Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick (Norman French: Edward de Brus; Middle Irish: Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: Scottish Gaelic: Eideard or Iomhair Bruis; c. 1280 – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 struggle for the Scottish crown, then pursued his own claims in Ireland. Proclaimed High King of Ireland in 1315 and crowned in 1316, he was eventually defeated and killed by Anglo-Irish forces of the Lordship of Ireland at the Battle of Faughart in County Louth in 1318.
Edward was one of five sons of Robert de Brus and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, but the order is uncertain. Robert the Bruce was the eldest; in the past there was some dispute over whether Edward was second, or third behind Nigel, but one recent account has him fourth behind Nigel and Alexander. His date of birth is unknown, but it was probably not very long after Robert was born in 1274; he was old enough to be fighting in 1307 and to be given an independent command not long after. The Irish medievalist Seán Duffy suggests that he was probably fostered in Ireland as a child, likely by the O'Neills of Ulster, while Archie Duncan suggests some period of time spent with the Bissetts of the Glens of Antrim. This was a common Scottish and Irish cultural practice, and would tie in with, and perhaps explain, parts of his later life.
Edward fought alongside Robert throughout his struggle for the Scottish throne, including his desperate period on the run and as a guerrilla. The three younger Bruce brothers Nigel, Thomas and Alexander were all captured and executed by the English during this period, but Edward survived. As Marjorie the only child of Robert had also been captured by English, Edward was apparently heir to Robert.
Campaigning against the Comyns
After his defeat at the Battle of Barra in May 1308, King Robert's men chased the forces of rival John Comyn, Earl of Buchan as far as Fyvie Castle. As this was a strong fortress, the pursuit ended there. Robert then commanded Edward to lay waste to the Earldom of Buchan, from end to end, including all the castles and strongholds, principally Slains Castle, Rattray Castle and Dundarg Castle as well as the castles that were in English hands such as Fyvie Castle and Aberdeen Castle. At some point after his defeat at Barra, John Comyn fled Scotland for England.
Edward de Bruce proceeded for several months to harry Buchan and kill those who resisted King Robert's rule, homesteads destroyed, livestock slaughtered, stores of grain destroyed, and reducing the castles. By destroying the Comyns' power base, King Robert prevented any possible chance of future violent hostility towards his rule. There is no trustworthy account of the Harrying of Buchan, but it was undoubtedly a prolonged and fiercely contested campaign.
Edward then played an important role in capturing and slighting English-held castles in southwest Scotland, including Rutherglen Castle which he successfully recaptured from the English in 1313. It was he who made a possibly ill-judged pact with the English governor of Stirling Castle, which led to the English sending a large army to relieve the castle. This led to the Battle of Bannockburn on 23–24 June 1314, where he commanded a Scottish schiltrom.
Some time between 1309 and 1313, Edward was created Earl of Carrick, a title previously held by his maternal grandfather Niall of Carrick, his mother and his elder brother.
In 1317 he was granted dispensation by the Pope to marry Isabella daughter of William, Earl of Ross, although it is doubtful that the marriage took place. He did have an illegitimate son, Alexander Bruce, who would later inherit his father's earldom. Alexander's mother was Isabella, daughter of John of Strathbogie, 9th Earl of Atholl.
By the early 14th century, Ireland had not had a recognised High King since Ruaidrí mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (Rory O'Connor), who had been deposed by his son in 1186. The country was divided between Irish dynasties and Anglo-Irish lords, each ruling separate parts of Ireland. (In 1258 some of the dynasties and clans had elected Brian Ua Neill to the position of High King; however, he was defeated and killed by the Normans at the Battle of Downpatrick in 1260.)
As a descendant of Aoife MacMurrough (died 1188), Edward could also claim extensive royal Gaelic Irish ancestry that included Brian Boru (High King from 1002 to 1014) and Dermot MacMurrough (King of Leinster from 1126 to 1171); and also the Hiberno-Norse king Olaf Cuaran (died 980). (The Bruce brothers also descended from the kings/lords of Galloway, who were themselves a branch of the same kings of Mann and the Isles which produced Somerled (died 1164), progenitor of Clan Donald, Clan Dougall and Clan Ruari.)
Edward's main mission in invading Ireland involved opening a second front in Scotland's ongoing war against England and depriving the English of much-needed men, materials and finance by causing havoc in Ireland. This became critical when English-backed Scots recaptured the Isle of Man from King Robert's control in January 1315, thereby threatening the south and south-west of Scotland and also reopening up a potential channel of aid to the English from the Anglo-Irish and native Irish.
In addition, Domhnall mac Briain Ó Néill, the king of Tír Eóghain in present-day Ulster, asked for assistance. Ó Néill had been troubled by Anglo-Irish incursions into Tír Eógain from the south-east (the de Verdons), the east (tenants of the earl of Ulster) and the west (also by the earl of Ulster). In order to retain his lands, he and some twelve of his vassals and allies jointly requested aid from Scotland. The Bruce brothers agreed, on condition of Irish support for Edward as King of Ireland—the brothers envisaged themselves as separate rulers of Scotland and Ireland, while Robert would regain Man and Edward would possibly make an attack, with Welsh support, on English-controlled Wales.
Ó Néill approved of the conditions for himself and on behalf of his vassals, and preparations began. At about this point, Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, received news from Irish sources that an invasion was about to take place, and made his way to Ireland where he held land, mainly in and around the castle and town of Trim. (He had previously fought against the Bruces at Bannockburn where he was taken prisoner and freed to return King Edward II's royal seal, lost in the rout.)
On 26 April 1315 a Scottish parliament met at Ayr (just across the North Channel from Antrim). As King Robert did not yet have any legitimate male heir, Edward was proclaimed his legal heir and successor as King of Scotland and to all other titles in case of Robert's death. Edward's invasion fleet also mustered there, having received calls to assemble as early as the previous month.
Arrival and the Campaign of 1315
On 26 May 1315 Edward and his fleet (estimated at in excess of 6,000 men) landed on the Irish coast at points at and between Olderfleet Castle at Larne, and Glendrum. His brother had sailed from Tarbert for the Western Isles with his son-in-law, Walter Stewart, to subjugate them till "all the isles, great and small, were brought to his will." Edward meanwhile was swiftly faced by an army led by vassals of the Earl of Ulster such as the de Mandevilles, Savages, Logans and Bissets of the Glens, and their Irish allies, led by Sir Thomas de Mandeville. However, they were defeated in battle by the Scots under Thomas Randolph. Subsequently, the Scots managed to take the town, though not the castle, of Carrickfergus.
In early June, Ó Néill and some twelve fellow northern kings and lords met Edward at Carrickfergus and swore fealty to him as King of Ireland. The Irish annals state that de Brus "took the hostages and lordship of the whole province of Ulster without opposition and they consented to him being proclaimed King of Ireland and all the Gaels of Ireland agreed to grant him lordship and they called him King of Ireland." In fact, de Brus was never to receive anything more than purely nominal recognition from any of the more powerful Irish kings, and despite entreaties at various times over the next three years, was ignored by those whom he did not directly interest. He did, however, directly or indirectly rule much of eastern and mid-Ulster.