Giraldus [de Barry] Cambrensis

Giraldus [de Barry] Cambrensis (?1146-?1220), an Anglo-Norman prelate who visited Ireland as secretary to Prince John in 1184, and wrote two books about the country. Born in Pembrokeshire of Welsh nobility, his Expugnatio Hibernica (1189), or The Conquest of Ireland, describes events leading up to Henry II's invasion in 1169. Giraldus criticizes the colonists for disobedience to the Crown, and accuses them of forsaking their own culture. Topographia Hibernica (1188), or The Topography and History of Ireland provides portraits of the land and people.