French Ireland?

Well, from my reading of it, it seems that Dudley neglected to add a thing that this was kinda urgent, so the French were the French and didn't do much about it. That said, it would be curious to see how the French would handle the Irish - especially since their dauphin is sorta betrothed to the Scots' queen (so if they have kids, could we see a PU of Scotland, France and Ireland?)
 
In july 1553, Henri II had just swallowed half of Lorraine and was pushing into Italy (Sienna, Corsica). He just did not have the men to support Dudley, supposing he wanted to in the first place.
 
First, in 1553, France have to deal with Charles Quint (during the last Italian War) pushing them back out of several places in the north, and some other campaigns in Corsica and Tuscany.
Henry II can't really afford to spend more resources and troops in British Isles, regardless of the possible interests.

The Pale of Calais itself mostly survived at this point because Valois couldn't be bothered to not only divert more troop there, but as well because it was convenient : it made an important port escaping possible imperial attention. The walls weren't well maintained, the garrison more or less secondary, and what happened in 1558 was hardly surprising once the geopolitical situation became clearer there : "thanks for having holding this for us, but now we'll take it back, toodles!"

Even disregarding that asking Henry II to support Grey would go against every French interest in the region, such a proposal would be recieved at best with polite procrastination, at worst with a "lul wat" even if the geopolitical situation somehow really favours Henry II against Charles V.
 
Well, England did not control all of Ireland at this time, which means that the parts that France is able to exert effective control over will be limited to the eastern Pale around Dublin. This does not mean that the French will not be able to expand their control over the rest of the island, of course, but it will take time. My gut feeling is that France may advance a more 'hands-off' policy than England the same time, France will know that an effective presence in Ireland would also be useful to flanking England (and, coupled with the Auld Alliance with Scotland, they effectively have the English surrounded). Because of this, I suspect that they might be more conciliatory towards the Gaelic Lords in the West, whose support they would need to maintain order throughout Ireland. This, of course, butterflies away the rebellion and the Flight of the Earls.

Now, of course, Ireland is going to be viewed as a dagger pointing straight into the heart of England by the English rulers and I could definitely see efforts to conquer it; especially once the Protestant Reformation heats up even more, and England suddenly realizes that it is surrounded by a hostile Catholic power.
 
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