(Area) The Pale

The Pale is the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government.

In the period immediately after the Norman Settlement was constructed the barrier, known as the “Pale,” separating the lands occupied by the settlers from those remaining in the hands of the Irish. This barrier consisted of a ditch, raised some ten or twelve feet from the ground, with a hedge of thorn on the outer side. It was constructed, not so much to keep out the Irish, as to form an obstacle in their way in their raids on the cattle of the settlers, and thus give time for a rescue. The Pale begins at Dalkey, and followed a southwesterly direction towards Kilternan; then turning northwards passed Kilgobbin, where a castle stands, and crossed the Parish of Taney to the south of that part of the lands of Balally, and thence in a westerly direction to Tallaght, and on to Naas in the County of Kildare. In the wall bounding Moreen a small watch-tower and guard-house adjoining it. From this point a beacon-fire would raise the alarm as far as Tallaght, where an important castle stands.

Within the confines of the Pale the leading gentry and merchants live not too different from those of their counterparts in England, save for the constant fear of attack from the Gaelic Irish.