“At the same time barons and nobles of Ireland came to assist the Lord Edward, upon his summons, namely Sir Maurice Fitz Gerald, Sir Maurice Fitz Maurice [the leaders of the Geraldines, nephew and uncle], Sir Walter de Burgh, Sir Theobald Butler, and many others.”
This is under the year 1265 and relates to the battle of Evesham. As a direct consequence of the conflict in England, Ireland was in a state of civil war between the pro-royalist de Burgh family and the pro-Montfortian Geraldines. The seneschal, Geoffrey Geneville, skilfully pacified the Geraldines and secured the release of Richard de la Rochelle, Edward’s representative in the country. Finally he gained the support of all factions by promising they should hold their land on the same basis they had held it before the war began.
As a result of Geneville’s efforts, several important Anglo-Irish magnates crossed the Irish Sea and fought for Edward at Evesham. The Irish aspect of the Baron’s War (or whatever you want to call it) is sometimes underrated, possibly due to historians failing to take a wider view.
As Robin Frame nicely put it: “The real difficulty is revealed by those categories, “English historian” and “Irish historian”…
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