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In Ireland, the 1366 Statute of Kilkenny limited English rule to Dublin and a surrounding layer of settlement; what phrase came to denote the areas of Ireland outside this layer?



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Answer: beyond the Pale

This area was called the Pale of Settlement and that which was outside of it was beyond the Pale. The phrase has come to denote "that which is beyond the bounds of acceptable behaviour."


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(the Mootguy)

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