Aoife MacMurrough – Princess of Leinster, Countess of Pembroke and Striguil | Aoife MacMurrough – Tywysoges Leinster, Iarlles Penfro a Striguil
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Attempting to regain his lost kingdom of Leinster, Dermot Mac Murrough sailed to Bristol with his daughter Aoife in c.1168 to seek assistance from Henry II. No help was forthcoming, although Henry did give him permission to seek assistance from his Norman lords. Dermot was to find that help from Richard de Clare (nicknamed Strongbow), a man in somewhat desperate straits having been denied his lands and title of Earl of Pembroke by Henry II on his accession. An alliance was formed between the two and a crucial part of their agreement was Richard’s marriage to Aoife and the lordship of Leinster on Dermot’s death. The enterprise was a gamble on Strongbow’s part, but a gamble that would bring him the wealth and position he craved.
At the time of the agreement, de Clare was around 38 and the fair Aoife about 14, although she was 17 when the marriage actually took place. It can be assumed that Aoife was fully acquiescent in this, for according to early Irish or Brehon law, both parties had to consent to the marriage. However, she could hardly have refused a marriage that would restore both her father and herself to the status that they had formerly enjoyed.
Seeking first permission from King Henry, preparations were made for the invasion of Ireland. In 1169, the sons and grandsons of Princess Nest of Wales, the Geraldines, were first to depart with Strongbow arriving in Ireland the following year with some 1200 men at arms. His intervention proved decisive. On St Bartholomew’s Eve (August 28), Waterford fell to the invaders after a short but violent siege, witnessed by Nest’s grandson, Giraldus Cambrensis. In his Expugnatio Hibernica, Cambrensis wrote that the invaders gained entry into the city ‘and won a most bloody victory, large numbers of the citizens being slaughtered in the streets'.
Shortly afterwards, Strongbow and Aoife were married in Christchurch Cathedral, Waterford. Together with Dermot and his allies, Strongbow went on to take Dublin, Wexford and much of southern Ireland. His success incurred the jealousy of Henry II but, when Strongbow recognised him as sovereign, he was able at last to gain the King’s trust along with the restoration of his titles. Henry forthwith journeyed to Ireland to claim his new territory. A royal fleet was amassed in the Haven at Pembroke for the final invasion on 18th October 1172. Henry was acknowledged as the supreme Overlord of Ireland, offered tribute, and Ireland was thus absorbed into his empire.
Strongbow was created Governor of Ireland but did not live very long to enjoy it. In 1176 he died leaving two infant children: a son Gilbert and daughter Isabel. Despite the fact that Aoife Countess of Pembroke was left a young widow, she did not remarry and this would indicate an independent woman confident in her own ability to manage her affairs. The marriage agreement had stipulated that, as Strongbow’s wife, she would receive a dower portion of one third of his non-Irish lands and it would seem that she left Leinster for Striguil (Chepstow) after his death to take control of the lordship.
In 1184, Aoife’s son Gilbert died, leaving Isabel the sole heir to the considerable de Clare inheritance. It is not known exactly when Aoife died (possibly c. 1187) but we do know she was buried in Tintern Abbey, alongside her father-in-law Gilbert Fitzgilbert de Clare, which would seem to confirm she had made her home in England and the Welsh Marches. Strongbow himself was buried in Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral.
Gan geisio adennill ei deyrnas a gollwyd, sef Leinster, hwyliodd Dermot Mac Murrough i Fryste gyda’i ferch, Aoife tua 1168 i geisio cymorth Henry II. Nid oedd unrhyw help yn dod, er bod Henry wedi rhoi caniatâd iddo geisio cymorth ei arglwyddi Normanaidd. Byddai Dermot yn cael yr help hwnnw gan Richard de Clare (ei ffugenw oedd Bwa Cadarn), dyn a oedd mewn trafferthion enbyd ar ôl i Henry II wrthod ei diroedd a theitl Iarll Penfro iddo pan ddaeth i rym. Ffurfiwyd cynghrair rhwng y ddau ac roedd priodas Richard ac Aoife ac arglwyddiaeth Leinster ar farwolaeth Dermot yn rhan hanfodol o’u cytundeb. Gambl oedd y fenter hon i Richard de Clare, ond gambl a fyddai’n dwyn y cyfoeth a’r statws yr oedd yn ei grefu.
Adeg y cytundeb, roedd de Clare tua 38 oed ac Aoife deg tua 14 oed, er yr oedd yn 17 oed pan gynhaliwyd y briodas. Gellid cymryd bod Aoife yn barod i dderbyn hyn, oherwydd yn ôl cyfraith Brehon neu Wyddelig gynnar, roedd yn rhaid i’r ddwy ochr gydsynio i’r briodas. Fodd bynnag, ni fyddai wedi gallu gwrthod priodas a fyddai’n adfer statws i’w thad ac iddi hi yr oedd y ddau ohonynt wedi’i fwynhau yn flaenorol.
Gan geisio caniatâd Brenin Henry yn y lle cyntaf, gwnaethpwyd paratoadau i ymosod ar Iwerddon. Yn 1169, meibion ac wyrion Tywysoges Nest o Gymru, y Geraldiaid, oedd y cyntaf i adael, a chyrhaeddodd Richard de Clare Iwerddon y flwyddyn ddilynol gydag oddeutu 1200 o ddynion arfog. Bu ei ymyrraeth yn dyngedfennol. Ar Noswyl Bartholomeus (28 Awst), ildiodd Waterford i’r ymosodwyr yn dilyn gwarchae byr ond treisgar, a bu ŵyr Nest, Giraldus Cambrensis, yn dyst i hyn. Yn ei Expugnatio Hibernica, ysgrifennodd Cambrensis bod yr ymosodwyr wedi cael mynediad i’r ddinas ‘ac ennill buddugoliaeth waedlyd, a lladdwyd niferoedd mawr o’r dinasyddion yn y strydoedd’.
Yn fuan wedi hynny, priodwyd Richard de Clare ac Aoife yn Eglwys Gadeiriol Christchurch, Waterford. Gyda Dermot a’i gynghreiriad, aeth de Clare ymlaen i gipio Dulyn, Wexford a chryn dipyn o dde Iwerddon. Roedd Henry II yn genfigennus o’i lwyddiant, ond pan gydnabu de Clare ef yn frenin, llwyddodd i adennill ymddiriedaeth y Brenin o’r diwedd, ac adferwyd ei deitlau. Teithiodd Henry i Iwerddon wedi hyn i hawlio ei diriogaeth newydd. Ymgasglwyd fflyd frenhinol yn yr Harbwr ym Mhenfro am yr ymosodiad olaf ar 18 Hydref 1172. Cydnabuwyd mai Henry oedd Penarglwydd pennaf Iwerddon, rhoddwyd gwrogaeth iddo ac felly, amsugnwyd Iwerddon i’w ymerodraeth.
Gwnaethpwyd de Clare yn Llywodraethwr Iwerddon, ond ni fu fyw yn hir iawn i fwynhau’r teitl hwn. Bu farw yn 1176, yn dad i ddau o blant bach: mab o’r enw Gilbert a merch o’r enw Isabel. Er gwaethaf y ffaith bod Aoife Iarlles Penfro yn wraig weddw ifanc, ni ailbriododd, ac roedd hyn yn dynodi menyw annibynnol a oedd yn hyderus yn ei gallu i reoli ei materion ei hun. Roedd y cytundeb priodi wedi nodi y byddai hi, fel gwraig de Clare, yn cael cyfran gwaddol o un rhan o dair o’i dir heb fod yn Iwerddon, ac mae’n ymddangos ei bod wedi gadael Leinster a symud i Striguil (Cas-gwent) ar ôl ei farwolaeth, i gymryd rheolaeth o’r arglwyddiaeth.
Yn 1184, bu farw mab Aoife, sef Gilbert, gan adael Isabel fel unig etifedd etifeddiaeth sylweddol de Clare. Nid yw’n hysbys pryd y bu farw Aoife (tua 1187 o bosibl) ond rydym yn gwybod ei bod wedi cael ei chladdu yn Abaty Tyndyrn, wrth ymyl ei thad-yng-nghyfraith, Gilbert Fitzgilbert de Clare, ac mae’n ymddangos bod hyn yn cadarnhau ei bod wedi ymgartrefu yn Lloegr ac yn ardal y Gororau. Claddwyd de Clare yn Eglwys Gadeiriol Eglwys Crist Dulyn.