Tuck, Anthony, 'Anglo-Irish Relations, 1382-1393', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 69 (1970), 15-31

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Quick Summary

The death of Edmund Mortimer in 1381 caused serious problems for the English government of Ireland

  • The Mortimer family were by far the most suitable noble family to take a lead in Ireland
  • Edmund Mortimer died in 1381, leaving a seven year old boy as his heir
  • Richard II granted the lordship of Ireland to Robert de Vere in 1385
Key Conclusion

Tuck explores Richard II’s arrangements for the government of Ireland (an English colony centred on Dublin in the fourteenth century). Tuck concludes that the death of Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, in December 1381 threw the Irish government and English policy into disarray. March’s heir was only seven years old, yet the Mortimer family was by far the most suitable amongst the English nobility to undertake government in Ireland. Not only did the Mortimers possess lands in Ireland when many other noble families did not, but they also held great resources, power and influence – in England and Wales the family inheritance was second only to that of the Duke of Lancaster.

Content Overview

The body of the article focuses on the lieutenancy of Philip Courtenay from 1383-86, the nominal rule of Robert de Vere from 1386-89, and the period 1392-94 when the Duke of Gloucester and Earl of March were appointed. Philip Courtenay’s lieutenancy demonstrates the difficulty of holding the office – in 1382 he summoned a feudal host to attack Irish rebels, but only three tenants-in-chief turned up. Lacking a territorial basis in Ireland, he failed to command the respect of the Anglo-Irish. Most English magnates held little land in Ireland – ‘many of them had liquidated their Irish interests earlier in the century, and they had no wish to hold office there’, focusing instead on the ‘prestigious war with France’ (p. 19).

Further Findings

In December 1385 Richard II granted the lordship of Ireland to his friend Robert de Vere. This appointment was purely an act of royal favour – de Vere had no interests in Ireland or experience of Irish affairs, his family having ‘disposed of their few Irish possessions almost twenty years earlier’ (p. 24). Since de Vere could not hope to profit immediately from his Irish lordship, Richard granted him lands in England until he had conquered Ireland. Yet, de Vere never went to Ireland. On 20 March 1386, he appointed a lieutenant in Ireland, but de Vere himself remained in England ‘and enjoyed the profits of the lands granted to him to finance his Irish campaigns’ (p. 25).

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