Old English (Ireland) - The English in Medieval Ireland

The English in Medieval Ireland

Traditionally, London-based Anglo-Norman governments expected the English in Ireland to promote English rule through the use of the English language, law, trade, currency, social customs, and farming methods. The English or Hiberno-Norman community in Ireland was, however, never monolithic. In some areas, especially in the Pale around Dublin,and relatively urbanised communities in south county Wexford, Kilkenny, Limerick and Cork, people spoke the English language (though sometimes in arcane local dialects such as Yola), used English law, and, in some respects, lived in a manner similar to that found in England.

However, in the provinces, the English in Ireland (Irish: Gaill meaning "foreigners"), were at times indistinguishable from the surrounding Gaelic lords and chieftains. Dynasties such as the Fitzgeralds, Butlers, and Burkes adopted the native language, legal system, and other customs such as fostering and intermarriage with the Gaelic Irish and the patronage of Irish poetry and music. Such people became regarded as more Irish than the Irish themselves as a result of this process (see also Norman Ireland). The most accurate name for the community throughout the late medieval period was Hiberno-Norman, a name which captures the distinctive blended culture which this community created and operated within. In an effort to halt the ongoing Gaelicisation of the English community, the Irish Parliament passed the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1367, which among other things banned the use of the Irish language, the wearing of Irish clothes, as well as prohibiting the Gaelic Irish from living within walled towns.