[RB AAR] Resurgam (Ireland AAR)

[IrishHitman]

The Rebellion of 1260

The Rebellion in 1260, of Irish clans and the descendants of Norman lords who had intermarried with the Gaels, came at a time of great peril to the Plantagenet throne of England. The English King, Henry III, died the early spring, leaving the twenty-one year old Edward I, also known as the Longshanks, to rule England, and to assure English domination of Ireland and Wales. As a young, often temperamental and power hungry man, the Longshanks was soon faced with many challenges, not all of which were of his making.

Firstly, the Welsh united under Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, a lord of Northern Wales, in response to encroaching English influence. The Prince of Wales then proceeded to attack English holdings near his own, and raiding as far north as the Mersey in March.

At the same time, the Scots had serious problems with Norway, and the Scottish nobility asked for English support against these invaders due to their king's marriage to Longshanks' sister. The Norweigans soon learned of this request when they captured a Scottish royal ship as it made its way south along the English coast, and assuming the English would consent to the aid, began raiding Northern England.

The Northern barons, already the subject of audits and inquiries from London, were now subjected to increased taxation and a royal commander to coordinate the defence of the coasts from the Norweigans. Their demands for greater input into the government of the kingdom were ignored, and the barons rebelled in April in response to the royal commander's incompetence, the straw that broke the camel's back.

These problems were far from ignored in Ireland, and indeed became the subject of much talk at the tables of chiefs and noblemen disgruntled with English rule. One such chief was Amairigin MacSidhe, known as the Fox for his cunning intelligence, gathered the clans and nobles of Munster together. How exactly he convinced them to rebel is unknown, but opportunity was certainly present. The chiefs of Munster declared Amairigin the High King of Ireland, and gathered their forces for a fight with the English. Many of the chiefs of Ulster soon joined the call, with the O'Neill's of Tyrone pledging their support if their lands would be liberated from the English garrisons. The Fox sent his son Finn to the north to command the rebellion there.

The English reacted slowly, operating defensively and shepherding their resources. This surprised Amairigin, who had expected an attempt at a brutal crackdown. Unable to comprehensively remove the English from Ireland in good time, the Fox wished to try another method, but was unable to convince his nobles.



In August 1260, a Danish fleet sailed to England, landed a massive invasion force, and sacked London. The majority of the Plantagenet court escaped, as did the English treasury, but the capture of the largest city in the British isles stunned every peasant and nobleman alike. MacSidhe reacted in a different way. Seeing the disaster for the English as an opportunity, he made his case to his chiefs once again. Peace would be made with the English, but their lands wouldn't only be liberated, but the entirety of the island as well.



So, Amairigin sent his daughter Deidre with a delegation of chiefs to negotiate with the English, her abilities as a diplomat firmly established by her part in inciting the rebellion on her father's behalf. The English agreed to peace, granting MacSidhe rule of the lands in rebellion in return for tribute and loyalty. This was granted, and so the gaze of London turned to more pressing matters.

However, the daughter of the Fox was not finished. She was sent to Derry and its surrounding lands, with plentiful silver. An offer was made, switch loyalties or sell your land to the High King, and you will be handsomely rewarded. Derry was then welcomed into the Ríoghacht Éireann, and into the control of Amairigin. The tribute to the English was increased slightly, and the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin saw the benefit immediately. Further offers were made, and slowly but surely, Irish lands were bought back from the English, in return for silver, gems, weaponry, and other valuables.



By 1262, the Daughter of the Fox and the other diplomats of the new Irish court had doubled the land free from English control. Connacht was entirely liberated, save for an English garrison in Ashford Castle, and the O'Neills of Ulster had joined the rebellion. Further attempts at diplomacy began to fail, as Deidre MacSidhe was expelled forcefully from Dublin by the new Lord Lieutenant, who was hostile to the Irish and wished to reconquer the entire island.

The High King, angered by the treatment of his daughter, now advocated open war with the English once again. The Irish hand had been immensely strengthened since the first bout of hositilies, as greater manpower and resources could now be drawn upon, as well as the English garrisons being drained to fight wars in Britain against the Welsh. The bishops disagreed, to Amairigin's fury. He would need to find another way to start war.



In May 1262, the Norweigan king landed in Britain. This was not a surprise, it was long whispered that his arrival was imminent, but his aggressive campaign against the Scots and English soon caused problems for Longshanks. The Fox saw his opportunity. The tribute to the English crown, massively larger than what it was originally, was ended. An accord with the rebelling English barons was signed. Troops were mustered in every free fief in Ireland, and put on alert.

When the bishops came to court, demanding that no war be waged or else they would inform the Pope that the papal bull Laudabiliter was being violated. The High King replied simply, that no attack had been ordered or would be ordered, and that his actions were entirely defensive. Unsatisfied, the bishops wrote to Rome.



By August, an expeditionary army was sent from London to Dublin, to help suppress the new rebellion. Experienced forces from the Knights Templar were landed along with regular English troops, who then marched north towards Omagh. Finn MacSidhe, son of the High King and newly-named Marshall of Ulster, met these forces directly. The entire rebellion hung in the balance. If Ulster fell, then Connacht would be effectively defenceless and Munster would be on its own.



The Irish outnumbered the English by half, but the majority of the army fought in the Gaelic fashion, without significant armour and with inferior weaponry. Finn offset this by having a far larger cavalry contingent than the English, and it would prove decisive. The English infantry were heavily armoured and were excellently supplied, with the Templar forces sporting heavy mail and full helmets.

The battle started in the Irish manner, with an ambush. The English entered a small valley, at which point the Irish forces revealed themselves and attacked with bows and catapults. The English rushed to engage the enemy, slogging uphill to fight, tiring themselves out in the process. The archers swapped arrows over the general melee, and the hard fighting began.



The infantry melee was an even tug-of-war, the Irish had superior numbers and were well rested, the English could take more blows because of their armour. The English would have had the better of it if the battle lasted much longer than it did, but with the blowing of a horn, it changed. The signal for the cavalry assault was heard across the valley. Mounted javelinmen rushed forwards on their nimble horses, and struck against the enemy archers, scattering them. With this obstacle being taken care of, the Marshall of Ulster immediately charged his cavalry into the Templar's left. A general rout began, and the entire English force was either cut down or captured as it tried to flee.



The army celebrated for three days on the provisions of the English supply train, which had contained plentiful amounts of alcohol. The fine wines of the English commander were sent to Cork, as a prize of war.

With the English treat a clear reality, and the bishops' opposition had only brought the ire of the Church, the nobles agreed; an offensive war was now the only option for their continued freedom. If the English were not pushed out soon, they could rally more troops and seize the entire island.

And so, the final war of liberation began.

Prince Finn marched south from Ulster, following the course of the River Shannon and liberating the lands east of it. He met little resistance, though was often too late to save areas ravaged by retreating English and Templar soldiers. When he finally caught up with them, he had them all put to the sword.

Meanwhile, a newly-adopted royal by the name of Domnall MacDomnall was making a serious mark. Having defended Belfast against rebels from the west of Scotland, the man had received royal status and a place at court. Still ambitious, Domnall now lead the forces of the earl of Downpatrick south. His first major victory against the English was the capture of Trim, with its castle, entirely intact. The tiny garrison simply surrendered rather than face an assault.



However, Domnall's greatest triumph was the liberation of Dublin. Like Trim, the garrison of Dublin had been drained away, leaving only a token force against attack. The garrison resisted, but were quickly cut down as the walls of Dublin Castle were stormed with ladders. Not content with the great victory, Domnall proceeded down the coastm liberating towns and skirmishing with English forces until he finally was stopped by a considerable force in Waterford, which he immediately placed under siege. Waterford would later surrender in December 1263.



The High King on the other hand, marched west from Limerick with the largest army ever assembled by the Irish, and ran straight into the largest army ever assembled by the English to put down an Irish rebellion. The Fox's forward scouts reported that a huge English force was encamped in Kildare, divided between Kilkea castle, and two encampments.

To attack one of them would probably draw the rest of the enemy forces quickly, leaving the Amairigin's forces heavily outnumbered if he should fail to deal with the first victim of any assault swiftly. He soon decided on a night assault to even the odds. Ruling out attacking the castle due to the large possibilities of problems that doing so would create, the Fox chose the largest enemy camp and struck.



The Irish assault began with scouts sneaking up to the English palisade, and covering them with tar. The English watch, overconfident due to the size of their army, were negligent in the extreme, and only when flaming arrows set their entire wall ablaze was the alarm sounded. The wooden walls fast becoming a deadly inferno, the English fled their protection, often only being able to take their shields and helmets for protection. They retreated disorderly, hounded by the Irish infantry, who screamed and shouted in unison, causing considerable panic in the English ranks who could not see the numbers or disposition of the enemy.

The English commander, Francis Hill, finally rallied his forces on top of a hill, forming a battle line with what troops he could muster. The Irish were close on their heels, and pounced literally seconds after the English line closed ranks.



The Irish infantry hit the English line at an angle, so the fighting started with a volley of arrows by the English, and the melee broke out progressively along the line. Still unable to see for the most part, the English were not in a fighting mood, and once the entire line was engaged, a general rout started quickly. Many English were killed, but more were scattered by the attack, but those who escaped would soon join the dead as straggling groups were picked off by Irish light horsemen the next morning.

Amairigin had won a great victory, but was not present on the battle line, leading some of his more disgruntled nobles and the bishops to give him the nickname "Two-Minded", implying he was a coward. The High King had actually taken his cavalry on a flanking manoeuvre, commanding them personally to attack the English from behind, but in the darkness had gotten lost and would have been too late to attack at any rate.

He would later prove his valour when he personally lead his troops in storming the castle at Kilkea, destroying the last major English army on Irish soil. His detractors did not cease however, but their folly in spreading the lie would soon come back to haunt them.



With the English removed from Ireland for the most part, the business of civil government became the priority. The army, having served excellently, was extremely loyal to the new Irish dynasty, and took this loyalty back to their towns and villages. Amairigin had enough political capital to make himself a truly absolute ruler, should he wish it. However, with his spies in England tracking the disastrous war between the Plantagenets and their barons, he knew this would be unwise. He instead constituted an assembly of nobles and chiefs, who could demand the High King's presence to give advice and vote to demand that issues be dealt with. However, much of the land liberated from the English was to be kept in the hands of MacSidhe, either directly as royal fiefs, or fiefs of the MacSidhe family. This insured that the King did not have to rely on his nobles for financial purposes, another crucial advantage gleaned from watching the internal strife of England. The bishops were entirely left out of government, the fruit of their agitation against the rebellion with the Pope, as well as the atrocities committed by the Knights Templar who acted in the Church's name.

The start of 1263 was celebrated with a wedding; That of Domnall, Scourge of the English, to Deidre MacSidhe, now called the Vixen for her part in the freeing of the island. Given Dublin and the title of Lord of Leinster, Domnall's rapid attacks on the English earned him the place he so desired, and one of the most desirable women in the country. Amairigin's message was clear; Those who strive in Ireland's name will be richly rewarded. The other nobles who struggled particularly hard were not forgotten either, and those who sat on the fence during the fighting were now very willing indeed to serve.

The Fox turned his attention across the Irish Sea, at the chaos of Great Britain.

[Kaiser Leonidas]

Is this a new game? Either way, it's great to see your AAR back again

[IrishHitman]

New game, new idea for the story, new version of RB.

[AJStoner]

Outstanding! Happy to see the return of the Fox.

[y2day]

Yes great work IH! Look forward to more of the Fox!

[IrishHitman]

The Great Apostasy



With the vast majority of the country free from English rule, the years 1263-65 were spent fighting. With the English out, the Gaels once again turned to their favourite pastime; infighting. The High King Amairigin had turned his attentions to administration and to preparing for greater conquest, but with so many thorns in his side within his own territory, he had no choice than to deal with them.

To this end, the High King reluctantly signed a peace treaty with England. The cost was not a burden exactly; the small number of castles and fiefs still in English hands on the island would remain in English hands, their garrisons intact. The lands surrounding them would be heavily garrisoned by the Irish in order to prevent mischief or betrayal of the treaty terms. In the mean time, the towns not under the new kingdom's control were declared to be rebels, with the two largest being Ardmore and Galway. However, it would soon become apparent that the towns in open rebellion were receiving English aid.



In the mean time, the rest of the country prospered. With attentive government, agriculture and craftswork expanded greatly, which in turn brought greater revenues for the realm. Irish gold and silversmithing in particular would become a fashion craze amongst the royal courts of Western Europe, after a princess of France received silver jewellery from the Vixen, who along with her husband was sent to France in 1264 as a diplomatic exercise.



1264 also saw the departure of Edward the Longshanks on crusade, which was speculated as request from the Pope himself in return for endorsement of his rule. In a papal bull entitled Lex Rex, Pope Urban IV declared that the throne of England was the rightful sovereign entity of the entirety of the British isles, though he acknowledged that Scotland had a right to its independence in peaceful unity with England. This enraged Amairigin further, and Finn of Ulster burned the cathedral in Derry to the ground in response, provoking riots for a time in the city.

The Welsh king Llywelyn however, went a step further.



The Welsh forcibly removed the church in Wales from Roman control, declaring itself independent and reforming it along more traditional Celtic Christian lines. The hierarchy, the tithes, the bishops, all were thrown out. The monastaries were to become the centre of Welsh religious life. Needless to say, the Pope's reaction would have been furious, but he died in October 1264 before he could take action against Wales. For a time, the nascent Welsh nation was safe from the crusaders' attentions.



The defeat of the rebel forces was almost complete by the spring of the next year. Galway fell in April 1265, the last major stronghold to be taken, but the English interest in the rebellion provoked an attack on Waterford in June. The city was besieged by the garrison left by the English in Wexford under the terms of the previous peace treaty. However, these forces were ill-tempered for war, being stranded from England for years and integrating into the lands around them, their loyalty could not be counted on. Indeed, when the Fox's diplomats approached the camp, the English commander had expected them and had a pre-prepared offer.



The besieging troops had not even begun assaults, and so not a single life was lost when the siege was lifted. The troops would disperse into the communities in which they already lived, and would disarm in return for a stipend. The English commander, a lower noble by the name of Roger, would retain the castle along with a small number of retainers, would swear loyalty to the new order and would inform the High King of known English spies. These were dutifully delivered and executed publicly.



In April 1265, the same month that the rebels in Ireland were finally defeated, the Jews were expelled from the royal demesne of France, following closely from an expulsion from Germany. The Pope asked that they be settled in the British Isles. Edward's regents in England, already dealing with unrest due to warfare, did not wish to provoke open street fighting by allowing them in. Wales, having left the Church's area of influence, did not receive the offer. Scotland was regarded as a dangerous place, and so was off the table.

With the war in Ireland coming to a close, the Irish nobility would soon demand tax decreases to reflect the peacetime scenario. Amairigin knew he needed a new source of income, and the refugees represented an opportunity. Exempt from usury laws, and bringing the commercial and economic knowledge of the entirety of continental Europe, the Jews could bring great prosperity to the country and great weight to the royal coffers. The offer was accepted, and the first Jews arrived in Cork in September 1265. Unrest over the decision was limited, religious apathy was high in the country because of the swath the Templars had cut through the country less than two years previously. The Fox saw an opportunity to outsmart the Bishop of Rome, and halt an excommunication due to the burning of the cathedral in Derry.



The Scots, by 1265 caught in a perpetual war with the Norweigans and increasingly under English influence, turned to a new leader. William Wallace, a minor noble with charisma, assembled a great host of highlanders, and rode out to defend Scottish independence. Swearing loyalty to the crown but fighting independently of royal command, he won several victories against the Norweigans and urged the king to attack the rebel English barons, whom held conquered Scottish lands. His open resentment of the so-called alliance with the English crown also provoked national feelings, and his popularity was noted as both an advantage and a threat by the Scottish court.



With the fall of Galway to the Irish, Ireland was finally unified. Massive celebratory festivals were organised, and the official copies of the papal bull Lex Rex burned in the streets. The royal heralds proclaimed that Ireland would be free forever from that day forward, to cheering crowds.

With the Welsh adopting open heresy, the Scots rallying around a leader who was anti-English, and a crusade to worry about, the new Pope issued another papal bull, Deus Vult, demanding the restoration of the Irish church to its rightful place in government and influence, the construction of new cathedrals in major Irish cities at royal expense, the persecution of any Welsh missionaries, reparations for the arson of the church in Derry, and submission of the High King as an English vassal. It also called on the faithful in Ireland to put pressure on their clergymen and nobles to insure adherence to the bull. Papal legates were sent to Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Galway, to encourage the faithful and to monitor the clergy's response. Ireland would be the test case for controlling the spread of heretical defiance of the Church.

The demands provoked anger and bargaining. Some nobles argued that the Irish church should become independent like the Welsh, others that the consequences of ignoring the demands would be terrible.

The Fox was faced with a dilemma of massive proportions, relations with the Church forever would be decided by the path he took. The noble council debated the decision for two weeks.



After returning to his chambers after the fourteenth day of arguments and talks on the subject, Amairigin is surprised by his old teacher, who taught him the art of politics. The old man bade him to sit, which the High King was compelled to do. The man revealed himself to be a druid, and began to speak of returning the Gaelic nation to its former glory, returning to the old gods. Was it not the Christian Church that condemned Ireland to slavery in the first place? Had troops bearing the cross not devastated the Irish countryside? Were troops claiming the Christian God's protection not been routed from the island by Gaelic soldiers acting against "God's will"?

The High King was stunned, replying numbly that the people would revolt, that every kingdom in Europe would attack, that Ireland would become an outcast nation, but he felt the power of the druid's words, and knew them to be the truth. The druid responded to these by saying that the old gods had protected Amairigin in his struggles, and had many secret followers around the island, who could not reveal themselves out of fear of the Church. The army's loyalty was assured, and with their protection, these followers could come into the open.

The next night Amairigin invited his generals to his chamber, and the druid calmly talked to them.

The next morning, the High King of Ireland declared himself free of the Catholic Church, and took up the old gods.



The people were split.

One group, about half the population, immediately took up the new cause. They were most commonly from the areas that had suffered greatly at the hands of the so-called holy soldiers. The army, having fought against the cross-bearers, returned to the old gods almost completely, their personal loyalty to the High King remaining unswerving. With military protection, the druid's promised supporters emerged to encourage converts, sparking more and more confidence in the return to the old ways.

Another group, about a quarter of the population, sat more or less on the fence. Many of these were artisans and skilled labourers, particularly in towns in Leinster. Remaining loyal to the Christian God, they did not have the stomach to resist the changes nor the motivation, given that religious tolerance was already in place. The Jews of Cork were also part of the reluctant opposition to the change, as the Church's usury laws were no longer relevant, they feared an influx of foreign bankers that would destroy their livelihoods. These people made any opposition in a peaceful manner, or simply stayed quiet.

The last group, the remainder of the people, remained fiercely loyal to the Church. Most of these were peasantry from areas untouched by the war, and areas that had resisted unification. The commonfolk of Ardmore immediately rioted upon the news of the apostasy. The papal legates, who had arrived to oversee the implementation of the papal bull, now started gathering their supporters. The heretics would be purged, at any cost.


The legates gathered what forces they could from the countryside, using churches and monastaries as rallying points, and marched on the cities. Cork, Galway, Belfast, they were all quickly besieged. Most of these would be swatted away easily by the garrison forces of the surrounding territories, but a serious threat to the kingdom emerged with the siege of Tara. The location of the royal treasury, the city had become the administrative capital of the whole island. Commanding the defenders, Domnall MacDomnall, Scourge of the English, found himself outnumbered by a mob of religious fanatics, supported by the few professional troops loyal to the Church left in the country and the Papal Nuncio's personal bodyguard. As the beseigers attacked the outlying areas, riders were dispatched to inform the High King in Dublin. Luckily, the Papal army did not possess siege weapons, and so were delayed in their assault of the town proper, allowing precious time for the High King to react. And react he did.

With all of his generals assembled with their personal retainers, he urged them to prove their loyalty to the kingdom and the gods, to ride against the threat. The army that left Dublin was entirely on horseback. Instead of riding directly to Tara, the High King moved to the west of the town, where he recruited from the local populace, promising rich rewards to those that would join him.



The scouts reported the papal positions, and Amairigin once again decided on his trademark; a dawn attack. With Domnall's forces tied up with insuring that the treasury and gates were secure from papist sympathisers, his forces would be unable to join the fight.



Ordering some of his cavalry to dismount to fight as infantry, the High King prepared to assault the enemy. The Papal Nuncio was not an amateur however, and had posted pickets around the siege, and so gathered his forces in time to fight back.



The armies lined up against one another, the substantial Irish heavy cavalry against the poorly armed fanatics, the Irish infantry against the papal spearmen, and the mercenary knights against the Papal Nuncio's personal bodyguard. The stage was set.



Both lines charged at one another simultaneously, against the Papal commander's orders. The Irish trusting in their horses and armour to win the day, the fanatics believing that God would grant them victory, combat began in a disorderly fashion. The untrained faithful were cut down in their droves, the line crumbling under horse hooves, lances and maces. It was a massacre of unheard of proportions.



Only the professional soldiers stood their ground, as the Irish infantry sent to engage them was of poor quality. However, once the cavalry was finished with the fanatics, it swung around and assaulted the enemy spearmen from behind, and the battle was effectively over. The Papal Nuncio and his bodyguard were caught attempting to flee by the Irish mercenary cavalry, and were hemmed in until the royal household attacked, with the High King decapitating the Papal Nuncio personally.



All over Ireland, the civil conflict continued, but resistance was ultimately crushed. With the victory, nemeds were constructed all over the country, and many fence-sitters soon took up the old gods, if not out of conviction but out of ambition. The kingdom's prosperity had been threatened, by the English and by the Church, Amairigin had dealt with those threats, and now, the people wanted a slice of the pie.



The Pope, utterly enraged by the series of heresies, ordered a crusade against the Welsh capital, knowing that Ireland was too secure for the moment to attack.

The Fox, his spies in every part of Wales to watch the war between Llywelyn and the English regents, saw an opportunity for cunning action.

[y2day]

Great update IH. Really great read, can't wait to see what the Fox has planned next.

[Kaiser Leonidas]

I also look forwards to seeing what this "cunning action" will be

[IrishHitman]

The Crossing of 1268

With the chaos of Great Britain's wars unfolding before him, the Fox had two options; Act or wait.

Waiting was an easy option. While the royal finances were in great shape, with new streams of revenue building yearly, a war in Britain was a very expensive proposition. One that some nobles were not willing to shell out for. "Why poke the sleeping wolves?" was the question.

Of course, the answer was that a reckoning was coming. A holy war against the Welsh was already building steam across the British isles. How long would the accord with the English barons last in the face of papal pressure? How long would it take for Scotland and England to send crusading armies to reclaim Ireland?

The Fox's spies brought reports of the progress of the Barons' armies, which were close to unitying England once more, as the Welsh were pushed back slowly by the royal forces who now had a war on three fronts. The Danes of London remained a wildcard, and Scotland's war with the Norweigans had entered a lesser phase. It was dangerous, too dangerous, to wait.

An alliance with the Welsh would be necessary.

There was just one problem with that necessity, although the Welsh had abandoned Rome's rule, they were still Christians, and so their leadership were overtly hostile to Irish interests. The Great Druid claimed that there were many secret pagans in the rural fiefs of Llewelyn himself, but that they could not come out into the open.

And so, the Fox acted.

Rallying his most loyal nobles, mercenary forces, and the royal regiments, the High King commandeered the merchant fleets of Dublin for action. In the stormy waves of the Irish Sea, the first invasion fleet from Ireland since the Roman withdrawal set out to attack Britain once again.

Their target: the new Welsh superpower.
Ireland would not come hat in hand to Llewelyn, Ireland would not give its well thought out case to the Welsh court for an alliance. Ireland would simply demonstrate its power and resolve.



First blood went to Prince Finn, the Marshall of Ulster. Landing near Caernarvon, the Marshall soon had the entirely of the city surrounded with a large force of Ulstermen.



The trebuchets and catapults battered the Welsh walls from well outside the range of the longbowmen guarding them, and collapsed several portions of the wall, forcing the Welsh to retreat into the town. The Irish cavalry and infantry poured into the city, cutting down the fleeing soldiers as they ran.



The Marshall, leading the charge, soon ran into far more competent resistance in the form of the Governor's guard, and a cavalry melee erupted across the town's central square. The Irish infantry, caught up with house-to-house fighting, took their time to arrive, but eventually, the entire Welsh garrison was captured or killed. Caernarvon now belonged to Ireland.



After repulsing a small Papal force that was encamped several miles away, the army celebrated wildly, as many old strongholds of the Celtic religion had been liberated, and there was much merriment.

Meanwhile, the High King himself was landing on the Welsh coast.



Disembarking his highly professional royal regiments to the south of Caernarvon in Meirionnydd, he proceeded inland at pace towards the very heart of the new Welsh kingdom: the city of Montgomery. Refounded by Llewelyn after his considerable successes against the English, the settlement had grown considerably from a tiny ford village to a walled city with a large population in about a decade. Its strategic location between the mountainous regions of Wales and the newly conquered lowlands of the West Country of England made it ideal for ruling both.



The siege works were thrown up quickly around Montgomery, as the walls were battered with trebuchet shot in much the same manner as the attack on Caernarvon a day earlier. The capital was considerably better defended however, with many professional troops and spearmen to halt any offensive actions.

Unfortunately for the Welsh, the Irish infantry involved with the very creme of their country's military. With French designed armour, large shields and well forged swords, the shock force of the new pagan superpower would soon be brought to bear.



The walls came down, and as at Caernarvon, the enemy forces retreated to the town square. Not willing to risk pursuit with cavalry, the Fox sent his infantry to slowly encircle and destroy the Welsh force within the walls. The Muire poured through the streets like a tidal wave, driving what defenders could be found before them.



The defenders were finally trapped as planned in the town square, and an orderly combat began, with clear lines of combat being drawn. Slowly but surely, the Irish advanced, hacking their way through less experienced and less well armoured Welsh swordsmen, who nonetheless fought with extreme bravery. The less well armoured Irish militia also received heavy casualties, as the fighting was on equal terms against a determined enemy fighting for their own homes. However, the Muire soon came to the aid of their comrades, and the battle ended with the remaining forces surrendering and agreeing to disperse and disarm.



The Fox had accomplished his objective: A swift campaign of conquest. Now came the second part of his plan.

A delegation was sent to the Llewelyn, includng Domnall, Scourge of the English, and the Vixen. Together, they secured a peace treaty in return for a large amount of gold and silver, but also successfully argued for an alliance. The war against the English was too important for both sides, and the Irish kingdom would fund Llewelyn's war and expansion into England. In return, the conquered territories of Wales would remain in Irish hands. With a considerable amount of bribes distributed liberally around the Welsh court, the alliance was ratified and signed. The heretics now stood as one against the Papists.



The crusade against Montgomery was not cancelled however, and its change of ownership did not halt its advance. Envoys from Scotland arrived in Montgomery to inform the Fox that a state of war now existed between their two countries. In return, the Fox merely smiled.



Sending a small force to the Isle of Islay from Belfast, the Fox prepared for another masterstroke: the recapture of the Western Isles from Scotland and Norway, the full restoration of Dal Riata to the Irish Kingdom. This forward operating base would prove invaluable in future campaigns, but need not concern us at present.



Three months after its capture, Caernarvon revolted. The cause was simple; Prince Finn, having spared the city a sacking, had managed its affairs very badly. A food riot combined with the machinations of some Catholic missionaries had succeeded in provoking open rebellion, and Finn was driven onto his ships. Unfortunately for the Welsh, the Irish council of nobles in Dublin had approved further armies for the campaign in Britain after seeing the successes of the king's personal forces, and they arrived just as Finn was ejected from the city. Siege works were immediately thrown up around the settlement, and the Irish prepared for a long siege, as the catapults previously used to bring down the city walls had been burned in the rebellion.

The Fox rebuked his son for his poor administration, and asked that he consult some of the council's advisors for practical instruction on running cities in an effective manner. The Prince was angry at this, but eventually accepted the "request", knowing that it would do no good to anger his father at such a critical time, and that the advice would be very useful in the years ahead.

[Lethal Jakkson]

yes mate thats a wicked aar definatly gotta +rep you for that cant wait for the nxt part

[Kaiser Leonidas]

Completely agree with Lethal Jakkson, another great update. I would give you some more rep but apparently I need to spread it around a bit first.

[IrishHitman]

Stuck this up on the AAR section of this forum as well, as a bit of advertising for the mod.
Should have another chapter today as well.

[Kaiser Leonidas]

Awesome Will you still update this thread and the one in the AAR forum or just focus on one?

[IrishHitman]

The Continuation Crusade

By the late summer of 1268, the first major crusade army arrived in Wales, a Scottish army under Aodh the Champion, a famous victor against the Norweigans, and a ferocious warrior in his own right. He had pioneered the use of heavy cavalry in Scottish armies, and was an opponent of William Wallace in supporting the continued alliance of the English and Scottish kings.

The Fox's spies informed him that the force approached Montgomery from the north, and so lead his forces in a great sally to meet them before they could lay siegeworks, as the city's stores were not yet restored as his armies were far larger than what the farms nearby usually had to feed.



The Scots had underestimated the Irish considerably, and as such, the Irish could call upon half more infantry than Aodh could, and twice as much cavalry. The Scottish army was made up of entirely war-minded people however, and the forward elements of the army immediately set up on a hill in the morning to delay the Irish until their compatriots arrived.



The bulk of the Scottish heavy cavalry was perfectly positioned to deliver a devastating charge to the Irish lines, but instead stayed at the crest of the hill, waiting for the Irish to advance before they would charge.

Amairigin, realising this, brought up his catapults and immediately bombarded the hill while his infantry prepared for a quick rush up to engage the enemy.



The jars filled with pitch exploded amongst the Scottish lines, causing chaos in the ranks, and after three volleys of firebombs had been hurled, the Irish advanced up the hill in strength. The Scots charged forwards, but far too late to gain any sort of real momentum, and were cut down easily, being heavily outnumbered and in serious disarray. The Irish cavalry, having flanked the hill, now rode down the survivors, insuring that no word of the action would reach Aodh.



The Irish advanced in formation, their morale considerably boosted by the easy victory, and ran straight into the rest of the Scottish army, who were rallying in a small woodland as their army had become scattered during the march.



The lighter of the Irish infantry charged, catching the Scottish skirmishers and clans troops by surprise, while the royal Muire regiments formed up for a charge against the highlanders' nobles.



The melee in the centre was vicious and disorderly, prompting both commanders to keep their more disciplined troops in reserve and on the flanks, awaiting the opportune moment to intervene. The armies, both lacking significant archery support, stood line against line, watching the brawl. Amairigin soon became impatient, and ordered his attack.



The Muire charged, shields and swords raised, against the claymore wielding Scots nobles. The ferocity of the Scots counterattack was completely negated by the armour and experience of the Irish, many of whom had been fighting by Amairigin's side since the first rebellion. The Scottish army was slowly but surely slaughtered, but its morale held, with its confidence in God's intervention strong and the famed Scottish spirit that the Norweigans had found impossible to crack.



It was at that moment, the Irish cavalry struck. The High King, havin ordered the infantry assault, had taken his usual flanking manoeuvre and struck against the bodyguard of Aodh the Champion.



The Scots' commander was captured, and his retinue butchered, allowing the Irish heavy cavalry to concentrate on the Scottish infantry. A wholesale massacre began, which would afterwards earn Amairigin MacSidhe yet another moniker to add to his list: The Merciless.

With the Scottish army defeated, the factions wishing to join the crusade revised their proposed armies upwards by orders of magnitude, realising that the Irish were no longer the Gaelic tribesmen that fought with stealth and dishonour, but instead were a military power to be reckoned with.



A singular event helped shape the new attitude towards the Irish: The return of Edward the Longshanks.
The Plantagenet king, having been on crusade in the Holy Land, returned to a broken kingdom and heresies in abundance. Determining the defeat of the Welsh and Irish as a priority, he sent an army in support of the Scots.

The English rebel-barons, seeing a chance to outdo their would-be sovereign and an opportunity to see the Church's patronage change from Edward to themselves, sent a massive army to Wales. The Norweigans also took up the cross, seeing their defeats in Scotland as a sign that their target would have to change and having little knowledge of the capabilities of the new Irish kingdom.

And so, almost all of Britannia turned their swords to Ireland. The crusading armies fought their way through the new Welsh kingdom, devastating Llewelyn's armies and reducing its newer conquests, but soon found themselves encamped around Montgomery.

In the winter of 1268, the High King was trapped.



His generals urged that the city be stripped for supplies and abandoned, wishing to sally forth once again to annihilate these threats, confident of victory. Domnall, Scourge of the English, advocated assassinating the commanders of the enemy armies and the theft of their paychests, so that the armies might dissolve away on their own. The Great Druid disagreed however, pointing out that portants were not good for a complete success if military action were taken.

Amairigin saw signs as well. The winter would prevent the enemy from besieging the city directly until spring, as each of the crusading armies would need to find winter quarters that could support them. This gave him the crucial advantage of time. Furthermore, the crusading armies were extremely divided, with the English barons and royal armies only a thread away from fighting each other, and the Scots lead by a general who despised both.

The Fox saw his opportunity.



By spring, the crusade had ended, without more bloodshed.

In February 1269, the Scottish crusading army marched into Montgomery unopposed, and the royal army of Ireland left, heading for Caernarvon to support the siege action there. The English, both the barons and the Longshanks, were baffled. Why did the Irish simply abandon the city?

The reason became apparent a month later, when an Irish army returned to the city and the Scots marched out. The Fox had bought his way out. Scotland and Ireland were now allies. Large sums of money had changed hands. Attack plans against the Norweigan scourge agreed upon. The Scots, having fulfilled their crusade objective, now turned their attention south of their own borders to the lands of the English barons. With the Irish threat to Norway, they could now concentrate on their ultimate goal: The reclamation of the lowlands from the English.

The crusading armies left, harrassed on their way home by Welsh ambushes and hunger.



In the summer of 1269, Amairigin's spies informed him of the approximate size of the armies of Ireland's enemies, allies, and the neutral factions, and a pleasant surprise was discovered; Ireland's professional military forces exceeded that of any other faction in Western Europe. She stood triumphant as a military superpower, a far cry from a mere decade earlier.



However, nature struck against Ireland, leading to failing harvests. Taxation dropped, and the people began to suffer.

The Fox acted immediately. Importing masses of food at royal expense, he rushed to save his people from starvation, and so save his life's work from the fires of rebellion and revolution. Expense was not spared, and ships were bought and chartered from every corner of the Atlantic coast of Europe, buying grain and livestock from every port from Novgorod to Oporto. This intervention saved thousands of lives, and earned the High King a loyalty unseen since before the Great Apostasy. Ireland was united in a way never before seen, and the novelty of a united government disappeared as its benefits became very real indeed to the Irish.



By spring of 1270, the food crisis had ended and the High King resumed his military campaigns. His first move was to send troops from Islay to Stranraer, capturing it from the independent Scottish clansmen who were in alliance with the Norweigans.

The Irish fleet moved up the western coast of Scotland, attacking the Norweigan settlements. Mull fell in July 1270 to Irish armies.



The first landings against Skye was repulsed with heavy losses, as experienced Norweigan forces were reinforced heavily, and so heavily outnumbered the Irish raiding force. So the High King sent one of his finest generals.



Robert of Belfast, often called "The Poet", was sent with a large force and laid siege to Skye. Against him, the Norweigan royal Thorgils, also styled as "The Poet", commanded the defending forces.

And so began the Battle of the Poets.



Robert started by bombarding the wooden walls of the town with catapults, breaching it repeatedly. The Norweigans were not idle during the attacks, successfully setting some of the siege engines on fire with flaming arrows, to the Irish general's rage.



Robert ordered a charge, and the Irish swordsmen poured forth through the holes in the walls. The defenders rushed to plug the gaps, but failed, and so the general combat continued, in a grueling battle of attrition. The Irish, having superior numbers and more experienced troops, had the better of it, despite the Norweigans bravery and motivation.



Seven hours later, the town was taken, with heavy casualties.

By 1271, the entirety of the Western Isles were in Irish hands, completing the restoration of Dal Riata to Ireland. Scotland's war against the English barons was going extremely well, and the Welsh were holding the line against Edward's armies.



The same year, many of Amairigin's grandchildren began to come of age, and joined royal service.



By the winter of 1271, the Scots had sacked York. The High King, observing through his spies and diplomats, saw a threat not seen for years: A faction that could unite Britain, and eventually threaten Ireland.

Something would have to be done.

[IrishHitman]

Awesome Will you still update this thread and the one in the AAR forum or just focus on one?

I think that answered your question....

[Kaiser Leonidas]

I think that answered your question....

Why yes, yes it did

[IrishHitman]

Comment if you like this chapter! Thank you.
The Irish Hitman.

The Rush to Oxford
The years 1272-74 were consumed with war. In the north, the Scots continued to fight their frustrating war with the Norweigans, in the Western isles, the Irish fleets continued to prowl, in the Midlands, the English barons were beat back further by the Scots, and in the South, fighting between the Welsh and the English throne continued.

Aside from the limited war against the Norweigans, the High King could do little but watch Scotland's power grow. His alliance with the Scots could not be dissolved so easily, despite Llewelyn's war with Scotland's allies.

The answer to the dilemma would come of its own accord, as a result of Amairigin's actions regarding the succession.



In 1273, Amairigin granted Domnall, Scourge of the English and husband of the Vixen, the heir orb. For all intents and purposes, this made the man now styled "The Honourable" as the heir-of-the-heir. Prince Finn of Ulster, who had become progressively more dependant on violence as a way of life, found himself with a son-by-law that outranked his own sons, who were capable in their own right.

Why the High King did this was simple; he was well informed if nothing else, and so was well informed of his eldest's son's personality quirks. The future Queen of Ireland, Anya of Ulster, had also secretly asked Amairigin for this action, on the basis that she feared Finn would slip into a melancholy. The High King agreed, seeing a perfect chance to insure a clean succession should his son die in some foolhardy adventure, of which Finn was infamous for undertaking.

Finn did not disappoint.


In the winter of 1273-74, the Norweigans defeated a large Irish force under a minor captain, who was marching on orders from the Poet. This was the first major defeat for the Irish in that theatre of combat, and caused considerable shock in the Irish court. The most belligerent nobles immediately advocated a large offensive against the Plantagenets, as a show of force to other factions, and as further revenge for their occupation of Ireland. Loudest among the supporters of this proposition was Finn of Ulster, eager to prove himself worthy of the throne.

The High King disagreed with the proposal, and the majority of the nobles did not wish to fund such a war. The royal regiments would stay in Wales and Tara, the Dáil would not assemble an army for an attack.

Finn, outraged by the slight against Ireland, and the permission of it to go unanswered, left the court and rode to Montgomery. Arriving there with his own troops, he hired Welsh mercenary troops, armoured spearmen and axemen, and marched east. Convincing the Welsh delegation that intercepted his army, he convinced them that he was on the warpath against the English with the High King's blessing. Wanting to believe it with enthusiasm, the Welsh supplied his army as it moved through the conquered lands of England, not bothering to send envoys to Tara to check if Finn's claims were true. The Welsh needed this help, and began mustering for an offensive of their own.



Finally, Finn's army reached the walls of Oxford, the new royal capital of the Plantagenet dynasty, swollen with refugees both noble and common from the capture of London by the Danes.



The English had plenty of forewarning of Finn's approach, and had a strong defensive force ready by the time the Marshall of Ulster had arrived. Riding out for parley, the English nobleman Josias Churbourne was the highest ranking member of the English Court in the city at the time, in his position as Lord High Steward.

The conversation between Churbourne and MacSidhe was short.
The Irishman demanded a sum of gold and silver, or equitable alternatives, in return for the sparing of the city from capture. Knowing this to be a deliberately unreasonable proposition, Churbourne refused politely, and offered an alternative; safe passage through the lands of Edward the Longshanks to that of the Danish invaders. Finn refused this in turn, as the Danes were secret allies of the Irish and his men were impatient for combat and pay. He demanded a smaller but no less unreasonable amount from the English for the sparing of Oxford, breaking protocol by swearing profusely that the English were lucky he didn't burn the city to the ground in retaliation for the abuses against the Irish populace during the Great Rebellion. The negotiations dissolved on the spot, and Churbourne returned to the city emptyhanded.



Siegeworks were quickly thrown up around Oxford, and the catapults placed in position. The Irish, having much experience in siege warfare since 1260, had started a tradition of bringing artillery in almost every army they assembled, a tradition not seen since the Romans and one that would once again cost the English dearly. The walls of Oxford were bombarded mercilessly for a day, collapsing several sections.



The English archers, fled the walls, as some of their number fell and were buried alive by the collapsing wall sections. The flight of the archers from the walls to the city proper was noted by Finn, and the next day, under cover of an artillery barrage, the Marshall ordered his infantry to advance.



The Welsh armoured spearmen made up the first ranks, their heavy armour sure to protect them from the remaining archers in the towers of the gatehouse. The Irish swordsmen and Welsh axemen advanced behind this cover, and longbow arrows hissed before impacting on the shields and plate armour of the spearmen. Here and there, an arrow would find its mark and a man would go down, but the advance proved unstoppable and soon, the Welsh mercenaries were through the gaps in the walls.



They were met by the English heavy infantry and the longbowmen who had now switched to their knives and small shields. The Welsh were beaten back slowly, not taking many casualties but unsure that they could advance without severe losses. The Irish swordsmen then entered the battle, bolstering the Welsh, and beginning to sweep English resistance aside.



The ill-equiped longbowmen soon fled, leaving a large gap in the English defence. Finn, spotting this as he rode past the walls to join the battle, ordered his light cavalry to chase the archers. The hobiguirs followed the English through the town, terrorising its citizenry as they chanted pagan rites while riding. They soon came across the archers again in the town square, but were forced to halt, as a large force of English infantry had amassed there, presumably the garrisons of the towers from the other side of the city. Sending word back to the Marshall, they made harrassing attacks on the longbowmen, preventing them from using their ranged weapons.



The Irish infantry soon joined the battle, slowly enveloping the English in the central square. Churbourne was killed shortly afterwards by Welsh spearmen, attempting to break out of the melee, and without their commander, the English discipline collapsed. With nowhere to run, they fought to the last man. Oxford was in the hands of the Irish.



The victory was a pleasant surprise for Amairigin. The Scots, allied to England by marriage ties, immediately severed the alliance with Ireland. Expecting an attack on the conquered Oxford, the High King quickly sailed to Wales, and joined Domnall with a large force. Before the English could muster a large enough force to retake the city, Amairigin arrived with his crack royal regiments, forcing a ceasefire. The Scottish alliance was renewed as well, as a sign of goodwill.

The High King now knew how to force Scotland's hand, but needed time to prepare.



For his actions in Oxford, Finn was no longer called the "Profane", but the "Silver-Tongued", a nickname that highly amused the High King. What was less amusing was that Finn had also found himself an unusual prize in his new fiefdom; a Spanish lower noblewoman on a diplomatic mission. This was widely disapproved of in the Irish court, but Finn did not care. His wife, Anya, complained to the High King, but given the diplomatic possibilities, he dismissed her objections, asking instead that she remain faithful, sure that it was a phase rather than a real relationship.



In 1275, word reached Tara of a great victory of the Scots in the North. The Norweigans had finally been expelled from the British isles, and aside from some piracy, were no longer a threat. Scotland could now turn its full attention to the English barons in the Midlands of Britain. The possibility of a united Britain moved several steps closer to reality.

On the other hand, Ireland was now officially at peace, the War of the Crossing finally brought to an end. The nobles were under no illusion that this situation would continue, however, as they were supplied copious notes on Scottish advances by Amairigin's spies. However, the time of peace resulted in quite a lot of celebration.



In the summer of 1275, Amairigin of Downpatrick, a noble who took the High King's name at age 11, married Mairona Keane, grand-daughter of the High King and one of the most attractive women in the courts of Europe. The marriage was in reward for Amairigin's service against large brigand forces in Ulster, and his competent rule of the area.

The young couple were very much smitten by each other, but more importantly for the kingdom, were very ambitious indeed....

[Longstreet]

Well Done !

[Kaiser Leonidas]

Only just seen that you added another chapter, tis a very nice update and I look forwards to seeing more of the Irish conquest of Britain .

[IrishHitman]

War of the Gaels
The years 1275-77 were one of peace for the Irish.

The prosperity of the kingdom continued to grow with more and more development at royal expense, while its armies continued to become more and more professional. The High King may have adopted the old Gaelic gods as his kingdom's religious viewpoint, Irish military thinking was in an altogether different direction. While Brian Boru, the only other person who ever held a real claim to the title "Emperor of the Irish", was said to favour the military and political ideas of Alexander the Great, Amairigin looked more to Rome for his inspiration. The High King, having little to do but engineer and hold court, soon took to his books in his much more plentiful spare time, although his love for the hunt continued.

The Great Reform of 1276 and the military treatise "Res Bellica Hibernicus" were the results. The High King, demonstrating his keen knowledge of ancient military superpowers, instituted his ideas. The royal regiments were to be standardised over ten years. The general model of Irish armies was to be continued: Swordsmen as the main battle line, with heavy cavalry support. However, the structures had certain key changes. Military hierarchy was formalised, as were military units.

Legions of 10 cohorts, based heavily on those of the Late Roman Republic, were to be organised. Four of the ten cohorts were to be armoured swordsmen, with a further two cohorts of Muire to act as assault infantry. However, the Irish preference for heavy and light cavalry was continued, with two cohorts of cavalry to be included in every legion. The main departure from the pre-reform norm was to be in its ranged component: The new treatise demanded two cohorts of either longbowmen, crossbowmen or mounted archers. This was included not only for military reasons, but also as a political gesture; Ireland did not possess any institutions supporting the use of archery, but the High King's new subjects in Wales were preternatural archers.

The treatise also set out the basis for several "auxilia" legions based on those of Rome, as the Irish kingdom now had subjects who fought in very different but useful styles, particularly those of the Norse of the Western Isles, whom would become very useful indeed in the years to come. The political changes necessary for these reforms were not popular among the nobles, who saw them as a consolidation of royal power and a possible new expense. However, the treasurers in Tara soon calculated that the cost of the unstandardised recruitment and production of weapons was actually costing the kingdom quite a bit of money, and so the nobles raised no particular objection. For the common people however, it represented a new alley to ambition, as generals were recruited not only from the noble class but from notably competent soldiers as well.



The peaceful years also allowed the High King to pursue more daring ideas, including sending an expedition to the Far-East, past the Indus and into the Land of Silk. Expeditions such as this, along with trade delegations and diplomatic visits by Irish royals, repaired some of the damage done to the reputation of the Irish in Western European courts.

However, religious fervor was still a major obstacle to diplomatic ties, though few royal courts rejected economic accords. The Pope held great sway, but gold and silver were what united the heretic and the faithful alike. The Popes were generally too shortlived to give much notice to the pagan Irish, with four popes arising in 1276 alone. While Ireland and Wales were discussed at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, alongside the conquest of the Holy Lands, the only solid measures granted were a remission of sins for soldiers willing to go on crusade against the heretics.



Irish merchants were prospering throughout the isles, although there were assets seizures in France where the Grand Inquisitions were used in some towns to seize assets. Gaelic runaways from the hands of the Inquisition would often find themselves successfully hiding in the Jewish ghettos, where they existed, as the welcome the Jews received in Ireland by the government reaped its dividends. The High King's spy network on the European continent was increasingly effective due to the ready safehouses that the ghettos often provided.



The start of 1277 also saw the complete restoration of Ynys Mon, the most holy site of the Gaelic pagans. Destroyed by the Romans in 60 AD, the restoration was a propaganda coup, and recruits for the ríastradh priests was increased as well. Amairigin was careful to insure the pseudo-military institutions of the nemeds were kept under control, and found the ill-disciplined troops they produced unpredictable, but also saw their use as a psychological and propaganda weapon.

The fruit of peace under the High King Amairigin was the same as the fruit of war: Progress and civilisation. By respecting the oldest of traditions, he was able to institute the most advanced of reforms. Peace in the British Isles however, as many rulers have found, is fleeting.



It began in the summer of 1277. A new Pope had yet to be elected, but Cardinal Orsini, a corrupt man but one who very much wished to see himself elected, was ready to take his place. The reforms of the Irish royal armies continued apace, slowly but surely. The Scots were grinding the English barons into dust in the South.

A Scottish noble by the name of Farquar Randall appeared in the Irish fief of Stranraer, captured a rebel castle to the north, and began raiding some of the countryside for livestock and other valuables. Lacking the authority to counterattack effectively, the nobles in Stranraer gathered all the useful goods into the various defences of the fief, and holed up for a siege. Messages dispatched to the Scots saw no reply, while those sent to the High King caused great concern in Tara. Diplomats were dispatched to Edinburgh, and they expressed the extreme displeasure of the Irish court to this Randall's actions.

The Scottish King entertained these complaints for a few days, but the arrival of two papal legates soon changed that. The King informed the ambassadors that a state of war would exist between the two kingdoms. The cardinals in conclave had specifically allowed for a message of support to be sent to Scotland on such a matter.

And so, the War of the Gaels began.



Robert the Poet, Lord of Dál Riata, immediately sprung into action. Firstly, he sold the Outer Hebrides to the Danes with royal approval. This garnered a large sum of money, with which he augmented his own royal forces with Norse mercenaries, including veterans of the Norweigan royal armies. Taking this army, the Poet began the Great Raid of the North, sacking the settlements along the northwestern and northwestern extremes of Scotland. Only token garrisons were left, allowing the Irish to sweep through the northern highlands with ease. Using shipborne assaults in the Norse manner, the Scots could not respond quickly enough, and with the majority of their armies in the South, only could field poor units.

After the Sack of Mull, the Poet's attentions turned to Kirkwall. Held by rebelling Norse-Scottish, it represented an ideal base to harrass the entirety of Scotland.


A large force was soon dispatched, and yet another siege action was initiated.



Captain Finn, a lieutenant of the Poet, commanded the attack. The Muire and Norse were to be the hammer of the attack, while the spearmen were to support in case the rebel Scots might have cavalry. With a mass booming of drums and the din of horns, the attack began.



Ladders were put up without much harrassing arrows from the walls, the defenders mostly being ill equipped peasants rather than real soldiers. Once the heavily armed Muire began to arrive at the top of the walls, the defenders fled into the city proper, while the Irish shock troops stormed the gatehouse. Once secured, the mercenary Norsemen came streaming through the entrance, and the Irish advanced into the town.

Resistance was easily swept aside, and even a heavily armoured cavalry group of exiled Scottish knights did little to hurt the advance. The royal colours and the harp were flown in the town centre and the battle won.



The Scots reacted in three ways.

Firstly, they proceeded to attack the Isle of Islay, which was reasonably well defended but by no means impregnable. Secondly, the Scots proceeded to blockade Belfast Lough, effectively cutting the Western Isles off from reinforcements from Downpatrick and Belfast itself. Luckily, Derry remained unblockaded, but it would take some time before forces there could muster.



Thirdly, Sir Farquar Randall's raiding forces near Stranraer were progressively reinforced, in preparation for a siege. However, as all the supplies were already inside well defended positions, and Irish reinforcements were able to reach the town unhindered, the Scots would find a much harder time ahead of them than on Islay.



The war did not come as a great burden on the kingdom. Revenues were high, and many royal investments were reaping handsome dividends. None more celebrated was the return of the expedition to the Far East, which returned with large amounts of silk and other exotic goods, a small amount of which were put aside for royal use, but the remainder of which was sold to Irish nobles and continental royalty (in secret).

The High King nonetheless viewed the war as serious. In order to attack Irish-held Wales overland, the Scots would have to attack the formidable Welsh defences at Chester. The large Scottish armies attacking the English barons were well capable of doing so, and so the High King ordered the large royal forces in Wales to advance to key positions along rivers. By establishing camps at the major crossings, and picketing the smaller ones, the entirely of Northern Wales was safe from attack. The only way the Scots could avoid getting involved in a battle while crossing the rivers was by taking a much more dangerous southern route, straight through the majority of the Welsh armies.

Thus is how the War between the Gaels began, over a couple of sheep in Stranraer.