The Battle of Skerries, also named the Battle of Ardscull, was a battle in the Bruce campaign in Ireland – part of the First War of Scottish Independence

First War of Scottish Independence

The First War of Scottish Independence lasted from the invasion by England in 1296 until the de jure restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328...

 – fought on 26 January 1316, resulting in a Scottish

Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...

 victory. It was part of the Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 campaign of Edward Bruce

Edward Bruce

Edward the Bruce , sometimes modernised Edward of Bruce, was a younger brother of King Robert I of Scotland, who supported his brother in the struggle for the crown of Scotland, then pursued his own claim in Ireland. He was proclaimed High King of Ireland, but was eventually defeated and killed in...

, brother of Robert Bruce

Robert I of Scotland

Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

, king of Scotland. The site of the battle was Skerries

Skerries

Skerries is the plural of skerry, meaning a small rocky island.Skerries may refer to a number of geographical locations:-Ireland:*Skerries, Dublin, a seaside town in Ireland*The Skerries, Northern Ireland...

 near Ardclough

Ardclough

Ardclough, officially Ardclogh , is a village and community in the parish of Kill County Kildare, Ireland, two miles off the N7 national primary road. Amongst its buildings today are a national school, a church, Ardclough GAA Club, and one shop "Buggys". Ardclough also contains the historic round...

 in County Kildare

County Kildare

County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...

.

The battle

Edward Bruce, earl of Carrick

Earl of Carrick

The Earl of Carrick was the head of a comital lordship of Carrick in southwestern Scotland. The title emerged in 1186, when Donnchad, son of Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway, became Mormaer or Earl of Carrick in compensation for exclusion from the whole Lordship of Galloway...

, had landed in Ireland in May the year before, and been proclaimed king of the island in June, which the Irish population saw as a postitve thing since Bruce's goal was to remove the English.
Bruce continued on his march south, before again encountering the government forces in January. The Hiberno-Norman

Hiberno-Norman

The Hiberno-Normans are those Norman lords who settled in Ireland who admitted little if any real fealty to the Anglo-Norman settlers in England, and who soon began to interact and intermarry with the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. The term embraces both their origins as a distinct community with...

 forces, summoned by the justiciar of Ireland, consisted of men such as John FitzThomas FitzGerald, Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald

Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond

Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond was an Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland, Captain of Desmond Castle in Kinsale, so-called ruler of Munster, and for a short time Lord Justice of Ireland....

, Thomas FitzJohn

Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare

Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare, Lord Offaly was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland and Lord Justice of Ireland....

, John and Arnold Poer, Maurice de Rocheford and Miles and David de la Roche. Though these forces heavily outnumbered those of Bruce, internal strife broke out in the Anglo-Irish ranks, a fact that Bruce could take advantage of. Though suffering heavy losses, the Scots held the battlefield, effectively winning the battle.

Aftermath

The official English account of the battle blamed unfortunate terrain and bad luck for the government forces' loss, not an entirely convincing explanation. The same account also claims that the Scots lost many of their greatest men, while their opponents only lost one man. After the battle the Scots withdrew to Leix

County Laois

County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...

, while the Anglo-Irish forces kept them under surveillance from nearby Castledermot

Castledermot

Castledermot is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road from Dublin to Waterford passes through the village but completion of a bypass is due during 2010.-Demographics:...

, while their leader withdrew to Dublin. Here John Hotham

John Hotham (bishop)

John Hotham was a medieval Bishop of Ely.Hotham was elected to Ely about 20 June 1316 and consecrated on 3 October 1316.Hotham was appointed Lord High Treasurer of England on 27 May 1317 and left that office before 10 June 1318....

, the king's envoy to Ireland, made a great effort to ensure the loyalty of the Irish nobles. By May, however, Bruce had returned to his safe base in Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

, while Hotham had returned to his new position in England as Bishop of Ely

Bishop of Ely

The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...

.