Diarmait Mac Murchada (also known as Diarmait na nGall, "Dermot of the Foreigners", "Daimait MacMorchada"), anglicized as Dermot MacMurrough (died 1 January 1171) was the King of Leinster, and is often considered to have been the most notorious traitor in Irish history. Ousted as King of Leinster, he invited King Henry II of England to assist him in regaining the throne. The subsequent invasion led to Henry becoming Lord of Ireland himself, and marked the beginning of eight centuries of English dominance. Events Rutherglen becomes one of the first Royal Burghs in Scotland. ... Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. ... Events William II of England dies in a hunting accident - Henry I becomes King of England King Henry I proclaims the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a constitution. ... Statistics Area: 19,774. ... Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. ... The following is a provisional list of the Kings of Leinster up to 1632. ... Henry II of England (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland, and western France. ... Coat of arms1 Capital Dublin Language(s) Norman French, Irish, Welsh, English Government Monarchy Lord of Ireland  - 1171-1189 Henry II  - 1509-1541 Henry VIII Lord Lieutenant  - 1528-1529 Piers Butler  - 1540–1548 Anthony St Leger Legislature Parliament of Ireland  - Upper house Irish House of Lords  - Lower house Irish House...

Early Life and Family

Mac Murchada was born in 1110, a son of Donnchad, King of Leinster and Dublin; he was a descendant of Brian Boru. His father was killed in battle in 1115 by Dublin Vikings and was buried, in Dublin, along with the body of a dog - this was considered a huge insult. A much later engraving of Brian Boru Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig (926 or 941[1] – 23 April 1014) (known as Brian Boru in English) was High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. ...

Mac Murchada had two wives (as allowed under the Brehon Laws), the first of whom, Mór Ua Tuathaill, was mother of Aoife of Leinster and Conchobar Mac Murchada. By Sadb of Uí Faeláin, he had a daughter named Orlaith who married Domnall Mór, King of Munster. He had two illegitimate sons, Domnall Cáemánach (died 1175) and Énna Cennselach (blinded 1169). Eva MacMurrough (b. ...

King of Leinster

Flag of Leinster

After the death of his older brother, Mac Murchada unexpectedly became King of Leinster. This was opposed by the then High King of Ireland, Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair who feared (rightly so) that Mac Murchada would become a rival. King Tairrdelbach sent one of his allied Kings, the belligerent Tiernan O'Rourke (Irish Tigernán Ua Ruairc) to conquer Leinster and oust the young Mac Murchada. O'Rourke 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 1133. Afterwards followed two decades of an uneasy peace between Ua Conchobair and Diarmait. In 1152 he even assisted the High King raid the land of O'Rourke who had by then become a renegade. Mac Murchada also 'abducted' O'Rourke's wife Derbforgaill 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 Derbhforgaill was not exactly an unwilling prisoner and she remained in Ferns with MacMurrough, in comfort, for a number of years. Image File history File links Flag_of_Leinster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Leinster. ... Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (1088-1156), whose name is often anglicised to Turlough O Connor, was King of Connacht and became the first High King of Ireland from west of the Shannon in centuries. ... Tigernán Ua Ruairc (d. ... Events Geoffrey of Monmouth produces the Historia Regum Britanniae Durham Cathedral is completed Construction of Exeter Cathedral begun June 4 - Lothair III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Innocent II Births March 5 - King Henry II of England (died 1189) Honen Shonin, Japanese founder of Pure Land Buddhism (died 1212... For Derbforgaill, daughter of Alan of Galloway and mother of King John of Scotland, see Dervorguilla of Galloway Derbforgaill (1108-1193) was a daughter of Murchad Ua Maeleachlainn, king of Meath, and of his wife Mor (d. ...

After the death of the famous High King Brian Boru in 1014, Ireland was at almost constant civil war for two centuries. After the fall of the O'Brien family (Brian Boru's descendants) from the Irish throne, the various families which ruled Ireland's four provinces were constantly fighting with one another for control of all of Ireland. At that time Ireland was like a federal kingdom, with five provinces (Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connaught along with Meath, which was the seat of the High King) each ruled by kings who were all supposed to be loyal to the High King of Ireland. A much later engraving of Brian Boru Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig (926 or 941[1] – 23 April 1014) (known as Brian Boru in English) was High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. ... Events February 14 - Pope Benedict VIII recognizes Henry of Bavaria as King of Germany July 29 - Battle of Kleidion: Basil II inflicts not only a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, but his subsequent savage treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of shock... A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight against each other for the control of political power. ... A map displaying todays federations. ... Statistics Area: 24,481 km² Population (2006 estimate) 1,993,918 Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) forms one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. ... Statistics Area: 19,774. ... Statistics Area: 24,607. ... Statistics Area: 17,713. ...

Exile and Return

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 find King Henry II and plead with him to be allowed recruit soldiers to bring back to Ireland and reclaim his Kingship. (It should be mentioned that King Henry II had in his possession, the Papal Bull laudabiliter which would entitle Henry to come to Ireland in order to deal with the renegade Christians) On returning to Wales, he sought the abode of Robert Fitzstephen, who helped him organize a mercenary army of Norman and Welsh soldiers to retrieve his kingship. Among them were Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, alias Strongbow, who married Mac Murchada's daughter, Aoife of Leinster, in 1170. // Events Marko III succeeds Yoannis V as patriarch of Alexandria. ... Muirechertach mac Lochlainn (died 1166) was king of the Cenél nEógain (of modern County Tyrone) and High King of Ireland from around 1154 to 1156, following Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (died 1156). ... Son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Beaumont, Richard was an Anglo-Norman lord notable in supporting Henry II of England in Ireland. ... Eva MacMurrough (b. ...

In his absence Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (son of Mac Murchada's former enemy, High King Tairrdelbach) 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. He quickly retook Dublin, Ossory and the former Viking settlement of Waterford, and within a short time had all of Leinster in his control again. Note: Rory OConnor can also refer to the Irish Republican of the 1920s, who fought in the Anglo-Irish War and the Irish Civil War Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (d. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... Ossory, also spelt Osraighe, is an ancient kingdom of Ireland. ... The term Viking commonly denotes the ship-borne warriors and traders of Norsemen (literally, men from the north) who originated in Scandinavia and raided the coasts of the British Isles and mainland Europe as far east as the Volga River in Russia from the late 8th–11th century. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ...

He then marched on Tara (then Ireland's capital) to oust Ruaidri. Mac Murchada gambled that Ruaidri 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. The Hill of Tara (aerial view) The Hill of Tara (Irish Teamhair na Rí, Hill of the Kings), located near the River Boyne, is a long, low limestone ridge that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland. ... This article is about a city that serves as a center of government and politics. ...

Diarmait's army lost the battle. He sent word to Wales and pleaded with Strongbow to come to Ireland as soon as possible. When Strongbow did arrive in Wexford, along with his Welsh and Norman cavalry, took over both Waterford and Wexford. They marched on Dublin. MacMurrough was devastated after the death of his son, Domhnaill, he retreated to Ferns and died a few months later. Ferns is a small historic town in north County Wexford, Ireland with a population of about 900. ...

Although in modern Irish history Diarmait Mac Murchada is often seen as a traitor, 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 on Ireland.

Gerald of Wales, a Cambro-Norman historian who visited Ireland and whose uncles and cousins were prominent soldiers in the army of Strongbow, said of Mac Murchada: Giraldus Cambrensis (c. ...

"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 the invasion the Normans conquered Ireland by playing one Irish family off against another. Ua Conchobair was soon ousted, first as High King and eventually as King of Connaught. Attempting to regain his provincial kingdom, he turned to the English as Mac Murchada had before him. By 1171, England directly controlled a small territory in Ireland surrounding the city of Dublin known as "the Pale", and the city of Waterford, while the rest of Ireland was divided between Norman and Welsh barons sent by the English, and the various Irish Clans (like the Uí Conchobair who retained Connaught and the Uí Néill who retained Ulster). Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate... The Pale refers to at least two geographic areas: The Pale of Settlement in which imperial Russia allowed Jews to live. ...

Subsequently most of the ruling Norman families began to intermarry with the Irish. Eventually they allied with Irish clans against England, adopted the Irish language and as the English put it "became more Irish than the Irish themselves" prompting a second English invasion centuries later. More Irish than the Irish themselves was a phrase used in the Middle Ages to describe the phenomenon whereby foreigners who came to Ireland attached to invasion forces tended to be subsumed into Irish social and cultural society, adopted the Irish language, Irish culture, style of dress and a wholesale...

See also Kings of Leinster The following is a provisional list of the Kings of Leinster up to 1632. ...

Sources

• Annals of the Four Masters, ed. J. O'Donovan; 1990 edition.
• Expungntio Hibernica, by Geraldus Cambrensis. Martin & Moody, editors.
• Irish Kings and High Kings, Francis J. Byrne, 1973.
• The Norman Invasion of Ireland, by Richard Roache, 1998.
• War, Politics and the Irish of Leinster 1156-160, Emmett O'Byrne, 2004.
• Gerald of Wales
• 'Diarmait & Strongbow' akajava films (2005) TV documentary for TG4 (Irl)
• Dermot MacMurrough, Nicholas Furlong.
• Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 66-26, 175-6

Giraldus Cambrensis (c. ...

Source for Genealogy

• Uí Cheinnselaig Kings of Laigin, "Irish Kings and High Kings" by Francis J. Byrne, page 290, Dublin, 1973.
• The MacMurrough-Kavanagh kings of Leinster, "War, Politics and the Irish of Leinster", Emmett O'Byrne, Dublin, 2004, Outline Genealogies I, Ia, Ib,, pages 247-249.