Kilkenny, convention of

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Kilkenny, convention of, 1341. The English crown was too preoccupied with Wales and Scotland in the reign of Edward I, and too insecure in the reign of Edward II, to give much attention to the government of the English Pale in Ireland. Edward III was forced to pay attention in 1341 by a Parliament which began in Dublin and adjourned to Kilkenny when the royal ministers lost control. The Anglo-Irish protested vigorously against the decision to revoke and reconsider all grants since 1307, demanded action against English ministers who knew nothing of the country and thought only of making money, and warned that much territory had been lost to the native Irish. Edward returned a conciliatory answer and dismissed most of the ministers. The condition of the Pale continued to give concern. In 1361 the king's second son, Lionel, duke of Clarence, was sent as lieutenant and in 1394 Richard II himself visited Ireland to restore English authority.

J. A. Cannon

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