Between March 1185 and as late as October 1199, John, the youngest son of Henry II used an equestrian seal (fig. 1) of about three inches in diameter on which he is represented as a fully armed knight, galloping to the right, and carrying a convex shield charged with two lions passant. He wears a hauberk of mail under a cloth surcoat, and a coif surmounted by a round-topped nasal helmet which interrupts the legend between the words, HIB'NIE and + SIGILLVM. In his right hand he brandishes a sword. The horse wears an ornamental breast-band, saddle and stirrups; it is not caparisoned. The legend reads, + SIGILLVM IOHANNIS FILII REGIS ANGLIE DOMINIE HIB'NIE

John’s 1st Expedition to Ireland (as Lord of Ireland, 1185)

Introduction It must be remembered that the initial invasion of Ireland by the Cambro-Norman lords was not an invasion but an invitation by a deposed Irish king to foreign mercenaries to help him regain his title. These Cambro-Norman mercenaries fought alongside their Irish host as part of an inter-necine battle for supremacy. It was not…