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Concept
The Pale
Summary
The Pale (Irish: An Pháil) or the English Pale (An Pháil Shasanach or An Ghalltacht) was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk. The inland boundary went to Naas and Leixlip around the Earldom of Kildare, towards Trim and north towards Kells. In this district, many townlands have English or French names, the latter associated with Norman influence in England.
The word pale, meaning a fence, is derived from the Latin word , meaning "stake", specifically a stake used to support a fence. A paling fence is made of pales ganged side by side, and the word palisade is derived from the same root. From this came the figurative meaning of "boundary". The Oxford English Dictionary is dubious about the popular notion that the phrase beyond the pale, as something outside the boundary—i.e., uncivilised, derives from this specific Irish meaning. Also derived from the "boundary" concept was the idea of a pale as an area within which local laws were valid. The term was used not only for the Pale in Ireland but also for various other English overseas settlements, notably English Calais. The term was also used to refer to specific regions in other nations: the term Pale of Settlement was applied to the area in the west of Imperial Russia where Jews were permitted to reside.
The Pale was a strip of land, centred on Dublin, that stretched from Dundalk in Louth to Dalkey in Dublin; it became the base of English rule in Ireland. The Norman invasion of Ireland, beginning in 1169, created the Lordship of Ireland and brought Ireland under the theoretical control of the Plantagenet Kings of England. From the 13th century onwards the Hiberno-Norman occupation in Ireland at first, faltered, then waned. Across most of Ireland, the Normans increasingly assimilated into Irish culture after 1300. They made alliances with neighbouring autonomous Gaelic lords.
Official source
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