The fourteenth-century verse biography known as
The Bruce records another gathering of the Irish at
Carrickfergus, after which “every one of the Irish
kings went home to their own parts, undertaking to
be obedient in all things to Sir Edward, whom they
called their king.” Ua Néill then wrote to the pope
on behalf of “the under kings and magnates of the
same land and the Irish people” seeking papal sup-
port for the invasion. Nothing further is known of
events for the next eighteen months until, after a
bumper crop in that year’s harvest, Bruce marched
south again in October 1318. With the de Lacys in
tow, anxious to recover their Meath lands and do
down their occupiers, they headed for Dundalk,
property of the de Verdons (who held half of Meath),
when they were met by an opposing force on a
hillside near Faughart on October 14. Their oppo-
nents were the de Verdons and their tenants, com-
manded by John de Bermingham of Tethmoy, an old
antagonist and keeper of the half of Meath acquired
by Roger Mortimer.
Although reinforcements were purportedly on
their way from Scotland, Edward did not wait, and
rushed to battle accompanied by Hebridean gallo-
glassunder Mac Domnaill and Mac Ruaidrí (both of
whom were killed). Amid intense fighting, he himself
was slain by a townsman of Drogheda, whose body
was later found resting on that of the vanquished
“king of Ireland.” Contrary to local tradition, Bruce
was not buried at Faughart, but was decapitated and
his body quartered, one quarter, with his heart and
hand, being sent to Dublin, the others to “other
places.” The victor, de Bermingham, brought Bruce’s
head to Edward II, who rewarded him with the new
earldom of Louth. The collapse of Bruce’s regime
was joyously greeted by the Anglo-Irish, and proba-
bly went unlamented by the Irish too (one native
obituarist certainly condemns him) because, after
three years of war and famine, Edward inevitably
found himself being blamed for events beyond his
control. His claim to Ireland died with him, and was
not resurrected by his heirs.
SEÁN DUFFY
References and Further Reading
Barbour, John. The Bruce. Edited by A. A. M. Duncan. Edin-
burgh: Canongate, 1997.
Duffy, Seán, ed. Robert the Bruce’s Irish Wars: The Invasions
of Ireland, 1306–1329. Stroud, England: Tempus, 2002.
Duncan, A. A. M. “The Scots’ Invasion of Ireland, 1315.” In
The British Isles, 1100–1500, edited by R. R. Davies, 3–37.
Edinburgh: John Donald Ltd., 1988.
Frame, Robin. “The Bruces in Ireland, 1315–1318.” Irish His-
torical Studies 19 (1974).
McNamee, Colm. The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and
Ireland, 1306–1328.East Linton, Scotland: Tuckwell, 1996.
See alsoLacy, de; Mide (Meath); Ua Néill, Domnall;
Uí Néill, NorthernBURIALS
Knowledge of burial traditions in Ireland in the period
immediately prior to the conversion to Christianity is
limited. This period, normally called the Iron Age,
extended from at least 500 B.C.E. to circa 400 C.E., and
is characterized by a dearth of archaeological informa-
tion, especially about settlement and, to a lesser extent,
burial. Ring ditches or ring barrows (small circular
ditched enclosures, with an external bank and often a
central mound, in the case of barrows, or just a ditch,
in the case of ring ditches) were used for burial through-
out this period, mostly for burials that were cremated
but also on occasion for inhumations. Inhumated burial,
sometimes in cemeteries, appears to become more com-
mon towards the end of the Iron Age, possibly as a
result of influence from Roman Britain, and many of
these cemeteries continued to be used after the intro-
duction of Christianity.Early Medieval Period
There is evidence, both historical and archaeological,
that ancestral burial grounds continued to be used for
a few centuries after the introduction of Christianity.
These burial grounds are mentioned in early Irish can-
ons and a number of sites such as Knoxspark (County
Sligo), Ballymacaward (County Donegal), and possi-
bly Millockstown (County Louth), where there is no
evidence of a church, appear to be examples of this
type of cemetery. An extraordinary example is Clogh-
ermore Cave, County Kerry, where pagan-style burial
continued up to the ninth century, when the use of the
cave for burial was taken over by Vikings.Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly. © Department of the Environment,
Heritage and Local Government, Dublin.BURIALS