1 The terminology here is problematic. I have employed the expression ‘English lineages’ to describe the social groupings in question as they were accorded the legal and social status of Englishmen by the English administration. The terms ‘Anglo-Irish’ or ‘Anglo-Norman’ can be misleading. For alternative terminology see Nicholls, K.W., ‘Anglo-French Ireland and after’ in Peritia, i (1983), pp 370–403 Google Scholar.

2 These similarities were first highlighted by Robin Frame in his seminal study, ‘Power and society in the lordship of Ireland, 1272-1377 ’ in Past & Present, no. 76 (1977), pp 3-33 (repr. in idem, Ireland and Britain, 1170-1450 (London, 1998), pp 191-220). For a comparison between marcher regions under the Tudors see Ellis, S.G., The Pale and the far north: government and society in two early Tudor borderlands (Galway, 1988)Google Scholar. For Wales in the late medieval period see Davies, R.R., Lordship and society in the march of Wales, 1282-1400 (Oxford, 1978)Google Scholar. To my knowledge, a detailed study of the ‘middling’ marchers in west Meath has not been undertaken, but for the march in northern Leinster in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries see Smith, Brendan, ‘The concept of the march in medieval Ireland: the case of Uriel’ in R.I.A. Proc., lxxxviii (1988), sect. C, pp 257–69 Google Scholar.

3 Ellis, S.G., ‘The Anglo-Irish in Tudor Ireland: “more Irish than the Irish themselves”?’ in History Ireland, vii (1999), pt 1, pp 22–6; K. W. Nicholls, ‘Worlds apart? The Ellis twonation theory on late medieval Ireland’, ibid., pt 2 , pp 22-6Google Scholar.

4 The lone exception is Parker, Ciarán, ‘Paterfamilias and parentela: the le Poer lineage in fourteenth-century Waterford’ in R.I.A. Proc., xcv (1995), sect. C, pp 93–117 Google Scholar.

5 M. V. Ronan constructed a brief pedigree of the Harold lineage (N.L.I., MS 801). The pedigree is, however, telescoped at points and should be approached with caution.

6 Nicholls, K.W., ‘Críoch Branach: the O’Byrnes and their country’ in O’Brien, Conor (ed.), Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne (Rathdrum, 1998), p. 17 Google Scholar.

7 Curtis believed that they were of English burgess stock ( Curtis, Edmund, ‘The clan system among English settlers in Ireland’ in E.H.R., xxv (1910), p. 118 CrossRefGoogle Scholar). See also Cal. doc. Ire., 1171-1251, nos 259, 833.

8 McEnery, M.J. and Refaussé, Raymond (eds), Christ Church deeds (Dublin, 2001), no. 18 Google Scholar.

9 Mills, James, ‘The Norman settlement in Leinster — the cantreds near Dublin’ in R.S.A.I.Jn., xxiv (1894), p. 166 Google Scholar.

10 Calendar of Archbishop Alen’s register,c. 1172-1534, ed. Charles MacNeill (R.S.A.I., Dublin, 1950), pp 121, 123Google Scholar. ‘Colagh’ corresponds with Cruagh parish abutting Whitechurch parish ( Ball, F.E., A history of the County Dublin: the people, parishes and antiquities from the earliest times to the close of the eighteenth century (6 vols, Dublin, 1902-20), iv, 48–54 Google Scholar; Price, cf.Liam, The place-names of Co. Wicklow (7 vols, Dublin, 1945-67), iv, 235-6Google Scholar).

11 A document dated 1319 refers to ‘Elias Harold’s vill in Colagh’ (Reg. Alen, p. 168). The town was also known as the Grange of the March and, later, Harold’s Grange (alias Ballykea) (Cal.justic. rolls Ire., 1295-1303, pp 150, 246; see also Ball, Dublin, iv, 57). For Harold see Reg. Alen, pp 107, 111; Gilbert, J.T. (ed.), Historic and municipal documents of Ireland, 1172-1320 (London, 1870), pp 150-51Google Scholar.

12 The death of John Harold, before 1256, saw Colagh, worth 100s. annually, pass briefly to an interest outside the lineage (Reg. Alen, p. 121).

13 See Flanagan, M.T., Irish society, Anglo-Norman settlers, Angevin kingship: interactions in Ireland in the late twelfth century (Oxford, 1989), pp 137-64Google Scholar.

14 Reg. Alen, p. 128; cf. ibid., p. 120; Ormond deeds, 1172-1350, no. 71; Cal. doc. Ire., 1285-92, no. 593. Sometime during his seneschalcy (1213-28) Elias Harold held court in the archbishop of Dublin’s southerly manorial centre of Castlekevin, where he heard that two Irishmen had murdered an Englishman, Walter Lawless (Reg. Alen, pp 110-11; cf. Hist. & mun. doc. Ire., p. 151).

15 Reg. Alen, pp 158-9; P.R.I, rep. D.K. 20, pp 68, 77, 98.

16 Recent work suggests that the Howels were representative of a sizeable Welsh community in Dublin that predated the conquest ( Flanagan, M.T., ‘Historia Gruffud vab Kenan and the origins of Balrothery’ in Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, xxviii (1994), pp 71–94)Google Scholar.

17 Cal. doc. Ire., 1252-84, no. 1283. Though Walshestown was a common placename, this probably refers to that vill in parish, Crehelp in the Wicklow barony of Talbotstown Lower (Price, Place-names of Wicklow, iv, 205-6Google Scholar; see also below, n. 104).

18 Reg. Alen, pp 107, 140-41. Price has noted that Ballyrothegane was on the boundary between Dunlavin, and parishes, Donaghmore in the Wicklow barony of Talbotstown Lower (Price, Place-names of Wicklow, iv, 199)Google Scholar.

19 Reaney, P.H., A dictionary of British surnames (2nd ed., London, 1976), p. 11 Google Scholar. It is equally possible that the Archbolds were of Flemish extraction.

20 Ormond deeds, 1172-1350, nos 206, 213.

21 A document, dated March 1190, states that Pope Clement III confirmed to the archbishop of Dublin ‘terram iuxta Wickingelo quam Archeboldus tenuit’ (Sheehy, M.P. (ed.), Pontifica Hibernica: medieval chancery documents concerning Ireland, 640-1261 (2 vols, Dublin, 1943), i, no. 20)Google Scholar.

22 Curtis, ‘Clan system’, p. 119.

23 Simpson, Linzi, ‘Anglo-Norman settlement in Uí Briúin Cualann, 1169-1350’ in Hannigan, Ken and Nolan, William (eds), Wicklow: history and society (Dublin, 1994), pp 191–235 Google Scholar.

24 Ellis, S.G., ‘Civilizing Northumberland: representations of Englishness in the Tudor state’ in Journal of Historical Sociology, xii (1999), pp 107-8Google Scholar.

25 Cal. doc. Ire., 1293-1301, nos 48, 90. The exchequer records make a tripartite division of the revenues drawn from Dublin: Dublin city, Dublin-Finglas, and the Vale of Dublin. The pipe rolls define the Vale as being ‘on the side of Leinster in the region of Taxagard and Newcastle of Lyons, Bree and Newcastle m’kynegan’ (P.R.I, rep. D.K. 39, p. 53; P.R.I. rep. D.K. 43, p. 32; P.R.I, rep. D.K. 44, p. 18).

26 The Irish of the mountains of ‘Glydelory’ (Glenmalure, ), rather than the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles specifically, were named as the aggressors. Both clans, however, are subsequently listed as inhabiting ‘Glydelory’ and owing a fine of 260 marks (P.R.I. rep. D.K. 36, pp 45, 67, 69)Google Scholar.

27 P.R.I, rep. D.K. 36, pp 33, 36-7, 40-41, 46; Otway-Ruthven, A.J., A history of medieval Ireland (London, 1968), p. 201 Google Scholar.

28 Quoted in Otway-Ruthven, Med. Ire., p. 202. The campaigns in 1275-6 and 1277 were massive and expensive undertakings requiring additional troops from Munster. The late thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century wars with the Leinster Irish are well covered: see, for instance, Lydon, J.F., ‘Medieval Wicklow — “a land of war” ‘ in Hannigan & Nolan (eds), Wicklow, pp 151-89Google Scholar.

29 Cal. doc. Ire., 1293-1301, nos 48, 90.

30 Ibid., nos 130, 160.

31 For Harolds in Limerick see ibid., nos 279, 422; Cal.justic. rolls Ire., 1305-7, p. 224; N.L.I., MS 801.

32 Cal. doc. Ire., 1293-1301, no. 47.

33 Lydon, J.F., ‘The years of crisis, 1254—1315’ in New hist. Ire., ii, 187. Subsequently the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles destroyed several lowland settlements (Chartul. St Mary’s, Dublin, ii, 324)Google Scholar.

34 Cal. doc. Ire., 1293-1301, nos 261, 475.

35 Ibid., nos 528, 549, 586, 612.

36 Cal. doc. Ire., 1302-7, no. 501. It is possible, however, that revenue collected was expended at source — for hiring troops and repairing fortifications — and only the balance was returned. Nonetheless, they suggest increased military activity and generally unsettled conditions in south DublinGoogle Scholar.

37 St Mary’s, Chartul, Dublin, ii, 336 Google Scholar.

38 The government launched expeditions into the mountains in 1302 and 1309 (P.R.I. rep. D.K. 38, p. 87; P.R.I, rep. D.K. 39, p. 34; Rot. pat. Hib., p. 9, no. 77). £600 was paid out of the exchequer for the Leinster war in October 1306 (Cal. doc. Ire., 1302-7, no. 567; cf. Lydon, ‘Medieval Wicklow’, p. 168).

39 Quoted in Robin Frame, ‘War and peace in the medieval lordship of Ireland’ in Lydon, J.F. (ed.), The English in medieval Ireland (Dublin, 1984), p. 126 Google Scholar.

40 St Mary’s, Chartul, Dublin, ii, 348 Google Scholar.

41 McNamee, Colm, The wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Ireland, 1306-1328 (East Linton, 1997), p. 179 Google Scholar.

42 St Mary’s, Chartul, Dublin, ii, 349 Google Scholar.

43 Six Harolds are named: Alexander, Thomas, Ankedol son of Richard ‘Carragh’, Thomas son of Ankedol, John son of Askyl, and Haraltyn (N.A.I.,RC 7/13 (iv), pp 123-4).

44 Reginald, Adam, William, Gilbert, Symon, Thomas, David, Milo and Robert Archbold are named (Cal.justic. rolls Ire., 1308-14, p. 319; P.R.I, rep. D.K. 39, p. 66; cf. Ormond deeds, 1172-1350, nos 424, 426).

45 Parker, , ‘Pater familias & parentela’, pp 96-7Google Scholar.

46 rolls, De Banco, 2 Edw. II (N.A.I., RC 7/13/4, no. 92, p. 36)Google Scholar.

47 Reg. Alen, p. 168; N.L.I., MS 801. There is some discrepancy concerning the identity of le Brett’s wife. She is named as Isabella in 1319, but is listed as Geoffrey Harold’s widow in 1308 (see Cal. justic. rolls, 1308-14, p. 45). She probably married le Brett as her second husband after 1308. It was not uncommon for women to marry older men and then remarry following their death. Margaret, one of Peter Harold’s guardians in 1308-9 for instance, was married to his grandfather and then remarried Thomas Spencer.

48 The town of Cruagh was reprimanded for receiving Richard Harold, a known felon (Cal. justic. rolls Ire., 1305-7, pp 476, 480, 500). Later Alexander, son of Gilbert Harold, was held responsible for William Archbold’s death; Alexander and his father paid a £6 fine for Archbold’s death and Henry Harold and Maurice Howel provided security (P.R.I, rep. D.K. 45, pp 25, 27).

49 Reg. Alen, p. 168.

50 P.R.I. rep. D.K. 45, p. 52; Rot. pat. Hib., p. 30, no. 21.

51 Thomas Harold represented the lineage on an expedition against the O’Byrnes in 1329 (P.R.I. rep. D.K. 43, pp 28-9)Google Scholar.

52 The extent also revealed that ten carucates in Haroldstown were waste (Reg. Alen, pp 172, 191)Google Scholar.

53 See above, n. 44.

54 The Archbolds paid 40s. for their actions, with security provided by Hugh Lawless and David Archbold (Cal. Justic. rolls Ire., 1308-14, p. 319).

55 Connolly, Philomena (ed.), Irish exchequer payments, 1270-1446, i: 1270-1326 (Dublin, 1998), pp 236, 239Google Scholar.

56 P.R.I. rep. D.K. 43, pp 28-9.

57 P.R.I. rep. D.K. 45, p. 55; Rot. pat. Hib., p. 39, no. 80. Howel, Peter, another prominent marcher, held the vill of Balymolghan, or Murphystown, from the priory of Holy Trinity (Account roll of the priory of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, 1337-1346, ed. Mills, James (Dublin, 1996), pp 78, 81)Google Scholar.

58 Memoranda roll, 5 & 6 Edw. III, m. 11 (N.A.I., RC 8/16, p. 83); Account roll of Holy Trinity, Dublin, p. 195 Google Scholar.

59 P.R.I, rep. D.K. 39, p. 34. Orpen consulted the original pipe roll and lists the expedition’s leaders ( Orpen, G.H., ‘Castrum Keyvini: Castlekevin’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., xxxviii (1908), p. 23)Google Scholar. Howel had also been assigned to defend Newcastle McKynegan in 1316-17 and took part in an expedition against the O’Byrnes in 1329 (Ir. excheq. payments, i, 239-40; P.R.I, rep. D.K. 39, p. 34).

60 P.R.I. rep. D.K. 43, p. 43; Rot. pat. Hib., p. 38, no. 13.

61 In 1329 Maurice Howel with five others, including two Lawlesses, were fined £10 because they ‘had not John Lawless’. They were pardoned in 1334 for good services after paying £3 (P.R.I, rep. D.K. 43, p. 33).

62 He was knighted before 1314 (Cal.justic. rolls Ire., 1308-14, p. 319).

63 Richard Lawless was mayor of Dublin in 1313, and Elias Lawless, chamberlain of the exchequer, was involved in the dispatch of provisions from Drogheda for the war in Scotland in 1314 (Christ Church deeds, no. 184; P.R.I, rep. D.K. 39, p. 53).

64 Cal. justic. rolls Ire., 1305-7, p. 479.

65 Cal.justic. rolls Ire., 1308-14, p. 319; P.R.I, rep. D.K. 39, p. 66; cf. P.R.I, rep. D.K. 43, p. 33.

66 P.R.I. rep. D.K. 39, p. 44.

67 Cal. close rolls, 1313-18, pp 287-8. Lawless was the only Dublin marcher to receive the king’s message. Cf. Phillips, J.R.S., ‘The mission of John de Hothum to Ireland, 1315-1316’ in Lydon, J. F. (ed.), England and Ireland in the later middle ages (Dublin, 1981), pp 65-6Google Scholar.

68 Facs. nat. MSS Ire., iii, plate xiv.

69 Ir. excheq, payments, ii, 333, 347, 353, 374, 444, 453, 511, 529; N.A.I., RC 8/27, pp 186, 187, 191,343,346.

70 A 1326 extent of the manor of Shankill reflects the economic devastation caused by Irish raids to the Lawlesses’ lands (Reg. Alen, p. 195).

71 Six Harolds, two Howels, and one member drawn from each of the Lawless, Archbold and Walshe lineages elected Walter Harold (Curtis, ‘Clan system’, p. 116). The Harold pedigree has Thomas son of Peter Harold as lineage head at this time (N.L.I., MS 801). In 1337 Peter had another son, Richard, though neither he nor Thomas were among Walter Harold’s electors (N.L.I., MS 191).

72 Matthew Archbold was one of Harold’s electors (Nicholls, ‘Críoch Branach’, p. 16; N.L.I., MS 192, p. 72). No listing of the electors of O’Byrne and Archbold appears ever to have existed.

73 Curtis, ‘Clan system’, p. 16.

74 Frame, Robin, ‘English officials and Irish chiefs in the fourteenth century’ in E.H.R., xc (1975), p. 755 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

75 Watt, J.A., ‘The Anglo-Irish colony under strain, 1327-99’ in New hist. Ire., ii, 383; Curtis, ‘Clan system’, p. 16 Google Scholar.

76 Stat. Ire., John-Hen. V, p. 211. See Lydon, J.F. (ed.), Law and disorder in thirteenth-century Ireland: the Dublin parliament of 1297 (Dublin, 1997)Google Scholar.

77 Stat. Ire., John-Hen. V, pp 283-4; see also ibid., p. 273.

78 See above, p. 119.

79 See above, p. 120.

80 Smith, Brendan, ‘Keeping the peace’ in Lydon (ed.), Law and disorder, p. 65 Google Scholar.

81 Otway-Ruthven, A.J., ‘Ireland in the 1350s: Sir Thomas de Rokeby and his successors’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., xcvii (1967), p. 47 Google Scholar; see also Frame, Robin, ‘Thomas Rokeby, sheriff of Yorkshire, justiciar of Ireland’ in Peritia, x (1996), pp 274-96CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

82 Otway-Ruthven, , Med. Ire., pp 277-8Google Scholar.

83 Sayles, G.O. (ed.), Documents on the affairs of Ireland before the king’s council (I.M.C., Dublin, 1979), p. 197 Google Scholar.

84 For what Otway-Ruthven described at as a ‘complete overhaul of the Irish administration’ see Otway-Ruthven, , Med. Ire., pp 277-8Google Scholar; Frame, ‘Thomas Rokeby’, p. 285.

85 Curtis, ‘Clan system’, p. 117.

86 Rot. pat. Hib., p. 53, no. 93.

87 Quoted in Frame, Robin, Colonial Ireland, 1169-1369 (Dublin, 1981), p. 121 Google Scholar.

88 In 1320, for instance, Hugh Lawless was recognised as lineage-head and authorised to treat with certain of the Leinster Irish (Rot. pat. Hib., p. 26, no. 7); cf. Frame, Robin, English lordship in Ireland, 1318-1361 (Oxford, 1982), pp 27-8Google Scholar.

89 Nicholls, K.W., Gaelic and gaelicised Ireland in the middle ages (Dublin, 1972), p. 185 Google Scholar.

90 Frame, ‘English officials & Irish chiefs’, pp 771-5.

91 Cf. Rot. pat. Hib., p. 56, no. 35; p. 66, no. 17; Liber mun. pub. Hib., i, 226; Rot. pat. Hib., p. 87, no. 58.

92 Frame, ‘English officials & Irish chiefs’, pp 771-2; Simms, Katharine, From kings to warlords: the changing political structure of Gaelic Ireland in the later middle ages (Woodbridge, 1987), pp 37-8Google Scholar.

93 A Stephen Harold, along with a number of Gaelic clansmen, was held as a hostage by the government in 1279, and Richard ‘Carragh’ Harold is named as the father of a Harold tenant of George de la Roche near Wicklow in 1308 (Cal. doc. Ire., 1252-84, no. 1577; N.A.I., RC 7/13 (iv), p. 124).

94 Robert Lawless is conspicuously absent from the list of electors; his son Hugh, however, is named (Curtis, ‘Clan system’, p. 116).

95 See Johnston, Dorothy, ‘Richard II and the submissions of Gaelic Ireland’ in I.H.S., xxii, no. 85 (Mar. 1980), p. 5 Google Scholar.

96 Saul, Nigel, Richard II (New Haven & London, 1997), pp 270-71, 281-2Google Scholar.

97 The confiscated lands were: Whitestown, Termok, Killaghtre, Killmartown, Ballyronan, Kilmol, Kenlyestown, Suttonestown, Kilfernok and Carrickmines (Rot. pat. Hib., p. 154, no. 52). See also Curtis, Edmund, ‘Janico Dartas, Richard the Second’s “Gascon squire”: his career in Ireland, 1394—1426’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., lxiii (1933), pp 182–205 Google Scholar; Walker, Simon, ‘Janico Dartasso: chivalry, nationality and the man-at-arms’ in History, lxxxiv (1999), pp 31–51 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

98 Curtis, Edmund (ed.), ‘Unpublished letters from Richard II in Ireland, 1394—5’ in R.I.A. Proc, xxxvii (1924—7), sect. C, pp 296-7Google Scholar. This is most unlikely, as William Lawless was slain in the frontier’s defence that year and his wife, Katherine FitzEustace, was subsequently charged with its defence (Rot. pat. Hib., p. 151, no. 15).

99 Curtis (ed.), ‘Unpublished letters’, p. 296; Walker, ‘Janico Dartasso’, p. 38.

100 William Archbold was constable of Newcastle McKynegan in 1400, and the lineage retained Kindlestown (Rot. pat. Hib., p. 157, no. 69; p. 172, no. 7).

101 In 1405 the O’Byrnes destroyed Newcastle McKynegan and then re-fortified the position (Ann. Conn., s.a. 1405). The O’Byrnes held Newcastle until the mid-sixteenth century (Cal. Carew MSS, 1515-74, no. 170). Castlekevin had fallen half a century before (Rot. pat. Hib., p. 44, no. 21). In 1429 an army was dispatched from the more northerly position of Bray (ibid., p. 249, no. 20).

102 The northern limit of the O’Byrne lordship was the Delgany river; the O’Tooles occupied the inland areas of Fertire and Fercullen. See Maginn, Christopher, ‘The extension of Tudor rule in the O’Byrne and O’Toole lordships’ (Ph.D. thesis, N.U.I. Galway, 2002)Google Scholar.

103 Stat. Ire., Hen. VI, pp 34—6. ‘Maghery’ was a transliteration of the Irish machaire, meaning ‘a plain’ or ‘champaign ground’: see Ellis, S.G., Reform and revival: English government in Ireland, 1470-1534 (London, 1986), p. 52 Google Scholar.

104 The term Walshe, or Walshman, poses additional difficulties because it was often employed to describe anyone of Welsh ancestry. A Walshestown can, for instance, also be found in Cork, Louth and in north County Dublin in the manor of Lusk. See Flanagan, ‘Historia Gruffud’, pp 71-86.

105 Reg. Alen, p. 172. Robert Walshe later appears as one of Walter Harold’s electors in 1350 (Curtis, ‘Clan system’, p. 116).

106 Christ Church deeds, nos 227, 253, 276.

107 D’Alton, John, The history of the county of Dublin (Dublin, 1838), p. 836 Google Scholar. I have been unable to find the document on which D’Alton based this very specific assertion.

108 Cal. close rolls, 1399-1402, p. 69; cf. Christ Church deeds, no. 253.

109 See above, p. 120. The Walshes also occupied the Howel lands at Balyhauly, Balyhammond and Balytyr. In 1430 Henry Walshe referred to a patent dated 29 Oct. 1408 which recognised him as William Walshe’s heir and thus owner of the Howel lands (Rot. pat. Hib., p. 249, no. 1). William Walshe was also known as William FitzHenry Adamson (memoranda roll, 7 & 8 Hen. IV, m. 74 (N.A.I., RC 8/33, pp 348, 355); cf. St Mary’s, Chartul, Dublin, i, 280-81)Google Scholar.

110 Aveline Lawless was at this time in possession of lands in Shanganagh, Old Connacht, Kilruddery and Corcagh (Rot. pat. Hib., p. 190, no. 58). This is an interesting example of a female marcher inheriting her father’s lands despite the existence of male relations; see also above, n. 98. For other instances of a Lawless presence in Shanganagh see Rot. pat. Hib., p. 252, no. 11; Mason, W.M., The history and antiquities of the collegiate and cathedral church of St Patrick near Dublin, from its formation in 1190 to the year 1819 (Dublin, 1820), p. 70 Google Scholar.

111 In 1440 Thomas FitzMaurice and O’Byrne burnt wheat and corn in Kilgobbin belonging to James Walshe Adamson (Ormond deeds, 1413-1509, no. 135). Adamson must be related to the William FitzHenry Adamson mentioned in connexion with Balyhauly, Balyhammond and Balytyr in 1407-8 (memoranda roll, 7 & 8 Hen. IV, m. 74 (N.A.I., RC 8/33, p. 348)). The motivation for the attack is obscure, but followed numerous offences committed by FitzMaurice.

112 Mason, Hist. St Patrick’s, pp 89, 90.

113 The Lawless lands were: Shanganagh, Old Connacht, Corcagh, Clementstown and Raulynstown (Stat. Ire., Hen. VI, p. 489).

114 Ibid., p. 557.

115 The 1458 parliament heard that William Walshe attacked a man a league beyond the Dodder river and ‘maliciously with cast of a lance’ killed the man’s horse; the Walshes, however, were only held responsible for the price of the man’s horse (ibid., p. 565).

116 Those to appear were: Henry and William Walshe, Patrick Archbold, Morice Walshe Geoffrey and his son, Esmond Harold, Walter Gilbane Lawless, Patrick and Shoan Lawless (ibid., p. 441).

117 Several recognisable marcher surnames with Gaelic forenames or epithets are evident: Thomas ‘Carragh’ of Shanganagh, Shoan Lawless, Shoan Hacket and Ferdorgh Wellesley; there are also instances of Gaelic men with characteristically English Christian names, such as ‘Richard Duff Mau Moore Obranan’ (ibid.). The absence of O’Byrne or O’Toole clansmen suggests that the marchers and those Irishmen unaffiliated with a clan occupied an increasingly similar community in the march.

118 Dublin city memorandum roll, 4 Edw. IV (copy) (Dublin City Archives, Gilbert collection, p. 57)Google Scholar.

119 Stat. Ire., Hen. VI, p. 757. Other fortifications included the construction of towers at Kilmainham and Lucan in 1455 and the proposed erection in 1459 of a castle at Bray (ibid., pp 403-5,633-5). For defensive measures in Kildare see Ellis, S.G., Tudor frontiers and noble power: the making of the British state (Oxford, 1995), pp 114-16CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

120 Dublin city memorandum roll, 32 Hen. VI (copy) (Dublin City Archives, Gilbert collection, pp 16–17)Google Scholar.

121 It was forbidden both to transport corn to the marches and to accept timber from the marches (Dublin city memorandum roll, 33 Hen. VI (copy) (ibid., pp 19-20); see also Anc. rec. Dublin, i, 284, 287-8, 309).

122 Cosgrove suggests that the English population had been dwindling for most of the century; the expulsion of Irishmen may have been an effort to stem a perceived inundation of Gaelic peoples (see Cosgrove, Art, ‘The emergence of the Pale, 1399-1447’ in New hist. Ire., ii, 553)Google Scholar. In 1457-8 Englishmen were required to shave the hair above the mouth so that they might be distinguished from Irishmen (Stat. Ire., Hen. VI, p. 88).

123 Cal.justic. rolls Ire., 1308-14, p. 150.

124 Geoffrey Harold and his sons Thomas and Edmund, Thadeus Shereff, Thomas Bethaighe and Robert Burnelle were implicated (Reg. Alen, p. 242). The incident contributed to the Harolds going ‘undyr wode’ in 1461.

125 Remarkably, this was Tregury’s second time in captivity: he had reputedly been carried off by pirates in 1453 ( Berry, H.F. (ed.), Register of wills and inventories of the diocese of Dublin in the time of Archbishops Tregury and Walton, 1457-83 (Dublin, 1898), p. x)Google Scholar.

126 Reg. Alen, p. 242.

127 In 1460 he obtained a grant of recovery entitling him to lands between Dalkey and Ballymore (Stat. Ire., Hen. VI, pp 768-71).

128 Ibid. In 1462 he claimed property near Haroldstown and intended to hold a visitation near Shankill (N.L.I., MS 801; Berry (ed.), Registers of wills & inventories, p. xxi; Stokes, G.T., ‘Calendar of the “Liber Niger Alani”‘ in R.S.A.I. Jn., xxiii (1893), p. 311)Google Scholar.

129 Ann. Conn., s.a. 1463.

130 In August Harold attacked Balally, Dundrum, Mulchanstown and Leopardstown (Stat. Ire., 1-12 Edw. IV, pp 67-9).

131 Ibid.

132 Ibid., p. 215.

133 According to the Harold pedigree, following Geoffrey’s death his sons Esmond and Thomas of Kilmashogue inherited his estates (N.L.I., MS 801).

134 Stat. Ire., 1-12 Edw. IV, pp 399-401.

135 Richard and Nicholas Harold, Walter Gilbane Lawless, Henry Walshe’s brother Esmond and his sons William and John are named; many names match those found on the list of felons compiled a decade earlier, and, importantly, Maurice Walshe is named as the earl of Kildare’s servant (Stat. Ire., 1-12 Edw. IV, p. 443; Stat. Ire., 12-22 Edw. IV, p. 125).

136 Stat. Ire., 1-12 Edw. IV, p. 461; Stat. Ire., 12-22 Edw. IV, pp 261-3).

137 The Harolds’ country was defined as lying between Saggart and Kilmashogue (Stat. Ire., 1-12 Edw. IV, p. 667).

138 Stat. Ire., 12-22 Edw. IV, p. 517.

139 Anc. rec. Dublin, i, 357.

140 The Brotherhood consisted of thirteen Pale magnates who annually elected a captain of 120 archers and 40 horse. The Dublin marchers were not members. See Ellis, S.G., Ireland in the age of the Tudors, 1447-1603: English expansion and the end of Gaelic rule (London, 1998), pp 72–3 Google Scholar.

141 Bryan, Donough, Gerald Fitzgerald, the Great Earl of Kildare, 1456-1513 (Dublin, 1933), pp 44-6Google Scholar.

142 Christ Church deeds, nos 332, 333

143 Reg. Alen., p. 276; Quinn, D.B. (ed.), ‘The bills and statutes of the Irish parliaments of Henry VII and Henry VIII’ in Anal. Hib., no. 10 (1941), pp 132-4Google Scholar.

144 Reg. Alen., p. 262; Gairdner, James (ed.), Letters and papers illustrative of the reigns of Richard III and Henry VII (London, 1861-3), p. 93 Google Scholar. Gairdner dates the request to c. 1486, but according to Quinn, Kildare sent his representative, John Estrete, to meet with Richard III ( Quinn, D.B., ‘Aristocratic autonomy, 1460-94’ in New hist. Ire., ii, 609 Google Scholar). Ellis places the meeting in 1486 during Henry VH’s reign (Ellis, Ireland in the age of the Tudors, p. 84).

145 In 1540 Turlough O’Toole claimed that the O’Tooles had been expelled from Fercullen by the earls of Kildare (S.P. Hen. VIII, iii, 270).

146 Ibid., p. 264; memoranda roll, 15 Hen. VII, m. 28 (N.A.I., 8/43, p. 201).

147 The march boundaries ran along the coast from Dalkey to Merrion and then south-west, following the Dodder river, to Saggart and Rathcoole towards Kildare (D’Alton, Dublin, p. 34; Quinn, D.B., ‘Guide to English financial records for Irish history, 1461-1558, with illustrative extracts, 1401-1509’ in Anal. Hib., no. 10 (1941), p. 84 Google Scholar.

148 L., B., Royal MS 18c, xiv, ff 47, 137Google Scholar.

149 Edmund Harold, ‘captain of his nation’, Thomas Harold, ‘portreeve of Saggart’, several other Harolds and Archbolds, together with dozens of other men, were bound to appear before the constable of Dublin to answer for various treasons by August 1493 ( Connolly, Philomena (ed.), Statute rolls of the Irish parliament, Richard III - Henry VIII (Dublin, 2002), pp 123-5Google Scholar).

150 B.L., Royal MS 18c, xiv, ff 97v, 99v, 130v.

151 Ibid., f. 1O1v.

152 See Conway, Agnes, Henry VII’s relations with Scotland and Ireland (Cambridge, 1932), p. 230 Google Scholar.

153 Ball, , Dublin, iii, 105 Google Scholar.

154 Ibid., pp 84—5. Much of Shanganagh came into the possession of William Walshe of Carrickmines following his daughter’s marriage to Walter Walshe of Shanganagh in 1542 ( Griffith, M.C. (ed.), Calendar of inquisitions formerly in the office of the chief remembrancer of the exchequer prepared from the MSS of the Irish Record Commission (Dublin, 1991), Edw. VI 36/8(c), p. 130 Google Scholar; cf, . The Irish fiants of the Tudor sovereigns, 1521-1603 (4 vols, Dublin, 1994), Hen. VIII, no. 246; Edw. VI, nos 214, 542)Google Scholar. Parts of Newcastle, however, continued to be called ‘Lawless country’ into the seventeenth century (Nicholls, ‘Críoch Branach’, p. 17).

155 The O’Tooles and certain O’Byrnes bore the brunt of Geraldine exactions in the district ( Niocaill, Gearóid Mac (ed.), Crown surveys of lands, 1540-1, with the Kildare rental begun in 1518 (Dublin, 1992), pp 265-7Google Scholar).

156 Certain Walshes, Harolds, Archbolds and Lawlesses received gifts of horses and hackneys from Kildare almost annually between 1513 and 1531, the former two lineages receiving gifts more regularly (ibid., pp 320-21, 323, 325-7, 334, 339, 340, 342, 346, 348-9). Malaghlin Lawless and Patrick Archbold were Kildare’s rent collectors in the O’More lordship and the O’Byrne and O’Toole lordships respectively (ibid., pp 265-7).

157 S.P. Hen.VIII, ii, 293.

158 John Harold, ‘captain of his nation’ by July 1518, was evidently sheriff of Dublin sometime during William Skeffington’s deputyship (1530-32, 1534-6) (P.R.I, rep. D.K. 24, no. 1131; Cal. inq., Eliz. 117/78, p. 243; N.L.I., MS 801). He is not mentioned in the memoranda rolls, however.

159 S.P. Hen. VIII, ii, 8.

160 Ibid., p. 446; cf. N.A.I., RC 9/3, 52-6.

161 S.P. Hen. VIII, iii, 270.

162 Sir Nicholas Bagenal to earl of Leicester, Feb. 1566 (P.R.O., SP 63/16/33).

163 Responsibility for their countries was given to Thomas Fitzwilliam (Sidney to privy council, 15 Apr. 1566 (ibid., SP 63/17/13)).

164 See Maginn, ‘Extension of Tudor rule in the O’Byrne & O’Toole lordships’, ch. 3.

165 At the height of the earl of Tyrone’s rebellion it was reported that ‘many of the Welshes, & Harrolls beinge in nomber nere 100 are entred into rebellion, and are very noysom neighbours to this cyttie bothe by burninge and preyinge’ (‘A view of the last certificate made to the earl of Essex ... of the state of the province of Leinster’, Jan. 1600 (P.R.O., SP 63/207/71)).