There being no adult heir, the Crown assumed responsibility for the interim administration of the estates. In Anglo-Norman eyes, the marriage between Strongbow and Aoife had united the holdings of the two families, which were then subject to the usual Anglo-Norman inheritance protocols. There was a boy called Gilbert and a girl called Isabel. Just five years later, Strongbow himself died, leaving Aoife with two young children. Diarmait was quickly restored but died shortly thereafter and Strongbow succeeded him. The bait was twofold: Strongbow would have Aoife’s hand in marriage and be designated as Diarmait’s heir.Īs a business proposition, it was executed smoothly. However, having run into a spot of bother with respect to possession of his kingdom, Diarmait recruited Strongbow to help him take back what he saw as rightfully his. The Mac Murchadas were a long established Irish family with traditional territories in Ireland’s southeast. Isabel’s mother was Aoife Mac Murchada, daughter of the 12 th century Gaelic king Diarmait Mac Murchada. He came from a Norman family that had arrived in England with William the Conqueror and his great-grandfather became a large post-conquest landholder. Isabel’s father was Richard de Clare, popularly known as Strongbow. As the heiress to substantial lands in Ireland, Wales, England and Normandy, she had much to offer.īoth sides of her pedigree contributed to this inheritance. The teenage Isabel de Clare was a desirable prize in the late 12 th century marriage market.
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