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Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, 4th Baron Lacy(Anglo-Norman:Huge de Laci;before 1135 – 25 July 1186), was anAnglo-Normanlandowner and royal office-holder. He had substantial land holdings inHerefordshireandShropshire.Following his participation in theAnglo-Norman invasion of Ireland,he was granted, in 1172, the lands of theKingdom of Meathby the Anglo-NormanKing Henry II,but he had to gain control of them. TheLordship of Meathwas then the most extensivelibertyinIreland.

Hugh de Lacy
4th Baron de Lacy
Drawing of de Lacy byGerald of Wales
1st Viceroy of Ireland
In office
1172–1173
MonarchHenry II
Succeeded byWilliam FitzAldelm
In office
1177–1181
Preceded byWilliam FitzAldelm
Succeeded byJohn fitz Richard
1st Lord of Meath
In office
March 1172 – 25 July 1186
Succeeded byWalter de Lacy
Personal details
Bornbefore 1135
Herefordshire,England
Died25 July 1186
Durrow,Ireland
Spouse(s)Rohese of Monmouth
(d. before 1180);
Rose Ní Conchobair
Children10
Parent(s)Gilbert de Lacy
Agnes de Lacy

Early life

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Hugh de Lacy was the son ofGilbert de Lacy(died after 1163) ofEwyas Lacy,Weobley,andLudlow.He is said to have had a dispute withJosce de Dinanas to certain lands inHerefordshirein 1154. He was in possession of his father's lands before 1163, and in 1165–66 held fifty-eight and three-quartersknight's fees,and had nine tenants without knight service.[1]

Career in Ireland

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The keep ofTrim Castle
Kilkea Castle (Front)
Motte-and-bailey built by de Lacy atClonard, County Meath

In October 1171 Lacy went over with Henry II as part of an Anglo-Norman force to invade Ireland, and early in 1172 he was sent to receive the submission ofRory,High King of Ireland.Before Henry's return to England about the end of March 1172, Lacy was granted Meath by the service of fifty knights and with almost royal authority; he was also put in charge ofDublin Castle.[1]As such, it is generally accepted that Lacy wasde factothe firstViceroy of Ireland,a position he was to hold three times (in 1172, 1179, andc. 1180), the third time jointly with the Bishop of Salisbury.[2]

King Henry's ostensible grant of Meath to Lacy was not accepted byTighearnán Ó Ruairc,King ofBréifne,who ruled it at that time. Ó Ruairc refused to concede, but parleyed with Lacy on theHill of Ward,in Meath. After negotiations stalled, a dispute ensued in which an interpreter was killed by a blow aimed at Lacy, who fled; Ó Ruairc was killed by a spear-thrust as he mounted his horse, and he was decapitated. His head was impaled over the gate of Dublin Castle and was later sent to Henry II. TheAnnals of the Four Masterssay that Ó Ruairc was treacherously slain. From the account given byGerald of Wales,it would appear that there was a plot to destroy Ó Ruairc.[3]

Gerald of Wales also related the following legend of Féchín and Hugh de Lacy:

"Chapter LII (Of the mill which no women enter)

  • "There is a mill atFoure,inMeath,which St. Fechin made most miraculously with his own hands, in the side of a certain rock. No women are allowed to enter either this mill or the church of the saint; and the mill is held in as much reverence by the natives as any of the churches dedicated to the saint. It happened that when Hugh de Lacy was leading his troops through this place, an archer dragged a girl into the mill and there violated her. Sudden punishment overtook him; for being struck with infernal fire in the offending parts, it spread throughout his whole body, and he died the same night ".

Lordship of Meath

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Main article:Lordship of Meath

Lacy only escaped from Dublin with difficulty; he seems to have left the city in the charge ofRichard de Clareby the king's orders, and to have commenced securing Meath by the construction of castles. Among these wasTrim Castle,which was put in charge ofHugh Tyrrel.[1]The Song of Dermot and the Earlstates, "AndSkrynehe then gave by charter toAdam de Feypohe gave it ", and he built his castle there.[citation needed]

After this Lacy went back to England. On 29 December 1172 he was atCanterbury,where, according to a story preserved by Giraldus, he reproved ArchbishopRichard of Doverfor his boastful language. Next year he was fighting for King Henry in France and heldVerneuilagainstLouis VIIfor a month; but at the end of that time, the town was forced to capitulate.[1]

Lacy was sent back to Ireland as procurator-general in 1177, soon after the death of Richard de Clare. The grant of Meath to Lacy was now confirmed, with the additions ofOffaly,Kildare,andWicklow.[citation needed]

As governor of Ireland Lacy secured Leinster and Meath, building numerous castles, while leaving the Irish in possession of their lands. There were accusations that he intended to seize the sovereignty of the island for himself. The author of theGesta Henrici,however, says that Lacy lost his favour with Henry in consequence of complaints of his injustice by the Irish.[1]

In1181,Lacy was recalled from his royal post for having married the daughter of Ruadri O Conchobair, King of Connaught and deposedHigh King of Ireland,without the permission of Henry. He was sent back the following winter, although with a co-adjutor, Robert of Shrewsbury, one of the royal clerks. Early in 1185, Henry sent his sonJohnover to Ireland, who complained to his father that Lacy would not permit the Irish to pay tribute. This led to renewed disapproval, but Lacy remained in Ireland and occupied himself as before with castle-building.[1]

Death, aftermath and legacy

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In 1186 Hugh de Lacy was killed by Gilla-Gan-Mathiar O'Maidhaigh, while he was supervising the construction of aMottecastle atDurrowat the instigation ofAn tSionnachandO'Breen(O'Briain).[4]Prince John was promptly sent over to Ireland to take possession of his lands.[1]

Lacy's body was initially buried atDurrow Abbey.In 1195, the Archbishops ofCashelandDublindisinterred his body and reinterred his remains atBective AbbeyinMeathand his head inSt Thomas's Abbey,Dublin. A long controversy was then carried on between the two abbeys for his body, settled only in 1205 when it was disinterred again and reburied in St Thomas's Abbey, in the tomb of Lacy's first wife.[1]

Lacy was a benefactor ofLlanthony Prioryand also of many churches in Ireland, including the abbey of Trim.[1]

Marriage and issue

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Hugh de Lacy was married twice.

Before 1155 Hugh marriedRohese of Monmouth(also known as Rose of Monmouth or Roysya de Monemue). She was the granddaughter ofGilbert Fitz Richard.Strongbowwas another grandchild of Fitz Richard. Hugh and Rohese had at least 8 children, 4 sons and 4 daughters:

Rohese died before 1180.

Hugh married secondly PrincessRose Ní Conchobair,daughter ofKing of Ireland,Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair.
They had at least 2 children, a son and a daughter:

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^abcdefghiKingsford 1892.
  2. ^O'Mahony, Charles (1912).The Viceroys of Ireland.p.16.
  3. ^DESMOND CASTLE AND RATH, LIMERICK. CHAPTER XIV.
  4. ^Annals of the Four Masters,1186.5
  5. ^[1].Calendar of Patent Rolls. 1340, 14 November, Reading, membrane 24 & 25. Volume 5, page 53 (Inspection of charters from 1234 by Walter de Lacy in which grants are made for the soul of his brother, Robert)
  6. ^WrightmanLacy Familypp. 185–186
Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Kingsford, Charles Lethbridge (1892). "Lacy, Hugh de (d.1186)".InLee, Sidney(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 31. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

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