Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster

Male 1110 - 1171  (60 years)


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  • Name Dermot MacMurrough 
    Suffix King of Leinster 
    Born 11 Nov 1110  Leinster, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 01 May 1171  Ferns, County Wexford, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Cathedral Church of Saint Edan, Ferns, County Wexford, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • Wikipedia
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarmait_Mac_Murchada

      Diarmait Mac Murchada, in English Dermot MacMurrough, was a King of Leinster, centered around the city of Wexford in Ireland. He was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland, Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, and to recover his kingdom, Mac Murchada solicited help from King Henry II of England. In return, Mac Murchada pledged an oath of allegiance to Henry, who sent troops in support. As a further thanks for his reinstatement, Mac Murchada'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.

      Mac Murchada was born around 1110, a son of Donnchad mac Murchada, King of Leinster and Dublin. His father's grandmother Dervorgilla (Derbforgaill) was a daughter of Donnchad, King of Munster and therefore she was a granddaughter of Brian Boru. His father was killed in battle in 1115 by his cousin Sigtrygg Silkbeard, king of the Dublin Vikings, and was buried by them in Dublin along with the body of a dog, considered to be a huge insult.

      Mac Murchada had two wives (as allowed under the Brehon Laws), the first of whom, Sadb Ní Faeláin, was mother of a daughter named Órlaith who married Domnall Mór, King of Munster. His second wife, Mór Ní Tuathail, was mother of Aoife / Eva of Leinster and his youngest son Conchobar Mac Murchada. He also had two other sons, Domhnall Caomhánach mac Murchada and Énna Cennselach mac Murchada (blinded 1169). Diarmait Mac Murchada is buried in the Cathedral graveyard of Ferns village.

      After the death of his older brother, Énna Mac Murchada, Diarmait 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. He 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.

      As king of Leinster, in 1140?70 Diarmait commissioned Irish Romanesque churches and abbeys at Baltinglass, a Cistercian abbey, Glendalough, Ferns (his capital ? St Mary's Abbey), and Killeshin. 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. The High King deposed Mac Murchada from the throne of Leinster. Mac Murchada fled to Wales and from there to England and France seeking the support of Henry II of England in the recruitment of soldiers to reclaim his kingship.

      Henry authorized Diarmait to seek help from the soldiers and mercenaries in his kingdom. Those who agreed to help included Richard de Clare. He was offered Diarmait's daughter Aoife in marriage and promised the kingship of Leinster on Diarmait's death. Robert and Maurice were promised lands in Wexford and elsewhere for their services.

      Diarmait was allowed to remain King of Leinster with Diarmait for his part recognising Ua Conchobair as High King. In Irish history books written after 1800, 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. The imperialism of the English, and later British, empire must not be placed anachronistically on to the events of 1166-1171. The adventurers who answered Diarmait's call for help were reacting to the opportunity for land and wealth.

      Gerald of Wales, a cleric who visited Ireland in 1185 and whose uncles and cousins were prominent soldiers in the army of Strongbow, repeated their opinions of Mac Murchada:

      "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."

      After his son-in-law, Strongbow's successful invasion, Henry II mounted a second and larger invasion in 1171 to ensure his control over his subjects, which succeeded. He then accepted the submission of the Irish kings in Dublin in November 1171. Henry 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. The 1175 Treaty of Windsor, brokered by St Lawrence O'Toole with Henry II, formalised 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 died about 1 May 1171 and was buried in Ferns Cathedral, where his grave can be seen in the outside graveyard.
    Person ID I36235  Master File
    Last Modified 4 Oct 2016 

    Family Mor O'Toole, Queen of Leinster,   b. ca 1114, Castle Dermot, Kildare, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1191, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 77 years) 
    Children 
     1. Aoife (Eva) MacMurrough, Princess of Leinster, Countess of Pembroke,   b. 1145, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1188, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 43 years)
    Last Modified 4 Oct 2016 
    Family ID F14952  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart