Family of Richard + of CLARE

Partner:	Richard + of CLARE (1130-1176)
Partner:	(unknown)
Children:	Isabel + of CLARE (1166-1220)
Marriage	26 Aug 1171	Waterford, ME, US

Partner: Richard + of CLARE

Name:	Richard + of CLARE
Sex:	Male
Nickname:	Strongbow
Father:	Gilbert of CLARE (1100-1147)
Mother:	Isabel + of BEAUMONT (1102-1172)
Birth	1130	Tunbridge, Kent, England
Occupation		Earl of Pembroke
Title		Earl of Pembroke
Death	20 Apr 1176 (age 45-46)	Dublin, Leinster, Ireland
Burial		Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Child 1: Isabel + of CLARE

Note on Husband: Richard + of CLARE

Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (of the first creation), Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland (1130 – 20 April 1176). Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow (French: Arc-Fort). He was a Cambro-Norman lord notable for his leading role in the Norman invasion of Ireland.

 

Richard was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Beaumont. Richard's father died when he was about eighteen years old and Richard inherited the title Earl of Pembroke. It is probable that this title was not recognized at Henry II's coronation.[1]

As the son of the first Earl, he succeeded to his father's estates in 1148, but was deprived of the title by King Henry II of England in 1154 for siding with King Stephen of England against Henry’s mother, the Empress Matilda.[2] Richard was in fact, described by his contemporaries as the Earl of Striguil, Striguil being where he had a fortress at a place now called Chepstow, in Monmouthshire on the Wye.[3] He saw an opportunity to reverse his bad fortune in 1168 when he met Dermot MacMurrough (Irish: Diarmait Mac Murchadha), King of Leinster.

 

Dispossession of the King of LeinsterIn 1167, the King of Leinster was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland - Rory O'Connor (Irish: Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair). The grounds for the dispossession were that MacMurrough had, in 1152, abducted Derbforgaill, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tiernan O'Rourke (Irish: Tighearnán Ua Ruairc). To recover his kingdom, MacMurrough solicited help from Henry II of England.

 

Dermot MacMurrough left Ireland for Bristol from near Bannow on 1 August 1166.[4] He met King Henry II in Aquitaine in autumn 1166. Henry could not help him at this time, but provided a letter of comfort for willing supporters of Dermot’s cause in his kingdom. However, after his return to Wales he failed to rally any forces to his standard. Eventually he met the Earl of Striguil (nicknamed "Strongbow") and other barons of the Welsh Marches. MacMurrough came to an agreement with de Clare: for the Earl’s assistance with an army the following spring, he could have Aoife, Dermot's eldest daughter in marriage and the succession to Leinster.[5] As Henry’s approval or licence to Dermot was a general one, the Earl of Striguil thought it prudent to obtain Henry's specific consent to travel to Ireland: he waited two years to do this.[6] The licence he got was to aid Dermot in the recovery of his kingdom of Leinster.

 

The invasion of LeinsterAn army was assembled that included Welsh archers. The invasion army was led by Raymond Fitzgerald (also known as Raymond le Gros) and in quick succession it took the Viking or Danish-established towns of Wexford, Waterford and Dublin in 1169-1170. Strongbow, however, was not with the leading invasion party, only arriving later in August 1170.

 

In May 1171, Dermot died and his son, Donal MacMurrough-Kavanagh (Irish: Domhnall Caemanach mac Murchada) claimed the kingdom of Leinster in accordance with his rights under the Brehon Laws. The Earl of Striguil also claimed the kingship in the right of his wife. The old king's death was the signal of a general rising, and Richard barely managed to keep Rory O'Connor out of Dublin.

 

Royal interventionThe success of the invasion made King Henry concerned that his barons would become too powerful and independent overseas. He therefore ordered all troops to return to England by Easter 1171. Richard delayed his return until he had repulsed the High King. Immediately afterwards, hurried to England to solicit help from Henry II, who instead stripped Strongbow of his new holdings. Henry himself invaded in October 1172, staying six months and putting his own men into nearly all the important places, claiming the title "Lord of Ireland". Strongbow returned to favour, and power in Ireland, in 1173 when he aided the king in his campaign against his rebelling sons. Richard went to Normandy to assist the king in the Revolt of 1173–1174[citation needed]. However, he was only permitted to retain the county of Kildare and found himself largely disinherited. The King later concluded a treaty with the High King of Ireland - the Treaty of Windsor 1175. By the terms of the treaty, Rory was left with a kingdom consisting of Ireland outside the petty kingdoms of Leinster, Mide (as they were then), Dublin and County Waterford, as long as he paid tribute to Henry II, and owed fealty to him. All of Ireland was also subject to the new religious provisions of the papal bull Laudabiliter and the Synod of Cashel (1172). In contravention of the royal treaty, de Clare invaded Connacht in 1172 but was severely defeated. Raymond le Gros, his chief general, re-established his supremacy in Leinster[citation needed]. After another rebellion in 1176, Raymond took Limerick for Richard, but just at this moment of triumph, Strongbow died of an infection in his foot.[citation needed]

 

Marriage and issue

The Marriage of Strongbow and Eva (1854) by Daniel Maclise, a romanticised depiction of the union amidst in the ruins of Waterford.The day after the capture of Waterford, Strongbow married MacMurrough's daughter, Aoife of Leinster. Their children were

 

Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, a minor who died in 1185

Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, who became Countess of Pembroke in her own right in 1185 (on the death of her brother) until her own death in 1220.

King Henry II had promised Sir William Marshal that he would be given Isabel as his bride, and his son Richard I upheld the promise one month after his ascension to the throne. The earldom was given to her husband as her consort.[7] Marshall was the son of John the Marshal, by Sibylle, the sister of Patrick, Earl of Salisbury.

 

Strongbow's widow, Aoife, lived on and was last recorded in a charter of 1188.

 

LegacyStrongbow was the statesman, whereas Raymond was the soldier, of the conquest. He is vividly described by Giraldus Cambrensis as a tall and fair man, of pleasing appearance, modest in his bearing, delicate in features, of a low voice, but sage in council and the idol of his soldiers. He was first interred in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral where an alleged effigy can be viewed. Strongbow's actual tomb-effigy was destroyed when the roof of the Cathedral collapsed in 1562. The one on display dates from around the 15th century, bears the coat of arms of the Earls of Kildare and is the effigy of another local Knight. Strongbow is actually buried in the graveyard of the Ferns Cathedral, Ferns, where his grave can be seen in the graveyard.[citation needed]

 

Richard also held the title of Lord Marshal of England.

 

The English Strongbow Cider was named in honour of Richard de Clare.