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 IndependenceThe First War of Scottish Independence lasted from the outbreak of the war with 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
ScottishThe Kingdom of Scotland was a state in North-West Europe which existed from 843 until 1707...
victory. It was part of the
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
campaign of
Edward BruceEdward de Brus , modernised Edward the Bruce or 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...
, brother of
Robert BruceThe following have been known as Robert Bruce:Those belonging to the Bruce family of Scotland:Note: There are currently discrepancies between this list and the actual article contents....
, king of Scotland. The site of the battle was
SkerriesSkerries 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
ArdcloughArdclough 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 tower at Oughterard...
in
County KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
.
The battle
Edward Bruce,
earl of CarrickThe Earl of Carrick was the head of a comital lordship of Carrick in south-western 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
Anglo-IrishAnglo-Irish was a term used historically to describe a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until 1871, or to a lesser...
forces, summoned by the justiciar of Ireland, consisted of men such as John and
Maurice FitzThomasMaurice FitzThomas, 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 FitzJohnThomas 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
LeixCounty Laois is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. Its name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix....
, while the Anglo-Irish forces kept them under surveillance from nearby
CastledermotCastledermot is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow...
, while their leader withdrew to Dublin. Here
John HothamJohn Hotham was a medieval Bishop of Ely.He was elected to Ely about 20 June 1316 and consecrated on 3 October 1316.He 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
UlsterUlster is one of the four Provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island.Ulster is composed of nine counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone are part of Northern Ireland; while Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan are part of the Republic of Ireland.-Terminology:The...
, while Hotham had returned to his new position in England as
Bishop of ElyThe 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...
.