GERALD & JOHN But...is any of this true? This ritual was recorded in Gerald of Wale's Topography of Ireland, finished in 1188. Gerald was a Welsh monk financed by some Anglo-Norman nobility to travel to Ireland and, you know, write a book about the place. Sentiment at the time was to smear the inhabitants of the island as savages, thus making it easier to convince people to conquer them. Did Gerald of Wales "smear Ireland"? Maybe. See, Gerald was also a member of a prominent Cambro-Norman family. His family were some of the men on the frontlines and in leadership roles when King Henry II invaded back in the 1160s, and Gerald went on to be King John's secretary. King John, as youngest son of Henry II's, was never expected to become King of England, or even Duke of Normandy. Instead, John was given Ireland to inherit. Gerald accompanied John on a mission in 1185 to Ireland, but, boy was that a colossal failure, prompting Gerald to write his chronicles about Ireland in an effort to continue drumming up support for his liege, John, to one day try again in Ireland (which he did in 1210 with ruthless efficiency, only this time it wasn't to subdue the natives).