The Norman Invasion of Ireland

by Richard Roche

Still the classic work on the subject -- now in a new and enlarged edition -- with "all the evidence of hard work, happily allied to a sense of style. Roche tells his story in the style of a war correspondent" -- Irish Times. This is a fascinating and heavily illustrated account of the most far-reaching event that occurred in Ireland since the introduction of Christianity.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ireland, Medieval, Irish Literature

271 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Cian Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wish I could give this one three and a half stars as that would be a truer representation of how I feel about it. It’s a good book, extremely readable, and tells the story in a very well paced manner. It is still the classic text, but it does at times leave something to be desired. The secondary sources that Roche quotes from are sometimes nearly a century old, and you can really tell. A reverend writing in 1901 is going to have some quite definite sympathies for the conquerors, and it comes out in the quotations that Roche has used. Roche’s use of primary sources on the other hand is excellent, which I suppose is what really matters. He draws from a wide range of both Irish and Anglo-Norman texts, which really helps you to get a feel for period. Gerald of Wales, or “Giraldus” as Roche rightly refers to him, is of course extremely partisan, but that is to be expected of a medieval source.

Outside of sources, my other main gripe is how little time Roche spends on the Norman conquest of Ulster. Historically Ulster has been extremely difficult to subjugate, even Brian Boru only sort of managed it. The fact that it gets dealt with in a few vague pages at the end of the book seems like a shame, after the visceral and exciting descriptions that accompanied previous conquests in the book. That said, I do understand that Roche’s focus with this book was the initial invasion, and he seems to bookend it with the departure of Henry II for England. This is not an unreasonable place to stop, but it is odd that he chose to mention Ulster at all if he didn’t intend to properly cover it.

Overall, this book is very much worth reading and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a little bit on the dated side, but that is hardly Roche’s fault.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an extremely enjoyable book to read. Richard Roche very skillfully tells the story of how the Normans invaded Ireland by piecing together bits and pieces of historical texts.

It helped me to understand a very complex time in Ireland’s history.

I do wish that a little more time had been spent discussing the native Irish versus focusing on the Normans. That being said, I do believe the author used the resources available.

I highly recommend this book to anybody who is interested in the history of Ireland.

[Daniel McGuire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting introduction to the Norman and Galeic histories of the 12th and early 13th centuries. It is a generalisation and contains some bias with the resulting effects of this period, but a great intro to lead on from afterwards!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable, and fascinating insight into the half-conquest of Ireland by the Normans. A good book to springboard further reading from. I now particularly want to read more about the Irish pre-invasion.

[Harrynetta Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is more detailed than what I learned in school growing up in Ireland. I'd recommend it. The only problem I had with this book is that for a few characters he uses both the Irish and English versions of their names which in itself isn't a problem but it's the fact that he flips back and forth between the versions. An example of this is Diarmuid MacMurchadha. Diarmuid MacMurchadha is the Irish for Dermot MacMurrough. It would only have been necessary to explain once for non Irish speakers that Diarmuid MacMurchadha means Dermot MacMurrough and then continue with only one version of the name.

[Jack Massa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, readable history of the subject events, with a thorough analysis of the available sources and some evocative interpretations of the forces and personalities. Recommended for history buffs.