Battle of Loudoun Hill

'...The efforts of Bruce were not uniformly successful. Two of his brothers, Thomas and Alexander, had landed in Galloway, but were defeated and made prisoners by Roland Macdougal, a chief of that country who was devoted to England. He sent the unfortunate brothers to Edward, who executed them both, and became thus accountable to Bruce for the death of three of his brethren. This accident rendered the king's condition more precarious than it had been, and encouraged the Gallovidians to make many attempts against his person, in some of which they made use of bloodhounds. At one time he escaped so narrowly, that his banner was taken, and, as it happened, by his own nephew, Thomas Randolph, then employed in the ranks of the English. When pressed upon on this and similar occasions, it was the custom of Bruce to elude the efforts of the enemy by dispersing his followers, who, each shifting for himself, knew where to meet again at some place of rendezvous, and often surprised and put to the sword some part of the enemy which were lying in full assurance of safety.

At length, after repeated actions and a long series of marching and counter-marching, Pembroke was forced lo abandon Ayrshire to the Bruce, as Percy had done before him. Douglas on his part was successful in Lanarkshire,  and the numerous patriots resumed the courage which they had possessed under Wallace. A battle was fought at Loudoun-hill, in consequence of an express appointment between Bruce and his old enemy the earl of Pembroke, who was returning to the west with considerable reinforcements, the 10th of May, 1307. in which the Scottish king completely avenged the defeat at Methven...'

The Battle of Loudon Hill was the first major victory over the English, for Robert Bruce as King of Scotland.  Bruce's forces were approximately 600 strong.  English troops, under Aymer de Valence, number 3,000.  Bruce's brother Edward also fought at Loudoun Hill.  The text above is from Sir Walter Scott's "The History of Scotland".  The battle took place on May 10, 1307.

Edward Bruce Killed in Battle of Faughart

'The Scottish chivalry;—
—With foot in stirrup, hand on mane,
Fierce Edward Bruce can scarce restrain
His own keen heart, his eager train,
Until the archers gain'd the plain ;
Then, "Mount, ye gallants free!"...'
 
The Bruces were known for their military skill, as Scott portrays in his poem "The Lord of the Isles".  The younger brother of Robert the Bruce helped his brother in Scotland, and was present at the Battle of Bannockburn.
 
A year after Bannockburn, the Bruces launched a campaign in Ireland to wrest it from English control, and open up war on two fronts against the British.  In part, their invasion was invited by the O'Neill King of Tir Eoghain, who later swore fealty to Edward Bruce.  Bruce was crowned King of Ireland in May 1318. The war was ongoing five months later, when the Battle of Faughart occurred.  Bruce's forces suffered a terrible defeat, with Edward losing his life, on October 14, 1318.

Battle of Bannockburn

On St. John's Day (June 24) in 1314, the Battle of Bannockburn took place.  The siege of Stirling Castle by Edward Bruce focused activity in this area, and toward this day.  Bruce made a deal with Sir Philip Mowbray, who commanded the castle, that if English reinforcements did not arrive by midsummer's day (6/24), the castle would be turned over to the Scots. 

King Edward II of England moved approximately 18,000 troops to the area to prevent the loss of the castle, and to meet the Scots in pitched battle.  The Scottish forces, under King Robert Bruce, are estimated in the 6,000 - 7,000 range.  Among those may have been a group of excommunicated Knights Templar under Sir William Sinclair.  The day turned decidedly in favor of the Scots, in a major pivotal victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Walter Scott includes Bannockburn in his The Lord of the Isles.  He also wrote a history, which is included in "Builders of Democracy" by Edwin Greenlaw.  A small portion is below:


THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN


SIR WALTER SCOTT

(1314)

King Edward the Second, as we have already said, was not a wise and brave man like his father, but a foolish prince, who was influenced by unworthy favorites, and thought more of pleasure than of governing his kingdom. His father Edward the First would have entered Scotland at the head of a large army, before he had left Bruce time to conquer back so much of the country. But we have seen that, very fortunately for the Scots, that wise and skilful, though ambitious King, died when he was on the point of marching into Scotland. His son Edward had afterwards neglected the Scottish war, and thus lost the opportunity of defeating Bruce when his force was small. But now when Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor of Stirling, came to London, to tell the King that Stirling, the last Scottish town of importance which remained in possession of the English, was to be surrendered if it were not relieved by force of arms before midsummer, then all the English nobles called out, it would be a sin and shame to permit the fair conquest which Edward the First had made to be forfeited to the Scots, for want of fighting. It was therefore resolved that the King should go himself to Scotland, with as great forces as he could possibly muster...


Sources:
http://sinclair.quarterman.org/sinclair/history/med/battleofbannockburn.html
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars12011400/p/bannockburn.htm

Edward Bruce Crowned King of Ireland

"...But Edward Bruce's ambition was too impatient to wait till the succession to the Scottish crown should become open to him by the death of his brother, when an opportunity seemed to offer itself which offered a prospect of instantly gaining a kingdom by the sword. This occurred when a party of Irish chiefs, discontented with the rule of the English invaders, sent an invitation to Edward Bruce to come over with a force adequate to expel the English from Ireland, and assume the sceptre of that fair island. By consent of king Robert, who was pleased to make a diversion against England upon a vulnerable point, and not, perhaps, sorry to be rid of a restless spirit, which became impatient in the lack of employment, Edward invaded Ireland at the head of a force of six thousand Scots. He fought many battles, and gained them all. He became master of the province of Ulster, and was solemnly crowned king of Ireland; but found himself amid his successes obliged to intreat the assistance of king Robert with fresh supplies; for the impetuous Edward, who never spared his own person, was equally reckless of exposing his followers; and his successes were misfortunes, in so far as they wasted the brave men with whose lives they were purchased.



Robert Bruce led supplies to his brother's assistance, with an army which enabled him to overrun Ireland, but without gaining any permanent advantage. He threatened Dublin, and penetrated as far as Limerick in the west, but was compelled, by scarcity of provisions, to retire again into Ulster, in the spring of 1317. He shortly after returned to Scotland, leaving a part of his troops with Edward, though probably convinced that his brother was engaged in a desperate and fruitless enterprise, where he could not rely on the faith of his Irish subjects, as he termed them, or the steadiness of their troops, while Scotland was too much exhausted to supply him with new armies of auxiliaries.


After his brother's departure, Edward's career of ambition was closed at the battle of Dundalk, where, October 5th, 1318, fortune at length failed a warrior who had tried her patience by so many hazards. On that fatal day he encountered, against the advice of his officers, an Anglo-Irish army ten times more numerous than his own. A strong champion among the English, named John Maupas, singling out the person of Edward, slew him, and received death at his hands : their bodies were found stretched upon each other in the field of battle. The victors ungenerously mutilated the body of him before whom most of them had repeatedly fled. A general officer of the Scots, called John Thomson, led back the remnant of" the Scottish force to their own country. And thus ended the Scottish invasion of Ireland, with the loss of many brave soldiers, whom their country afterwards severely missed in her hour of need...."

From "The History of Scotland", by Walter Scott

May 2, 1316 is the date Edward Bruce accepted the crown of Ireland.