Archived: 18 October 2026
Abstract
In 1561, Shane O’Neill’s contest with the Dublin administration over authority in Ulster became Ireland’s principal political crisis. After capturing An Calbhach O’Donnell in May, O’Neill disrupted a planned alliance of Ulster and Scottish opponents. Sussex proclaimed him traitor, marched north, and fortified St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, as a royal garrison. O’Neill’s forces besieged the post and inflicted a reverse on crown troops during their July withdrawal. A September expedition to Lough Foyle also failed to establish control. Negotiations followed, leading to O’Neill’s safeguarded journey to England in December. Coinage proclamations and correspondence revealed wider governmental, economic and diplomatic pressures.
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Archived: 23 October 2026
Abstract
During 1349, a pestilence remembered as the Black Death became an all-Ireland crisis, although its arrival and mortality cannot be dated or quantified precisely. John Clyn recorded contagion, deaths among clergy and households, pressure on burial and care, and costly imported goods in Kilkenny. Connacht annals reported heavy losses in Moylurg, while warfare, raiding and contested lordship continued across Connacht and elsewhere. Ecclesiastical vacancies exposed institutional vulnerability, though individual causes of death remain uncertain. Clyn's final entries, ending amid violence and epidemic fear, symbolise the fragility of record-keeping. The year strained trade, worship, families and political authority without halting conflict.
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Archived: 24 October 2026
Abstract
In 1320, Ireland showed contrasting efforts at order and continuing conflict after the Bruce invasion. Archbishop Alexander de Bicknor established statutes for a studium generale at St Patrick’s Cathedral, appointing teachers and a chancellor to promote theology and canon law, while strengthening ecclesiastical discipline through synodal measures. Roger Mortimer’s Dublin parliament reaffirmed English statutes, regulated administration and market measures, and named the earl of Kildare deputy justiciar. Elsewhere, authority remained contested: Cathal Ó Conchobair broke peace with Maelruanaid Mac Diarmata, seizing captives and ravaging Connacht; a Connacht claimant was killed; and Munster’s Ó Briain tanist Mathgamain died violently, unsettling succession.
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