the cathedral) to shake that of Ormond’s and thus
restore trust.
The Reformation at St. Patrick’s saw statues in the
choir destroyed in 1537 and the cathedral itself dis-
solved in 1546, but not before Christ Church based its
new secular constitution on that of St. Patrick’s. The
nave vault collapsed during this period, yet in 1548, it
was used as “a common hall for the Four Courts of
Judicature.” The cathedral was restored under Mary in
1555, but its walls were being painted and scripture
passages erected in 1559, under the Protestant reforms
of Elizabeth.
STUART KINSELLA
References and Further Reading
Mason, W.M. “The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate
and Cathedral Church of St Patrick near Dublin.” Dublin,
Ireland, 1820.
See also Architecture; Christchurch Cathedral;
Cumin, John; Dublin; Patrick
STRONGBOW (RICHARD
FITZ GILBERT)
Richard fitz Gilbert, also known as Strongbow, a sobri-
quet first accorded to his father, was the son of Gilbert
fitz Gilbert, a member of a cadet branch of a prominent
family, arrived in England with William the Conqueror
and acquired the lordship of Clare in Suffolk, whence
he is also sometimes termed Richard de Clare. His
father held lands in the duchy of Normandy, in nine
different counties in England, and in the Welsh bor-
ders. His castle at Strigoil (modern Chepstow in
Monmouthshire) was deemed to be his principal resi-
dence among his assemblage of estates. In 1138, during
the civil war of King Stephen’s reign (1135–54), when
the king was eager to win support to his side, Gilbert
was created earl of Pembroke, thereby acquiring not
just a title but additional lands in south Wales. He died
in 1148. His son, Richard, was probably born about
1130 because he occurs as a witness to a number of
his father’s charters before the latter’s death, suggesting
that he had come of age by that date. In 1148, Richard
inherited his father’s estates, including the earldom of
Pembroke. However, when Henry II succeeded
Stephen as king of England in 1154, he refused to
acknowledge Strongbow as earl and took the lordship
of Pembroke into his own hands. That Henry’s disfavor
derived from the circumstances of the civil war of
Stephen’s reign is indicated by the fact that in 1153, even
before his accession as king of England, Henry’s sup-
porters had already seized Strongbow’s lordships of
Orbec and Bienfaite when they took control of the duchy
of Normandy. From the time of Henry’s accession,
Strongbow was out of favor at the royal court. In 1164,
he should have succeeded to additional lands in right
of his mother from the partition of the Giffard inher-
itance, but Henry withheld them from him. The king
also did not provide him with a wife commensurate
with his status, for as a tenant who held lands directly
of the king, Strongbow would have expected to marry
an heiress whose estates would augment his own, for
which, however, he required both the king’s patronage
and consent. According to the Anglo-Norman apolo-
gist, Gerald of Wales, when in the autumn of 1167,
Diarmait Mac Murchada, the exiled king of Leinster,
encountered Strongbow, “he had succeeded to a title
rather than possessions.” There is other evidence that
Strongbow was in straitened circumstances, had been
obliged to mortgage some of his landed property, and
was in debt to Aaron, a Jew of Lincoln. Diarmait Mac
Murchada’s offer of rewards to be gained in Ireland
would therefore have been attractive to Strongbow,
especially if Diarmait was promising him marriage
with his daughter, Aífe, together with succession to the
kingdom of Leinster after Diarmait’s death, in other
words marriage to an heiress. As a tenant who held his
lands directly of the king, Strongbow required the
king’s permission to marry, and he may have sought
such permission in 1168 when his presence was
recorded at the English royal court for the first time
since 1155. Whether Henry consented—and contem-
porary sources are ambiguous on this point—Strongbow
departed for Ireland. In August 1170, he landed at
Waterford, captured the city, and his wedding to Aífe
was celebrated almost immediately. Together with the
forces of Diarmait Mac Murchada, Strongbow then set
out to take the city of Dublin and, having done so,
embarked on expansionist raids into Meath. In May
1171, Diarmait Mac Murchada died at Ferns, but
Strongbow’s control of Leinster was secured by the
fact that he had the support of Diarmait’s son, Domnall
Caemánach. Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht,
and claimant to the high-kingship of Ireland, in a bid
to assert control over Strongbow, besieged Dublin from
June to August 1171, but failed to dislodge the Anglo-
Norman garrison. Towards the end of September 1171,
Henry II returned from his continental dominions to
England and, delaying only long enough to gather
together an army and provisions, made ready a large
expedition to Ireland. In the meantime, the king had
sequestrated Strongbow’s estates in England and south
Wales. This constituted a serious threat to Strongbow
who now risked losing those lands that he held in
Henry’s dominions for a potential lordship in Leinster,
over which he had not yet asserted secure control.
Strongbow had first sent messengers in July to negotiate
on his behalf with the king at Argentan in Normandy,
and, in advance of Henry’s arrival in Ireland, he himselfST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL