Free Ireland by Vincent McDonnell Page A

a new one.
    The incident was seen as a good omen by the Scots and despite being outnumbered almost three to one, they won the battle which raged for two days. The English army was routed and Edward II fled for his life. Robert Bruce, or as he was more generally known, Robert the Bruce, was now the undisputed king of Scotland and reigned until his death in 1329.
    Robert the Bruce had a brother, Edward, and after the victory at Bannockburn the brothers turned their attention to Ireland. They decided that a war there would weaken the English, who would have to send soldiers to Ireland to defend their territory. This could prevent the English from becoming strong enough to attack Scotland. The Scots had also been asked for help by the O’Neills and other Irish kings and chieftains, who were trying to keep their lands from being taken by the Normans and their Irish allies.
    The Irish and Scots were closely linked. They had a common language and many Scots were of Irish descent, while many of the Irish in the north of Ireland had Scottish blood. You remember that Irishmen from the north had gone to Scotland and settled in Argyll. Some of them had become kings of Scotland. There were also links between the two countries because of the Irish missionaries like Columcille who had preached the gospel in Scotland. Soldiers from Scotland, called Gallowglasses, helped Irish kings fight the Normans. The Irish and Scots also disliked the English, whom they both saw as ruthless conquerors.
    In May 1315, Edward Bruce landed near Larne, County Antrim with an army of 6,000 men. He was joined by O’Neill and other chieftains, and began to win back territory held by the English, but not without great slaughter and bloodshed. In June, at Carrickfergus, he was acknowledged by the Irish as King of Ireland, though in reality he never controlled more than the north-eastern part of Ireland.
    Meanwhile in Connacht, encouraged by Bruce’s success, the O’Connors, the descendants of Rory, rose up against the English. But they were defeated at the Battle of Athenry, where many of the O’Connors and other Irish kings were killed.
    When Bruce and his army routed the English forces at the Battle of Kells, County Meath, Edward II decided to take decisive action. A large English army set out to engage Bruce in battle at Faughart, the birthplace of Saint Brigid, on 14 October 1318. Bruce was outnumbered and instead of waiting for reinforcements, decided to fight.
    Bruce was killed in the battle and his army defeated. This defeat left Edward II still the undisputed Lord of Ireland and the opportunity for Ireland to win her freedom ended for now. But this was not the last battle to be fought on Irish soil over who should be king of Scotland or England. Ireland was still bound to England and within 150 years a war in England over who should be king, known as the War of the Roses, would affect Ireland.
    But war did not bring the next great threat to Ireland and her people. Instead they were threatened by a more deadly foe – a tiny insect, which would cause more death and suffering that even that caused by the recent wars.

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Black Death and the Wars of the Roses
    T he tiny insect, which brought such death to Ireland, was a flea. The disease it caused was called the plague, also known as the Black Death. It was transmitted to humans by fleas that lived on the blood of black rats. Almost everyone who came in contact with an infected person caught the disease, which meant it was at its worst in towns and cities. In Ireland, this affected the English settlers more than it did the Irish or the Normans, who lived mostly in rural areas.
    The plague was widespread in Europe and by 1450 Europe’s population had halved. Ireland did not fare any better, and the country virtually ground to a standstill. Trade ceased, crops were not sown or harvested, and people also died of starvation and other diseases. The worst effects of the plague ended within a year, but it