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Preceded by Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn |
183ed High King of Ireland 1166-1198 |
Succeeded by Brian Ruaidh Ua Néill |
Rory O’Connor (Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobhair) succeeded his father Turlough O'Conor as the King of Connacht in 1156.
He succeeded Muirchertach mac Lochlainn as King of Ireland in 1166 and ruled Ireland until about 1193, until Ireland fell into a period of British Rule following the invasion of Henry II of England.
Rory O'Connor (Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair) sometimes known as Roderick O'Connor, was the only son of Turlough O'Connor and his third wife Cailech, though one of about twenty sons among the children of Turlough and other spouses. [1]
The annals and genealogies list thirteen children fathered by Ruaidrí. There may have been more.
KING OF CONNAUGHT : In 1136, Rory and his brother Aedh (Hugh) staged an unsuccessful challenge for kingship against their their brother Conchobar.
In 1143 he tried again, again unsuccessfully, and was arrested and imprisoned by Conchobar. He continued a campaign to strengthen O'Connor territory, surpassing the inroads of neighbours such as the Ua Briain's of Munster, so that the time of his father's death in 1156, it was obvious to all that he was best qualified of all his family to lead the O'Connors as King of Connaught. [3]
HIGH KING OF IRELAND : When Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn died 1166, Rory O'Connor was inaugurated King of Ireland in Dublin, first undisputed King of all Ireland. [4]
When Dermod Macmorough, King of Leinster, was forced to fly his country by the Kings of Connaught and Meath, he went in 1167 to the English King Henry II for help. Henry was at war in France at the time and didn't want to be distracted by somebody else's problems in Ireland, so suggested that one or two of his nobles might be interested in helping out in a private venture. Several did, including Richard de Clare Earl of Pembroke (often simply known as "Strongbow") who successfully established a firm foothold in Ireland. In 1172, King Henry ll seeing that Pembroke's venture was so successful, and the land of Ireland apparently desirable, obtained a decree from Pope Adrian lV giving him the moral authority to annex Ireland for the English Crown. King Henry went to Ireland and called a great council at Lismore, county Waterford, in which the rule of English law was imposed and the country divided among his followers.
In 1175 there was a treaty between King Henry ll and Roderick O'Connor, King of Connaught and Monarch of Ireland; Roderick and the Irish nobles believing that King Henry intended simply annex Ireland to England, leaving the Irish to rule themselves undisturbed. Rory agreed on terms of the Treaty of Windsor with King Henry II in 1175; becoming liegeman and tax collector for King Henry. [5] [6]
Roderick O'Connor finding that King Henry violated his promise not to dispossess any Irish from their lands, assembled an army to retake land that had been given to Hugh de Lacy.
Roderick O'Connor, the last of the native Irish Kings, retired from his throne and retired Cong Abbey which lies on the borders of county Galway and county Mayo.
This week's featured connections are Redheads: Rory is 14 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 26 degrees from Clara Bow, 35 degrees from Julia Gillard, 24 degrees from Nancy Hart, 24 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 26 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 29 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 25 degrees from Rose Leslie, 28 degrees from Damian Lewis, 29 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 33 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 13 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
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