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Birth:          ABT 1100 Leinster, Ireland
Death:          1 May 1171 Ferns, Leinster, Ireland

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarmait_Mac_Murchada
Diarmait Mac Murchada (Modern Irish: Diarmaid Mac Murchadha), anglicised as 
Dermot MacMurrough, Dermod MacMurrough, Dermot MacMorrogh or Dermot 
MacMorrow (c. 1110 – c. 1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he 
was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland – Ruaidri Ua Conchobair. The 
grounds for the dispossession were that Mac Murchada had, in 1152, abducted 
Derbforgaill, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tiernan O'Rourke (Irish: Tighearnán Ua 
Ruairc). 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 later 
known as Diarmait na nGall (Irish for "Diarmait of the Foreigners").
Early life and family[edit]

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.
[1] 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.[2]

King of Leinster[edit]

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. Toirdelbach sent one of his allied Kings, the belligerent Tigernán Ua Ruairc 
(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. Other sources[who?] say that 
Derbforgaill was not an unwilling prisoner and that she remained in Ferns with Mac 
Murchada 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[edit]

As king of Leinster, in 1140–70 Diarmait commissioned Irish Romanesque churches 
and abbeys at:
Baltinglass – a Cistercian abbey (1148)
Glendalough
Ferns (his capital – St Mary's Abbey Augustinian Order)
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.[3]
Exile and return[edit]

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 authorised Diarmait to seek help from the soldiers and 
mercenaries in his kingdom. Those who agreed to help included Richard de Clare (now 
called "Strongbow", but not by contemporaries) and half-brothers Robert Fitz-Stephen 
and Maurice FitzGerald. Robert was accompanied by his half-nephew Robert de Barry. 
Strongbow 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. In Mac Murchada's 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.

On returning to Wales, Robert fitz Stephen helped him organise a mercenary army of 
English and Welsh soldiers. Landing at Bannow Bay, they laid siege to Wexford which 
fell in May 1169. After a period of inactivity, they went on to raid the Kingdom of 
Ossory. They then launched raids to the north, in the territories of the Uí Tuathail, the 
Uí Broin and the Uí Conchobhair. He marched on Tara (the political capital at the 
time) to oust O'Connor. Mac Murchada gambled that the High King 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. 
Although he had been distracted by disturbances else where in the kingdom, the High 
King could no longer ignore this powerful force.

He marched his forces into Leinster and, with the mediation of the Church, the 
commanders of the two armies began negotiations at Ferns, Diarmait's political base. 
An agreement was reached, whereby Diarmait was allowed to remain King of Leinster 
with Diarmait for his part recognising Ua Conchobair as High King. Some historians 
maintain that the treaty with Ua Conchobair included a secret agreement whereby 
Diarmait undertook to bring in no more foreign mercenaries and to send away Robert 
fitz Stephen and his men as soon as Leinster was subdued.[4] It's possible that Mac 
Murchada's hand may have been forced by the arrival at Wexford in May 1170 of 
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan and his force of 10 knights, thirty men-at-arms 
and a hundred archers and foot soldiers. Mac Murchada and fitz Gerald marched on 
the Ostman Norse–Gaelic city of Dublin which surrendered. Within a short time, all 
Leinster was again in Mac Murchada's control. Emboldened by these victories, he sent 
Robert fitz Stephen to the assistance of his son-in-law, Domnall Mór Ua Briain, the 
King of Thomond.

In the opinion of some historians, Mac Murchada's plans may have been limited to the 
recovery of his throne; only later when the superiority of the mercenary arms had 
overawed the Gaelic nobility of Ireland did he consider tilting at the high kingship 
itself.[5] According to the contemporary, Gerald of Wales, he was advised by Robert 
fitz Stephen and Maurice fitz Gerald to write to Strongbow requesting assistance. 
Strongbow sent an advance party under Raymond le Gros, arriving himself 1170 at the 
Ostman Norse-Gaelic settlement of Waterford. Following the fall of Waterford, the 
promised marriage of Aoife and Strongbow took place. As a result, much of Richard 
fitz Gilbert, count of Strigoil, became lord of Leinster.[6] The marriage was imagined 
and painted in the Romantic style in 1854 by Daniel Maclise.

Mac Murchada was devastated after the death of his youngest son, Conchobar, 
retreated to Ferns and died a few months later.

Later reputation[edit]

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.[7]

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 1166x71. The adventurers who answered Diarmait's call for help were reacting to 
the opportunity for land and wealth. Henry II did not wish to invade Ireland, he was 
forced to react to earl Richard's aggrandisement. The counts of Strigoil had been 
supporters of King Stephen, and Henry II did not forget easily.

Gerald of Wales, a Cambro-English 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. ” 

Death and descendants[edit]

After 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. He also ensured that his 
moral claim to Ireland, granted by the supposed 1155 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.

Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair was soon ousted, first as King of Ireland and eventually as 
King of Connacht. The Lordship directly controlled a small territory in Ireland 
surrounding the cities of Dublin and Waterford, while the rest of Ireland was divided 
between English lords and court curiales. 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's male-line descendants included Art Óg mac Murchadha Caomhánach (d. 
1417), who revived the kingship of Leinster, and Cahir mac Art Kavanagh (died 1554) 
who continued to rule parts of Leinster independently of the English until the Tudor 
conquest of Ireland in the 16th century. The last proclaimed King of Leinster, 
Domhnall Spáinneach mac Murchadha Caomhánach, died in 1632. Later senior who 
descendants retained the position among the Irish upper-classes included Arthur 
MacMorrough Kavanagh (1831–1889) and his son, Walter MacMurrough Kavanagh 
1856–1922). Dermot McMorrough Kavanagh (d. 1958) was recognised as Chief of the 
Name of Clann Caomhánach (Kavanagh) in his lifetime.

Diarmait died about 1 May 1171 and was buried in Ferns Cathedral, where his grave 
can be seen in the outside graveyard.

Theatrical representations[edit]

In the play The Dreaming of the Bones by W. B. Yeats, the ghosts of Dermot and 
Derbforgaill rescue an Irish freedom fighter during the Easter Week rebellion, and 
reveal that they are bound until an Irishman can forgive them for bringing the English 
to Ireland.[8]
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I02042
Note: He asked Richard Strongbow de Clare (and others including William Gerard, etc) 
to help him in Ireland. That was the beginning of the Norman Conquest of Ireland.

Parents
MAC MURCHADA Donnchadh (ABT 1055 - 8 Dec 1115)
MAC BRANAIN Orlaith (1080 - )

Siblings
MCMURROUGH Dermot (ABT 1100 - 1 May 1171)

Marriage To O'MOORE Cacht (ABT 1135 - )
    m.  

Notes


Children by O'MOORE Cacht ABT 1135 - 
MCMURROUGH Urlachen (Orlacan) (ABT 1154 - )

Marriage To O'TOOLE More (ABT 1114 - 1191)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
O'TOOLE [UA TUATHAIL] Muirchertach (ABT 1089 - )
O'BYRNE Inghin (ABT 1094 - )

Children by O'TOOLE More ABT 1114 - 1191
MCMURROUGH Eva (Aoife) (ABT 1141 - 1188)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017