The Expugnatio Hibernica of Giraldus Cambrensis, that indispensable twelfthcentury work, much revered by those of English Ireland, evolved through remarkable change in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. During this period a key shift occurred as various translation and redactions appeared, the political and historical significance of which remains a matter of debate. In what follows, a preliminary account of contextual circumstances along with related themes returns to the time of the White Earl. Also, in order to better understand this extraordinary development of the use of the Expugnatio, a discussion of the relevant Hiberno-English editions is required.

There was a late medieval surge of interest in the Expugnatio Hibernica which reflected contention over precisely how the text was interpreted. Driven by historical argument and approaches to the government of Ireland, a cluster of Hiberno-English editions of the Expugnatio appeared over the fifteenth century. The Expugnatio was a Geraldine panegyric and Giraldus himself was an ancestor of the Fitzgeralds. However, there are many important elements in this history that allow it to be read as the core chronicle that represented the entire colonial community. The tradition of conquest universally cherished by the colonists applied as much to the Butlers of Ormond, the Darcys of Platten or indeed any Cambro-Norman descendant. It came to be that in the debate for policy, a narrow, militaristic understanding of the Expugnatio could reveal that its advocate was challenging those in a position of power. In this sense, a literal projection of the text was the testament of those in retreat. Given the island-wide, pan-cultural nature of Kildare governance in late medieval Ireland, the Expugnatio could be utilised to denounce a conciliar outlook towards native lords, deviation from the king's laws and most damningly of all, the use of Gaelic extortions. The Hiberno- English Expugnatio, and in particular the later copy of the White Earl's manuscript (TCD, MS 592), reflected a fierce debate over the nature of the colonial inheritance, begging the question as to whether the Expugnatio still signified the exclusion of the Irishry or if there were alternative ways of allocating power.