RORY O'CONOR

RORY O'CONOR

Ruaidhri O'Conor (also known as Roderick or more usually Rory)

succeeded his father, Turlough, to the High Kingship in 1156. By the time of the Norman arrival in 1169, the Kings of Connacht, Ulster, Leinster, and Munster had succeeded in consolidating their kingdoms along more-or-less feudal lines, and the High Kingship � never truly monarchical � had come to be vested in the Kings of Connacht

With the death of King Dermot in 1171, the throne of Leinster had fallen to a Norman Baron-Strongbow, Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke who had married Dermot's Daughter Eva.

Naturally, this was a far from popular succession with the High King, who was soon calling on the other Irish Chieftains for support in an expedition to remove this foreigner from his throne.

Rory, The High King of Ireland, together with Tiernan, King of Breifne,

and Murchadh O Carroll, King of Oriel quickly raised an army and

marched on Dublin. but were soundly defeated there by Milo de Cogan

and his Norman knights .Tiernan's son and heir being killed in the Battle. The following year (1172) Tiernan, was persuaded to meet the Norman justiciar Hugo de Lacy to negotiate with him. The meeting was a trap. Tiernan was betrayed by Domhnall, one of his own tribe, and slain by de Lacy, who then had the Chieftain's head placed over the gate of his fortress

With the death of his main ally, Rory lost heart in continuing the struggle and at the Treaty of Windsor pledged himself to recognise Henry II of England as his overlord. which meant that Rory now held his kingdom of Connacht only as a vassal of the English King.

The Normans in Leinster were still not content with their gains and were

soon trying to gain a footing in the west. De Cogan led a force across the Shannon in 1177, and the Viceroy, John de Courcy, another force in 1188. Though guided by treacherous princes through Connacht both these attacks were repulsed, and the Normans were glad to escape from the province with their lives.

In 1186 Rory exhausted by years of struggling to maintain his kingdom in the face of growing Norman dominance abdicated and took shelter in the monastery of Cong. Almost immediately, an argument began as to who was to succeed him The claimants being Cathal Crobhdhearg, Rory's half-brother, and by Cathal Carrach, Rory's grandson. Seeing this Rory attempted to come out of retirement in order to recover the throne-but in this he was unsuccessful. Both rivals brought in Norman Mercenaries to assist them, until finally Cathal Crobhdhearg with the help of the Norman- William de Burgo, triumphed and was recognised by all parties, English and Irish, as rightful King of Connacht

Rory, meanwhile had returned to the monastery, where he died in 1198, being buried alongside his father at the Augustinian abbey of Cong in

County Offaly. With his death rule over Ireland by Gaelic kings effectively ceased.

Death of Ruaidhri as recorded by the Annals of the Four Masters:

M1198.2

Roderic O'Conor, King of Connaught and of all Ireland, both the Irish and the English, died among the canons at Cong, after exemplary penance, victorious over the world and the devil. His body was conveyed to Clonmacnoise, and interred at the north side of the altar of the great church.

Article added: 2005-12-02 @ 3:03 pm | Last Modified: 2006-05-30 @ 3:10 am

All text within the Medieval Wiki is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Medieval Wiki Version 3.1.2