The title of Duke of Ireland was created in 1386 for
Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford
Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin. He ...
(1362–1392), the favourite of King
Richard II of England
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father die ...
, who had previously been created Marquess of Dublin. Both were
peerages for one life only. At this time, only
the Pale
The Pale (Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast st ...
of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
(the
Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland ( ga, Tiarnas na hÉireann), sometimes referred to retroactively as Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England (styled as "Lord of Ireland") and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between ...
) was under English control. Despite its name, the Dukedom of Ireland is generally considered to have been one in the
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in t ...
, and is the first time that a Ducal title was created for someone who was not a close relative of the King.
The arms with three crowns that were granted to Duke Robert as an
augmentation to his arms in 1386 continued to be used for nearly a century as the
arms of the Lordship of Ireland.
[Fox-Davies, Complete Guide to Heraldry, p. 596; Oxford Guide to Heraldry, p. 69.]
The Duke fell from favour shortly after receiving the title, which was
forfeited in 1388.
See also
*
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland
Forfeited dukedoms in the Peerage of England
Noble titles created in 1386