SAVAGE
The Savage family was one of the principal English
families of medieval Ulster. William Savage witnessed
one of John de Courcy’s charters and his son was
among those taken hostage by King John in 1204 as
sureties for their lord. In 1276 Robert Savage held a
large estate in north Antrim, probably granted by Hugh
de Lacy between 1227 and 1242. Under the de Burgh
Earls, in the later thirteenth century, the family of de
Mandeville in particular overshadowed the Savages,
although Richard Savage attended parliament in 1310
and held the north Antrim manor in 1333. The family
prospered from the eclipse of its main rivals during
the serious political crisis of the 1330s. The Bissets
were deeply involved in the Bruce wars; the De
Mandevilles were involved, through Henry, in the con-
spiracy of the earl of Desmond in 1331. More impor-
tantly, the earl of Ulster was murdered in 1333 by a
combination of De Mandevilles and Logans. Robert
Savage was the chief juror in the subsequent inquisi-
tion into the Earl’s lands and, with Henry de Mandeville,
took charge of the earldom on behalf of the earl’s
widow and baby daughter. Along with John Savage,
he was rewarded in 1342 with grants of land in the Six
Mile Water valley of modern south County Antrim.
Together with the Savage estate in north Antrim, his
lands straddled the client Irish kingdom of the
O’Flynns of Uí Tuirtre. Robert’s position was such that
he was perceived by the annalist of St. Mary’s Dublin
as the mainstay of English power in Ulster in 1358
and that his death in 1360 marked a serious blow to
that cause.
By the mid-fifteenth century, lands of the Earldom
of Ulster had been seized or granted to the O’Neills
of Clandeboy, displacing English and Irish families
alike. The Savages established themselves in an
estate in the south of the Ards peninsula of modern
County Down. The Savages appear to have acquired
(either by grant or force) former lands of the Earldom
there: Ballyphilip (or Portaferry) and Ardkeen, both
sites of Savage tower houses. To the north of their
lands in seventeenth century Inquisitions it was
recorded that the area around Kircubbin was held by
O’Flynns “of the Turtars;” the two families’ fortunes
seem to have been linked together. In the sixteenth
century, the towers of Quintin, Ballygalget, and
Kirkistown castles were added to the family hold-
ings. In the fourteenth century Henry Savage was
summoned to Parliament, while through the later
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Savages were fre-
quently appointed seneschals of Ulster: They were
established as the senior family of the English inter-
est in the region. The family had established a landed
estate that, in economy, politics, and social connec-
tions was closely parallel to the gentry estates of the
north Pale. During the seventeenth century, they made
a successful transition to the new order, intermarry-
ing with the Montgomeries, Viscount Ards and turn-
ing Protestant, although Patrick Savage of Portaferry
was severely indebted and needed to be rescued by
Montgomery.
T. E. M
C
N
EILLReferences and Further Reading
Flanagan, D.E. “Three settlement names in Co. Down.” in
Dinnseanchas
, 5, 1973, 65–71
McNeill, T.E.
Anglo-Norman Ulster.
Edinburgh: John Donald,
1980
Savage-Armstrong, G.F.
Ancient and noble family of the Savages
of the Ards. London: M. Ward, 1888
See also
Ulster, Earldom of
SCANDINAVIAN INFLUENCE
Scandinavian influence on Medieval Ireland is evident
in the considerable number of place-names of Norse
origin that dot the Irish landscape, including Larne in
the north which has been equated with
Ulfrecksfjör
∂
r
,
Wicklow (
Vikingaló
), Wexford (
Weigsfjör
∂
r
), and
Waterford (
Vetrafjör
∂
r
) on the east coast, and Limerick
(
Hlymrekr
) in the southwest. In addition, Old Norse
has bequeathed to Irish a substantial number of loan-
words, most notably in the fields of seafaring and trade
where the impact of the Scandinavians was most pro-
nounced, including perhaps
bád
(boat), Old Norse
bátr
, and
margad
(market), Old Norse
marka
∂
r. As well
as adopting their words, Irish rulers also eagerly fol-
lowed many of the practices of the Norsemen, as is
evident in their extensive use of naval forces from the
tenth century onward. Those same native leaders were
also quick to appreciate the benefits that Norse trading
activities brought in their wake. Archaeological evi-
dence suggests that much Viking Age silver found its
way into Irish hands, whereby it was used as currency.
Michael Kenny, for example, has interpreted the impor-
tant hoards from Lough Ennell County Meath, as indica-
tive of a close economic relationship between the Clann
Cholmáin kings of Mide and their Dublin neighbors
based in part on their mutual interest in slaves. In the
same way, John Sheehan has speculated that one of
the most characteristic Hiberno-Norse silver objects,
the broad-band arm ring, may have served as tribute
between ever more interdependent Irish and Norse
rulers. Silver was also exchanged for everyday com-
modities, as coins were from the tenth century onward.
Moreover, by the time a mint was set up in Dublin about
995, the more powerful Irish kings sought actively to
gain a foothold in what were becoming increasingly
urban trading centres achieving some success in this
SAVAGE