John de Bermingham, 1st and last Earl of Louth (died 13 June 1329) was an

Irish peer The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisio ...

. He was the commander of the Anglo-Irish army in the

Battle of Faughart The Battle of Faughart (or Battle of Dundalk) was fought on 14 October 1318 between a Hiberno-Norman force led by John de Bermingham (later created 1st Earl of Louth) and Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick, and a Scottish and Irish army command ...

, the decisive battle in the

Irish Bruce Wars 1315–1318 The Bruce campaign was a three-year military campaign in Ireland by Edward Bruce, brother of the Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish king Robert the Bruce. It lasted from his landing at Larne in 1315 to his defeat and death in 1318 at the Battle of F ...

. In this battle,

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 st ...

was killed, and Bermingham had Bruce's severed head 'salted in a chest' and transported to England to be put on display before

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

. He was briefly

Viceroy of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingd ...

in 1321. Bermingham was the son of Piers FitzJames MacPhioris de Bermingham and Ela de Odingsells. He was contracted to marry Matilda de Burgh in 1308 but was married to Aveline de Burgh: both were daughters of

Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and 3rd Baron of Connaught (; ; 1259 – 29 July 1326), called The Red Earl ( Latinized to de Burgo), was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries and father of ...

. In 1312 he was made a knight by the Lord Deputy of Ireland. He was the commander of the English army in Ireland in 1318. He fought in the Battle of Faughart on 14 October 1318 as commander of the forces loyal to King

Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...

against the army led by Edward Bruce, who had been crowned High King of Ireland. Bruce was killed in the battle. He was created 1st Earl of Louth and granted estates at

Ardee Ardee (; , ) is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. The town shows evidence of development from the thirteenth century onward but as a result of the continued devel ...

on 12 May 1319 as a reward for his services to the Crown in defeating the Scots and given the county of Louth to hold as a jurisdictional

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

. In 1320 the pope ratified his marriage to Aveline, despite his having been contracted to marry her sister. He had three children with Aveline: their son Richard, Lord Ardee, died in 1322. Their daughter Catherine married Edmund Lacy and the other daughter, Maud, married Sir William Tealing. In 1320 he led a force into

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 Delbhn ...

to fight the O'Connors and the MacKellys. He held the office of Justiciar of Ireland from 21 May 1321 to 18 November 1323. In 1322 he went to England with a force of 300

men-at-arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a knig ...

, 1,000

hobilar Hobelars were a type of light cavalry, or mounted infantry, used in Western Europe during the Middle Ages for skirmishing. They originated in 13th century Ireland, and generally rode hobbies, a type of light and agile horse. Origins According ...

s and 6,000 foot to aid the King in fighting the Scots. In 1325 he founded a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

at Monasteroris, County Offaly. Bermingham was killed in the Braganstown massacre on 13 June 1329 in a feud between the Anglo-Irish families of Louth, along with some 200 members of his family and household. With his death the Earldom of Louth became extinct and the Liberty of Louth was appropriated by

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marri ...

. In 1749 the earldom was created again for a

collateral descendant A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate by i ...

Thomas Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth Thomas Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth (16 November 1717 – 11 January 1799) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. He was also the last man to be summoned to parliament as Baron Athenry. Bermingham was the son of Francis Bermingham, 14th Baron ...

, but it became extinct again on his death in

1799 Events January–June * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...

References

External links

* http://www.thepeerage.com/p4168.htm * ''The Bermingham Family of Athenry'',

Hubert T. Knox Hubert Thomas Knox (1845–1921) was an Irish historian. He was the third son of Charles Knox of Ballinrobe, who would later be High Sheriff of Mayo in 1860 and was a colonel in the North Mayo Militia. His great-grandfather was James Cuffe, 1 ...

, Journal of the

Galway Archaeological and Historical Society The Galway Archaeological and Historical Society was founded on 21 March 1900, at the Railway Hotel, Galway. It promotes the study of the archaeology and history of the west of Ireland. Since 1900, the Society has published 70 volumes of the ''J ...

, volume ten, numbers iii and iv, 1916-17. {{DEFAULTSORT:Louth, John De Bermingham, 1st Earl Of Earls in the Peerage of Ireland People from County Offaly 14th-century Irish people Irish murder victims Irish soldiers 1329 deaths Normans in Ireland Norman warriors Year of birth unknown Lords Lieutenant of Ireland People of the Wars of Scottish Independence