{{Infobox noble , image = Sir John de Courcy (1150-1219).jpg , caption = , alt = , more = no , succession = , reign = , predecessor = , successor = , suc-type = , spouse =

Affrica Guðrøðardóttir Affreca de Courcy or Affrica Guðrøðardóttir was a late 12th-/early 13th century noblewoman. She was the daughter of Godred Olafsson, King of the Isles, a member of the Crovan dynasty. In the late 12th century she married John de Courcy. Aff ...

, spouse-type = , issue = , issue-link = , issue-pipe = , full name = , native_name = , styles = , titles = , noble family = , house-type = , father = William de Courcy II , mother = Avice de Rumilly b.1096, Avice Fitz-Randolph de Meschin , birth_date = c.1150 , birth_place = Stogursey , christening_date = , christening_place = , death_date = September 1219 , death_place = , burial_date = , burial_place = , religion =

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, occupation =

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

, memorials = , website = , module = , title=Lord of Ulster Coat of arms of Courcy family

Sir John de Courcy (also Courci; 1150–1219) was an

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

knight who arrived in Ireland in 1176. From then until his expulsion in 1204, he conquered a considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for both the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

s and the Cistercians and built strongholds at

Dundrum Castle Dundrum Castle, a ruin standing over the town of Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland, must not to be confused with Dundrum Castle in Dundrum, County Dublin. It was constructed by John de Courcy, sometime near the beginning of the 13th century ...

in County Down and

Carrickfergus Castle Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Be ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

.DeBreffny ''Castles of Ireland'', pp. 104–105.

Early career in Ireland

Belonging to a family which took its name from Courcy, Calvados, John de Courcy, of Stoke Courcy, in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, came to Ireland around the year 1171 as part of the Norman invading forces, brought in as mercenaries working for

Diarmaid Mac Murchadha Diarmait Mac Murchada ( Modern Irish: Diarmaid Mac Murchadha), anglicised as Dermot MacMurrough, Dermod MacMurrough, or Dermot MacMorrogh (c. 1110 – c. 1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deposed by the High K ...

, the ousted King of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

, to help him regain his position as king. De Courcy's exact parentage is unknown. The man thought to be his great-grandfather, Richard de Curci is named in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

.{{Circular reference, date=November 2017 De Courcy's grandfather, William de Courcy I, married Emma de Falaise. His father, William de Courcy II, married Avice de Meschines and died before 1130, leaving the family estates in Somerset and elsewhere in England to his son, William de Courcy III, John’s possible brother. John was very ambitious and wanted lands for himself. He decided to invade the north of Ireland which was controlled by Irish dynasties. In early January 1177 he assembled a small army of 22 knights and 300 foot-soldiers and marched north, at the rate of thirty miles a day. They skirted the back of the Mourne Mountains and took the town of Dún Dá Leathghlas (now

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

) by surprise. After two fierce battles, in February and June 1177, de Courcy defeated the last King of

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and i ...

, Ruaidhrí Mac Duinnshléibhe. He did all this without King Henry II's permission. After conquering eastern Ulster, he established his seat at

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

, where he built an impressive stone castle. Other monasteries and castles that he built are

Inch Abbey Inch Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery on the outskirts of Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was founded by Anglo-Norman John de Courcy in the twelfth century at the site of a previous monastery which had operated from the 9th ...

and Dundrum. He married Affreca, daughter of Godred II Olafsson,

King of Mann The King of Mann () was the title taken between 1237 and 1504 by the various rulers, both sovereign and suzerain, over the Kingdom of Mann – the Isle of Man which is located in the Irish Sea, at the centre of the British Isles. Since 1504, th ...

. It is likely that the marriage, as in the case of many kings and those aspiring to be kings in those days, was political, to seal an alliance with her father who paid homage to the King of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. John and Affreca are not recorded to have had any children. Affreca built a monastery at

Greyabbey Greyabbey or Grey Abbey is a small village, townland (of 208 acres) and civil parish located on the eastern shores of Strangford Lough, on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards. Both townland and c ...

dedicated to Saint Mary of The Yoke of God. She is buried there and her effigy, in stone, can still be seen. In 1183, de Courcy provided for the establishment of a priory at the cathedral of Down with generous endowments to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

s from Chester in England (free from all subjugation to Chester Cathedral). This building was destroyed by an earthquake in 1245. He also created a cell for Benedictines at St. Andrews in the Ards (Black Abbey) for the houses of Stoke Courcy in Somerset and Lonlay in France, which was near Inishargy,

Kircubbin Kircubbin is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village had a population of 1,153 people in the 2011 Census. History The settlement was originally known as Kilcubin, which is thought to come from Irish ''Cill Ghobáin' ...

, in present-day County Down. The early Irish monastery of Nendrum was given to the Benedictine house of St Bees in Cumberland in order that they might also establish a cell. His wife, Affreca, founded the Cistercian monastery of Grey Abbey, Co. Down, as a daughter house of Holm Cultram (Cumberland) in 1193. He also made incursions into the west to increase his territory and lordship. In 1188 he invaded

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

, but was repulsed and the next year he plundered Armagh.DeBreffny ''Churches and Abbeys of Ireland'', pp. 60–61.

Later career in Ireland

After the accession of

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

in 1189, de Courcy in conjunction with William de Lacy appears in some way to have offended the king by his proceedings in Ireland. De Lacy quickly made his peace with Richard, while de Courci defied him, and the subsequent history of the latter consisted mainly in the vicissitudes of a lasting feud with the de Lacys.{{sfn, Chisholm, 1911

Hugh de Lacy Hugh de Lacy may refer to: * Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Lassy (c.1020–1085), first recorded member of the Norman noble family de Lacy * Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath (died 1186), 4th Baron Lacy * Hugh de Lacy, Abbot of Shrewsbury (died c. 1215/18) *Hug ...

, younger son of

Lord of Meath, began to wage war on John de Courcy, capturing him in 1204.Mac Annaidh ''Dictionary of Irish History'' An account of his capture appears in the Book of Howth. This passage helps explain why John had a reputation as a strong, God-fearing warrior: {{quote, text=Sir Hugh de Lacy was commanded to do what he might to apprehend and take Sir John de Courcy, and so devised and conferred with certain of Sir John's own men, how this might be done; and they said it were not possible to take him, since he lived ever in his armour, unless it were a Good Friday and they told that his custom was that on that day he would wear no shield, harness nor weapon, but would be in the church, kneeling at his prayers, after he had gone about the church five times bare-footed. And so they came at him upon the sudden, and he had no shift to make but with the cross pole, and defended himself until it was broken and slew thirteen of them before he was taken., sign=, source= In May 1205, King

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

made Hugh Earl of Ulster, granting him all the land of the province "as John de Courcy held it on the day when Hugh defeated him". John de Courcy returned, sailing across the Irish sea from the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

in July 1205 with Norse soldiers and a hundred boats supplied by his brother-in-law, Ragnold,

. John and his army landed at Strangford and laid siege to Dundrum Castle in vain, because the defences he himself had made were too strong. King John then had John de Courcy imprisoned and he spent the rest of his life in poverty. He was subsequently released when he "crossed himself" to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. De Courcy died in obscurity just outside what is now Craigavon.

Literary references

The story of John de Courcy's defeat of the French champion, and his winning the privilege to remain covered in the presence of the King, appears in Chapter 12 of Mark Twain's ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547 ...

''. In his book '' Saint Patrick's Town'', Anthony M. Wilson said about John de Courcy: {{quote, text=Giraldus, a contemporary, names John de Courcy as one of the four great men, a hero of his time. Goddard Orpen, the respected historian of the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...

, clearly admired this remarkable man who first established a power base in Ulster and then dominated the whole country. His conspicuous place in Irish history is secure. The people of modern Ulster can look back to him as a counterpart of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

in England, the man who brought Ulster, albeit by force, into the mainstream of European law, religion and culture.
By the inhabitants of

he must be regarded and honoured as the founder of their town. He came as an alien Englishman, a foreign invader and, by that process so often effective in the very air of Ireland, he was converted into a true Irishman. He personally fostered and promoted the fame and honour of Saint Patrick and linked the name of the town and Abbey to the name of the patron saint. As well as the Benedictine Abbey on the hill, he founded three other monasteries close to the town and he created on the hills of Down a city, both monastic and mercantile, of which both the mediaeval and the twentieth century citizens can be proud.

Genealogy

Family tree I

________________________________________ , , , , Baudri the German Vigor =niece of Godfrey (?) of Brionn , , ________________________________________________________________________________________________ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Nicholas Fulk Robert Richard Baudri Vigor Elizabeth daughters de Bacqueville de Alnou de Courcy of Neville of Bocquence of Apulia =Fulk of Bonneval ''issue'' ''issue'' =Hebrea ''issue'' ''issue'' , , Richard =Wandelmode , __________________________, , , , , , , Robert Richard William, died c. 1130. =Rohesia de Grandesmil =Emma de Falise , , , , William Robert, died c. 1151. , , ''de Courcy'' ''de Courcy'' ''of France'' ''of England and Ireland''

Family tree II

Serlo de Burci Serlon de Burci was a Norman of the eleventh century. After the Norman conquest of England, he became a feudal baron and major landowner in south-west England. His feudal barony had as its ''caput'' the manor of Blagdon in Somerset. He is recor ...

Corbutonis de Falise =? =Ameline , , , , _________________________________________ , , , , , , , , , , Martin = Geva de Burci = William de Falise Roger Gaufridus Galterus , , , , _____________________________ , , , , , ,

Robert fitz Martin Robert fitz Martin ( 10?? – c. 1159) was a knight from Devon whose father, Martin de Turribus, was the first Norman Lord of Kemes, in what had previously been the Dyfed part of Deheubarth. Fitz Martin inherited the Lordship of Kemes from his fa ...

Emma = William de Courcy Sibil = Baldwin de Bullers , ___________________________, ______________ , , , , , , William, died c. 1151. Robert Jordan = Avice de Rumelly =? , , , ____________________ , ___________ , , , , , , , , , , William Robert Richard John Jordan , ,

Baron Kingsale Baron Kingsale is a title of the premier baron in the Peerage of Ireland. The feudal barony dates to at least the thirteenth century. The first peerage creation was by writ. Name and precedence In the early times the name was "Kinsale" or " ...

:''Derived from Flanders 2009, pp. 177, 178, 180, 181.''

Notes

{{reflist, 2

Sources

*{{cite book , last=DeBreffny, first=Brian , last2=Mott , first2=George , year=1976 , title=The Churches and Abbeys of Ireland , publisher=Thames & Hudson , location=London , pages=60–61 *{{cite book , last=DeBreffny , first= Brian, year=1977 , title=Castles of Ireland , publisher=Thames & Hudson , location=London *{{cite book, first=Seán , last=Duffy, chapter=Courcy, John de , title=

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, publisher=Oxford University Press, year= 2004 , chapter-url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6443 , access-date=25 September 2007 , chapter-url-access=subscription *{{cite book, first=Steve , last=Flanders , title=De Courcy: Anglo-Normans in Ireland, England and France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries , publisher=

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...

, year=2009 , isbn=978-1-84682-094-6 *{{cite book, editor=Mac Annaidh, Séamus , title=Illustrated Dictionary of Irish History , location=Dublin , publisher=Gill and Macmillan , year=2001 , isbn=0717135365 *{{cite book , last=O'Laverty , first=James , title=An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor , url=https://archive.org/stream/historicalaccoun04olav#page/n5/mode/2up , year=1887 , publisher=Duffy & Sons *{{EB1911, wstitle=Courci, John de, volume=7, page=319 {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Courcy, John de 1150 births 1219 deaths Norman participants of the invasion of Ireland Norman warriors Prisoners in the Tower of London Medieval earls of Ulster Lords Lieutenant of Ireland