of walling and of the need for rebuilding occur from
1427 onward. In addition to the main defensive cir-
cuit, extramural gateways had to be built so as to offer
at least minimal protection, especially at night-time.
Referred to in 1351 as the king’s chief castle in Ireland,
Dublin Castle is said to have required major repairs in
1358, yet by 1380 it was close to complete dereliction,
to the extent that official meetings could no longer be
held, nor records be stored there.
At a time of growing Anglo-Irish insecurity and
nervousness, the citizens were increasingly obliged to
defend themselves by participating in military expedi-
tions into the mountains to the south. Their victory at
Little Bray early in the fifteenth century earned them
the gratitude of King Henry IV and the gift of the great
civic sword that still survives. As the English colonial
grip on Ireland slackened, attempts were made to expel
Irish residents in the 1450s unless they had been living
in the city for at least twelve years. The depleted sub-
urbs may have been home to significant numbers of
people of Irish or part-Irish descent, despite the over-
whelmingly English veneer of the municipal records.
English influences continued to be strong, however, as
we can see in the language of the assembly rolls from
the early 1450s and in cultural imports such as the
annual Corpus Christi procession.
A Springboard for Modern Times
The 1530s brought the Middle Ages in Dublin to a
dramatic close. The revolt of Thomas Fitzgerald
(commonly known as Silken Thomas) had important
consequences locally as well as nationally. Although
the insurgents had cannon and made vigorous assaults
on the castle and on Newgate, the constable and the
citizens between them conducted a successful defense.
As in 1317, compensation was sought from the
English crown and, conscious of new technology, it
took the practical form of six small cannon—one for
each of the main gates—along with a supply of gun-
powder. The rebels left their mark on Dublin in a
quite different way by murdering a political enemy,
John Alen, the archbishop. The task of his successor
George Brown, an appointee of King Henry VIII, was
to bring elements of religious reform to his archdio-
cese. Sacred relics were destroyed or dispersed, mon-
asteries and hospitals were closed down, and Christ
Church Cathedral was secularized. The definitive
ruination of the medieval city had begun. As on other
occasions of this kind, however, opportunities arose
and were seized upon. Some monastic buildings were
converted to other uses; others were demolished and
their materials recycled; and the site of one—All Saints’
Priory—was awarded to the citizens as a corporate
body and was eventually adapted for a college of Dublin
University (Trinity College). Much else remained the
same, as John Speed’s map of 1610 indicates, until
the more radical developments of the late-seventeenth
century.
H. B. CLARKEReferences and Further Reading
Bradley, John, ed. Viking Dublin Exposed: The Wood Quay
Saga. Dublin: The O’Brien Press, 1984.
Clarke, H. B. “Gaelic, Viking and Hiberno-Norse Dublin.” In
Dublin through the Ages, edited by Art Cosgrove, 4–24.
Dublin, College Press, 1988.
———, ed. Medieval Dublin, 2 vols. Dublin: Four Courts Press,
1990.
———.Dublin, Part I, to 1610. Irish Historic Towns Atlas,
no. 11. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2002.
———.Dublin c. 840 to c. 1540: The Medieval Town in the
Modern City, 2nd ed. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2002.
———.The Four Parts of the City: High Life and Low Life in
the Suburbs of Medieval Dublin. Dublin: Dublin City Public
Libraries, 2003.
Clarke, H. B., Sarah Dent, and Ruth Johnson. Dublinia, the
Story of Medieval Dublin. Dublin: The O’Brien Press, 2002.
Connolly, Philomena, and Geoffrey Martin, eds. The Dublin
Guild Merchant Roll, c. 1190–1265. Dublin: Dublin
Corporation, 1992.
Curriculum Development Unit. Viking and Medieval Dublin,
rev. ed. Dublin: O’Brien Press Educational, 1988.
Duffy, Seán, ed. Medieval Dublin I: Proceedings of the Friends
of Medieval Dublin Symposium 1999. Dublin: Four Courts
Press, 2000.
———.Medieval Dublin II: Proceedings of the Friends of Medi-
eval Dublin Symposium 2000. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001.
———.Medieval Dublin III: Proceedings of the Friends of
Medieval Dublin Symposium 2001. Dublin: Four Courts
Press, 2002.
———.Medieval Dublin IV: Proceedings of the Friends of
Medieval Dublin Symposium 2002. Dublin: Four Courts
Press, 2003.
———.Medieval Dublin V: Proceedings of the Friends of
Medieval Dublin Symposium 2003. Dublin: Four Courts
Press, 2004.
Lennon, Colm, and James Murray eds. The Dublin City Fran-
chise Roll, 1468–1512. Dublin: Dublin Corporation, 1998.
Lydon, James. “The Medieval City.” In Dublin through the Ages,
edited by Art Cosgrove Dublin: College Press, 1988., pp.
25–45.
Milne, Kenneth, ed. Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin: A His-
tory. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
Wallace, P. F. The Viking-Age Buildings of Dublin(2 parts).
Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1992.
See alsoAmlaíb Cuarán; Battle of Clontarf;
Bruce, Edward; Christ Church Cathedral;
Cumin, John; Fine Gall; Henry of London;
St. Patrick’s Cathedral; Sitriuc Silkenbeard;
Walled Towns.DUBLIN