Maurice de Prendergast was a Norman

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 ...

, fl. 1169–1174. Maurice was from Prendergast, now in

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and was hired in 1169 by the ruler of the Irish kingdom of

Osraige Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home o ...

, Domnall Mac Gilla Pátraic, to resist the

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 ...

king,

Diarmait Mac Murchada 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 King ...

, who had also recruited Norman aid. He afterwards participated in 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 ...

. He was one of the first members of the expedition to land in Bannow Bay in May 1169, along with

Meiler FitzHenry Meiler FitzHenry (sometimes spelled Meilyr; died 1220) was a Cambro-Norman nobleman and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland during the Lordship of Ireland. Background and early life Meilyr FitzHenry was the son of Henry FitzHenry, an illegitimate son ...

and Miles FitzDavid. He took part in the Siege of Wexford. F.X. Martin in the "Expugnatio" states that ''"the first edition of the Expugnatio has no reference to the arrival of Maurice de Prendergast but the later edition include the information that Maurice de Prendergast came the following day, was a valiant soldier from Rhos in South Wales, embarked at Milford with ten men-at-arms and a large body of

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

in two ships, and that he also landed at Bannow."''

References

*''Expugnatio Hibernica:The Conquest of Ireland'', p. 293, 294, 295, 296-97, 298, 299, 301, 302, 307, 308, 321, by

Giraldus Cambrensis Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

, ed. A.B. Scott and F. X. Martin, 1978. . Anglo-Normans in Wales People from Pembrokeshire 12th-century Welsh people Norman warriors Norman participants of the invasion of Ireland {{noble-stub