Edward the Bruce – The Last High King of Ireland (self-proclaimed)



The story is far from a straightforward one - Ireland was divided between regions that were controlled either by powerful Gaelic Irish families or areas where the Anglo-Norman lords held sway.



Domhnall Ó Neill, a Gaelic King of Tyrone and a distant cousin of the Bruces, was finding himself threatened by Richard de Burgh, an Anglo-Norman Earl of Ulster and loyal supporter of the English crown. Their ongoing rivalry, with both parties seeking to consolidate power, would have far reaching implications and was reflective of a broader struggle between the Gaelic and Anglo-Norman worlds of this time.



Across the Irish Sea, Scotland were embroiled in their own fight for independence, with Robert de Bruce having won a decisive victory against the army of King Edward II of England at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Fast forward to 1315 and Domhnall Ó Neill had, possibly buoyed by the Scottish victory, had enough and sought the help of the King of Scots - Robert de Bruce, who was more than happy to open up a second front against the English.



Robert agreed to dispatch his younger brother Edward to Ireland, he had been instrumental for the Scottish army in earlier battles, and it is said Edward seems to have needed little encouragement to lead the campaign in Ireland! As John Barbour, author of The Brus states, Edward, ‘with great joy in his heart, and with the consent of the king, gathered to him men of great valour.’



In May 1315 Edward set sail and enthusiastically arrived in Larne with an army of 6,000 men ready to wage war and liberate Ireland from their shared enemy – the Norman Yoke!

After a few early victories in Ulster, the Scottish eagerly advanced their army south in June 1315 wreaking havoc along the way as they made their way to besiege the strategic town of Dundalk - one of the seats of Anglo-Norman power in Ireland. It would also be a source of much-needed food and supplies for their soldiers. The assault on Dundalk was ferocious and brought the town to its knees. It was said that the streets ran with blood as the townsfolk, Anglo-Norman and Native Irish Gael alike, were nearly all slaughtered, the churches plundered, and the houses burned.



This brutal fate would befall many of the towns and villages targeted by Edward’s army as they transversed the country - a clear signal of his brutal strategy to claim control, even if it meant alienating some of the Gaelic Chiefs who had initially supported him. Edward’s ambition and determination knew no bounds and it was as he journeyed back in May 1316 towards his stronghold in Ulster he stopped again in Dundalk, this time he had himself crowned King of Ireland!



The story of Edward de Bruce’s crusade in Ireland lasted for three more years and although he had victories along the way, the campaign ultimately ended in failure. Despite Robert de Bruce himself coming to Ireland with an additional 7,000 troops to support his brother, the Scots failed to conquer the entire island but left behind a trail of destruction wherever they went.

In the early weeks of 1317 Robert and Edward set out on a major expedition against the Anglo-Normans. Having marched to Dublin, but not attacked it, the Bruce army conducted a campaign of devastation, destroying the estates of the leading Anglo-Norman lords in Ireland. Marching on to Limerick the Scottish army was responsible for ‘laying waste the entire country’, and while there was no major battle fought in Ireland during Robert’s visit, the army burned, slayed and plundered, spoiling towns, castles and churches.

If the Bruces had hoped that all the Gaelic chiefs would rally to their cause and help them in overthrowing English power in Ireland, they were wrong. In May 1317 Robert returned to Scotland and would not reappear in Ireland during the remainder of his brother's campaign.



From coronation to decapitation

By autumn of 1318 the Scots army faced severe famine conditions, many died of hunger while others resorted to eating their horses. As opposition armies grew stronger, Edward had to retreat again northwards leading his men back towards Dundalk, and it was just a short distance outside the town, on the Hill of Faughart, where the final act of war would take place.

On the 14th of October 1318 Edward de Bruce and his army squared up to a large Anglo-Norman force in what would become known as the Battle of Faughart. Rather than wait for support from his Irish allies, Edward rashly decided to go on the offensive and try to sweep his enemies from the field - however his troops were weak, and half starved, and his battle strategy was poorly planned and would prove a fatal and final mistake.



After three-and-a-half years the campaign had ended disastrously in defeat at the Battle of Faughart, with Edward himself killed in the fighting. His head was cut off and sent to the King of England, and his body was thereafter quartered, with one quarter buried in the old graveyard at Faughart.



The remnants of Edward’s army headed back towards Carrickfergus and on reaching the coast they boarded ships and returned to Scotland.

The three and a half years of brutal warfare triggered by the Bruce Invasion amounts to the largest conflict in medieval Irish history. Towns were sacked as rival armies laid waste to the large tracts of the island. This war devastated a society also reeling under the weight of the Great European Famine (1315-18). When the conflict finally came to an end an estimated 10-20% of the population had died.