MORTIMER
Inheritance
On September 24, 1301, Roger Mortimer (c. 1287–
1330), lord of Wigmore in Herefordshire, married
Joan de Geneville (1286–1356), heiress to the Irish
liberty of Trim in eastern Meath, giving the Mortimers
transmarine estates of real consequence for the first
time. Roger had inherited his grandmother’s portion
of the Marshal lands at Dunamase in Laois, but his
immediate forebears had not maintained them. Widely
anglicized, valuable, and imbued with seigniorial
privileges enjoyed in no other Irish liberty, including
the four royal pleas of arson, forestalling, rape, and
treasure trove, Trim was worth fighting for. In mid-
November 1308, months after coming of age, Roger
received the lordship from Joan’s grandfather, Geoffrey
de Geneville (c. 1226–1314). Geoffrey, a former chief
governor of Ireland with long experience of Irish polit-
ical and military affairs and of landholding across fron-
tiers, instilled in Roger the desirability of personal
lordship in Ireland. For six of the following twelve
years (1308–09, 1310–13, 1315, 1317–18, 1319–20),
Roger resided in Ireland, establishing his lordship
against his wife’s kin, the Lacys of Rathwire and the
Scots under Edward Bruce, and cementing his family’s
position among the elite of Irish landholding society.
Despite forfeiting his lands in rebellion against Edward
II in 1321-22, his notorious subsequent relationship
with Queen Isabella and leadership of the invasion that
deposed the king gave Roger almost unfettered power.
Elevated to the earldom of March in October 1328, he
launched a spree of acquisition in Ireland, gaining
custody of the western half of Meath, during the
minority of the de Verdun heiresses, with liberty status.
This reestablished the lordship of Meath, which had
been divided after the death of Walter de Lacy in 1241.
Roger also obtained custody of the heir to the earldom
of Kildare and expanded into Louth, coming close to
creating an “empire” on the threshold of Dublin.
This potential evaporated upon Roger’s execution
by Edward III on November 29, 1330. But, while his
lands were forfeited to the crown, his legacy provided
the springboard for his successors’ ambitions. Roger,
second earl of March (1329–1360), emulated his prox-
imity to the crown, helping to found the Order of the
Garter and becoming one of Edward III’s most trusty
generals in his continental wars. Consequently, upon
restoration to the earldom of March in 1355, he
regained Meath as a liberty. Roger’s prestige, more-
over, secured the marriage of his son, Edmund
(1352–1381), to Phillippa, daughter of Lionel, duke of
Clarence, and Elizabeth, granddaughter of William de
Burgh, late Earl of Ulster, in May 1368. Edmund thus
became earl of March and Ulster, lord of Clare,
Connacht, Kilkenny and Meath.
Problems
Despite their wealth, the Mortimers faced intractable
problems in Ireland. The importance of their estates
made their defense imperative, but the attractions of
English court life, prolonged minorities, and the unfor-
tunate brevity of their forays into Ireland made it
increasingly difficult to maintain a firm grip against
nascent Gaelic Revival. In many ways, the fate of their
lands reflected the decay experienced across Ireland in
the fourteenth century.
It is noticeable that each Mortimer lord received
livery of his inheritance while still a minor, for the
value of their estates was only matched by their vul-
nerability. As early as 1323, reports claimed that the
castle and manor of Dunamase were worthless, as no
English tenants remained after the onslaught of the
Laois Irish. Both the first and second earls became
embroiled in disputes with the men of Carbry. In
December 1309, the king pardoned men of Trim who
had chased a raiding party back into Carbry, killing
several of them. In 1355, the steward of Trim was
captured and imprisoned at Carbry after levying rents
at Rathwire. Inquisitions returned into the English
chancery demonstrate that most of the lands pertaining
to the earldom of Ulster had been rendered of little
value by 1368 thanks to destruction wrought by native
armies across Ireland, emboldening Edmund Mortimer
to attempt repairs at his fortresses of Greencastle and
Carrickfergus and the bridge at Coleraine. By the time
of Edmund’s son, Roger (1374–1398), the fourth earl,
supremacy in Ulster and Connacht had passed to the
Irish, his tenants in Ulster, English and Irish, perform-
ing homage to Niall Ua Néill.
One of the Mortimers’ most tangible solutions to
the problems caused by absenteeism involved the
transmission of retainers from the Welsh marches to
their estates in Ireland. In the aftermath of his defeat
of the Lacys in 1317, Roger Mortimer granted escheats
in counties Meath and Dublin to Herefordshire and
Shropshire retainers, giving his English tenants a stake
in the maintenance of his Irish lordship. It is noticeable
that members of the Hakelut and Harley families, for
example, returned to Ireland with successive Mortimer
lords. Less tangible are the Mortimers’ relations with
native communities. The Wigmore chronicle boasts of
the Mortimers’ lineage from both Strongbow and
Diarmait Mac Murchada. How and if they played upon
this heritage is not known. In Laois, the O’Mores were
a constant thorn in their flesh, but they formally rec-
ognized their liege status at least once. In 1350, Maurice
Sionnach, “king” of Fartullagh and Fergal Mac
Eochagáin, “duke” of Moycashel, agreed to serve the
earl of Kildare against all men save de Geneville’s heir,
evidence perhaps of a longer association between the