War of the Clovers
1430-1435
Domhnall's failing blood lust and passion for a united Ireland was concealed by Irish prosperity. The Ulster forces of Knox in association with the Connaught militia of Suffolk and Munster militia led by Dunlap were key to Domhnall's reign of power. The reknowned Knox was well respected by the common folk, his frequent tour of duties from the bogs of Dongegal to the mountains of Kerry helped ease rural tensions and ensure fealty to Domhnall. The lancastrian sympatherisers - chiefly the Butlers - feared Knox more than the aloof Domhnall and dared not raise a rebellion against their 'king', even if military support could be gained from Henry VI. Tax collectors in the lands of Leinster, Munster and Ulster [
I had these appointed before 1425 but hadn't mentioned them ] kept Domhnall's coffers saited and ensured monies were collected for research in the learning centers of Armagh and Clonmacnoise. As Europe lay in war, Ireland slept in peace [
Royal marriage to Magdeburg ]. Domhnall continued in his quest to unite the Gaelic cultures of Europe, but his brusque and aloof nature, a feature of the latter days of his reign, no longer endeared him to the courts of Europe, or indeed his Gaelic cousins [
Frequent failed attermpts for RMs with Brittany and England ].
By 1431, war in Europe had ceased after a hasty peace between Lorraine and France, but tensions continued to simmer. Charles VII had amassed an army of almost 144,000 men. It wasn't lost on the French king the threat this army posed to his own crown as to France's neighbours - such an army was not going to lay idle for long. Scotlands' James I continued to gather men to his standard, quietly waiting for for the broth to boil over in the cauldron of Europe. During this period of tension, Irish trade boomed, primarily in war contraband which carried higher valuations and had an eager market [
Level 5 trade in Fllandres, level 1 in Liguria ]. Henry VI had tried to curb this profitability, fearing such funds would be used in an Irish rebellion. In February, some 1000 'custom' officials were raised in Dublin - but were really nothing more than common thugs. Their failure to control anything, let alone themselves, soon had them on a galley to Europe where they could run amok amongst the French peasentry. In December 1431, King Domhnall died in his sleep -
files praied him in poetry and song - but the race was already on to suceed him.
Continued tensions in Europe had made Irish prosperity a liability for Irish security. The chiefs of the four counties agreed that a strong leader was needed to see Ireland through any difficulties. Eoghainn II Mac Neill Og second rise to power was greeted with little resistance. The failure of the Earl of Ormond to obtain a force of men from Henry VI {distracted by the evolving events in France - the Irish backwater held little interest to him} quashed any chance of a Butler leading Ireland. The rapid succession of Eoghainn to power was to be a blessing, for in Jan 6th, 1432 tensions finally erupted in Europe and France once again went to war - this time with England's formal vassal, Brittany. The armies of England, Scotland and France were mobilised. In sympathy with her Gaelic cousins - and without a formal alliance - Ireland declared war on England.
It was a huge gamble [
Ireland land and naval tech are both 1, England has land tech 2 and naval tech 1 ] but Eoghainn felt that this was the best opportunity to unite Ireland under his single, strong leadership [
Admin/Econ/Military ***/**/**** ]. The resulting war was to become known as the "War of the Clovers". Captain Knox marched with 5500 footmen and some 500 cavalry to Dublin and immediately laid siege to the city. Lord Nottingham was instructed to raise some 4000 footmen to provide security to the towns of Ulster. Ireland's allies, Friesland, Gelre and Munster, were quick to take advantage of the hostilities and marched into Holland and Zeeland occupied by England's ally, Burgundy. Eoghainn commisoned the men of Cork to build three galleys to bring the war to English soil. Lord Norfolk was appointed as the first ranking lord of the fledgling Irish navy. Additional militias totalling some 2000 footmen were raised in Southeast Ireland to protect against any English landing from the county of Cornwall or south Wales. By July 1432, every county of Ireland - including Meath - had an Irish garrison.
It did not take long for the war to impact Irish trade - hostilities had made the waters around Ireland dangerous from maurauding English navies. In addition, the commodities once sold for good profit were now 'commisoned' by Eoghainn himself for the war effort at home [
Stability +2 - Level 3 trade in Flandres in July 1432 dropped to level 2 in August, Stability -3, Flandres trade level 0 by May 1435 ]. The only factor averting rebellion, or worse - civil war, was the passion of Eoghainn for a United Ireland [
Mission: conquer Meath] .
But all was not to go Eoghainn's way, for in August 1432 France accepted peace with Burgundy - paying a paltry 67 Gold to its neighbours - now England could focus its attentions on Ireland. The fall of Dublin had gone unnoticed or uncared for in Henry's court, but things were to take a decidely different course over the coming months. Dublin's fall to Knox on August 20th 1432 was quickly relayed to Henry's court with an offer for peace (in exchange for the crown's most noble Irish town). Not surprisingly, the offer was rejected as Henry VI plotted to take his town back. An uneasy peace settled into 1433 - with negotiations for a settlement making little headway [
England repeatedly rejects a peace settlement for Meath ] . By November of 1432 - Norfolks Irish fleet is ready to set sail.
The recent uneasy peace [
Stability +2 - raise war taxes ] had unsettled Eoghainn, and he continued to remind his people not to underestimate the English threat. However, his people were becoming bored and unenthused by Eoghainn's warmongering, and his militia were now listless (and drunk) with England's failure to negotiate, or indeed attempt to retake control of its former Pale. Minor skirmishes between Eoghainn supporters and those backed by his greatest rival, the Butlers, were frequent in towns across Ireland [
Political crisis! stab-3 admin set to 2 for 12 months ].
However, the English were to unwittingly play into Eoghainn hands when the Irish 'custom' officers appointed two years earlier were sent to Dublin to retake control of the town for the English crown. This small force landed on January 19th 1433 - but were sent swimming down the Liffey the very next day as Knox's battlehard men sent them packing. This brief skirmish revitalised the Irish cause, and in conjuction with the first sailing of the Irish Navy to the Irish Sea - provided new enthusiasm for the war effort. Lord Norfolk was quick to see action, and his fleet of 3 Galleys made contact with 9 English warships stationed off the Irish coast. Norfolk could do little to stop the 6000 English that landed in Meath tha day, but his daring crew routed the 9 warships to the seas off Cork - and this was a battle that was to be replayed with continued success during the War of the Clovers.
Henry VI's embarassment with his 'custom' officals was not to be repeated, and he sent battle hardened troops from France to Dublin. 5783 men and a small supporting group of 207 cavalry landed in Dublin in early February 1433. The fighting was intense as Henry stalled on negotiations for peace, awaiting outcome of this most recent battle. Early reports favored the English, but Eoghainn was not going to allow defeat - and some 2000 footmen led by Lord Nottingham himself marched to Knox's assistance. The English (led by Lord Talbot) were caught unaware in their camp, and were routed from the battlefield as a counter attack by Knox emerged from the walls of the city. Talbot took his men south, to Waterford - in the hope of rendevouzing wih the English Navy. Good news was received from Europe as reports indicated that Holland had fallen to Friesland - the war was going well for Ireland and her allies.
However, Eoghainn had not allowed for all the machinations of war. England reached peace agreements with Ireland's allies in March and May of 1433. By May 1433, England had reached a peace agreement with its most hated foe - the Scots [
Since France had already declared peace with Brittany I am not sure how England was still at war with Scotland - I didn't notice any fighting between these nations ]. Now, Henry VI could focus his full efforts on Ireland. Lord Norfolk had repeated successes against the suprerior English naval vessels off the southeast Irish coast - but the battles were not without its casualties. By June 1433 only 1 Galley remained - captained by Norfolk himself - but the next battle fought with the English was to be his last as his ship was finally sunk by the cowardly English fleet [
I think Norfolk's 3 galleys had some 5-6 victories against 9 English warships - I haven't figured why 3 galleys could defeat 9 warships so easily - attrition cost me in the end - but even 2 galleys was good enough to defeat these ships ]. Control of the seas was now Henry VI's.
It was not long before the conflict escalated. Control of Irish waters was critical to the English as it could now land English troops freely into Ireland. The Pope - having sided with the English against the Irish aggressors - had more pressing matters of God to attend to and offered peace and a pardon to Eoghainn which was gratefully accepted. Eoghainn stepped up security and raised an additional 4000 militia in Connaught including the associated war taxes to support them [
Oct 1433 stability -3 ]. The lull in fighting was used as an opportunity to re-open trade routes [
2 merchants to Flandres ] but the English naval courdon soon had the merchant entourage returned to their families in salted oak caskets. This was to be the last of the 'peace' as 7500 English cavalry were landed in Dublin. The Irish troops, although battle hardened - were weary and malnourished. Their cumbersome two-handed swords were no match for the English cavalry and were cut down to the man. Captain Knox was able to make his escape, but was unable to prevent the massacre of a further 5000 Irish gallowglasses who marched from Waterford and Galway to Dublin to assist in the towns defence.
By the end of October, only scattered Irish footmen and town militia remained. Eoghainn and his people were at their lowest ebb as the superior trained and equipped English were too much for the brave Irish. Eoghainn called on the last of his reserves and the reserves of his people to rescue Meath once and for all [
Treasury slider has been set to maximum since the war began - this has inflation at 3% and war taxes bringing in some 6 gold per month. I have taken no loans thankfully ]. Every horse, ass and donkey were gathered into the cities of Galway and Waterford - in addition, a small shipment of Horses were smuggled from France - all to assist in raising a cavalry that could match the English. Meanwhile, negotiations for a peaceful settlement continued to dim [
England contiunally refused to cede Meath - currently +10% as Henry consolidated his position in Dublin and looked to topple the remaining Irish garrisoned inside the city walls. An additional 21,000 men and cavalry were landed in Dublin (28,000 men in total!) at the start of 1434.
Dublin's garrison of Irish militia were near breaking point after almost a year of siege from the English. Eoghainn commanded his two leading soldiers, Captain Knox and Captain Suffolk to march on Dublin. Knox with his 4000 footmen and 3000 cavalry lead his men from Galway, while Suffolk and his 2,970 footmen and 6,000 cavalry lead from Waterford. The besieging English were unprepared for an Irish retaliation - tired and malnourished from a lenghty siege and insufficient food for so many men and beasts the English forces were left in nothing more than disarray. Sixteen thousand English men
D) were lost in the first few days of battle with minimal loss to the Irish. The English leaders were not to be outdone and took a leaf out of the Irish war book. The army of Scotland, the Royal Mariness and the Colville infantry scattered to the four corners of Ireland - spreading disarray and burning towns along their way. The Irish militia stationed in the provincal towns were lacking in number to deal with this menace,and it was up to Suffolk and Knox to chase down the English survivors. The 'Massacre of Dingle' was one of many sorrowful tales at this time when 2,000 young Irish men, training to be soldiers, were cut down to a man by the marauding English.
It was not until January 1435 that Suffolk and Knox had contained the English maruaders in the south west of the country. Henry VI had received a serious blow - the Irish had rescued its Dublin garrison and had all but annihilated the 28,000 men sent to restore order. Pride continued to be an obstacle to peace [
+24% and still won't give up Meath ! ], and Henry VI ceded nothing to Eoghainn. The English had left a trail of destrucrion across the country, ironically the county least affected by the troubles was Meath. Eoghainn's continued use of war taxes over the 3 years of war had strained the Irish to breaking point [
wave of Obscuration : revolt risk +3 ] and a peace settlement was now of paramount importance.
Henry VI was first to offer peace, but monetary offerings did not sate Eoghainn's desire, and Henry VI refused to listen to demands for Dublin [
England continues to refuse to cede Meath, I refuse all coin offered ]. Although military actions had ceased for now, tensions were always present. henry VI showd his disgust for the proceedings by offering a paltry 9 gold as compensation 'to honour' 9 months of intense negotiations. But Eoghainn was unflinching in his demands, and as tensions in Europe were rising Henry VI did not want to be left in a situation where he would need to redirect resources to fight another war in Ireland. In November 1435 England ceded control of Dublin to the Irish thus ending "The War of the Clovers".
However, only half the battle was won. Ireland had lost nearly all of its former trading power in Europe [
level 1 in Flandres ] and had many a town to rebuild with few if any resources to draw upon. The peasentry were step below poverty after 3 years of war taxes. The Irish army was but a shadow of its former self, with just the minimum of troops required to maintain order. But a glimmer of hope was to be had. Throughout the war, Gaelic culture had survived and thrived in the North west and Ulster [
High Renaissance level 2 and Trade technology level 2 ]. The war had improved military tactics - particularly in the rout of the English in Dublin [
Late medieval level 2 . The 'War of the Clovers' was a brief respite in the wars that rocked Europe at the time, and in the coming years the attention was to shift away from Ireland and back to Europe as France began to stretch her military might again.
