#OTD in 1171 – Henry II, fearful that Strongbow will grow too powerful in Ireland, lands at Waterford with an army.

17/10/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

The Normans, Norse and Irish all submit to him, except for the most remote Irish kings. Henry is worried about the growing power of the Cambro-Norman knights, in particular Strongbow, who has in the previous two years carved out what is a substantial new territory, as well as a delicately located new territory with regard to […]

#OTD in 1170 – Richard de Clare (Strongbow) marries Aoife Ní MacMurrough and sets a precedent for Norman rule in Ireland.

29/08/2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

Aoife Ní MacMurrough, also known by later historians as Eva of Leinster, was a noble, princess of Leinster and countess of Pembroke. She was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster and his second wife, Mor O’Toole, a relation of St Lawrence O’Toole. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland that her father had requested, she married […]

#OTD in Irish History | 29 August:

29/08/2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

1170 – Richard de Clare (Strongbow) marries Aoife Ní MacMurrough and sets a precedent for Norman rule in Ireland. 1729 – Birth of David La Touche, banking magnate and MP. 1798 – Cornwallis reaches Tuam, Co Galway. 1803 – Samuel Neilson, one of the founder members of the Society of United Irishmen and the founder […]

#OTD in Irish History | 25 August:

25/08/2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

1645 – Edward Worcester, Earl of Glamorgan; aristocrat and inventor, is sent to Ireland to raise troops for the king, and makes two secret treaties with the confederates on this date and on 20 December. 1764 – Birth of James Hope. He was a United Irishmen leader who fought in the 1798 and 1803 rebellions […]

#OTD in 1170 – Richard de Clare (Strongbow), a henchman of Henry II, arrives in Waterford at the behest of Dermot McMurrough, an event described in the Annals of Ulster as “the beginning of the woes of Ireland”.

23/08/2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

Richard, the son of Gilbert de Clare, was born in about 1130. His mother was Elizabeth, the daughter of Robert de Beaumont, the Earl of Leicester. In 1138 King Stephen created Gilbert the first Earl of Pembroke. On the death of his father in 1148, Richard became the 2nd Earl of Pembroke. In 1169, Dermot MacMurrough, the […]

#OTD in 1110 – Birth of Diarmaid Mac Murchada, King of Leinster, best remembered for bringing the Anglo-Normans to Ireland, and one of the most execrated names in Irish history.

26/06/2023.Reading time 1 minute.

In 1167, Diarmaid Mac Murchadha 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. To recover his kingdom, Mac Murchada solicited help from King Henry II […]

#OTD in 1318 – Richard de Clare, Lord of Thomond, a descendant of Strongbow, is killed while commanding his forces at the Battle of Dysert O’Dea.

09/05/2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

The Normans were very unsuccessful in trying to establish themselves in Clare. They had but one small section in Bunratty guarded by a strong Castle of the same name. In 1318 Richard DeClare occupied the Castle of Bunratty. In May of that year he was joined by some Irish traitors and they proceeded with a […]

#OTD in 1171 – Diarmaid MacMurrough, king of Leinster, died in Ferns, Co Wexford.

01/05/2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

Diarmaid Mac Murchadha, King of Leinster, is often considered to have been the most notorious traitor in Irish history. After succeeding to the throne of his father, Enna, in 1126, Diarmaid Mac Murchadha faced a number of rivals who disputed his claim to the kingship. He established his authority by killing or blinding seventeen rebel […]

#OTD in Irish History | 20 April:

20/04/2023.Reading time 14 minutes.

1176 – Death of Anglo-Norman lord, Richard Fitzgilbert de Clare, known as Strongbow, in Dublin. Strongbow came from England to Ireland at the urging of Diarmait Mac Murchadha. 1608 – Sir Thomas Phillipps was granted a license by James I to the Old Bushmills distillery in Co Antrim, which is thought to date from at […]

Clonmacnoise Monastery – Cluain Mhic Nóis | ‘Meadow of the Sons of Nós’

17/01/2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

This monastery is situated on the banks of the Shannon, it was founded in 544 AD by St Ciarán on a fertile meadow, or cluain, surrounded by bog. It could be reached only by river or along esker ridge known as the pilgrim’s road. The monastery flourished for 600 years as a centre of learning […]

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Tag: Strongbow

#OTD in 1171 – Henry II, fearful that Strongbow will grow too powerful in Ireland, lands at Waterford with an army.

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#OTD in 1170 – Richard de Clare (Strongbow) marries Aoife Ní MacMurrough and sets a precedent for Norman rule in Ireland.

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#OTD in Irish History | 29 August:

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#OTD in Irish History | 25 August:

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#OTD in 1170 – Richard de Clare (Strongbow), a henchman of Henry II, arrives in Waterford at the behest of Dermot McMurrough, an event described in the Annals of Ulster as “the beginning of the woes of Ireland”.

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#OTD in 1110 – Birth of Diarmaid Mac Murchada, King of Leinster, best remembered for bringing the Anglo-Normans to Ireland, and one of the most execrated names in Irish history.

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#OTD in 1318 – Richard de Clare, Lord of Thomond, a descendant of Strongbow, is killed while commanding his forces at the Battle of Dysert O’Dea.

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#OTD in 1171 – Diarmaid MacMurrough, king of Leinster, died in Ferns, Co Wexford.

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#OTD in Irish History | 20 April:

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Clonmacnoise Monastery – Cluain Mhic Nóis | ‘Meadow of the Sons of Nós’

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