At HISTORICON this July, I introduced my rules, MEDIEVAL WARFARE. The scenario I used was loosely based upon the Battle of Knockdoe. Here is a brief background study of that interesting fight.

Since the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, undertaken with a vengeance by Richard FitzGilbert, also known as Strongbow, in the late 12th century, the Gaelic lords of the island had fought bitterly to preserve their holdings and honor. They were aided by a landscape of forests, mountains, bogs, and narrow passes where ambushes were easily laid and sprung. But the Anglo-Normans had continually pushed their conquests inland, aided inevitably by the internecine rivalries of the various Irish factions.

As the decades passed, the Norman lords settled onto the lands they occupied, becoming "more Irish than the Irish", as had the earlier Norse invaders. By the late 15th century, many of the Anglo-Irish lords, as they came to be recognized, were indistinguishable from their Gaelic neighbors, some even to the extent of being unable to understand English! Though certain coastal areas as well as the 'Pale' of Ireland, which encompassed the area of Meath, Westmeath, Kildare and the major reinforcement town of Dublin, were held by 'English' lords, the vast majority of the island continued to be ruled as it ever had been, by the local clan or tribal warlord. As the 16th century neared, a power struggle, pure and simple, lay ahead between the old, Gaelic way of life and the Anglo-Irish one. This power struggle was to culminate in the bloody, hard-fought Battle of Knockdoe, or the Hill of the Axes in 1504.

Power Struggle

By the latter half of the 15th century, Ireland consisted of roughly 90 political or regional 'lordships', one-third of them held by Anglo-Irish lords, the rest under Gaelic control (Heath 8). During the previous century, Gaelic leaders had begun to emerge in response to the weak and ineffective rule of the Anglo-Irish (Edwards 26). England's rulers, embroiled in the chaos of the Wars of the Roses, remained virtually out of the picture so far as Ireland went during most of the 15th century with the exception of the Yorkists, who turned to Ireland for raw manpower. As R.R. Davies noted, speaking specifically of Wales, but also alluding to Gaelic Ireland, it was not a united land, but simply "a geographical expression...no more than a state of mind, and a profoundly disturbed state of mind at that" (Davies 23).

In the summer of 1470, the Irish Council chose Thomas, Earl of Kildare as Justicier or viceroy of Ireland, a position earlier held by Richard of York. Thomas was a descendant of Maurice Fitzgerald, a member of Strongbow's invasion force in 1170 (Hayes-McCoy 54). King Edward IV of England sought to intervene in this self-direction, and appointed his own commissioners, but they soon came under Kildare's charismatic influence, approving not only a local, Irish army of defence, but paying for it out of Irish finances, not English, thus allowing an amazing amount of hegemony in the 'conquered' realm (Edwards 26).

The Earl of Kildare passed away in March of 1478, and his son, Gerald Gerait Mor (The Great) was elected as Justicier, and again Edward IV opposed the election, but eventually compromised and Gerald became the titled Lieutenant of the King and eventually the Lord Deputy of Ireland, thus becoming officially the King of England's agent (Edwards 30).

Gerald of Kildare was not to be a puppet manipulated by Edward's designs, however. Described as having a "fine stature, the manly beauty and goodly presence of his race; his liberality and his merciful deeds passed...as household words. He was a man of strict piety. His mild, just government drew the hearts of his people to him in passionate devotedness" (MacManus 356). Powerful, yet not apparently having any designs on trying to become 'king' of Ireland, none the less, Gerald would not relinquish the power he did hold in the name of Richard III and then Henry VII (Hayes-McCoy 54).

Truly, Gerald of Kildare epitomized the Anglo-Irish lord of the late 15th- early 16th centuries. The Ireland which had been left pretty much free of English influence because of the Wars of the Roses, found itself once again on the Royal mind after the death of Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. Apparently, Gerald had been left with a free hand in his dealings with his adversaries, as well as the money and influence to bring guns into Ireland.

Point About Firearms

A notable point made in the Annals of Ulster in 1487 dealt with the advent of firearms, when mention is made of a member of the O'Rourke clan being killed by an O'Donnell "with a ball from a gun", while in 1488, the Earl of Kildare reportedly demolished a castle with artillery (Cusack 380). This power was not to be taken lightly. In fact, the Earl of Kildare apparently began to see in himself, a personification of Warwick the Kingmaker, as he became politically involved in the dynastic struggles in England, but any Irish influence in English interanl affairs effectively ended at the Battle of Stoke when Henry VII defeated the Yorkist pretender, Lambert Simnal and his Irish army (Edwards 31).

In 1486, the Annals of Ulster inform us, "The son of a Welshman, by whom the Battle of Bosworth Field was fought, was made King; and there lived not of the royal blood, at that time, but one youth who came in exile to Ireland" (Cusack 379). The boy, claiming to be Edward, earl of Warwick, was in reality, Lambert Simnell of Oxford (Otway-Ruthven 403). On May 5, a reported army of 5,000(!) German mercenaries landed with the Earl of Lincoln in Ireland and carried the future 'king' of England to Dublin (Otway-Ruthven 403). Being a Yorkist, Simnel was wholeheartedly supported by the Anglo-Irish nobles. He was duly crowned in Dublin and had the tacit support of the Earl of Kildare, as he was at the coronation ceremony. On June 4, an army of Anglo-Irish, Gaelic and German mercenaries sailed to England to claim the land for the new king. Lambert Simnell met his end when he was captured at the Battle of Stoke, and reportedly either was "made a turnspit in the royal kitchen", or imprisoned in the Tower of London (Cusack 380). Since Gerald was present at the coronation and a brother of his accompanied the expedition to England, he was called to order for his support of the Pretender as he lost his Deputyship in 1492 (Hayes-McCoy 55).

Warbeck's Rebellion

In 1492, another Yorkist pretender to the English throne, Perkin Warbeck, claiming to be Richard, Edward IV's second son, one of the legendary 'Princes in the Tower', and the last surviving Yorkist heir to the throne, made Ireland his base and recruited several nobles to his cause before leaving to drum up support for his claim in France (Davies 103).

'Warbeck's Rebellion' resulted in an English expedition, led by Sir Edward Poyning, landing in Ireland in 1494 with 427 men, ostensibly to hunt down Warbeck's supporters, but more realistically, to reinstate English control over the island (Cosgrove 639). After several decades of internecine warfare and over 100,000 deaths caused by the Wars of the Roses, the English were ready to resume governing their conquests once again. The professional English army easily scattered the fractious Irish army, the survivors fleeing to the North.

The result of all of this was the enactment of a new law for Ireland, called Poyning's Law, whereby no Parliament could be called in Ireland unless the King of England authorized it (Cusack 382). Realistically, Poyning's Law was an attempt to eradicate any factional fights among the Irish nobles, as had occurred in England so recently (Hayes-McCoy 53). Effectively, Poyning's Law effected only the region of the Pale. Parts of the law forbade the Anglo-Irish lords from using Gaelic warcries, and "...all subjects (inhabitants of the frontier settlements) were to provide themselves with cuirasses and helmets, with English bows and sheaves of arrows" (Cusack 383), while "Henceforth, no battles could be lawful but the King's battles" (Hayes-McCoy 54). There was also an attempt made to forbid the speaking of the Irish language, but since almost all of the English settlers now used it, this was not adopted (Cusack 383).

Gerald of Kildare immediately found himself in disfavor. He had contacts with the rebels in the North, and was accused of supporting them against the Crown (Cosgrove 640). He had also absented himself from the Parliament that was passed the laws, and found himself charged with treason and ended up in the dreaded Tower of London in 1495.

Gerald's arrest resulted in the Earl's brother, James, capturing Carlow castle, which in turn caused Poyning to call off his search for rebels in the north of Ireland, return and retake the castle, no doubt causing more anger and resentment toward the Earl and his family members in particular. James would remain actively involved against the English forces until July of 1496, when he obtained a pardon (Cosgrove 645).

No doubt his support for Lambert Simnel and his brother's rebellion had plenty to do with Gerald's continued incarceration, and Henry VII decided that the Earl had become a military threat as well as a political one. Henry's dilemma was what to do with the popular Earl of Kildare. The limitations on the assembly of the Irish Parliament certainly curtailed the possibility of Anglo-Irish rebelliousness to some extant, and perhaps the earl would purjure himself or worse while imprisoned.

Gerald, however, intelligent enough to cut his losses, did nothing to antagonize or further bring enmity upon himself while a prisoner. Instead, he let the Anglo-Irish nobles reinforce his value as a stabilizing influence in the political landscape of Ireland. While imprisoned, Ireland fell back to the chaos of civil war. It has been duly noted that Gerald had a great many friends who made up the Anglo-Irish as as the Gaelic nobility (Hayes-McCoy 55), and it would not have been above him to "ask" for some assistance from them in proving his value to a King who was eager for peace.

Yorkist Fleet

Further aggravating the political scene, a Yorkist fleet with supporters of Warbeck arrived in 1495, and Ulick Burke of Clanrickard asserted his independence by supporting the Pretender, though politically and not militarily (Cosgrove 643). Poyning's forces soon took care of the rebels and Warbeck himself fled to Scotland and the court of James IV (Cosgrove 643).

It did not take long for Henry to realize that the Earl of Kildare would make a much better friend than enemy--or worse, martyr (Cusack 384). At his treason trial, Gerald had his pick of a defense counsel and chose none other than the King, himself! He then proceeded to answer the charges brought against him with a forthrightness and wit which further solidified his position as the potential right hand man for Henry in Ireland. When asked, for instance, why he had set fire to a cathedral, the story is told that he looked over at his enemy, the Archbishop, and simply stated, "I would never have done it, had it not been told me the Archbishop was within" (Cusack 384). Finally, his accusers ruefully remarked that "All Ireland could not rule this Earl," to which Henry retorted, "Then shall the Earl rule all Ireland" (Cusack 384).

Royal Pardon

Gerald of Kildare not only obtained a royal pardon, he gained the confidence and trust of Henry, as well. Upon his return to Ireland, Gerald could keep for himself in the King's name all of the King's lands which he could regain from the Irish as well as use Irish revenues as he desired...a tremendous amount of power in the hands of one individual (Cosgrove 646). Henry also gave his ward, Elizabeth St. John to Gerald to be his wife, thus further tieing the Earl to the King (Cosgrove 645).

With his power restored, the Earl of Kildare returned to his position and for some years, the political climate more or less stabilized. An aborted attempt by Warbeck to invade Ireland in 1497 was thwarted when his ships were not allowed to land, and the Earl began to see Ireland as his protectorate. Gerald made an earnest attempt at being fair in his dealings with the Gaelic lords as well as the Anglo-Irish. He imposed taxes on both, and paid for his Fraternity of Arms, a professional 'standing army' of 80 men-at-arms and 200 mounted archers out of customs duties (Edwards 35; Heath 39).

It did not take many years, however, for the powerful fabric of Ireland's political scene to begin to fall apart. As G. A. Hayres-McCoy wrote, "The Earl had many friends among the Anglo-Irish and Gaelic lords, and some enemies. Knockdoe saw their collision" (55).

In 1501, Henry appointed his second son to be Lieutenant of Ireland with Gerald of Kildare serving as Deputy (Holinshed 270). Whether or not the ensuing war had any relationship to this appointment is unclear, but within a very short time, Gerald's son-in-law, the ever rebellious Ulick Burke of Clanrickard, took it upon himself to make a play for more power and prestige at the cost to his neighbors. This was certainly not unusual. In 1492, Burke had attacked Butler territory and took it, and while Gerald attempted to redress the situation, he had been replaced as Deputy, thus allowing Ulick Burke to continue in his might-makes-right political philosophy (Otway-Ruthven 407).

The Burke's were originally Anglo-Norman lords of Connacht, but the family had split into two factions, the MacWilliams of Clanrickard, and the MacWilliams of Mayo (Hayes-McCoy 55). In 1503, the leader of the Mayo faction died, which prompted Ulick to attack a neighboring clan, allied to the Mayo faction. Since such internecine warfare apparently occurred with regular frequency in Ireland, and owing to his relationship with the Deputy, his father-in-law, Gerald of Kildare, Ulick's attack met with little resistance on the part of the English Lieutenant or any other nobles for that matter.

Encouraged by his successes, both a decade earlier as well as presently, Ulick proceeded to capture and destroy three strongholds of the O'Kelly clan, which prompted an appeal from the O'Kellys to the Earl of Kildare for assistance (Hayes-McCoy 55).

Alliances and Counter-alliances

Gerald seemingly asked Ulick to redress the situation, but the son-in-law refused to back down. This prompted a series of alliances and counter-alliances as the Anglo-Irish and Gaelic lords chose to support either one side or the other. Old blood feuds and long-remembered family animosities turned neighbor against neighbor and clan against clan. The political situation is reminiscent of five centuries previous, when Brian Boru attempted to unify Ireland in the face of rebellion and clan war. Gaelic leaders such as Turhough O'Brien sided with Ulick as he was "a mortal enemy to all Englishmen (and was) most maliciously disposed", along with the MacNamaras and feud-warring O'Carrolls and O'Kennedys, all friends and old allies of Ulick (Hayes-McCoy 56). It appeared that, though an Anglo-Irish lord himself, Ulick had tapped into the collective ambivalence and hatred of those Gaelic nobles who desired to be rid of English rule.

By the early summer of 1504, Ulick, bolstered by his growing strength and popularity, captured the important town of Galway, which had been under crown protection since 1464, but once had been a possession of the Burkes (Hayres-McCoy 56). This was the last straw for Gerald. He justified his following actions to Henry by stating that the Burke uprising constituted a threat to the balance of power in Ireland (Edwards 35)--most assuredly a threat to his own! With incredible resourcefulness, Gerald gained the allegiance of the lords of Ulster, the O'Neills, the O'Donnells, O'Connors, and others. As Hayes-McCoy noted, "It was a remarkable hosting. It was as far as we know, the most varied, if not the greatest, muster of the Irish Gaelic lords and their forces that ever took place" (57).

It is amazing that Ulick Burke, attempting to amalgamate the Gaelic elements in a battle against the English overlords, apparently was not a match for his charismatic father-in-law in drawing together an army of the Irish. Here was a chance to free themselves from the English presence, yet the majority of the Irish lords chose to side with Gerald of Kildare and King Henry!

As summer passed, a military clash appeared to be inevitable as both sides sensed that a final battle would determine whether Ireland would continue to be ruled by English kings. The armies of both sides continued to grow as one clan would ally with one side, while its enemies would then join with the other. As R. Dudley Edwards wrote, "The forces on both sides virtually comprised the resources of the outstanding political entities from Dublin to Lough Foyle and from Shannon to Sligo" (35).

Strength in Numbers

So far as numbers go, we have some interesting figures from L. Nowell's Description of the Power of Irishmen circa 1515(?). The Lord Deputy Kildare had at his disposal 120 MacDonnell galloglasses, plus an additional 160 galloglas from the MacMahons, while the Earl of Desmond could raise 3,000 kern, a 'battle' of crossbowmen and gunners, eight 'battles' of galloglas and 400 cavalry, while the MacWilliam Burke's had 600 kern, five 'battles' of galloglas and 320 cavalry (Heath 20-21). The Earls' army also contained a contingent of Dubliners under the mayor, John Blake, consisting of billmen and bowmen (Hayes-McCoy 58). The total early 16th century estimate of forces available to the Irish chieftains numbered 2,400 galloglasses, 3,345 horse and 15,704 kern (Heath M.A. 17). Perhaps a total of 6-7,000 troops marched with the Earl of Kildare against Ulick's army of 5,000 during the late summer of 1504.

On the first of August, the Earls' forces began the march into the Burke lands of Clanrickard. Gerald took the war to the enemy, despoiling Ulick's land, instead of allowing his enemies to dictate the direction and course of the campaign. His strategy would be to force Ulick's army to remain in a defensive posture, unable to take the initiative. To accomplish this, Gerald headed toward the town of Galway, which Ulick Burke had to protect, as it was his base of operations.

As Holinshed's Chronicle notes, the Earl "warred upon William le Burgh, O'Bren, and MacNamarre, O'Carroull and fought with the greatest power of Irishmen that had been together since the conquest" (270). Commanding units in the Earl's army was one St. Lawrence of Howth, whose chronicle follows the campaign. He wrote,

"The disparate elements of the Earl's army were brought and held together by his strength of personality and charisma, even so, a council of war was called upon entering the Burke lands.

Apparently, some of the Earl's commanders feared they were hopelessly outnumbered and therefore did not desire to fight a pitched battle, while others, including the Baron of Devlin and Howth argued to proceed and put the battles in perfect order this night, that every man shall know tomorrow his charge" (Hayes-McCoy 60).

More Kockdoe

Knockdoe: Introduction
The Battle of Knockdoe
Irish Medieval Warriors
Knockdoe Scenario Photos (Historicon '97)