Presentation Brothers

The rank and file Normans living in Ireland gradually became immersed in Irish ways and society, a situation which alarmed their rulers. Their influence was dwindling and they attempted to halt the Gaelic influence by introducing the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1366. The wearing of Irish dress, the use of the Brehon Laws and the speaking of the Irish language were all banned. Various other measures, cultural and military, were employed with the intention of keeping the two peoples apart. But the English crown, embroiled in a costly military campaign in Scotland and the Hundred Years War (1338-1453) against France, had little time for Irish affairs and the statutes remained inoperative.

A steady Gaelic revival continued throughout the fourteenth century and skirmishing between the Normans and the Irish took place on the borders of their respective territories.