Richard de Clare (after 1281 – 10 May 1318) 1st Lord Clare was the son of
Thomas de Clare, Lord of
Thomond
Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nenag ...
and
Juliana FitzGerald.
A descendant of
Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare, he succeeded his older brother, Gilbert, in 1308 as Lord of Thomond. In 1309, and then again between 1312 and 1316, he was sheriff of Cork. As part of his duties, he put down a number of rebellions. He was killed while commanding his forces at the
Battle of Dysert O'Dea
The Battle of Dysert O'Dea took place on 10 May 1318 at O'Dea Castle, Dysert O'Dea near Corofin, County Clare, Corofin, Ireland. It was part of the Bruce campaign in Ireland. The Normans, Norman Richard de Clare, Steward of Forest of Essex, R ...
near the modern town
Ennis
Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...
in
County Clare
County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...
. According to legend, the day before his death, Richard de Clare beheld a woman dressed in white on the river's edge washing bloody clothing and armor. When he asked whose clothes they were, she replied, "yours," and then vanished. This woman was believed to be a banshee foretelling his death. The next day he lay dead with his clothes caked in blood on the battlefield of Dysert O'Dea.
Richard was succeeded in the lordship by his son Thomas, who was born in 1318 and died three years later. Investigations pursuant to a writ issued on 10 April 1321 established that Thomas' heirs were his father's sisters;
Margaret
Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian.
Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...
, the wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere and Maud, the wife of Sir Robert de Welle. As well as the stewardship of the Forest of Essex, Thomas' estate included numerous properties in Ireland.
[Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 4, No. 275.]
References
1280s births
1318 deaths
Normans in Ireland
{{UK-noble-stub