The Dublin Revolt
By 1223, Dublin was the last foreign holding of the English crown, having been removed from France decades before. Dublin had a long tradition of independence and defiance towards outside rule. Open revolts and acts of aggression were common, by 1223 a serious toll had been taken on the English garrison and the English Duke of Dublin, Gregory Dudley, sent a desperate appeal to King Henry for support.
"...It is in this situation that I ask for support. I've lost sixty men to Irish hostilities these past four months... another forty to malnutrition when our food stores were burned by arsonists, a fire in which another ten were lost... It has been six months without reinforcement, three without supply... I simply cannot operate with this level of manpower, the city is far too large and the populace unfriendly... I must tell you, without support soon, the city will be lost. If the men cannot be spared, Dublin will be lost."
Support never arrived, and in 1224 Gregory Dudley and a contingent of his forces abandoned the city, leaving behind only a skeleton crew of, reportedly, under two hundred men to garrison the city. Soon after, the city revolted and established itself as an independent state. It is unknown what happened to Gregory Dudley in this time, whether he returned to England or, as it is widely believed, he and his forces fled into the countryside near the castle of Galway.
The Irish High King of Cork, Galway, and at this point, Wales, attempted to unite Ireland with by bringing the newly independent city into the fold. When diplomacy failed, military actions were taken, and for seven years Dublin remained independent. Prince Duncan of Scotland had watched the situation carefully and in it saw an opportunity.
The future king of Scotland was known as a cruel man, but his politicking and convincing manner were unsurpassed at the time. His political savvy was crucial in building and maintaining his father's reign. It is believed that the Scottish nobility was even more loyal to Duncan than king Alexander, by no means a small feat. Duncan requested his father's backing for an assault on the free city of Dublin.
"Father, I only ask for your blessing, a mighty gift you could bestow upon me with so little effort... The highland clans have already pledged their support... I have drawn from their numbers already... These Irish of Dublin belong to Scotland, they refuse the High King time and again... should we allow our enemy to capitalize on our allies weakness? Should we allow our brothers to again be oppressed under the heel of Norman England? Noble king you know this action to be right..."
In the winter of 1231, Donnchad mac Alaxandair crossed the Irish sea and laid siege to Dublin, with the blessing of the king of Scotland.
The Siege of Dublin 1232
By spring of 1232, the Scottish army of over two thousand was ready to assault walls of Dublin. Duncan's memoirs continue:
"... our noble force stood ready to make good of our first opening."
"... walls stood firm, a breach refused to open..."
Because of the inability of Duncan's catapults to create an opening, the only choice aside from defeat was to launch a massive, bloody assault onto the walls.
Fighting was especially bitter for the Scots near the walls, where the Irish, known for the skill with javelins, cut down a great many Scots attempting to scale the walls.
"... our ladder companies paid the highest price, I saw many a brave Scot slaughtered by the javeineers atop the walls. I had no choice but to reinforce their ravaged numbers when the real fighting began."
Those at the city gate fared better:
"... Fortunately, the great cost of man on the walls was repaid with a clean battering of the gates... The engineers and manpower behind the rams performed brilliantly, and the gate fell quickly and without serious incident up until that point."
"... upon the breach, I cleverly smashed through the waiting Irish defenders with my cavalry and they were overrun by the following mass of infantry."
With the success at the gates and the remaining Irish forces fleeing towards the city center as the Scots pushed forward, the struggle for control of the walls swung in the favor of Duncan.
With the walls taken, the city was all but won. Duncan describes the fighting of the remaining Irish in the city center:
"... Dublin was within our grasp, the only remaining resistence stubbornly battled near the center of town. Their deaths in vain, I would have personally cut down their families for the extra price of men they cost me."
The cost of such a brazen frontal assault would come back to haunt Duncan, but for the time being Dublin would answer the the throne of Alexander and, more realistically, the rule of the new Scottish duke of Dublin, Duncan.