26 MAY 1315

EDWARD

14 OCT 1318

BRUCE 700

On 26 May 1315, Edward Bruce landed near Larne with a 6,000 strong Scottish army. A year earlier,

his elder brother, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, had defeated the Anglo-Normans at the

Battle of Bannockburn in Scotland. Their relatives, the O'Neills of Ulster, invited Robert and Edward

to cross the narrow sea to forge an alliance and achieve the same in Ireland.

With the support of local chiefs, Edward Bruce was crowned King of Ireland at Carrickfergus and quickly

took control of Ulster. The town served as Bruce's headquarters throughout his three and a half year

campaign. When the Anglo-Normans surrendered Carrickfergus Castle to the Scots, King Robert brought

reinforcements from Scotland and the brothers marched south. The campaign ended in defeat when

Edward was killed at the Battle of Faughart, near Dundalk, on 14 October 1318.

CARRICKFERGUS CASTLE

EDWARD BRUCE'S SIEGE - THE ARRIVAL OF ROBERT BRUCE

When the Scottish army arrived in May 1315, they took the town of Carrickfergus and besieged the castle,

then the stronghold of Anglo-Norman Ulster. After almost a year, the Anglo-Normans used an Easter truce to launch

a surprise breakout from the castle. In the bloody street battle which followed, many knights were killed, including

Anglo-Norman leader Sir Thomas Mandeville and Scottish commander Neil Fleming. The Anglo-Normans

surrendered the castle to Edward Bruce in September 1316. Soon afterwards, King Robert arrived from Scotland

with fresh troops to begin the next phase of the campaign - an attempt to take control of the whole of Ireland.