seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Tag Archives: Edward I of England


by Leave a comment

Death of Maurice FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly

Maurice FitzMaurice FitzGerald, Irish magnate, soldier, and Justiciar of Ireland from 1272 to 1273, dies in Ross, County Wexford, on September 2, 1277. His family comes to epitomise the ideal of cultural synthesis in Ireland, becoming “more Irish than the Irish themselves,” fusing Gaelic and Norman customs in Irish identity.

FitzGerald is born in 1238 in Wexford, the second son of Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly, and Juliana de Grenville. He has three brothers, Gerald FitzMaurice II, Thomas FitzMaurice and David FitzMaurice. He is known by the nickname of Maurice Mael (from an old word meaning “devotee” in Irish). He is granted his father’s lands in Connacht in exchange for quitclaiming the barony of Offaly sometime before May 20, 1257, when his father, Maurice FitzGerald II, dies at Youghal Monastery.

Before his father’s death, FitzGerald is custos of Offaly, but after the 2nd Lord of Offaly dies, the countess of Lincoln, Margaret de Quincy, sues him for custody of Offaly.

Terrible feuds rage in his time between the Geraldines and the De Burghs. FitzGerald and his nephew John, son of his brother Thomas, capture the justiciar, Richard de la Rochelle, Theobald Butler IV, and John de Cogan I (whose son is married to Maurice FitzGerald III’s sister, Juliana). The capture of the three magnates leads to a private war in Ireland, with the Geraldines on one side and Walter de Burgh and Geoffrey de Geneville on the other. However, the Second Barons’ War in England forces them to come to a temporary peace while they battle Montfortians in the English Midlands in 1266.

In May 1265, FitzGerald is among the chief magnates in Ireland summoned to inform King Henry III of England and his son Prince Edward about conditions in the country, and again in June 1265. These are the result of the private war between the Geraldines and Walter de Burgh, lord of Connacht (who is later made the 1st Earl of Ulster). He is appointed Justiciar of Ireland on June 23, 1272, following the accidental death of his predecessor, James de Audley, on June 11 of that year. His father had served in the same capacity from 1232 to 1245. He holds the post until September 1273, when he is succeeded by Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, Seigneur de Vaucouleurs.

FitzGerald holds four knight’s fees in both Lea and Geashill from Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, who had inherited them from his wife, Maud de Braose.

In 1276, FitzGerald leads a force of men from Connacht against the Irish of County Wicklow. His contingent joins the main army of English settlers jointly commanded by his son-in-law, Thomas de Clare, Lord of Inchiquin and Youghal, who had been made Lord of Thomond earlier that same year, and Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, Maurice’s successor as Justiciar of Ireland. The English under Thomas de Clare and Geoffrey de Geneville attack the Irish at Glenmalure, but are defeated and suffer heavy losses.

Shortly before October 28, 1259, FitzGerald married his first wife, Maud de Prendergast, daughter of Sir Gerald de Prendergast of Beauvoir and Matilda de Burgh, daughter of Richard Mór de Burgh. Together they have two daughters:

FitzGerald is Maud’s third husband. She dies on an unknown date. In 1273, he marries his second wife, Emmeline Longespee (1252–1291), daughter of Stephen Longespée and Emmeline de Ridelsford. He and Emeline have no issue.

FitzGerald dies September 2, 1277, at Ross, County Wexford. Emmeline Longespée then fights until her death to claim her dower against her daughter, Juliana, her stepdaughter, Amabilia, and John FitzGerald, who is created 1st Earl of Kildare on May 14, 1316. John is the son of his brother, Thomas by Rohesia de St. Michael. John sues or physically takes lands from the bailiffs of Emmeline, Juliana, and Amabilia.

There is some confusion as to whether Gerald Fitzmaurice FitzGerald is the first or second son of Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly. Most, like M. Hickson, of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (RSAI) say he is the eldest. Lord Walter FitzGerald says he is the second. In any event, he predeceases his father in 1243. His son, Maurice FitzGerald, drowns in the Irish Channel in July 1268. His son is Gerald FitzMaurice III, born in 1263. Gerald’s marriage is sold to Geoffrey de Geneville, who matches Gerald with his own daughter, Joan, but he dies childless on August 29, 1287.

Maurice FitzMaurice FitzGerald 3rd Earl of Offaly, is succeeded by his nephew John, son of his younger brother Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald.


by Leave a comment

Death of Henry III, King of England, Lord of Ireland

effigy-of-henry-iiiHenry III, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death, dies in Westminster, London on November 16, 1272. His son, Edward I, who has been Lord of Ireland since 1254, succeeds him.

In the final years of his reign, Henry is increasingly infirm and focused on securing peace within the kingdom and his own religious devotions. Edward becomes the Steward of England and begins to play a more prominent role in government. Henry’s finances are in a precarious state as a result of the war, and when Edward decides to join the crusades in 1268 it becomes clear that fresh taxes are necessary.

Henry is concerned that Edward’s absence might encourage further revolts, but is swayed by his son to negotiate with multiple parliaments over the next two years to raise the money. Although Henry had initially reversed Simon de Montfort‘s anti-Jewish policies, including attempting to restore the debts owed to Jews where these could be proven, he faces pressure from parliament to introduce restrictions on Jewish bonds, particularly their sale to Christians, in the final years of his reign in return for financing. Henry continues to invest in Westminster Abbey, which becomes a replacement for the Angevin mausoleum at Fontevraud Abbey, and in 1269 he oversees a grand ceremony to rebury Edward the Confessor in a lavish new shrine, personally helping to carry the body to its new resting place.

Edward leaves for the Eighth Crusade, led by Louis IX of France, in 1270, but Henry becomes increasingly ill. Concerns about a fresh rebellion grow and the following year the King writes to his son asking him to return to England, but Edward does not turn back. Henry recovers slightly and announces his renewed intention to join the crusades himself, but he never regains his full health. On the evening of November 16, 1272, Henry dies in Westminster, probably with his wife, Eleanor of Provence, in attendance. He is succeeded by Edward, who slowly makes his way back to England via Gascony, finally arriving in August 1274.

At his request, Henry is buried in Westminster Abbey in front of the church’s high altar, in the former resting place of Edward the Confessor. A few years later, work begins on a grander tomb for the King and in 1290 Edward moves his father’s body to its current location in Westminster Abbey. His gilt-brass funeral effigy is designed and forged within the abbey grounds by William Torell. Unlike other effigies of the period, it is particularly naturalistic in style, but it is probably not a close likeness of Henry himself.

Eleanor likely hopes that Henry will be recognised as a saint, as his contemporary Louis IX of France had been. Indeed, Henry’s final tomb resembles the shrine of a saint, complete with niches possibly intended to hold relics. When the King’s body is exhumed in 1290, contemporaries note that the body is in perfect condition and that Henry’s long beard remains well preserved, which at the time is considered to be an indication of saintly purity. Miracles begin to be reported at the tomb, but Edward is sceptical about these stories. The reports cease, and Henry is never canonised. In 1292, Henry’s heart is removed from his tomb and reburied at Fontevraud Abbey with the bodies of his Angevin family.

(Pictured: Effigy of Henry in Westminster Abbey, c. 1272)


by Leave a comment

Birth of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond

james-butler-2nd-earl-of-ormond

James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, a noble in the Peerage of Ireland, is born in Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny on October 4, 1331. He is Lord Justice of Ireland in 1359, 1364, and 1376, and a dominant political leader in Ireland in the 1360s and 1370s. He is usually called The Noble Earl, being a great-grandson, through his mother, of King Edward I of England.

Butler is the son of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond and Lady Eleanor de Bohun. He is given in ward on September 1, 1344 to Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond for the fine of 2306 marks and afterward to John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Knayth.

On May 15, 1346, Butler marries Elizabeth Darcy, daughter of Sir John Darcy and Joan de Burgh. They have five children: James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond (1362-1405), Thomas Butler (1359-1396), Justice of Cork, Eleanor Butler (1350-1392), Joan Butler (1360-1393), and Ralph Butler (1356-1367).

In 1362, Butler slays six hundred of Art Óg Mac Murchadha Caomhánach‘s followers at Tiscoffin in what is now County Kilkenny. On April 22, 1364, he is appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland to Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence. Clarence, from his first arrival in Ireland, places great trust in him, and for a few years it seems that as Deputy he is almost all-powerful.

In the 1360s Butler clashes with Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare. In 1364 the Irish House of Commons sends a delegation to England, headed by Kildare, to complain of misgovernment, and to ask for the removal of “corrupt” officials, some of whom have links to Butler. A number of these officials are removed, but Butler’s position is not seriously threatened.

Butler is Lord Justice by July 24, 1376, with a salary of £500 per year, in which office he is continued by King Richard II of England. On April 2, 1372, he is made constable of Dublin Castle, with the fee of £18 5s per year. He is summoned to the Parliaments held by Richard II.

James Butler dies October 18, 1382 at Knocktopher Castle in Kilkenny, Leinster, near which he had founded a priory for Carmelite friars in 1356. He is buried in St. Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny.