What was a town?
The arrival of Anglo-Norman society in Ireland is dated to 1169, but archaeological evidence has shown that the invasion was just a long period of acculturation. By 1176, the process of establishing a manorial society close to that of Britain and that of the Continent was underway. This society, which consisted of land and lordship were of central importance, towns played an essential role. Towns functioned primarily as market places for the produce of the manor including the surrounding countryside, but they were also centres in which imported items, such as wine, salt and fine silks, could be obtained, and they also housed the specialist craftworkers. The town provided the lord of the manor with annual rents, and in times of war the loyalty of the townspeople could be relied upon.
At the start of urbanisation, the Anglo-Norman towns consisted primarily of expanding pre-existing towns such as Dublin, Kilkenny, and Kells, Co. Meath. New towns, like Drogheda, Co. Louth, were constructed before the end of the twelfth century, however, and they were a popular feature by the end of the thirteenth century. The distribution of these towns were predominately eastern, due to a line connecting Waterford and Dundalk and also having linear extensions westwards to towns such as Dingle, Co. Kerry, Galway and Sligo, and a coastal spread northwards to Coleraine, Co. Derry. Large parts of Ireland were unaffected by towns, including northern and central Ulster, as well as areas of Connacht, Cork-Kerry, Laois-Offaly and Wicklow, because the Anglo-Normans never invaded these areas. The chronology of town foundation is relatively short, with Roscommon, established in 1282, as the latest example .
At the start of urbanisation, the Anglo-Norman towns consisted primarily of expanding pre-existing towns such as Dublin, Kilkenny, and Kells, Co. Meath. New towns, like Drogheda, Co. Louth, were constructed before the end of the twelfth century, however, and they were a popular feature by the end of the thirteenth century. The distribution of these towns were predominately eastern, due to a line connecting Waterford and Dundalk and also having linear extensions westwards to towns such as Dingle, Co. Kerry, Galway and Sligo, and a coastal spread northwards to Coleraine, Co. Derry. Large parts of Ireland were unaffected by towns, including northern and central Ulster, as well as areas of Connacht, Cork-Kerry, Laois-Offaly and Wicklow, because the Anglo-Normans never invaded these areas. The chronology of town foundation is relatively short, with Roscommon, established in 1282, as the latest example .