Bruce campaign in Ireland Bruce campaign in Ireland The Bruce campaign was a three-year military campaign by Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish king Robert the Bruce, in Ireland. It lasted from his landing at Larne in 1315 to his defeat and death in 1318 at the Battle of Faughart in County Louth. After his victory at the Battle of Bannockburn, Robert decided to expand his war against the English by sending an army under his younger brother Edward to invade Ireland. Another reason for the expedition was that supporters of the exiled House of Balliol had fled to Ireland after fighting at Bannockburn
Robert the Bruce the hinterlands of Inverness and a second failed attempt to take Elgin, Bruce finally achieved his landmark defeat of Comyn at the Battle of Inverurie in May 1308; he then overran Buchan and defeated the English garrison at Aberdeen. The Harrying of Buchan in 1308 was ordered by Bruce to make sure all Comyn family support was extinguished. Buchan had a very large population because it was the agricultural capital of northern Scotland, and much of its population was loyal to the Comyn family even after the defeat of the Earl of Buchan. Most of the Comyn castles in Moray,