Ireland 1270, three castles that held back the fury of the native Irish

Some historians describe the period of the late 1200’s as the “Gaelic revival” ( not to be confused with the Celtic revival of the late 1800’s), where the Irish clans began to push back against the Anglo-Norman settlers with devastating raids. It is a story often repeated in history, a mighty military force that sweeps all before it, finds holding the ground they've won the real battle as they may have won the war but not the peace. The subject of this video are three castles that bore the brunt of these raids, which was a reflection of what was going on elsewhere in Ireland. The Anglo-Norman forces in Ireland were hard pressed as at this time considerable manpower was required to fight in Scotland, where there too there was uprising (This was the era of William Wallace).
Some Notes:
The conversion factors used were made with a calculator from the National Archives and are only for illustration, I don’t know how accurate they are!
#wicklowmountains #irishhistory #irishclan
Welcome to my channel, that is dedicated to the history and culture of Ireland. This is not set out to be a history lesson, but a ramble through some stories you might find interesting about Ireland from an Irishman! Ireland has so many connections throughout the world from the emigration from this country over so many centuries, but those with Irish blood in their families always have a yearning to know more about their "old country", this is my attempt to bring some of the history and culture they left behind. So if you fancy some tales about horsemen and highwaymen, banshee's and fairies, soldiers and rebels, legends and folklore, saints and scholars, please like and subscribe. I post once per month. Thank you for watching. Ronan.

[@DJJinxC2006]

Thanks mate for another decent vlog.

[@primalireland-histcult]

My pleasure

[@baxpiz1289]

another great post!
i was told that to slow invaders coming up, the spiral walls of castle steps obstructed their right weapon hand, & favored it for those going down

[@primalireland-histcult]

Yes, you are correct about the staircase! Thanks for the input.

[@JamesThomas-pj2lx]

my family is norse, welsh and irish by dna. this stuff is interesting.

[@gerardodwyer5908]

Factual history is imperative. The Franco Normans did not identify as "English". The Franco Normans, in their writings, referred to the Germanic tribes they defeated and conquered as Angles and Saxons, or Anglishe, describing the "island mass" as Angleterre, land of the Angles. It wasn't until the early 13th century that the Norman "family" split in to two dynasties with the Anglo Normans (Angleterre) colonising England and the Franco Normans expanding their territorial assets in France. Gaelic Ireland called the Germanic Angles and Saxons Sasanach. Similarly, Gaelic Ireland called the first wave of Franco Normans Gaill, meaning stranger or foreigner. The fusion of Anglo Norman, Saxon and Viking in to a loose "English" identity didn't happen until the 14th century when a hybrid culture and language took shape. In Ireland, Norman French was still the primary language of law and communication well in the late 14th century. The victors have no reason to adopt the language of the conquered as the Angles, Jutes and Saxons were regarded by the Normans. The Franco Norman expansion across Ireland was slow and high risk. They built castles on moats and largely stayed behind castle walls only venturing out in large numbers. In following centuries, the Pale marked and offered the only real safe space for the by now Anglo Normans, the rest of Ireland was controlled by Gaelic clan dynasties who had controlled their lands since before 2AD. Keep up the great work.

[@primalireland-histcult]

Thanks for the input, time and word count are always against me in these videos!

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]