For Derbforgaill, daughter of Alan of Galloway and mother of King John of Scotland, see Dervorguilla of Galloway Alan FitzRoland (c. ... John Balliol and his wife. ... Dervorguilla of Galloway a. ...

Derbforgaill (1108-1193) was a daughter of Murchad Ua Maeleachlainn, king of Meath, and of his wife Mor (d.1137), daughter of Muirchertach Ua Briain. She is famously known as the "Helen of Ireland" as her abduction from her husband Tigernán Ua Ruairc by Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster, in 1152 played some part in bringing the Anglo-Normans to Irish shores, although this is a role that has often been exaggerated. Events May - Battle of Ucles Consecration of Chichester cathedral Saint Magnus becomes the first earl of Orkney In Pistoia, Italy, Cathedral of San Zeno burned to the ground. ... Events Saladin dies, and the lands of the Kurdish Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria are split among his descendants. ... Tigernán Ua Ruairc (d. ... Diarmait Mac Murchada, anglicized as Dermot MacMurrough (died 1 January 1171) is considered the most notorious traitor in Irish history. ...

Unlike many other women, she is mentioned no less than five times in contemporary annals: her abduction by Diarmait in 1152 (Annals of Clonmacnoise), (although by the end of the next year she was back living with her husband again, possibly after negotiations with her father's family); her donation to the Cistercian abbey of Mellifont of altar cloths, a gold chalice, and 60 ounces of gold during the consecration ceremony in 1157 (Annals of the Four Masters); her completion of the Nuns' Church at Clonmacnoise in 1167 (Annals of the Four Masters); her retirement to Mellifont in 1186 (Annals of Ulster, Annals of Loch Ce); and her death in Mellifont in 1193 (Annals of Ulster, Annals of the Four Masters). Mellifont Abbey is the first Cistercian abbey to be built in Ireland. ... Clonmacnoise viewed from the River Shannon The monastery of Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis in Irish, meaning Meadow of the Sons of Nós) is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone. ...

Tigernán Ua Ruairc had three children, Melaghlin (d.1162), Aed, described as crown prince of Breifne, killed by the Anglo-Normans (d.1171) and Dowchawley (d.1171), wife to Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, high king of Ireland, but whether or not Derbforgaill was their mother is less certain. Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (d. ...

The abduction episode of 1152 has been variously interpreted. It seems that Derbforgaill went willingly, and that she took her cattle and chattels with her, all at the persuasion of her younger brother Maeleachlainn. It has been suggested that this was an attempt on the part of her paternal family, the royal family of Meath, to forge a new alliance through marriage, with Diarmait Mac Murchada. Formalising treaties through marriage seems to have been standard practice in twelfth-century Ireland, witness Diarmait Mac Murchada's betrothal of his daughter Aoife to Strongbow, while in 1165 the king of Uladh's daughter was taken hostage by the high king presumably just to prevent her father using her cement a new alliance. Aoife is a Irish female given name. ... The term Strongbow may refer to two different affairs: Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, a Norman earl also known by the nickname Strongbow Strongbow Cider, a brand of cider Beleg Cúthalion (meaning, literally, Strongbow), a companion of Túrin Turambar in JRR Tolkiens Quenta Silmarillion. ...

Most historians are agreed that there was no romance involved, and that dynastic politics were at the base of the dispute. However, it does seem that Tigernán held the grudge, insisting on claiming legal compensation of 100 ounces of gold from Diarmait in 1167, which was enforced by Ruaidri Ua Conchobair.

Sources

• Flanagan, Marie-Therese, Irish Society, Anglo-Norman Settlers, Angevin Kingship, Oxford, 1989.
• Ni Ghradaigh, Jenifer, ' 'But what exactly did she give?' Derbforgaill and the Nuns' Church', in Clonmacnoise Studies II, ed. H. King, Dublin, 2003, pp.175-207.