Ireland

• Henry VII's power in Ireland


  Only extended as far as the Pale, the area of land which surrounded Dublin
• Power in the rest of Ireland

  • Lay with the descendants of the Anglo-Norman barons who had settled there in the twelfth century
  • The most important were the Fitzgeralds (or Geraldines) and the Butlers
• The dominant figure


  The Earl of Kildare (the leader of the Geraldines), Lord Deputy of Ireland since 1477
• Kildare had Yorkist sympathies

  This suspicion was reinforced by Kildare's support for Lambert Simnel, whom he crowned king of Ireland in 1486
• Kildare supported Perkin Warbeck in 1491


  This compounded his suspicion in Henry's eyes
• Henry's strategy


  1. Instead of relying on the established Irish aristocracy, who were cheap but unreliable, he attempted the more costly approach of rule of the Pale through an Englishman, backed by armed force

  2. He appointed his infant son Prince Henry as Lieutenant of Ireland and appointed Sir Edward Poynings as his deputy
• Poynings


  • Was initially successful in establishing royal authority by means of the threat of force and the use of bribery
  • He reinforced this success by requiring the Irish parliament to pass 'Poynings' Law' in 1495, which laid down that the Irish parliament could pass no law without the prior approval of the English Crown
  • He also attempted to implement English law in Ireland
• Warbeck returned to Ireland in 1495


  Amassed a force which besieged the town of Waterford
• Henry was short of money because of the threat of invasion by the Scots


  He was forced to recall Poynings and once again had to depend on the cheap option of using Kildare as his deputy
• By 1496 Kildare had decided there was no benefit in supporting the Yorkist cause any longer


  He decided to serve Henry loyally, in the process securing the submission of the various Irish chieftains
• By around 1500 Henry had eventually secured some level of peaceable - and cheap - authority over Ireland, though he was undoubtedly fortunate in that Kildare eventually proved so amenable
• The fact that Kildare was able to use his office to rebuild his family's fortunes doubtless made him eager to support his former enemy