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Henry II Returns to England After Granting Charter to Dublin

Henry II returns to England on April 17, 1172, having granted a charter to Dublin, the first granted to an Irish town.

Toward the end of 1171, Henry II, the first king of England to set foot on Irish soil, lands at Crook, County Waterford. His visit to Ireland serves two purposes. Firstly, it allows him to bring his adventurous English barons to heel and put the royal seal on their conquests in Ireland. Secondly, it means he can avoid meeting the cardinal legates who have been dispatched from Rome to investigate his complicity in the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, in 1170.

When the King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, finds himself exiled in the late 1160s, he quickly finds help across the Irish Sea. He finds Henry II on the banks of the Loire in 1166 and is then pointed in the direction of south Wales by a Bristol merchant to find Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, more commonly known as Strongbow, who is then out of royal favour due to his prior support of Henry II’s competition for the kingship, Stephen of Blois.

Bolstered by English forces, Diarmait returns to Ireland and retakes his kingdom with Strongbow’s help, the latter earning the hand in marriage of Diarmait’s daughter, Aoife, in return. None of this has greatly concerned Henry II, until Diarmait dies, and Strongbow seizes the Kingdom of Leinster for himself in 1171. Leinster encompasses not only the counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Kildare, and parts of Wicklow, Laois, and Offaly, but the kings of Leinster are often the overlords of the flourishing Hiberno-Norse ports of Wexford and Dublin, both of which have considerable trading links with England and wider Europe.

Concerned with the growing power of Strongbow in Ireland, Henry II decides to head across the Irish Sea. He originally intends to arrive in Ireland in September 1171, but unfavourable winds on the coast of southwest Wales delay his journey for 17 days. He finally embarks from Pembroke on October 16 and arrives on the County Waterford coast the following day.

Naturally, Henry does not come alone and is at the head of an estimated 4,000 strong army comprised of 500 knights and their esquires and a large body of archers, all of which are carried, along with horses, in 400 ships. The undertaking is vast, and a large quantity of supplies are gathered to provision this considerable force. These ingredients include salted meats and fish, 1,000 lbs. of wax to ensure that Henry can seal charters and mandates, and, of course, the oil on which the medieval war machine runs, wine.

With the arrival of Henry II in Ireland, Strongbow surrenders the kingdom of Leinster and the Hiberno-Norse towns of Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford. Henry II regrants Leinster to Strongbow as a lordship, and later grants him Wexford. However, Waterford and Dublin become, and remain, royal ports.

Henry II then tours Ireland, showing the clergymen and native kings who their new lord is. He first visits Lismore and Cashel, then back to Waterford for a brief rest, before journeying by way of Kilkenny to Dublin, where he arrives around November 11. At all of his stop he collects the submissions of the Irish kings, with the probable exception of Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O’Connor), who is the claimant to the high kingship of Ireland at the time.

Outside the city walls of Dublin, Henry II constructs a palace at the present-day southern side of Dame Street, where he celebrates the winter festivities until February 2. At this time, he also grants Dublin its first charter, on a piece of parchment measuring only 121 x 165 mm, which, extraordinarily, survives to this day. Henry’s charter to Dublin grants the right to live in the city to the men of Bristol, with whom the men of Dublin have enjoyed pre-existing economic relations.

About March 1, 1172, Henry II makes his way to Wexford, before finally departing for England on Easter Sunday, April 17, after celebrating Mass. It is probable that he had intended to stay in Ireland longer than he did, but events in England and Normandy divert his attention. In Normandy, Henry II’s son, Henry, has gone into rebellion against his father, while in England, the cardinal legates are threatening to interdict Henry’s lands unless he comes to meet with them regarding Becket’s murder.

The circumstances which lead to Henry II’s departure are more telling for Ireland’s future than any member of contemporary society could have realised. Now, Ireland has to compete with the other segments of a vast transnational realm, with lands stretching across England, Wales and France. Although Henry II is the first king of England to arrive in Ireland, his visit does not mean that royal visits would become a routine occurrence. Throughout the Middle Ages, the kings of England only directly visit Ireland in 1185, 1210, 1394–5, and 1399. As such, Henry’s visit and departure marks the beginning of absentee lordship over Ireland.

(From: “The royal visit: what did Henry II do in Ireland 850 years ago?” by John Marshall, PhD student in the Department of History at Trinity College Dublin, RTÉ, http://www.rte.ie | Pictured: Henry at Waterford, Ireland, October 18, 1172. Illustration by James E. Doyle (1864). Image: Historical Picture Archive/ Corbis via Getty Images)


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Death of Theobald Walter, the First Chief Butler of Ireland

Theobald Walter, sometimes Theobald FitzWalter, Theobald Butler, or Theobald Walter le Boteler, the first Chief Butler of Ireland, dies on February 4, 1206, at Arklow Castle at Wicklow, in present day County Wicklow. He also holds the office of Chief Butler of England and is the High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1194. He is the first to use the surname Butler of the Butler family of Ireland. He is involved in the Irish campaigns of King Henry II of England and John of England. His eldest brother, Hubert Walter, becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury and justiciar and Lord Chancellor of England.

Walter is born in Norfolk, England, in 1165, the son of Hervey Walter and his wife, Matilda de Valoignes, who is one of the daughters of Theobald de Valoignes. Their children were Theobald, Hubert, Bartholomew, Roger, and Hamon. He and his brother Hubert are brought up by their uncle Ranulf de Glanvill, the great justiciar of Henry II of England who had married his mother’s sister Bertha.

On April 25, 1185, Prince John, in his new capacity as Lord of Ireland, lands at Waterford and around this time grants the hereditary office of butler of Ireland to Walter, whereby he and his successors are to attend the Kings of England at their coronation, and on that day present them with the first cup of wine. His father had been the hereditary holder of the office of butler of England. Sometime after, King Henry II of England grants him the prisage of wines, to enable him and his heirs, the better to support the dignity of that office. By this grant, he has two barrels of wine out of every ship, which breaks bulk in any trading port of Ireland, and is loaded with 20 tons of that commodity, and one ton from 9 to 20. He accompanies John on his progress through Munster and Leinster. At this time, he is also granted a large section of the north-eastern part of the Kingdom of Limerick. The grant of five and a half cantreds is bounded by:

“…the borough of Killaloe and the half cantred of Trucheked Maleth in which it lay, and the cantreds of Elykarval, Elyochgardi, Euermond, Aros and Wedene, and Woedeneoccadelon and Wodeneoidernan.”

These are the modern baronies of Tullough (in County Clare), Clonlisk and Ballybritt (in County Offaly), Eliogarty, Ormond Upper, Ormond Lower, Owney and Arra (in County Tipperary), Owneybeg, Clanwilliam and Coonagh (in County Limerick).

Walter is active in the war that takes place when Rory O’Connor attempts to regain his throne after retiring to the monastery of Cong (present day County Mayo), as his men are involved in the death of Donal Mor McCarthy during a parley in 1185 near Cork. In 1194, he supports his brother during Hubert’s actions against Prince John, with him receiving the surrender of John’s supporters in Lancaster. He is rewarded with the office of sheriff of Lancaster, which he holds until Christmas of 1198. He is again sheriff after John takes the throne in 1199.

In early 1200, however, John deprives Walter of all his offices and lands because of his irregularities as sheriff. His lands are not restored until January 1202. A manuscript in the National Library of Ireland points to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, as the agent of his restoration:

“Grant by William de Braosa, (senior) to Theobald Walter (le Botiller) the burgh of Kildelon (Killaloe) … the cantred of Elykaruel (the baronies of Clonlisk and Ballybrit, County Offaly), Eliogarty, Ormond, Ara and Oioney, etc. 1201.”

“Elykaruel” refers to the Gaelic túath of “Ely O’Carroll”, which straddles the southern part of County Offaly and the northern part of Tipperary (at Ikerrin). The other cantreds named are probably the modern baronies of Eliogarty, Ormond Upper, Ormond Lower and Owney and Arra in County Tipperary.

Walter founds the Abbey of Woney, of which nothing now remains, in the townland of Abington, near the modern village of Murroe in County Limerick around 1200. He also founds the Cockersand Abbey in Lancaster, Abbey of Nenagh in County Tipperary, and a monastic house at Arklow in County Wicklow.

Walter marries Maud le Vavasour (1176–1226), heiress of Robert le Vavasour, a baron of Yorkshire. John Lodge in the Peerage of Ireland in 1789 gives the year as 1189, but on no apparent authority, as no other author follows him on this. Their children are Theobald le Botiller, 2nd Chief Butler of Ireland, and Maud (1192–1244), who marries three times yet only has two surviving children, Ralph and Marie.

Walter dies on February 4, 1206, at Arklow Castle, County Wicklow, and is buried at Wotheney Abbey.


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Death of Dúnán, First Bishop of Dublin

Dúnán, the first bishop of Dublin, appointed under Dublin‘s Hiberno-Norse kings, dies on May 6, 1074. He is known also as Donatus or Donat. The diocese is put on a regular basis, in 1028, at the request of Sigtrygg Silkbeard. In his obituary in the Annals of Ulster, Dúnán is described as “chief bishop of the foreigners.”

It has been traditionally said that Dúnán was consecrated by Æthelnoth, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This is now disputed, with scholars saying that his successor, Gilla Patráic, was the first to be consecrated in this way.

Dúnán is an Easterling or Östman, and the first of the line of prelates who occupy the see. James Ware, who mentions several so-called bishops of Dublin of an earlier date, is supported by the Martyrology of Donegal, but John Lanigan is of opinion that there are no sufficient grounds for so regarding them, except in the case of Siadhal or Sedulius, who appears to have been a bishop. Dúnán is, however, termed abbot of Dublin in the Annals of the Four Masters (AD 785), and from this it would seem he is only a monastic bishop. Diocesan episcopacy has not been established in Ireland in his time. Dúnán, therefore, must be regarded as the first bishop of Dublin in the modern sense of the title.

The Annals of the Four Masters term him “ardeasbog”, which Dr. John O’Donovan translates archbishop, but James Henthorn Todd points out that the correct rendering of the word is “chief or eminent bishop,” and that it includes no idea of jurisdiction. His diocese is comprised within the walls of the city, beyond which the Danish power does not extend.

The chief event of Dúnán’s life appears to be the foundation of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church, or more properly its endowment and reorganisation in accordance with the views of the Danish settlers. For it appears, from an inquisition held in the reign of Richard II, that a church is “founded and endowed there by divers Irishmen whose names were unknown, time out of mind, and long before the conquest of Ireland.” This ancient site is bestowed on Dúnán by Sitric, king of the Danes of Dublin, and with it “sufficient gold and silver” for the erection of the new church, and as an endowment he grants him “the lands Bealduleek, Rechen, and Portrahern, with their villains, corn, and cattle.”

Sitric, according to the annalist Tigernach Ua Braín, had gone over the sea in 1035, probably for the sake of religious retirement, leaving his nephew as king of Dublin in his place. This is three years before Dúnán’s appointment, and as the king dies in 1042, it must be when he becomes a monk, if Tigernach is right, that he makes the grant referred to, and therefore the new foundation of Christ Church appears to have taken place between 1038 and 1042.

The site is described in the Black Book of Christ Church as “the voltæ i.e. arches founded by the Danes before the arrival of Saint Patrick in Ireland, and it is added that Saint Patrick celebrated mass in an arch or vault which has been since known by his name.” This story, as it stands, cannot be accepted as authentic history, for Saint Patrick died according to the usual belief in 490, whereas the earliest mention of Danes in Ireland is in 795. In the recent discovery made at Christ Church of a crypt hitherto unknown, some very ancient work is found, which is probably part of the buildings. If so, they may be the remains of the ecclesiastical structures originally occupied by the abbots of Dublin. The legendary connection of the place with Saint Patrick belongs to the period when, as Dr. O’Donovan observes, “the christian Danes refused to submit to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Armagh, and when it was found useful by the Danish party to have it believed that their ancestors had been settled in Dublin as early as the fifth century, and were converted to christianity by Saint Patrick.”

When the church is built, and the secular canons by whom it is to be served are installed, Dúnán furnishes it with a liberal supply of relics, of which a list is given in the Book of Obits of Christ Church, published by Dr. Todd. Other buildings erected by him are the church of St. Michael (now the Synod House), hard by the cathedral, and a palace for himself and his successors. He enters into a correspondence with Lanfranc on some ecclesiastical questions about which he desires information. Lanfranc’s answer is preserved, and is published by Archbishop James Ussher. It is highly probable that this deference to the Archbishop of Canterbury may have something to do with the claim put forward by the latter in a synod held in 1072, two years before Dúnán’s death, in which, on the supposed authority of Bede, he asserts his supremacy over the church of Ireland – a claim which Dúnán’s successor admits in the most explicit manner at his consecration in Canterbury Cathedral.

Dunan died on May 6, 1074, and is buried in Christ Church, at the right-hand side of the altar. There is another who also bears the alternative name of Donat (1085), but he is more generally known as Dungus.


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Canonisation of Laurence O’Toole by Pope Honorius III

Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as Saint Laurence O’Toole, is canonised by Pope Honorius III on December 11, 1225. It will be 750 years before another Irish person is canonised.

O’Toole is born in Castledermot in what is now County Kildare in 1128. His father is Maurice O’Toole, King of Hy Murray. It is common practice in the day for princes of one clan to be given as hostages to another clan, as a guarantee of peace. When he is ten years old O’Toole is given as hostage to Diarmaid Mac Murchada, King of Leinster, who treats him very badly. He is sent in chains to a remote place, where he gets very little to eat and does not have enough clothes to keep him warm in the winter. For two years, even though he is a king’s son, he learns what it is like to be poor and to be oppressed.

After two years, it is agreed that O’Toole is to be released. He is sent to a monastery at Glendalough, and the monks make him welcome. It is agreed that his father is to come and collect him there. But he soon comes to love Glendalough and likes joining the monks in prayer. After his two years as a hostage, he realises that wealth and power are not important. He feels very close to God in Glendalough. He asks his father’s permission to stay there and become a monk, to which his father agrees. At the age of only 26 years old, he is elected Abbot of Glendalough. As the leader of the community, he encourages the monks in their learning. There is always a welcome in the monastery for the poor. When there is a famine in the area, he sells some of the treasures of Glendalough to provide food for those who are hungry.

In 1162 O’Toole becomes the first Irish-born Archbishop of Dublin, then a city ruled by Danes and Norwegians. In those days, many of the people of Dublin do not take their Christian religion very seriously. He encourages them to become real Christians. He brings monks to Dublin from France, and they live at Christ Church Cathedral. They help many people to come back to Mass and the Sacraments. O’Toole himself never forgets his own days of poverty. He continues to care for the poor, especially homeless children. He makes room for them in his own house, and they share the food at his table.

The Normans land in Ireland in 1169. The following year they besiege Dublin under their leader, Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, also known by the nickname of “Strongbow.” O’Toole meets Strongbow to arrange peace but the Normans attack while the talks are going on. They seize the city and begin killing the citizens and looting their houses. O’Toole saves the lives of many people.

As Archbishop of Dublin, O’Toole participates in the Third Council of the Lateran in Rome in 1179, with some of the other Irish bishops. Pope Alexander III knows that Ireland has been going through a bad time. He knows that many people, including priests, are no longer taking their religion seriously. He entrusts to O’Toole the task of reforming the Church in Ireland.

A new dispute breaks out between Henry II of England and the Irish Kings. In the spring of 1180, O’Toole leaves Ireland to see if he can help settle the dispute. King Henry II does not have much time for bishops. He has already arranged to have the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, murdered. He does not welcome O’Toole. He sees a chance to get rid of O’Toole as Archbishop of Dublin and does not let him return to Ireland. Henry has control of Normandy as well as England. O’Toole follows him there. As long as there is a chance of peace, he would not give up trying.

In 1180, O’Toole becomes seriously ill. The monks at Eu in Normandy look after him in their monastery but on November 14, 1180, at the age of 52, he dies. His tomb is in the crypt under the Collegial Church at Eu. Many people still go there to pray.

Laurence O’Toole is canonized by Pope Honorius III on December 11, 1225.

(From “St. Laurence O’Toole: a spiritual leader for difficult times,” CatholicIreland.net, November 30, 1999)


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Death of Saint Laurence O’Toole

st-laurence-o-toole

Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as Saint Laurence O’Toole, Archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland, dies in Eu, Normandy, France on November 14, 1180.

O’Toole is born in Castledermot in what is now County Kildare in 1128. His father is Maurice O’Toole, King of Hy Murray. It is common practice in the day for princes of one clan to be given as hostages to another clan, as a guarantee of peace. When he is ten years old O’Toole is given as hostage to Dermot McMurrough, King of Leinster, who treats him very badly. He is sent in chains to a remote place, where he gets very little to eat and does not have enough clothes to keep him warm in the winter. For two years, even though he is a king’s son, he learns what it is like to be poor and to be oppressed.

After two years, it is agreed that O’Toole is to be released. He is sent to a monastery at Glendalough, and the monks make him welcome. It is agreed that his father is to come and collect him there. But he soon comes to love Glendalough and likes joining the monks in prayer. After his two years as a hostage, he realises that wealth and power are not important. He feels very close to God in Glendalough. He asks his father’s permission to stay there and become a monk, to which his father agrees. At the age of only 25 years old, he is elected Abbot of the monastery. As the leader of the community he encourages the monks in their learning. There is always a welcome in the monastery for the poor. When there is a famine in the area, he sells some of the treasures of Glendalough to provide food for those who are hungry.

In 1162 O’Toole becomes the first Irish-born Archbishop of the Danish city of Dublin. In those days, many of the people of Dublin do not take their Christian religion very seriously. He encourages them to become real Christians. He brings monks to Dublin from France, and they live at Christ Church Cathedral. They help many people to come back to Mass and the Sacraments. O’Toole himself never forgets his own days of poverty. He continues to care for the poor, especially homeless children. He makes room for them in his own house, and they share the food at his table.

The Normans land in Ireland in 1169. The following year they besiege Dublin under their leader, Strongbow. O’Toole meets Strongbow to arrange peace but the Normans attack while the talks are going on. They seize the city and begin killing the citizens and looting their houses. O’Toole saves the lives of many people.

As Archbishop of Dublin, O’Toole participates in the Third Council of the Lateran in Rome in 1179, with some of the other Irish bishops. Pope Alexander III knows that Ireland has been going through a bad time. He knows that many people, including priests, are no longer taking their religion seriously. He entrusts to O’Toole the task of reforming the Church in Ireland.

A new dispute breaks out between the King of England and the Irish Kings. In the spring of 1180, O’Toole leaves Ireland to see if he can help settle the dispute. The English King, Henry II, does not have much time for bishops. He has already arranged to have the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, murdered. He does not welcome O’Toole. He sees a chance to get rid of O’Toole as Archbishop of Dublin and does not let him return to Ireland. Henry has control of Normandy as well as England. O’Toole follows him there. As long as there is a chance of peace, he would not give up trying.

In 1180, O’Toole becomes seriously ill. The monks at Eu in Normandy look after him in their monastery but on November 14, 1180, at the age of 52, he dies. His tomb is in the crypt under the Collegial Church at Eu. Many people still go there to pray. Laurence O’Toole is canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius III.

(From “St. Laurence O’Toole: a spiritual leader for difficult times,” CatholicIreland.net, November 30, 1999)