ABSTRACT
Ireland and Scotland were part of the Templar province of England, and although there were separate Masters for these countries they appear to have been chosen in the English general chapter from among the English brethren. Although not part of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland and its colonisation, the Templars have been perceived as part of this, and there was some misunderstanding among nineteenthcentury Irish historians who thought that the Templars were established in Ireland by Strongbow (Richard de Clare, Lord of Strigoil, sometimes known as Richard Fitz-Gilbert), and inhabited strong stone castles from which they issued to indulge in bloody affrays with the native Irish. This has been redressed by twentieth-century historians who point out that the Templars have been blamed in Ireland for deeds that were not theirs. 1
