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140 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
This dominant Norman ascendancy lasted for generations; from which circumstance it will be readily understood that the invasion which we are about to touch on is an Anglo-Irish invasion.
A century after the Battle of Hastings the English throne was occupied by the previously mentioned Henry 11. Forceful, cunning, capable, and ambitious, Henry, who in addition to being King of England, also held the titles of “Duke of Normandy and Acquitaine”, and “Earl of Anjou,” had at his disposal a massive army of well-trained and well-equipped seasoned soldiers, many of whom had seen service in various conflicts throughout Europe; some were even veterans of the Crusades. Despite being the powerful Lord of ample terri- tories, this aspirational monarch was not satisfied with his lot and was anxious still to further extend his sway, and the almost incessant internecine struggles in Ireland afforded him a promising opportunity of gaining a foothold there.
On 3rd of December, 1154, the year in which Henry became King of England, an Englishman, Nicholas Breakspear, ascended the papal throne in Rome, taking the title, Pope Hadrian 1V. Whereupon Henry, alleging all manner of abuses, vice and degradation in the Irish Church and dissembling his desire to purify the Church, and by doing so, bring the err- ing Irish back to Christian ways, obtained from the Pope, a Bull of Authority over Ireland. It is told that Henry made his hypocritical misrepresentations to Pope Hadrian to hide his own greed for conquest. Though this Bull was obtained in 1154, and granted Henry permis- sion “to enter the island of Ireland in order to subdue its people to law and to root out from them the weeds of vice,” many other more pressing political and military matters prevented Henry from taking action against the Irish at the time-nonetheless, events in Ireland were inadvertently moving in his favour and the treacherous Diarmuid MacMurrough, with his mind full of thoughts and vengeance, was to prove the necessary pawn Henry had long been seeking.
When, however, Diarmuid came to Henry in France soliciting help, he was engaged in a French war, and could not himself then undertake a military expedition to Ireland. Nevertheless, Henry had no intention of refusing an offer which fitted in so well with his ambitions, so he furnished Diarmuid with letters of approval giving him permission to seek the help of any of his nobles in England.
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