Norman Knights Land at Dermot MacMurrough's Invitation
An exiled king imports foreign mercenaries to win back his throne, and they never really leave
Quick facts
- First landing
- c. 1 May 1169, Bannow Bay, Co. Wexford
- Invited by
- Diarmait Mac Murchada, exiled King of Leinster
- Key Norman leader
- Richard de Clare (Strongbow)
- Strongbow's marriage
- To Aoife, Mac Murchada's daughter, 1170
What happened
Diarmait Mac Murchada, the exiled king of Leinster, had been driven from Ireland in 1166 and sought military help in Britain to reclaim his kingdom. On about 1 May 1169, the first Anglo-Norman contingent, three ships under Robert fitz Stephen, landed at Bannow Bay in County Wexford. Further landings followed, and in August 1170 Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow, sailed from Milford Haven to Waterford, seized the Norse-Irish towns of Dublin and Waterford, and married Mac Murchada's daughter Aoife, becoming heir to his claims. The Normans' military edge over Ireland's fragmented tuatha proved decisive, and Norman lords rapidly carved out lordships across the east and south of the island.
Why it matters
The 1169 landing began a English and Anglo-Norman presence in Ireland that, in one form or another, lasted until the 20th century, marking the end of the old Gaelic high kingship as the island's dominant political structure and the start of an English-Irish relationship that shaped the rest of Irish history.
How we know
The 1169 landing at Bannow Bay and Strongbow's 1170 campaign are recorded in contemporary and near-contemporary Anglo-Norman and Irish chronicles and have been reconstructed in detail by Irish historians from those sources.
Sources
- History Ireland. NARRATIVE: 1169 and all that · General sourcehistoryireland.com · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Henry II of England · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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