Strangford Lough would have offered an ideal entry point for any would-be traders, smugglers and invaders interested in profiting from the opportunities available for them in Ireland. No doubt, the longships of the Vikings sailed up the lough in search of easy pickings. Later still, the descendants of the Vikings, the North Men, or Norsemen, or Normans, as we now know them, will also no doubt have sailed up the lough as they sought to and succeeding in establishing a rather more permanent presence on the island.
This settlement was slightly more complex and involved than it appears at first sight. For although William the Conqueror comes across in our history books as such an imposing and dominant figure, it was always a case of tension between the King and his unruly barons. And the more remote from central authority, the Barons could locate themselves, the more they preferred to envisage themselves as feudal rulers of independent principalities. The first Anglo-Normans to make their way to Ireland, to engage in the labyrinthine local politics of the region and carve out their own presence, did so largely at their own behest. Many of these Normans were moving on from South Wales, where the old Brittonic Welsh residents were failing to be cooperative, and they became known as Cambro-Normans.
The first official invasion, as authorized by the Pope (who had his own agenda), came in 1171, under King Henry II, and over time more Normans will have made the trip across the Irish Sea to benefit from this new colonial adventure as feudal overlords of the conquered people. As can be imagined, life was never simple. The Irish chieftains fought each other, the Normans fought the chieftains, and the Normans quarrelled with each other. Temporary alliances were made and marriages used as diplomatic fodder to secure useful deals. Remote from London, and despite the efforts of Henry II to impose order, the Anglo-Normans were soon back to their old tricks, establishing their own regional elites, and developing their distrust of the English Crown, the more they interacted with the local Irish. The seeds for centuries of future conflict had been planted.
At some point in all of this, and we don’t quite know when, an Anglo-Norman family arrived on the Irish scene, probably calling themselves at this point de Hadesor, or de Hadesore, later to be simplified to Hadsor, or Hadzor. This family became influential, even powerful, in their day, particularly it would seem in County Louth, just south of County Down.
The map below shows Louth (bottom left), as well as Downpatrick (centre right), and Lisburn (centre top), all locations where Hadzors will be found as the story continues.
This settlement was slightly more complex and involved than it appears at first sight. For although William the Conqueror comes across in our history books as such an imposing and dominant figure, it was always a case of tension between the King and his unruly barons. And the more remote from central authority, the Barons could locate themselves, the more they preferred to envisage themselves as feudal rulers of independent principalities. The first Anglo-Normans to make their way to Ireland, to engage in the labyrinthine local politics of the region and carve out their own presence, did so largely at their own behest. Many of these Normans were moving on from South Wales, where the old Brittonic Welsh residents were failing to be cooperative, and they became known as Cambro-Normans.
The first official invasion, as authorized by the Pope (who had his own agenda), came in 1171, under King Henry II, and over time more Normans will have made the trip across the Irish Sea to benefit from this new colonial adventure as feudal overlords of the conquered people. As can be imagined, life was never simple. The Irish chieftains fought each other, the Normans fought the chieftains, and the Normans quarrelled with each other. Temporary alliances were made and marriages used as diplomatic fodder to secure useful deals. Remote from London, and despite the efforts of Henry II to impose order, the Anglo-Normans were soon back to their old tricks, establishing their own regional elites, and developing their distrust of the English Crown, the more they interacted with the local Irish. The seeds for centuries of future conflict had been planted.
At some point in all of this, and we don’t quite know when, an Anglo-Norman family arrived on the Irish scene, probably calling themselves at this point de Hadesor, or de Hadesore, later to be simplified to Hadsor, or Hadzor. This family became influential, even powerful, in their day, particularly it would seem in County Louth, just south of County Down.
The map below shows Louth (bottom left), as well as Downpatrick (centre right), and Lisburn (centre top), all locations where Hadzors will be found as the story continues.
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