Diarmait Mac Murchada, anglicized as Dermot MacMurrough (died 1 January 1171) is considered 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. 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. ... Leinster (Irish: Laighin) is the eastern province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow. ... Henry II of England, depicted in Cassells History of England, Century Edition, published circa 1902 Henry II (March 5, 1133 – July 6, 1189), ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland... Ireland in the century prior to the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169 is probably best described as a national kingdom lacking a settled monarchy, the kingship being disputed by three regional dynasties. ...

Early Life and Family

Mac Murchada was born around 1100, a son of Donnchad, King of Leinster and Dublin; he was a descendant of Brian Boru. His father was killed in battle in 1115. Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, known as Brian Boru born probably 941 (near Killaloe in modern County Clare). ...

Mac Murchada had many wives and concubines, 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).

King 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 Tigernán Ua Ruairc 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 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 Tigernán Ua Ruairc who had by then become a renegade. Mac Murchada also abducted Ua Ruairc'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. Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, born 1088, died 1156. ... Events Geoffrey of Monmouth produces the Historia Regum Britanniae Durham Cathedral is completed Construction of Exeter Cathedral begun Births 25 March - Henry II of England Honen Shonin, who later established Pure Land Buddhism as an independent sect in Japan Deaths Categories: 1133 ...

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 four provinces (Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connaught) each ruled by kings who were all supposed to be loyal to the High King of Ireland. Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, known as Brian Boru born probably 941 (near Killaloe in modern County Clare). ... Events February 14 - 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, and earns Basil II the title Voulgaroktonos (Bulgar-slayer). ... A civil war is a war in which the competing parties are segments of the same country or empire. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh) is one of the four provinces on the island of Ireland. ... Alternate uses: See Munster (disambiguation). ... Connaught redirects here. ...

Exile, Return and Death

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 (now 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 escaped to England where he formed an alliance with King Henry II who helped him organize a mercenary army of Norman and Welsh soldiers to invade Ireland. 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. ... 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. ...

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, Ossary and the former Viking settlement of Waterford, and within a short time had all of Leinster in his control again. Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (d. ... Dublins Hapenny Bridge. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Waterford (Irish: Port Lairge) is, historically, the capital of County Waterford in Ireland, though today the city is administered separately from the county, the latter having its seat in Dungarvan. ...

He then marched on Tara (then Ireland's capital city) 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. Tara might mean: Place names Tara, Australia is a place in Queensland Tara, Ireland was the home of the High Kings of Ireland. ...

Diarmait's army lost the battle and the Norman and Welsh mercenaries whom he had hired soon aided an invasion by England's Henry II in 1169. Mac Murchada lost his will to fight after his son's death, retreated to Ferns and died a few months later. Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English(100%), Welsh(20. ... Mercenary (disambiguation). ... Rulers with the title Henry II include: Henry II of Castile Henry II of England Henry II of France Henry II of Germany, also Holy Roman Emperor Henry II of Navarre Henry II, Duke of Saxony Henry II of Jerusalem (also Henry II of Cyprus) Henry II, Duke of Bavaria... 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, an Anglo-Welsh 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", 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. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... The Pale or the English Pale comprised a region in a radius of 20 miles around Dublin which the English in Ireland gradually fortified against incursion from Gaelic Ireland. ...

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 1156-1606", Emmett O'Byrne, 2004.
• Gerald of Wales

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.