Interaction between English and Irish as a Factor of Irish Migration in 14th–15th Centuries

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the acts of the Irish Parliament, patent lists and charters of the English king, as well as petitions, the author identifies the main directions of interaction between the English and the Irish in the 14th-15th centuries, and examines the privileges of coastal towns in southern Ireland. Factors of migration are established. Attention is paid to the connections between landlords, established through client-patronage relationships and land grants. The relevance of the topic is due to the underestimation in historiography of the degree of connections between England and Ireland, which were a determining factor in choosing the country for migration, as well as the lack of works on the specific problem. Source analysis demonstrated that interaction was established not only in the sphere of trade and law, but also at a cultural and everyday level. The author concludes that the active development of trade in the Irish Sea, the spread of English legislation and language, helped the Irish adapt more quickly in coastal towns in England. The emigration of Irish people from four counties to England, in turn, stimulated internal migration of native Irish to Dublin, Meath, Louth, and Kildare.