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The Anglo-French Invasion
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After being defeated in Ireland, King Dairmait Mac Murchada of Leinster sailed to England in 1166 where he enlisted a private army of Anglo-French noblemen led by the Earl of Pembroke, also known as Strongbow who was made heir of Leinster in return. Although the English King had been given permission by the Pope to come to Ireland, he did not want to get personally involved. Strongbow's army landed in 1169 and quickly re-took Leinster and also defeated Dublin, exiling its Viking king. In 1171, Mac Murchada died and Strongbow became King of Leinster. His armies repelled an attack by the High King Rory O'Connor of Connacht and started to harry Meath.

The English King grew concerned at this independent Kingdom on his west, and sailed to Ireland in 1171. Strongbow, terrified of the King, humbly apologised and turned Leinster over to him in return for being made Lord of Leinster. Henry then toured Ireland and was promised the loyalty of every major Irish king other than O'Connor of Connacht and O'Neill in the north. In the next period of years, the Anglo-French consolidated their new lands by building motte-and-bailey castles, setting up market towns and engaging in large-scale colonisation, although they did not move the native Irish from their land in any major way. Strongbow died in 1176.

The expansion of the colony took place over the next few decades. While most Irish Kings had submitted without a fight, the general population was less enthusiastic and the Anglo-French had to put down a series of rebellions before relative peace reigned. John de Courcy invaded Ulaid (modern eastern Ulster) and set up a new lordship there which he called Ulster and built a castle at Carrickfergus. In the 1180s to 1200s, south-western Ireland was added to the colony. 1226 to 1235 saw the conquest of Connacht, when the Anglo-French invaded and took over most of Connacht after a protracted war. The mid 1200s saw a large Irish rebellion that began in the Irish-controlled lands of the O'Neill in the north and spread to Munster. The Irish burned colonists homes and ransacked their lands. It fizzled out by 1261. By this time, most of Ireland was ruled by Anglo-French lords with the exception of the north, the midlands and several areas of the west coast.

Anglo-French society was based on the feudal system where peasants were granted land by a lord in return for annual payment of crops. The lords, in turn, were granted land by the King. Administration of Ireland evolved slowly, and it became a Kingdom in 1199 with Papal approval and all English laws were extended to Ireland in 1210. A Great Council developed at oversaw Irish affairs. The lands themselves were administered either as counties or liberties, where liberties has more autonomy than counties. By 1250 there were 7 liberties and 8 counties in Ireland.

The period also saw the introduction of a large number of new European monastic orders to Ireland, namely the Cistercians, Augustinians and Benedictines. A large number of large, modern monasteries were built across Ireland. The church itself came under pressure from the Anglo-French who tried with moderate degrees of success to excude Irishmen from the clergy in their lands.

Everyday life for those who lived in towns was a cramped, unsanitary but exciting affair with narrow streets, town walls and bustling markets. In the countryside, peasants lived in villages where they tilled land granted to them by their lord. Each family lived in a one-room wooden house which they shared with animals at night. Probably quite poor, the peasants did not have many possessions and had inadequate clothing. These conditions were the same for both native Irish peasants and English peasant colonists.

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