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Revision as of 01:25, 8 January 2005 by 66.185.85.81 (talk) (→Edward the Bruce's "Kingship" of Ireland)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Edward Bruce (died October 14, 1318) was the younger brother of Robert the Bruce. He supported his brother in the struggle for the crown of Scotland, then pursued a claim in Ireland.
Edward's date of birth is unknown. He was the son of Robert Le Brus and Marjorie, daughter of the Earl of Carrick. Some time before 1313, Edward was created Earl of Carrick, a title previously held by his grandfather, his father and his elder brother. Though crowned King of Ireland (1316) he was killed at the Battle of Faughart, near Dundalk. Some time before his death, he married Isabella, daughter of the Earl of Ross, but had no children by her. He had previously been married to, or had a liaison with, another Isabella, daughter of the Earl of Mar. The son of this relationship, Alexander de Bruce, inherited his father's earldom.
Edward the Bruce's "Kingship" of Ireland
By the early 14th century, Ireland had not had a High King since Ruari O'Connor who had been deposed by the Norman invasion in 1169. The country was divided between the Irish clans, Norman barons and English lords who all ruled parts of Ireland. In 1258 many of the clans had attempted to unite under one High King again and elected Brian O'Neill to this position, however most of the clans would not support him and he was defeated by the Normans at the battle of Downpatrick in 1260. In 1263 the Irish again tried to unite under one monarch to throw their Norman and English rulers out, they invited King Haakon 4th of Norway to become King of Ireland. King Haakon brought his army of Scottish and Norwegian soldiers from the Orkney Islands, however Scotland took advantage of his absence and attempted to retake the Islands from Norway. He immediately returned to the Orkney's where he was killed in battle before he could accept the Irish crown.
Realizing that unity was the only way to win Ireland's independence back, Donal O'Niell and most of the other Irish lords agreed to put their own personal differences aside and invited the younger brother of Scotland's King, Robert 1st (Robert the Bruce), Edward to become Ireland's King in 1315. Robert the Bruce loved the idea and believed that an independent Ireland would be of great aid to Scotland. He personally envisioned "a grand Gaelic alliance against England", between Scotland and Ireland since both countries had not only a common heritage and ethnicity, but also a common enemy (the English). On May 25th, 1315 Edward the Bruce and thousands of formerly unemployed Scottish soldiers landed in Ireland, they were quickly joined by large numbers of Irish infantry from all of the country's major clans.
On May 1st, 1316 Edward was crowned King of Ireland at Dundalk, and in September his brother King Robert arrived with Scottish reinforcements to help him. At first the Irish/Scottish alliance seemed unstoppable as they won battle after battle, in less than a year they had most of Ireland in their control. However by the beginning of 1317 famine had stricken most of the country making it difficult for King Edward to provide food to most of his men. Shortly later Robert the Bruce returned to Scotland and management of his own kingdom, but promised more aid and more volunteers to help his brother. For almost a year the Anglo-Norman barons did little to retake any land since the famine made it difficult for either side to provide food to soldiers in the field.
Then in the late summer of 1318, John de Birmmingham with his army began a march against Edward the Bruce. On 24th of October the Irish army was badly defeated at the Battle of Faughart by de Birmmingham's forces. Edward himself was killed and Ireland was again left leaderless, this would be the last attempt by all of Ireland's Clans to reunite the country under one King. In 1595 the leader of the O'Niell clan (once Ireland's ruling family for almost a thousand years), Hugh O'Niell the Earl of Tyrone would begin a rebellion against the English which would at first be extremely successful. However after many early victories he to would be defeated in 1607.
After that rebellion's failure and The Flight of The Earls, all other rebel leaders in favour of independence would support the creation of a republic instead of the revival of Ireland's monarchy. Ireland would become independent in 1921, but remain with the King of England as their head of state until 1949 when the nation became the Republic of Ireland and the King of England was replaced with an elected President of Ireland
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