King Henry II Invades Ireland
After the Normans invaded and settled in Ireland it was an embarrassment to King Henry II of England, after all he gave the permission for the Normans to enter Ireland. What King Henry didn’t foresee was the Normans fitting into the Irish way of life and taking power in certain regions.
King Henry decided that the best way to deal with the mess and to put Strongbow in his place was for himself to invade Ireland. Henry’s arrival in Ireland during 1171 marked the 1st time an English King would set foot on Irish soil and when he lands at Waterford he declares himself Lord of Ireland.
The sheer size of Henry’s army was remarkable using over 400 ships to travel from England to Ireland to transport his men and weapons. Many of the Kings didn’t resist Henry’s invasion as they seen him as coming to Ireland to tame Strongbow. With this view on Henry’s invasion many of the Kings promised to be loyal to Henry’s Kingship in Ireland. The Kings of Ulster thought different though, they wanted no part in foreign power within Ireland and dismissed Henry’s calls to be loyal to the English throne.
Strongbow himself was still allowed to be in power of Leinster but he needed to remain loyal to Henry who had taken over Dublin for the English. For King Henry II it was an embarrassment how the Irish invasion turned out but worse yet, he had some Irish Kings refusing to recognise his status on the Island.