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From: "Dora Smith" <tiggernut24@yahoo.com>
List Editor: Richard Gorrie <rgorrie@UOGUELPH.CA>
Editor's Subject: Two questions on medieval Irish history
Author's Subject: Two questions on medieval Irish history
Date Written: November 18, 2009 6:42:55 PM EST
Date Posted: Mon, 22 Nov 2009 08:10:37 -0500

I'm reading history of Ireland, particularly R.F. Foster's Oxford History of
Ireland.

I would like to find answers to two questions.

First, why did England make such a half-hearted effort at conquering Ireland?  
It seems like the Normans could have incorporated Ireland into England properly
for all time, if it had gone about it properly.   If the Normans wanted
Ireland, why not just take it?   It does not appear that the Irish were strong
enough, unified enough, or well armed enough to effectively resist them.   What
was all of this playing with the local lords by under-nobility about?

Second, in a time when affairs in Ireland were pretty much normal for western
Europe, or at worst a generation behind the rest of western Europe, why did the
rest of western Europe sneer at Irish culture?   Particularly since the Irish
had a culture, which was pretty unusual in Europe at that point.

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, TX
tiggernut24@yahoo.com

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