In 1366, Edward III’s son Lionel of Clarence presided over a parliament in Kilkenny, which laid down rules governing the English in Ireland. The English were forbidden to form families with the Irish (even as godparents), to furnish them with anything they might use in their wars, to speak Irish, or to adopt Irish ways, from clothing to riding bareback.

The Statutes stipulated than any man of property caught speaking Irish would see his lands confiscated until he had guaranteed his reformation, in English, before a court; lesser men would spend time in gaol. Any man of substance who rode Irish-style would forfeit his horse altogether, and be gaoled until he could satisfy the magistrates in the same manner.

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