In 1155, Pope Adrian IV "gave" Ireland, one of the church's most supportive countries, as a gesture of good will to King Henry II of England, a powerful ruler of Norman descent (through William the Conquerer). Luckily for Ireland, Henry was much too harried with the business of invading the rest of Europe to pay much attention to a little island. In the meantime, Ireland was loosely ruled by its high king, Rory O'Conner.

Unfortunately for O'Conner, a pesky group of Leinstermen continued to dispute his authority. One of their young kings, Dermot MacMurrough, the "Bloody Troublemaker", was famed for murdering or blinding his enemies and kidnapping their women. He was indeed a brute among brutes. Not even his fellow Leinstermen liked nor trusted MacMurrough. He was forced to go looking for support elsewhere, in the form of Henry II. And Henry was nobody's fool; he knew a win-win proposition when he saw one. He offered his moral support to Dermot by giving him the endorsement he needed to gain support from the English nobles. At the same time, Henry didn't offer any financial support whatsoever. Apparently Henry felt he had nothing to lose by "supporting" Dermot, while he stood to gain land and loyalty from Dermot should he win the battles in Ireland.

Dermot found few takers from the English nobles until he threw his pretty daughter into the mix. Suddenly he not only had an army, but a son-in-law in the form of Richard Fitzgilbert de Clare, better known in the chronicles of history as "Strongbow." Eventually, Dermot's contingency invaded Ireland. The Irish were courageous fighters, but courage made thin armor against the chain-mail-suited Norman warriors. Strongbow's men were without mercy and, once again, entire communities were slaughtered as the army swept over Ireland, town after town.

When Dermot died in 1171, Strongbow wasted no time setting himself up as King of Leinster. King Henry began to wonder if his vassal might turn out to be more of a threat than the original Irish kings. He paid Strongbow a visit in Ireland to reinforce his power. Strongbow wisely paid homage to the English king and, in doing so, kept his power, his lands and his neck.

In the years that followed, the conquering Normans became firmly entrenched in Ireland, builiding stone casles and churches, taking Irish lassies as brides, blending and melding with the Irish culture until they were almost as Irish as English. The first Anglo-Irish had come to stay but, as would happen many times in the future, Irish culture won out.