‘A Life for a Life’

The battle of Dysart O’Dea took place in 1318 outside the present-day village of Corofin in North Clare. The facts are as I relate in the book, except that no one knows whose plan it was to lure the Normans onto marshy ground.

The Normans came to Britain from northern France in 1066. They quickly conquered Britain and in the twelfth century, under the rule of King Henry II, they endeavoured to conquer Ireland. After about a hundred years they had succeeded in conquering about two-thirds of the country, but then the Irish began to fight back.

The main resistance came after the Scots, under Robert The Bruce, won their freedom from England. Robert’s brother, Edward was crowned king of Ireland in 1316 and the battle of Dysart O’Dea was one of the many battles during his three and a half years’ reign. It was an important battle for County Clare, then known as Thomond, because the Normans, or English, did not return to that part of the world until the time of Queen Elizabeth I, over two hundred years later.

Read &Write:

1 Chapter 1 Why were the Normans better protected than the native Irish?

2 Chapter 2 What was the difference between the bows used by the Irish and the bows used by the Normans

3 Chapter 2 How were the arrows made?

4 Chapter 2 Why would the marshy ground be more risky for the Normans than the Irish?

5 Chapter 2 What was Shane wearing to give him protection against the arrows?

6 Chapter 5 How many knights were killed at the same time as de Clare?