,879 Well, those counties are English introductions. 746 00:47:59,518 --> 00:48:03,360 The majority were English units of administration. 747 00:48:08,518 --> 00:48:10,919 The Anglo-Normans really did reshape Ireland. 748 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:14,239 The villages, most of them have got medieval origins. 749 00:48:14,319 --> 00:48:16,440 So we're living the Anglo-Norman imprint 750 00:48:16,480 --> 00:48:18,400 every single day of our lives. 751 00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:20,559 Every time we use the roads, 752 00:48:20,599 --> 00:48:22,919 every time we see a medieval church and a grave yard and a castle, 753 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,199 this is the imprint the Anglo- Normans have left 754 00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:27,518 on the country. 755 00:48:30,959 --> 00:48:35,239 And yet their most striking legacy appears not in our surroundings, 756 00:48:35,279 --> 00:48:38,080 but in something much more personal. 757 00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:42,160 Many, apparently, typical Irish names 758 00:48:42,199 --> 00:48:44,000 like Siobhán and Sinéad, 759 00:48:45,559 --> 00:48:47,919 and even Sean are, in fact, 760 00:48:47,959 --> 00:48:50,599 Anglo-Norman names or Norman-French names. 761 00:48:52,319 --> 00:48:55,480 But an Irish speaker meeting a French speaker 762 00:48:55,518 --> 00:48:56,518 in the late 12th century, 763 00:48:56,599 --> 00:48:59,480 when told that that person's name is Jean, 764 00:48:59,518 --> 00:49:01,639 would almost certainly say Sean. 765 00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:06,559 And that's why we don't have the name Sean before the 12th century, 766 00:49:06,639 --> 00:49:09,680 because that name doesn't arrive until 767 00:49:09,719 --> 00:49:12,160 the Anglo-Normans in the 1160s and 1170s. 768 00:49:14,199 --> 00:49:42,760 ♪♪ 769 00:49:50,239 --> 00:49:54,760 Subtitling RTÉ 2024.