Dermot MacMurrough
Encyclopedia
Diarmait Mac Murchada anglicized as Dermot MacMurrough or Dermod MacMurrough (1110–1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster
in Ireland
. In 1167, he was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland
- Turlough Mór O'Connor
. The grounds for the dispossession were that MacMurrough had, in 1152, abducted Derbforgaill
, the wife of the King of Breifne
, Tiernan O'Rourke . To recover his kingdom, MacMurrough solicited help from King Henry II of England
. In return, MacMurrough pledged an oath of allegiance to Henry, who sent troops in support. As a further thanks for his reinstatement, MacMurrough's daughter Aoife was married to Richard de Clare, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke (nicknamed "Strongbow"). Henry II then mounted a larger second invasion
in 1171 to ensure his control over Strongbow, resulting in the Lordship of Ireland
. MacMurrough was later known as Diarmait na nGall (Irish for "Diarmait of the Foreigners").
and Dublin. His father's grandmother Dervorgilla (Derbforgaill) was a daughter of Donnchad, King of Munster
and therefore she was a grand-daughter of Brian Boru
. His father was killed in battle in 1115 by the Dublin Vikings, and was buried by them in Dublin along with the body of a dog, considered to be a huge insult.
MacMurrough had two wives (as allowed under the Brehon Laws
), the first of whom, Sadb of Uí Faeláin, was mother of a daughter named Órlaith who married Domnall Mór
, King of Munster
. His second wife, Mór Uí Tuathail
, was mother of Aoife / Eva of Leinster and Conchobar Mac Murchada. He had two legitimate sons, Domnall Caemhánach (died 1175) and Énna Cennselach (blinded 1169).
(Tiernan O'Rourke) to conquer Leinster and oust the young Mac Murchada. Ua Ruairc went on a brutal campaign slaughtering the livestock of Leinster and thereby trying to starve the province's residents. Mac Murchada was ousted from his throne, but was able to regain it with the help of Leinster clans in 1132. Afterwards followed two decades of an uneasy peace between Ua Conchobair and Diarmait. In 1152 he even assisted the High King to raid the land of Ua Ruairc who had by then become a renegade.
Mac Murchada also is said to have "abducted" Ua Ruairc's wife Derbforgaill
(English: Dervorgilla) along with all her furniture and goods, with the aid of Derbforgaill's brother, a future pretender to the kingship of Meath
. It was said that Derbforgaill was not exactly an unwilling prisoner and she remained in Ferns with MacMurrough, in comfort, for a number of years. Her advanced age indicates that she may have been a refugee or a hostage. Whatever the reality, the "abduction" was given as a further reason for enmity between the two kings.
churches and abbeys at:
He sponsored convents (nunneries) at Dublin (St Mary's, 1146), and in c.1151 two more at Aghade
, County Carlow
and at Kilculliheen
near Waterford
city.
He also sponsored the successful career of churchman St Lawrence O'Toole (Lorcan Ua Tuathail). He married O'Toole's half-sister Mor in 1153 and presided at the synod
of Clane
in 1161 when O'Toole was installed as archbishop
of Dublin.
In 1166, Ireland's new High King and Mac Murchada's only ally Muirchertach Ua Lochlainn had fallen, and a large coalition led by Tigernán Ua Ruairc
(Mac Murchada's arch enemy) marched on Leinster
. Ua Ruairc and his allies took Leinster with ease, and Mac Murchada and his wife barely escaped with their lives. Mac Murchada fled to Wales and from there to England and France, in order to have King Henry II
's consent to be allowed to recruit soldiers to bring back to Ireland
and reclaim his kingship. On returning to Wales, Robert Fitz-Stephen
helped him organize a mercenary army of Norman and Welsh soldiers, including Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
, alias Strongbow.
In his absence Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair
(son of Mac Murchada's former enemy, the High King Turlough Mór O'Connor) had become the new High King of Ireland. Mac Murchada planned not only to retake Leinster, but to oust the Uí Conchobair
clan and become the High King of Ireland himself. In 1167 he quickly retook Dublin, the Kingdom of Ossory and the Norse-Gaelic settlement of Waterford
. Within a short time, all Leinster was again in his control. He then marched on Tara
(the political capital at the time) to oust Ruaidrí. Mac Murchada gambled that Ruaidrí would not hurt the Leinster hostages which he had (including Mac Murchada's eldest son, Conchobar Mac Murchada). However Ua Ruairc forced his hand and they were all killed.
Diarmait's army then lost the battle. He sent word to Wales and pleaded with Strongbow
to come to Ireland as soon as possible. Strongbow's small force landed in Wexford
with Welsh and Norman cavalry thereby precipitating the Norman invasion of Ireland
. The Cambro-Norman
barons and knights quickly took over both Waterford
and Wexford. The capture of Dublin followed soon after. MacMurrough was devastated after the death of his son, Domhnall, retreated to Ferns and died a few months later.
Strongbow married Dermot's daughter Aoife of Leinster in 1170, as she was a great heiress, and as a result much of his (and his followers') land was granted to him under Norman law but contrary to Brehon law. The marriage was imagined and painted in the Romantic style
in 1854 by Daniel Maclise
.
The scholar Áed Ua Crimthainn
was probably Diarmait's court historian. In his Book of Leinster
, Áed seems to be the first to set out the concept of the rí Érenn co fressabra, the "king of Ireland with opposition", later more widely adopted. This described Diarmait's ambitions and the achievements of his great-grandfather Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó
.
, Diarmait Mac Murchada was often seen as a traitor, but his intention was not to aid an English invasion of Ireland, but rather to use Henry's assistance to become the High King of Ireland
himself. He had no way of knowing Henry II's ambitions in Ireland. In his time, politics was based on dynasties
and Ireland was not ruled as a unitary state. In turn, Henry II did not consider himself to be English or Norman, but a French Angevin
, and was merely responding to the realities on the ground.
Gerald of Wales, a Cambro-Norman historian who visited Ireland in 1185 and whose uncles and cousins were prominent soldiers in the army of Strongbow, repeated their opinions of Mac Murchada:
successful invasion, Henry II
mounted a second and larger invasion in 1171 to ensure his control over his Norman subjects, which succeeded. He then accepted the submission of the Irish kings
in Dublin in November 1171. He also ensured that his moral claim to Ireland
, granted by the 1154 papal bull
Laudabiliter
, was reconfirmed in 1172 by Pope Alexander III
, and also by a synod of all the Irish bishops at the Synod of Cashel
. He added "Lord of Ireland"
to his many other titles. Before he could consolidate his new Lordship he had to go to France
to deal with his sons' rebellion in 1173.
Ua Conchobair was soon ousted, first as High King and eventually as King of Connacht. Attempting to regain his provincial kingdom, he turned to the English as Mac Murchada had before him. The Lordship directly controlled a small territory in Ireland surrounding the cities of Dublin and Waterford, while the rest of Ireland was divided between Norman and Welsh barons. The 1175 Treaty of Windsor
, brokered by St Lawrence O'Toole
with Henry II, formalized the submission of the Gaelic clans
that remained in local control, like the Uí Conchobair who retained Connacht
and the Uí Néill who retained most of Ulster
.
Diarmait's male-line descendants such as Art Mac Art
continued to rule parts of Leinster until the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century. Today they live on with the surname "MacMurrough Kavanagh" at Borris in Co. Carlow and at Maresfield, East Sussex, being one of the few surviving "Chiefs of the name
". The currently recognized chief of the name is William Butler Kavanagh, The MacMorrough Kavanagh, Prince of Leinster
(b. 1944) http://www.hbci.com/~tiraha/leinster/mmk.html.
Through his daughter Aoife, Diarmait is also an ancestor of a great number of historically-famous people, including George Washington
, Marie-Antoinette, Lord Edward Fitzgerald
, Robert Emmet
, Charles Darwin
and Winston Churchill
.
More notably he is the ancestor (through Aoife's granddaughter Eva Marshal and her daughter Maud
who married Roger Mortimer) of the kings of England Edward IV
, Edward V, Richard III
, and all kings from Henry VIII onwards.
There are other notable descents from Aoife's daughter Isabel de Clare such as that of Katherine Mortimer, Aoife's great-granddaughter, who married Thomas de Beauchamp
11th Earl of Warwick
, and was therefore an ancestor of the Earls of Warwick and Kings of England from Edward IV onwards (with the exception of Henry VII
).
Theater
Film
Kings of Leinster
The following is a provisional list of the kings of Leinster who ruled the Irish kingdom of Leinster up to 1632 with the death of Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the last legitimately inaugurated head of the MacMurrough Kavanagh royal line...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. In 1167, he was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
- Turlough Mór O'Connor
Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair
Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair , anglicized Turlough Mór O'Connor, was King of Connacht and High King of Ireland .-Family background:...
. The grounds for the dispossession were that MacMurrough had, in 1152, abducted Derbforgaill
Derbforgaill
Dearbhfhorghaill , anglicized as Derval, was a daughter of Murchad Ua Maeleachlainn, king of Meath, and of his wife Mor , daughter of Muirchertach Ua Briain...
, the wife of the King of Breifne
Kingdom of Breifne
The Kingdom of Breifne or Bréifne was the traditional territory for an early Irish tribal group known as the Uí Briúin Bréifne...
, Tiernan O'Rourke . To recover his kingdom, MacMurrough solicited help from King Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. In return, MacMurrough pledged an oath of allegiance to Henry, who sent troops in support. As a further thanks for his reinstatement, MacMurrough's daughter Aoife was married to Richard de Clare, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke (nicknamed "Strongbow"). Henry II then mounted a larger second invasion
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
in 1171 to ensure his control over Strongbow, resulting in the Lordship of Ireland
Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland refers to that part of Ireland that was under the rule of the king of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541. It was created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71 and was succeeded by the Kingdom of Ireland...
. MacMurrough was later known as Diarmait na nGall (Irish for "Diarmait of the Foreigners").
Early life and family
MacMurrough was born around 1110, a son of Donnchad mac Murchada, King of LeinsterKings of Leinster
The following is a provisional list of the kings of Leinster who ruled the Irish kingdom of Leinster up to 1632 with the death of Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the last legitimately inaugurated head of the MacMurrough Kavanagh royal line...
and Dublin. His father's grandmother Dervorgilla (Derbforgaill) was a daughter of Donnchad, King of Munster
Donnchad mac Briain
Donnchadh mac Briain , formerly anglicised as Donough O'Brian, son of Brian Bóruma and Gormflaith ingen Murchada, was King of Munster.-Background:...
and therefore she was a grand-daughter of Brian Boru
Brian Boru
Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...
. His father was killed in battle in 1115 by the Dublin Vikings, and was buried by them in Dublin along with the body of a dog, considered to be a huge insult.
MacMurrough had two wives (as allowed under the Brehon Laws
Brehon Laws
Early Irish law refers to the statutes that governed everyday life and politics in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norman invasion of 1169, but underwent a resurgence in the 13th century, and survived into Early Modern Ireland in parallel with English law over the...
), the first of whom, Sadb of Uí Faeláin, was mother of a daughter named Órlaith who married Domnall Mór
Domnall Mór Ua Briain
Domnall Mór Ua Briain, or Domnall Mór mac Toirrdelbach Ua Briain, was King of Thomond in Ireland from 1168 to 1194, and a claimant to the title King of Munster...
, King of Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
. His second wife, Mór Uí Tuathail
Mor O'Toole
Mor O'Toole was a Queen-consort of Leinster as the first wife of King Dermot MacMurrough. Under Brehon Law, Irish kings were allowed two wives. King Dermot's second wife was Sadhbh Ni Fhaolain...
, was mother of Aoife / Eva of Leinster and Conchobar Mac Murchada. He had two legitimate sons, Domnall Caemhánach (died 1175) and Énna Cennselach (blinded 1169).
King of Leinster
After the death of his older brother, Enna mac Donnchada Mac Murchada, Dermot unexpectedly became King of Leinster. This was opposed by the then High King of Ireland, Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair who feared (rightly) that Mac Murchada would become a rival. Toirdelbach sent one of his allied Kings, the belligerent Tigernán Ua RuaircTigernán Ua Ruairc
Tighearnán Mór Ua Ruairc , anglicized as Tiernán O'Rourke ruled the Kingdom of Bréifne as the 19th king in its Ua Ruairc dynasty...
(Tiernan O'Rourke) to conquer Leinster and oust the young Mac Murchada. Ua Ruairc went on a brutal campaign slaughtering the livestock of Leinster and thereby trying to starve the province's residents. Mac Murchada was ousted from his throne, but was able to regain it with the help of Leinster clans in 1132. Afterwards followed two decades of an uneasy peace between Ua Conchobair and Diarmait. In 1152 he even assisted the High King to raid the land of Ua Ruairc who had by then become a renegade.
Mac Murchada also is said to have "abducted" Ua Ruairc's wife Derbforgaill
Derbforgaill
Dearbhfhorghaill , anglicized as Derval, was a daughter of Murchad Ua Maeleachlainn, king of Meath, and of his wife Mor , daughter of Muirchertach Ua Briain...
(English: Dervorgilla) along with all her furniture and goods, with the aid of Derbforgaill's brother, a future pretender to the kingship of Meath
Kingdom of Mide
Mide , spelt Midhe in modern Irish and anglicised as Meath, was a medieval kingdom in Ireland for over 1,000 years. Its name means "middle", denoting the fact that lay in the middle of Ireland....
. It was said that Derbforgaill was not exactly an unwilling prisoner and she remained in Ferns with MacMurrough, in comfort, for a number of years. Her advanced age indicates that she may have been a refugee or a hostage. Whatever the reality, the "abduction" was given as a further reason for enmity between the two kings.
Church builder
As king of Leinster, in 1140-70 Dermot commissioned Irish RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
churches and abbeys at:
- BaltinglassBaltinglassBaltinglass or Baltinglas is a town in south-west County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated on the River Slaney near the border with County Carlow and County Kildare, on the N81 road. Its Irish name means "the way of Conglas", Conglas being a member of the mythological warrior collective, the Fianna...
- a Cistercian abbey (1148) - GlendaloughGlendaloughGlendalough or Glendaloch is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is renowned for its Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin, a hermit priest, and partly destroyed in 1398 by English troops....
- FernsFerns, County WexfordFerns is a small historic town in north County Wexford, Ireland with a population of about 900. It is 16 km from Enniscorthy, where the Gorey to Enniscorthy N11 road joins the R745 regional road...
(his capital - St Mary's Abbey Augustinian Order) - KilleshinKilleshinKilleshin is a village in County Laois, Ireland on the R430 regional road. It is a small rural community of approximately 1300 people. It is situated 5 km west of Carlow town and overlooks the picturesque Barrow Valley...
He sponsored convents (nunneries) at Dublin (St Mary's, 1146), and in c.1151 two more at Aghade
Aghade
Aghade is a small village in County Carlow, Ireland. It has a notable bridge, a church and at one time had a school....
, County Carlow
County Carlow
County Carlow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Carlow, which lies on the River Barrow. Carlow County Council is the local authority for the county...
and at Kilculliheen
Kilculliheen
Kilculliheen ]) is a civil parish, electoral division and barony in Ireland, on the north bank of the River Suir across from the centre of Waterford City. Historically, it has been transferred several times between the county borough of Waterford and the counties of Kilkenny and Waterford. It now...
near Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
city.
He also sponsored the successful career of churchman St Lawrence O'Toole (Lorcan Ua Tuathail). He married O'Toole's half-sister Mor in 1153 and presided at the synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
of Clane
Clane
Clane is a town on the River Liffey and in the barony of Clane in County Kildare, Ireland, from Dublin.Its population of 4,968 makes it the eighth largest town in Kildare and the 78th largest in the Republic of Ireland....
in 1161 when O'Toole was installed as archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Dublin.
Exile and return
Tigernán Ua Ruairc
Tighearnán Mór Ua Ruairc , anglicized as Tiernán O'Rourke ruled the Kingdom of Bréifne as the 19th king in its Ua Ruairc dynasty...
(Mac Murchada's arch enemy) marched on Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
. Ua Ruairc and his allies took Leinster with ease, and Mac Murchada and his wife barely escaped with their lives. Mac Murchada fled to Wales and from there to England and France, in order to have King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
's consent to be allowed to recruit soldiers to bring back to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and reclaim his kingship. On returning to Wales, Robert Fitz-Stephen
Robert Fitz-Stephen
Robert Fitz-Stephen was a 12th century Cambro-Norman soldier, one of the leaders of the Norman invasion of Ireland, for which he was granted extensive lands in Ireland. He was a son of the famous Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last king of Deheubarth . His father was Nest's second husband,...
helped him organize a mercenary army of Norman and Welsh soldiers, including Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...
, alias Strongbow.
In his absence Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair
Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair
Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair , often anglicised Rory O'Connor, reigned as King of Connacht from 1156 to 1186, and from 1166 to 1198 was the last High King before the Norman invasion of Ireland .Ruaidrí was one of over twenty sons of King...
(son of Mac Murchada's former enemy, the High King Turlough Mór O'Connor) had become the new High King of Ireland. Mac Murchada planned not only to retake Leinster, but to oust the Uí Conchobair
O'Conor Don
The Ó Conchubhair Donn is the hereditary Prince and Chief of the Name of the Royal Family of Connacht, the Clan Ó Conchubhair.-Overview:...
clan and become the High King of Ireland himself. In 1167 he quickly retook Dublin, the Kingdom of Ossory and the Norse-Gaelic settlement of Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
. Within a short time, all Leinster was again in his control. He then marched on Tara
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
(the political capital at the time) to oust Ruaidrí. Mac Murchada gambled that Ruaidrí would not hurt the Leinster hostages which he had (including Mac Murchada's eldest son, Conchobar Mac Murchada). However Ua Ruairc forced his hand and they were all killed.
Diarmait's army then lost the battle. He sent word to Wales and pleaded with Strongbow
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...
to come to Ireland as soon as possible. Strongbow's small force landed in Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
with Welsh and Norman cavalry thereby precipitating the Norman invasion of Ireland
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
. The Cambro-Norman
Cambro-Norman
Cambro-Norman is a term used for Norman knights who settled in southern Wales after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Some historians suggest that the term is to be preferred to Anglo-Norman for the Normans who invaded Ireland after 1170 — many of whom originated in Wales. However, the term...
barons and knights quickly took over both Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
and Wexford. The capture of Dublin followed soon after. MacMurrough was devastated after the death of his son, Domhnall, retreated to Ferns and died a few months later.
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
in 1854 by Daniel Maclise
Daniel Maclise
Daniel Maclise was an Irish history, literary and portrait painter, and illustrator, who worked for most of his life in London, England.-Early life:...
.
The scholar Áed Ua Crimthainn
Áed Ua Crimthainn
Áed Ua Crimthainn , also called Áed mac Crimthainn, was abbot and coarb of Terryglass , near Lough Derg in County Tipperary, Ireland...
was probably Diarmait's court historian. In his Book of Leinster
Book of Leinster
The Book of Leinster , is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18...
, Áed seems to be the first to set out the concept of the rí Érenn co fressabra, the "king of Ireland with opposition", later more widely adopted. This described Diarmait's ambitions and the achievements of his great-grandfather Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó
Diarmait mac Mail na mBo
Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó was King of Leinster, and also High King of Ireland .He was one of the most important and significant Kings in Ireland in the pre-Norman era...
.
Later reputation
In Irish history books written after 1800 in the age of nationalismNationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, Diarmait Mac Murchada was often seen as a traitor, but his intention was not to aid an English invasion of Ireland, but rather to use Henry's assistance to become the High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
himself. He had no way of knowing Henry II's ambitions in Ireland. In his time, politics was based on dynasties
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
and Ireland was not ruled as a unitary state. In turn, Henry II did not consider himself to be English or Norman, but a French Angevin
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
, and was merely responding to the realities on the ground.
Gerald of Wales, a Cambro-Norman historian who visited Ireland in 1185 and whose uncles and cousins were prominent soldiers in the army of Strongbow, repeated their opinions of Mac Murchada:
- "Now Dermot was a man tall of stature and stout of frame; a soldier whose heart was in the fray, and held valiant among his own nation. From often shouting his battle-cry his voice had become hoarse. A man who liked better to be feared by all than loved by any. One who would oppress his greater vassals, while he raised to high station men of lowly birth. A tyrant to his own subjects, he was hated by strangers; his hand was against every man, and every man's hand against him."
Death and descendants
After Strongbow'sRichard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...
successful invasion, Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
mounted a second and larger invasion in 1171 to ensure his control over his Norman subjects, which succeeded. He then accepted the submission of the Irish kings
Irish kings
This page serves as an index of lists of kings of the Gaelic kingdoms of Ireland of the Early Medieval period.*List of High Kings of Ireland*Kings of Ailech*Kings of Airgíalla*Kings of Brega*Kings of Breifne*Kings of Connacht*Kings of Dál nAraidi...
in Dublin in November 1171. He also ensured that his moral claim to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, granted by the 1154 papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
Laudabiliter
Laudabiliter
Laudabiliter was a papal bull issued in 1155 by Adrian IV, the only Englishman to serve as Pope, giving the Angevin King Henry II of England the right to assume control over Ireland and apply the Gregorian Reforms in the Irish church...
, was reconfirmed in 1172 by Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
, and also by a synod of all the Irish bishops at the Synod of Cashel
Synod of Cashel
The Synod of Cashel of 1172, also known as the Second Synod of Cashel,The first being the Synod held at Cashel in 1101 was assembled at Cashel at the request of Henry II of England shortly after his arrival in Ireland in October 1171...
. He added "Lord of Ireland"
Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland refers to that part of Ireland that was under the rule of the king of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541. It was created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71 and was succeeded by the Kingdom of Ireland...
to his many other titles. Before he could consolidate his new Lordship he had to go to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to deal with his sons' rebellion in 1173.
Ua Conchobair was soon ousted, first as High King and eventually as King of Connacht. Attempting to regain his provincial kingdom, he turned to the English as Mac Murchada had before him. The Lordship directly controlled a small territory in Ireland surrounding the cities of Dublin and Waterford, while the rest of Ireland was divided between Norman and Welsh barons. The 1175 Treaty of Windsor
Treaty of Windsor (1175)
The Treaty of Windsor was signed in 1175 in Windsor, Berkshire between King Henry II of England and the High King of Ireland, Rory O'Connor...
, brokered by St Lawrence O'Toole
Lorcán Ua Tuathail
Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as St Laurence O'Toole, was born at Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland, in 1128, and died at Eu, Normandy, France, on 14 November 1180; he was canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius III.-Early life:...
with Henry II, formalized the submission of the Gaelic clans
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
that remained in local control, like the Uí Conchobair who retained Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
and the Uí Néill who retained most of Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
.
Diarmait's male-line descendants such as Art Mac Art
Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh
Art Mór Mac Murchadha Caomhánach is generally regarded as the most formidable of the later Kings of Leinster. He revived not only the royal family's prerogatives but their lands and power...
continued to rule parts of Leinster until the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century. Today they live on with the surname "MacMurrough Kavanagh" at Borris in Co. Carlow and at Maresfield, East Sussex, being one of the few surviving "Chiefs of the name
Chiefs of the Name
The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan...
". The currently recognized chief of the name is William Butler Kavanagh, The MacMorrough Kavanagh, Prince of Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
(b. 1944) http://www.hbci.com/~tiraha/leinster/mmk.html.
Through his daughter Aoife, Diarmait is also an ancestor of a great number of historically-famous people, including George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Marie-Antoinette, Lord Edward Fitzgerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary. He was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster , he was born at Carton House, near Dublin, and died of wounds received in resisting arrest on charge of treason.-Early years:FitzGerald spent most of his...
, Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
, Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
and Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
More notably he is the ancestor (through Aoife's granddaughter Eva Marshal and her daughter Maud
Maud de Braose, Baroness Wigmore
Maud de Braose, Baroness Wigmore was a noble heiress, and one of the most important, being a member of the powerful de Braose family which held many lordships and domains in the Welsh Marches...
who married Roger Mortimer) of the kings of England Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
, Edward V, Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
, and all kings from Henry VIII onwards.
There are other notable descents from Aoife's daughter Isabel de Clare such as that of Katherine Mortimer, Aoife's great-granddaughter, who married Thomas de Beauchamp
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War...
11th Earl of Warwick
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...
, and was therefore an ancestor of the Earls of Warwick and Kings of England from Edward IV onwards (with the exception of Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
).
Sources
- Annals of the Four MastersAnnals of the Four MastersThe Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...
, ed. J. O'Donovan; 1990 edition. - Expugnatio Hibernica, by Giraldus CambrensisGiraldus CambrensisGerald of Wales , also known as Gerallt Gymro in Welsh or Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin, archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler of his times...
; ed., with transln and historical notes, by A. B. Scott and F. X. Martin. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1978 - Byrne, Francis J. (1973) Irish Kings and High Kings. London: Batsford (Rev. ed. Dublin: Four Courts, 1999)
- Roche, Richard (1995) The Norman Invasion of Ireland. Dublin: Anvil Books (1st ed. [Tralee]: Anvil Books, c1970)
- O'Byrne, Emmett (2003) War, Politics and the Irish of Leinster 1156-160. Dublin: Four Courts
- Furlong, Nicholas (1973) Dermot, King of Leinster, and the foreigners. Tralee: Anvil Books ISBN 0-900068-37-X
- --do.-- Dermait, King of Leinster. Cork: Mercier Press, 2006 ISBN 1-85635-505-5
- Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700; by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 66-26, 175-6
Theater
- The Dreaming of the Bones by William Butler YeatsWilliam Butler YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
. The ghosts of Dermot and DerbforgaillDerbforgaillDearbhfhorghaill , anglicized as Derval, was a daughter of Murchad Ua Maeleachlainn, king of Meath, and of his wife Mor , daughter of Muirchertach Ua Briain...
rescue an Irish freedom fighter during the Easter Week rebellion. They reveal that they are bound until someone of the Irish race can forgive them for bringing the English to Ireland.
Film
- 'Diarmait & Strongbow' akajava films (2005) TV documentary for TG4 (Irl)
Source for genealogy
- Byrne, Francis J. (1973) Irish Kings and High-Kings. London: Batsford (Rev. ed. Dublin: Four Courts, 1999) "Uí Cheinnselaig Kings of Laigin", p. 290
- O'Byrne, Emmett (2003) War, Politics and the Irish of Leinster Dublin: Four Courts; "The MacMurrough-Kavanagh kings of Leinster; Outline Genealogies I, Ia, Ib", pages 247-249.
- O'Hart, John (1892) Irish Pedigrees; 5th ed. 2 vols. Dublin: James Duffy, pp. 157, 555. (1st ed.: 1878; several later eds.)