The Pale
Encyclopedia
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...
that was directly under the control of the English government in the late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. It had reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey
Dalkey
Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...
, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
. The inland boundary went to Leixlip
Leixlip
-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...
around the Earldom of Kildare, towards Trim
Trim, County Meath
Trim is the traditional county town of County Meath in Ireland, although the county town is now Navan. The town was recorded in the 2006 census to have a population of 6,870....
and north towards Kells
Kells, County Meath
Kells is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. In recent years Kells has grown greatly with many Dublin commuters moving to the town....
. In this district, many townlands have English or French names.
History
The Norman invasion of IrelandNorman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
beginning in 1169 brought much of Ireland briefly under the theoretical control of the Plantagenet Kings of England. From the 13th century onwards, 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...
occupation in the rest of Ireland at first faltered then waned. Across most of Ireland the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
increasingly assimilated into Irish culture after 1300. A series of alliances with their neighbouring autonomous Gaelic
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...
princes developed. In the long periods when there was no large royal army in Ireland, the Norman lords in the provinces acted as effectively independent rulers in their own areas, as the Gaels continued to do.
The remaining Lordship
Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland refers to that part of Ireland that was under the rule of the king of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541. It was created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71 and was succeeded by the Kingdom of Ireland...
that was actually controlled by the English king shrank accordingly, and as parts of its perimeter in counties Meath
County Meath
County Meath 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 ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
and 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...
were fenced or ditched, it became known as the Pale, deriving from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word "palus", a stake, or, synecdochically
Synecdoche
Synecdoche , meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech in which a term is used in one of the following ways:* Part of something is used to refer to the whole thing , or...
, a fence. Parts can still be seen west of Clane
Clane
Clane is a town on the River Liffey and in the barony of Clane in County Kildare, Ireland, from Dublin.Its population of 4,968 makes it the eighth largest town in Kildare and the 78th largest in the Republic of Ireland....
on the grounds of what is now Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College is a voluntary secondary boarding school for boys, located near Clane in County Kildare, Ireland. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1814, it is one of Ireland's oldest Catholic schools, and featured prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the...
. The military power of the crown itself was greatly weakened by the Hundred Years War (1337–1453), and the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
(1455–85). The Irish parliament was created, which often sat at Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
, until the Tudors took greater interest in Irish affairs from 1485 and moved it back to Dublin. The Pale generally consisted of fertile lowlands, which were easier for the garrison to defend from ambush than hilly or wooded ground. For reasons of trade and administration, a version of English became the official and common language. Its closest modern derivative is said to be the accent used by natives of Fingal
Fingal
Fingal is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. With its county seat located in Swords, it has a population of 239,992 according to the 2006 census...
.
In 1366
1366 in Ireland
-Events:*Irish Parliament at Kilkenny before Prince Lionel of Clarence, Earl of Ulster codifies the defensive legislation of the previous 50 years in the Statutes of Kilkenny, prohibiting, among other things, the adoption of the Irish language by the colonists ....
, in order for the English Crown to assert its authority over the settlers, a parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
was assembled in Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...
and the Statute of Kilkenny was enacted. The statute decreed that inter-marriage between English settlers and Irish natives was forbidden. It also forbade the settlers using the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
and adopting Irish modes of dress or other customs; such practices were already common. In particular the adoption of Gaelic Brehon property laws undermined the feudal nature of the Lordship. The Act could never be implemented successfully, even in the Pale itself, and was a sign of how Ireland was withdrawing from English cultural norms. By the Tudor period, the Irish culture and language had regained most of the territory initially lost to the colonists: even in the Pale, ‘all the common folk … for the most part are of Irish birth, Irish habit and of Irish language’. And in fact there was fairly extensive intermarriage between the Gaelic Irish aristocracy and Anglo-Norman lords beginning not long after the invasion and continuing right through into modern times. See Irish nobility
Irish nobility
This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion...
for some surviving examples.
By the late 15th century the Pale became the only part of Ireland that remained subject to the English king, with most of the island paying only token recognition of the overlordship of the English crown. The tax base shrank to a fraction of what it had been in 1300. The earls of Kildare ruled as Lords Deputy from 1470 (with more or less success) by a series of alliances with the Gaels
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
. This lasted until the 1520s, when the earls passed out of royal favour, but the 9th earl
Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare
Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare , also known in Irish as Gearóid Óg , was a figure in Irish History. In 1513 he inherited the title of Earl of Kildare and position of Lord Deputy of Ireland from his father.-Family:...
was reinstated in the 1530s. The brief revolt by his son "Silken Thomas"
Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare
Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare , also known as Silken Thomas , was a figure in Irish history.He spent a considerable part of his early life in England: his mother Elizabeth Zouche, was a cousin of Henry VII...
in 1534–35 led on to the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the following decades, in which Dublin and the surviving Pale was used as the main military base for expansion.
Origin of the name
The word pale derives ultimately from the Latin word palus, meaning stake, specifically a stake used to support a fence. From this came the figurative meaning of boundary and eventually the phrase beyond the pale, as something outside the boundary. Also derived from the "boundary" concept was the idea of a palePale
-Color:*Pale, an adjective meaning of a light shade or hue; approaching white*Paleness , a relative lightness of color*Pale, a variance of human skin color, especially:**Pallor, a symptom of low oxygen content in blood or avoidance of sunlight...
as an area within which local laws were valid. As well as the Pale in Ireland, the term was applied to various other English colonial settlements. In addition, the term Pale of Settlement
Pale of Settlement
The Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia, in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited...
was applied to the area in the west of Imperial Russia where Jews were permitted to reside.
Fortification
The Pale boundary essentially consisted of a fortified ditchDitch (fortification)
A ditch in military engineering is an obstacle, designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders...
and rampart built around parts of the medieval counties of Louth
County Louth
County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Meath
County Meath
County Meath 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 ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
and 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...
, actually leaving half of Meath, most of Kildare, and south west Dublin on the other side. The northern frontier of the Pale was marked by the De Verdon fortress of Castle Roche
Castle Roche
Castle Roche is a Norman castle located north-west of Dundalk, Co. Louth. It was the seat of the De Verdun family , who built the castle in 1236 AD....
, while the southern border roughly corresponds to the present day M50 motorway
M50 motorway (Ireland)
The M50 motorway is a motorway in Ireland running in a C-shaped ring around the north-eastern, northern, western and southern sides of the capital city, Dublin. The northern end of the route is located at the entrance to the Dublin Port Tunnel. Anti-clockwise it heads northwest through the tunnel...
in Dublin, which crosses the site of what was Carrickmines Castle
Carrickmines Castle
Carrickmines Castle is an archaeological site in Carrickmines, County Dublin, in eastern Ireland. The castle was built in the medieval period to protect the English-ruled Pale around Dublin...
.
The following description is from The parish of Taney: a history of Dundrum, near Dublin, and its neighbourhood (1895):
In the period immediately after the Norman Settlement was constructed the barrier, known as the "Pale," separating the lands occupied by the settlers from those remaining in the hands of the Irish. This barrier consisted of a ditch, raised some ten or twelve feet from the ground, with a hedge of thorn on the outer side. It was constructed, not so much to keep out the Irish, as to form an obstacle in their way in their raids on the cattle of the settlers, and thus give time for a rescue. The Pale began at Dalkey, and followed a southwesterly direction towards Kilternan; then turning northwards passed Kilgobbin, where a castle still stands, and crossed the Parish of Taney to the south of that part of the lands of Balally now called Moreen, and thence in a westerly direction to Tallaght, and on to Naas in the County of Kildare. In the wall bounding Moreen is still to be seen a small watch-tower and the remains of a guard-house adjoining it. From this point a beacon-fire would raise the alarm as far as Tallaght, where an important castle stood. A portion of the Pale is still to be seen in Kildare between Clane and Clongowes Wood College at Sallins.
Within the confines of the Pale the leading gentry and merchants lived lives not too different from that of their counterparts in England, except that they lived under the constant fear of attack from the Gaelic Irish.
End of The Pale
Eventually, after the 16th and 17th centuries, and especially after the Anglican Reformation and the Plantation of UlsterPlantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation of Ulster—a province of Ireland—by people from Great Britain. Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while official plantation controlled by King James I of England and VI of Scotland began in 1609...
, many of the "Old English" settlers were gradually assimilated into the Irish population, in large part due to their relative reluctance to give up Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
(those who worshiped in the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
were rewarded with a higher status). They kept their version of the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, which had Cornish influences, for the most part. They were in fact joined by other English Roman Catholics fleeing persecution under Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
and subsequent monarchs. By the Tudor period, however, the Irish culture and language had regained most of the territory initially lost to the colonists: even in the Pale ‘all the common folk … for the most part are of Irish birth, Irish habit and of Irish language’.
Modern usage
The term continues to be used in contemporary Irish speech to refer to County DublinCounty Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
and its commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
s, generally critically—for example, a government department may be criticized for concentrating its resources on the Pale.
See also
- Kingdom of Dublin
- Greater Dublin AreaGreater Dublin AreaGreater Dublin Area , or simply Greater Dublin, is a term which is used to describe the city of Dublin and various counties in the hinterland of the city in Ireland. The term has no basis in law and no local government, department of government or agency of the state is bound by the term...
- Pale of SettlementPale of SettlementThe Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia, in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited...
in Imperial Russia