Anglo-Normans in County Down

As the lands of County Down passed hands through the centuries, it was not just a simple matter however of new Scots and English settlers dispossessing the old Irish chieftains. Also entrenched in the region were another group of settlers, whose Irish roots ran far deeper. These were the Anglo-Normans and they also make their appearance in the 1881 auction lots. Families like the Savages traced their descent all the way back to the Norman Conquest of 1066. After the conquest various Norman aristocrats attempted to establish their own principalities in Ireland, coming unsurprisingly into ongoing conflict with the local Irish in the process. Eventually, the English King, Henry II decided that Ireland - both locals and Normans - must be brought firmly under crown control, and in 1172, he invaded the island, putting it under the authority of loyal Norman families, as he supposed. Of these, it was John de Courcy who conquered Downpatrick in 1177. The Savage family mentioned in the illustration above date their their connections to County Down from this time.

As the centuries passed by the Normans fought with each other, and they fought with the Irish chieftains like the O'Neals. When convenient, they also formed alliances with the very same families. So, there are, for example, records of marriages between the Savages and O'Neals. Basically, there was a lot of interaction between the Normans and the Irish, and as far as their relationship with the English Crown was concerned, it was the view of many of the Normans that it should be kept as far as possible to a minimum. These Normans, it is said, became 'More Irish than the Irish', and so were also prepared when they felt it necessary to fight against the English.

In brief, the County Down lands of Harriett Wombwell owed their title to a highly complex and dynamic set of circumstances that brought into the cooking pot of the time, an ethnic and historical mix of Gaelic Irish, French-Norman aristocrats, Scottish Presbyterians, and new English Protestants. Thanks largely to Henry VIII, this ethnic mix was to assume a potent sectarian character, from the sixteenth century onwards.  

An entire 1888 history of the Savages of the Ards is available online.