Eve de Bermingham, ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' Lady of Offaly (died between June 1223/December 1226), was a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

- Irish heiress, being the only child of Robert de Bermingham who was enfeoffed by Strongbow with part of the kingdom of ''Ui Failghe''. This fief became the barony of

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

which she as the ''suo jure'' heiress, passed on to her first husband, Gerald FitzMaurice, who by right of his wife was created the 1st Lord of Offaly. She had a total of three husbands.

Marriages and issue

Eve was born on an unknown date, the only daughter and ''suo jure'' heiress of Robert de Bermingham, a Norman, who arrived in Ireland with the

Cambro-Norman Cambro-Normans (; "Wales", ; ) were Normans who settled in southern Wales and the Welsh Marches after the Norman invasion of Wales. Cambro-Norman knights were also the leading force in the Cambro-Norman invasion of Ireland, led by Richard de ...

forces of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, known to history as "Strongbow". De Bermingham was enfeoffed by Strongbow with part of the kingdom of ''Ui Failghe'', which became the barony of Offaly. Eve's mother's name and identity is not known. Sometime about 1183, she married her first husband, Gerald FitzMaurice, the second-eldest son of Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan. He became the 1st Lord of Offaly by right of marriage to her. Together they had one recorded son: *

Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly Maurice Fitzmaurice FitzGerald I, 2nd Lord of Offaly (c.1194 – 20 May 1257) was an Anglo-Norman peer, soldier, and Justiciar of Ireland from 1232 to 1245. He mustered many armies against the Irish, and due to his harsh methods as Justiciar, ...

(1184 – 20 May 1257),

Justiciar of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monar ...

, married Juliana de Grenville, by whom he had four sons. Gerald FitzMaurice died on 15 January 1204, and was succeeded by their son and heir, Maurice. Sometime later, Eve married her second husband, Geoffrey FitzRobert,

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

. When he died in 1211, she took a third husband,

Geoffrey de Marisco Geoffrey de Marisco (died 1245) was the justiciar of Ireland. He held considerable power in Ireland during the reign of King John and the early reign of Henry III. Among his activities were helping to prosecute wars against the native Irish ru ...

(du Marais), who held the office of Justiciar of Ireland from 1215 to 1221. Her son Maurice would later hold the office from 1232 to 1245. By her third husband, she had at least one son: * Robert de Marisco, married Margaret de Ridelsford, by whom he had a daughter, Christiana de Marisco (1234–1312). The latter was the wife of Ebulo of Geneva, and a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

in the household of

Eleanor of Provence Eleanor of Provence ( 1223 – 24/25 June 1291) was a Provence, Provençal noblewoman who became List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of King Henry III of England, Henry III from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served ...

, Queen consort of King

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

. It is not known whether Geoffrey's daughter, Joan du Marais, first wife of Theobald le Botiller, was Eve's daughter, or his daughter by an earlier, unrecorded marriage. The female succession in the de Bermingham

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

, as well as Eve's multiple marriages, slowed down the Anglo-Norman advance in the former kingdom of ''Ui Failghe''.

Death

Eve de Bermingham died in Ireland between June 1223 and December 1226.Note:G. E. Cokayne in ''The Complete Peerage'' favours the 1226.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Offaly, Eve De Bermingham, Lady Of 13th-century deaths 13th-century Irish nobility

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

Year of birth unknown 13th-century Irish women 12th-century Irish women 12th-century Irish people