subjects in Ulster, and on his death the sovereignty reverted to the King of Connaught; and Roderic, as the most powerful provincial king, was soon recognised as monarch by the whole island.

His first assertion of authority was in a conflict with the Danes of Dublin, against whom he marched with a large force, and having taken their city, and secured their allegiance, he was inaugurated" as honourably as any king of the Gaels had ever been." On this occasion he presented the Danes with the stipends due to him from them as his vassals; after which they accompanied him to Drogheda, where he was met by Donough O'Carroll and the chieftains of Oriel, who submitted to him and delivered hostages. He then returned to South Leinster, received the hostages of Dermot M'Murrough, and proceeded with the forces of Connaught, Breifny, and Meath, into Munster, where all the chieftains of the South having submitted to him, he divided Munster into two parts between M'Carthy and O'Brien.

Roderic O'Conor, being now fully recognised as supreme sovereign of all Ireland, turned his attention towards the pacification and better government of the whole island, and with this view convened an assembly of the chieftains and clergy of the northern half of Ireland at Athboy, near the famous hill of Flactga in Meath. To this assembly came Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh; Catholicus O'Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam; and Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin. The following chieftains and their supporters also attended:O'Melaghlin, King of Meath; Randal MacRandall, King of the Danes of Dublin; O'Rourke, Chief of Breifny; M'Felen, Chief of Offaly or Offalon; O'Carroll, and several others. At this meeting various laws and regulations relating to the ecclesiastical and temporal affairs of the country were enacted; and the annalists remark, that so great was the order, peace, and tranquillity which prevailed immediately after, that women were wont to traverse Ireland alone without any protector. All this is attributed by the annalists to "the blessings which God showered down on Erin in consequence of the righteousness of its sovereign, Roderic O'Conor, the descendant of the elder brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages."

Shortly after this, Roderic, hearing that Tyrone was disturbed, in consequence of a dispute between M'Loughlin and O'Neill, respecting the portion of Tyrone which each ought to possess, "summoned a hosting" of the men of Erin, and was joined by Cormac M'Carthy, King of Desmond, Murtough O'Brien of Thomond, Dermot O'Melaghlin of Meath, Donough O'Carroll, Lord of Uriel, and all the chieftains of Leinster. This large force having been. collected, he marched into Tyrone, and divided the territory between Neal

M'Loughlin and Hugh O'Neill, giving to the former the southern part, and to the latter the northern portion of the district, and, as monarch, received hostages from both as pledges for their obedience and fealty. This enterprise being ended, the several kings and chieftains returned to their respective homes, Roderic O'Conor escorting the King of Desmond as far as Knockany, near Bruff, in the County of Limerick, where he dismissed him with many presents.

Whilst everything seemed thus to indicate a long and successful reign for Roderic, and all sorts of prosperity for his country, a storm was about to burst on the island over which he held sway, which was as little expected as it was far-reaching in its consequences. Hitherto, with the exception of the Danish irruption, Ireland had been free from any serious foreign invasion, and all her struggles and conflicts were confined to her own sons; but the moment now approached when completely new actors were to appear on the scene, and when the independence of Ireland as a separate and distinct nation was to vanish.

The two most warlike and turbulent chieftains in Ireland during the reign of Turlough O'Conor, and who disturbed the kingdom for many years under his son, were Tiernan O'Rourke, chief of Breifny, and Dermot M'Murrough, King of Leinster. M'Murrough, who was about ten years younger than O'Rourke, had long been distinguished for his fierce activity in those scenes of violence with which Ireland was then agitated. He had been active in the field so early as the year 1137, and in 1141 had rendered himself an object of dread and horror throughout the kingdom by treacherously seizing upon seventeen of the principal nobles of Leinster, some of whom he put to death, and others he caused to be blinded. Between him and O'Rourke, who was also a fierce warrior, a hostile feeling had arisen at an early period, which continued to increase by slow degrees, until at last it rose to its highest pitch of rancour and fury in the year 1152, when both were far advanced in years. In that year, as before mentioned, Dervorgill, the wife of O'Rourke, was carried off by Dermot, whilst O'Rourke was on a pilgrimage at Croaghpatrick. O'Rourke, on his return, found that his wife had left his house, taking with her all her trinkets, having been encouraged to do this by her brother, Melaghlin, son of Murrough O'Melaghlin, who had a quarrel with her husband some time previously. O'Rourke at once appealed for redress to the monarch, Turlough, who, sympathizing with him, marched in the year 1153, with a numerous army, into Leinster, rescued Dervorgill from M'Murrough, and

H

conveyed her back with her trinkets and ornaments, to Meath, where he placed her under the care of her father's family, the O'Melaghlins.1

So long as Turlough O'Conor lived, O'Rourke found in him a sturdy protector; but on the accession of Murtough MacLoughlin to the sovereignty, M'Murrough renewed his attacks upon O'Rourke, and subjected him to every variety of wrong and insult. A check was put to these proceedings when Roderic O'Conor became king. Dermot by his haughtiness and cruelty had rendered not only the men of Breifny and Meath his bitterest enemies, but also many of his own subjects in Leinster, especially the Danes of Dublin. All these were now anxiously bent on his destruction, and flocked to the standard of his adversary. Attacked by such a formidable alliance, and deserted by his own subjects, Dermot retired at first to the castle of Ferns; but seeing no chance of being able to withstand his assailants, he determined to seek foreign aid, and having set fire to his castle, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, he fled privately, to England, whereupon his kingdom of Leinster was declared by the monarch to be forfeited, and his cousin, Murrough, was nominated in his place.

On arriving at Bristol, Dermot learned that the King of England was at that time in Aquitaine, and thither he hastened to seek him. Henry listened to the fugitive old man with great complacence; and Dermot offered, if restored by Henry's aid to his kingdom of Leinster, to receive it as a fief, and render him homage as his vassal.

No evidence has been discovered to show that Dermot had any previous communication with the King of England on the subject of the invasion. of Ireland, and it is highly probable that he had not. Henry at that time had his hands full with other troubles; but it is well known that this able and ambitious monarch had many years previously contemplated the acquisition of Ireland; and the celebrated Bull of Pope Adrian IV., dated A.D. 1153, and which purported to give the Pope's sanction to the invasion, clearly shows that Henry had long had designs on that country. The much debated question of the authenticity or otherwise of this Papal Bull, is a subject quite outside the limits of this memoir; but whether really granted by the Pope or not, there can be no doubt that King Henry produced it, that it was accepted as genuine by many of the clergy and people of Ireland, and

'Dervorgill was never reconciled to her husband, and entered into a convent, and died in the Abbey of Mellifont at an advanced age, in 1193, having lived to see her country invaded and partially conquered by foreigners, invited and brought over for this purpose by the man for whom she had basely deserted her husband.

that upon it Henry founded his claim to interfere as a superior lord in the affairs of that country. He had long .desired an opportunity for such interference; and although the flight of Dermot from Ireland and his appeal for assistance came at an unfortunate moment, the opportunity was not to be rejected.' Henry received without hesitation the proffered fealty of his new liegeman, and gave him letters patent, to be employed throughout his dominions, authorizing any of his subjects to assist him.

Furnished with these credentials, Dermot hastened back to England, and repairing once more to Bristol, made every effort, by promulgating the King's letters, and holding forth liberal offers of lands and other rewards, to induce adventurers to take up arms in his cause. He was not long without receiving an answer to his appeal. This answer came from Richard, Earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, a brave nobleman of ruined fortune. To him Dermot offered his daughter in marriage, and the succession to the kingdom of Leinster, on condition that he would raise for him an efficient body of forces, and bring them over with him into Ireland in the course of the ensuing spring.

To these propositions Strongbow assented, and Dermot, removing from Bristol to the town of St. David's, met there two young men of high rank and ruined fortunes, Maurice Fitzgerald and Robert Fitzstephen, both Normans, and half-brothers, being sons of Nesta, mistress of King Henry I. To these he also made overtures, but difficulties were thrown in their way by Rice Ap. Griffith, King of Wales, who had thrown Fitzstephen into prison for debt. In consequence of this, the negotiation lingered for some time, but concluded satisfactorily to the three parties; Dermot pledging himself to give in fee to the two brothers the town of Wexford and two cantreds of land adjoining it; while they on their side undertook to transport into Leinster, as soon as the season permitted, a body of English and Welsh forces, to aid him in recovering his kingdom.

Thus assured of English aid, Dermot ventured to return into Leinster; and proceeding privately to Ferns, remained concealed there during the greater part of the winter. After some time he emerged from his concealment, and in the year 11672 took the field, and regained possession of the territory of Hy-Kinsellagh, a district co-extensive with the diocese of Ferns. Surprised at the suddenness of Dermot's reappearance, and still more on hearing that he was attended by foreigners, King Roderic collected some forces, and being

'This account of Dermot's proceedings with King Henry is mainly taken by O'Donovan from Giraldus' Hibernia Expugnata.

Annals of the Four Masters, p. 1165.

joined by O'Rourke, marched into the territory of Hy-Kinsellagh. Dermot, being able to make but a feeble resistance, only some stragglers from Wales having as yet arrived, was obliged to retreat to the woods, where he was pursued, surrounded, and taken prisoner.1 He made ample submission; denied all his negotiations with the Welshmen, and was pardoned by the Irish monarch. Renouncing all claim to the kingdom of Leinster, he requested to be allowed to retain only ten cantreds of that province, agreeing to hold them from Roderic, and giving seven hostages for his future fealty. He offered to pay one hundred ounces of gold to O'Rourke as "eric" for the injury he had done to him, and in every way submitted to O'Conor. Although these were but false promises and hollow pretences made to gain time, and to ward off the danger to which his premature operations had exposed him, yet they were, to a great extent, successful. Neither the Irish monarch nor his chieftains had any idea of King Henry's designs, or of the understanding which existed between Dermot and his English allies, and satisfied with the ample submission made by the King of Leinster, Roderic returned to Meath, and there, in the year 1168,2 for the last time celebrated the great fair of Tailton, the host assembled on this occasion spreading out over six miles.

Roderic O'Conor and his followers having withdrawn in fancied security in the following May, A.D. 1169, the first landing of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland took place. The commander of this expedition was Robert Fitzstephen, who brought with him thirty knights, all his own relatives or household, sixty men in coats of mail, and three hundred of the most skilful archers of South Wales. With this small army, which landed at a creek called Bannow, in the south of the present county of Wexford, came also Harvey de Montemarisco, the paternal uncle of Strongbow, who is also described as a person in needy circumstances, who without either arms or means, had joined the expedition rather as the emissary of his nephew than as a soldier.

On the day following, there arrived at the same place Maurice de Prendergast, a valiant gentleman of Wales, at the head of a few knights and a small body of archers. Messengers were immediately despatched to announce their arrival to Dermot, who instantly collected his forces, and having got together about 500 men, hastened to join them. The united army, numbering in all about 1,000 men, then marched to the town of Wexford. On reaching the suburbs of this maritime city, which was inhabited

'On this occasion, it is stated that amongst Dermot's followers was the son of Griffith, King of Wales, and that he was slain in the conflict.

'Annals of the Four Masters, p. 1169.