| Notes |
- Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (of the first creation), Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland (1130 – 20 April 1176), also known as Richard FitzGilbert, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman notable for his leading role in the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Like his father, Richard fitz Gilbert has since become commonly known by his nickname Strongbow (Norman French: Arc-Fort), which may be a mistranscription or mistranslation of "Striguil."
His son Gilbert de Striguil (or de Strigoil) died unmarried before 1189 and the earldom passed via Richard's daughter Isabel to her spouse William Marshall.
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Richard was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Beaumont. Richard's father died in about 1148, when he was roughly 18 years old, and Richard inherited the title 'count of Strigoil' Earl of Pembroke. It is probable that this title was not recognized at Henry II's coronation in 1154. As the son of the first 'earl', he succeeded to his father's estates in 1148, but was deprived of the title by King Henry II of England in 1154 for siding with King Stephen of England against Henry's mother, the Empress Matilda. Richard was in fact, called by his contemporaries Count Striguil, for his marcher lordship of Striguil where he had a fortress at a place now called Chepstow, in Monmouthshire on the River Wye. He saw an opportunity to reverse his bad fortune in 1168 when he met Diarmait Mac Murchada, the deposed King of Leinster.
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By an unknown mistress, Richard de Clare fathered two daughters:
1. Aline de Clare, who married William FitzMaurice FitzGerald, baron of Naas
2. Basilia de Clare, who married Robert de Quincy, Constable of Leinster
On about 26 August 1171 in Reginald's Tower, Waterford, Richard de Clare married MacMurrough's daughter, Aoife MacMurrough (anglicised as "Eva"). Their children were:
1. Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, a minor who died in 1185
2. Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, who became Countess of Pembroke in her own right in 1185 (on the death of her brother) until her own death in 1220. King Henry II had promised Sir William Marshal that he would be given Isabel as his bride, and his son Richard I upheld the promise one month after his ascension to the throne. The earldom was given to her husband as her consort. Marshall was the son of John the Marshal, by Sibylle, the sister of Patrick, Earl of Salisbury.
Richard de Clare died in June 1176 of some type of infection in his leg or foot. He was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Dublin with his uncle-in-law, Lawrence, Archbishop of Dublin, presiding. King Henry II took all of Strongbow's lands and castles for himself and placed a royal official in charge of them. He protected the inheritance of Isabel. Eva was given her dower rights and possibly held Striguil [Chepstow] as part of those dower rights until the Welsh rebellion of 1184/85. There is a record of Eva confirming a charter in Ireland in 1188/89 as "comtissa de Hibernia".
Legacy
Richard de Clare was first interred in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral where an alleged effigy can be viewed.[24] Richard de Clare's actual tomb-effigy was destroyed when the roof of the Cathedral collapsed in 1562. The one on display dates from around the 15th century, bears the coat of arms of an unknown knight, and is the effigy of another local knight. Richard de Clare was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin within sight of the cross according to an eyewitness, Giraldus Cambrensis. There is little evidence to support the tradition that he was buried either in St Edan's Cathedral, Ferns, Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford or Dominican priory, Kilkenny. References to 'de Clare' being buried in Gloucester cathedral refer to his father, while those to 'Strongbow' in Tintern abbey refer probably to Walter or Anselm Marshall, both of whom died in 1245.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Clare,_2nd_Earl_of_Pembroke
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“Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
“RICHARD FITZ GILBERT (nicknamed Strongbow), 2nd Earl of Pembroke, Earl of Striguil, of Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Hinxworth, Hertfordshire, etc., seigneur of Bienfaite and Orbec (both in Normandy), Justiciar of Ireland, son and heir, born about 1130. On the accession of King Henry II in 1154, he refused to acknowledged Richard as earl and took the lordship of Pembroke into his own hands. In Autumn 1167 he came to an agreement with Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster; for the earl's assistance with an army, he could have Eve, Dermot's eldest daughter in marriage and the succession to Leinster. An army was assembled led by Raymond Fitz Gerald (also known as Raymond le Gros) that included Welsh archers; it captured the towns of Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin in 1169-70. Richard married at Waterford, Ireland about 26 August 1170 EVE OF LEINSTER daughter of Dermot MacMurrough (also called Diarmait MacMurchada), King of Leinster, by Mor, daughter of Muirchertach Ua Tuathail From 1172 onwards, he was styled Earl of Striguil. They had one son, Gilbert [Earl of Pembroke], and one daughter, Isabel. In 1173 he played a critical role in Normandy in defending the castle of Gisors and recapturing Verneuil for the king. RICHARD FITZ GILBERT, 2nd Earl of Pembroke died about 20 April 1176, and was buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity [Christ Church], Dublin. His widow, Eve, was living in 1187. Sometime in the period, 1185-94, his widow, Eve, as "heres Regis Deremicii,"confirmed to John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, and his successors all of her earlier gifts. At her death, she was buried in Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire.
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1125 - 1176 (51 years)
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