Glendun’s Grain Truce
Archived: 24 October 2026
Abstract
In 1327, Ireland experienced overlapping political, military and social crises amid the accession of Edward III. Thomas FitzGerald, earl of Kildare, became justiciar, but magnates contested royal authority while trade and administration continued. At Glendun, Robert Bruce secured a year’s truce with Ulster, paid for by promised wheat and barley. Domhnall Mac Murchadha was proclaimed king in Leinster before capture by royal officers. Rival Anglo-Irish lords devastated lands during private war, while O’Rourkes and O’Reillys fought over Lough Oughter. A widespread speckled sickness, probably smallpox but diagnostically uncertain, killed people across social ranks alike, disrupting labour, food supplies and lordship.