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Aoife MacMurrough
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Aoife MacMurrough
Aoife MacMurrough (Irish: Aoife Nic Murchada; c. 1153 – c. 1188), also known as Eva of Leinster or Red Eva, was an Irish noblewoman. The daughter of King of Leinster Dermot MacMurrough, her marriage to Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard "Strongbow" de Clare on 25 August 1170 is considered a pivotal moment in the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.
Aoife MacMurrough was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster, and his wife Mor O'Toole, daughter of King of Uí Muiredaigh, Muirchertach Ua Tuathail. Aoife had an older paternal half-brother, Domhnall Caomhánach, and a maternal half-brother, Conchobar (died 1170).
It is likely that Aoife's parents married around 1153, and historian Marie Therese Flanagan assumes Aoife's birthdate was not soon after their marriage. Flanagan states that Aoife would have been at most seventeen years old during her marriage in 1170, and the National Gallery of Ireland also presumes she was about this age.
As the daughter of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, the young Aoife would have been raised in much higher dignity than most other girls in Ireland who were of poorer stock than she; her privileged status ensured that she was educated in Brehon law and would have ensured that she was literate in Ecclesiastical Latin. Since her mother (who also produced one son and another daughter) was the second wife of Diarmait, her station was automatically lower than that of her husband's first wife, Sadb Ní Faeláin, and her issue of two sons and one daughter.[citation needed]
Aoife's father Dermot was deposed by Ireland's High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. Dermot failed in an attempt to take Waterford.[citation needed] Aoife, with her parents and a handful of their supporters, landed at Bristol in summer 1166. They made their way to Normandy, then to Henry II's court in Aquitaine. Dermot solicited Henry's help to recover his lost kingdom. Henry authorised Dermot to seek help from the Anglo-Normans.[citation needed]
In 1166 or 1168, Dermot promised Aoife's hand in marriage to Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard "Strongbow" de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in exchange for military support. Gerald of Wales, an Anglo-Norman apologist, is the only contemporary historian to state that this was Dermot's underlying motivation. Other contemporary sources do not corroborate this, but this was essentially the outcome of the marriage. Contemporary Anglo-Norman propaganda uses the marriage to justify Richard's succession as King of Leinster. According to the National Gallery of Ireland, both the man and the woman had to consent to a marriage under Brehon law, so it is fair to conclude that Aoife agreed to an arranged marriage. Conversely, Flanagan states that Aoife undoubtedly had no control over the marriage.
On 23 August 1170, Waterford was captured in a short but violent battle. Aoife married Richard almost immediately after on 25 August in Christchurch Cathedral in Waterford. Under Anglo-Norman law, this gave Richard succession rights to the Kingdom of Leinster. However Richard had no such rights under Ireland's Brehon law.
At some point between her marriage in 1170 and Richard's death in 1176, Aoife gave birth to two children: Gilbert (born c. 1173) and Isabel.
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Aoife MacMurrough
Aoife MacMurrough (Irish: Aoife Nic Murchada; c. 1153 – c. 1188), also known as Eva of Leinster or Red Eva, was an Irish noblewoman. The daughter of King of Leinster Dermot MacMurrough, her marriage to Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard "Strongbow" de Clare on 25 August 1170 is considered a pivotal moment in the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.
Aoife MacMurrough was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster, and his wife Mor O'Toole, daughter of King of Uí Muiredaigh, Muirchertach Ua Tuathail. Aoife had an older paternal half-brother, Domhnall Caomhánach, and a maternal half-brother, Conchobar (died 1170).
It is likely that Aoife's parents married around 1153, and historian Marie Therese Flanagan assumes Aoife's birthdate was not soon after their marriage. Flanagan states that Aoife would have been at most seventeen years old during her marriage in 1170, and the National Gallery of Ireland also presumes she was about this age.
As the daughter of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, the young Aoife would have been raised in much higher dignity than most other girls in Ireland who were of poorer stock than she; her privileged status ensured that she was educated in Brehon law and would have ensured that she was literate in Ecclesiastical Latin. Since her mother (who also produced one son and another daughter) was the second wife of Diarmait, her station was automatically lower than that of her husband's first wife, Sadb Ní Faeláin, and her issue of two sons and one daughter.[citation needed]
Aoife's father Dermot was deposed by Ireland's High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. Dermot failed in an attempt to take Waterford.[citation needed] Aoife, with her parents and a handful of their supporters, landed at Bristol in summer 1166. They made their way to Normandy, then to Henry II's court in Aquitaine. Dermot solicited Henry's help to recover his lost kingdom. Henry authorised Dermot to seek help from the Anglo-Normans.[citation needed]
In 1166 or 1168, Dermot promised Aoife's hand in marriage to Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard "Strongbow" de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in exchange for military support. Gerald of Wales, an Anglo-Norman apologist, is the only contemporary historian to state that this was Dermot's underlying motivation. Other contemporary sources do not corroborate this, but this was essentially the outcome of the marriage. Contemporary Anglo-Norman propaganda uses the marriage to justify Richard's succession as King of Leinster. According to the National Gallery of Ireland, both the man and the woman had to consent to a marriage under Brehon law, so it is fair to conclude that Aoife agreed to an arranged marriage. Conversely, Flanagan states that Aoife undoubtedly had no control over the marriage.
On 23 August 1170, Waterford was captured in a short but violent battle. Aoife married Richard almost immediately after on 25 August in Christchurch Cathedral in Waterford. Under Anglo-Norman law, this gave Richard succession rights to the Kingdom of Leinster. However Richard had no such rights under Ireland's Brehon law.
At some point between her marriage in 1170 and Richard's death in 1176, Aoife gave birth to two children: Gilbert (born c. 1173) and Isabel.
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