Hugh de Lacy (younger)

Who he is

Name

Hugh de Lacy

Title

Younger brother of the lord of Meath; captain of the Meath English

Since

Active in Ireland in the 1190s

Born

About 1176 (not pinned)

Family

Second son of Hugh de Lacy (d. 1186) and Rose of Monmouth; brother of Walter, lord of Meath

Confidence

medium

The annals call him 'the son of Hugo de Lacy' at the head of the English of Meath. His own lands before 1205 are not pinned (he held of his brother in Meath). He builds a castle at Dun Ocalla above Lough Ree in 1202, captures John de Courcy in 1203-04 and is made earl of Ulster on 29 May 1205.

Overlord

Walter de Lacy for his Meath lands; King John

What it holds

• Lands in Meath held of his brother (not pinned)
• The leadership of the Meath English in war

How it was acquired

Family provision.

Allies and rivals

Rival of John de Courcy; in 1201 his men hold Cathal Crobderg for unpaid wages and take de Courcy back across Lough Ree.

How things stand that morning

In Ireland and in arms; no fixed lordship of his own that can be drawn.

Wealth

Wages from Irish kings; his Meath lands.

Military

The household knights and serjeants of the Lacy affinity.

Threats

• De Courcy
• Royal suspicion of the Lacys

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1201 (later course)Marches with de Courcy for Cathal Crobderg; after the rout his men seize Crobderg for his unpaid wages and take de Courcy over Lough Ree.Depends on: Crobderg's appeal Stopped by: Refusing the venture
2. 1202-05 (later course)Castle at Dun Ocalla above Lough Ree (1202); captures de Courcy (1203-04); earl of Ulster (29 May 1205).Depends on: John's backing against de Courcy Stopped by: John favouring de Courcy

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Career well attested; lands before 1205 not pinned.

On the map: Not drawn: no lordship of his own is pinned for 1200.

Primary sources for Lordship of Ireland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Clonmacnoise, Anonymous; English translation of a lost Irish chronicle by Conall Mac Geoghegan (medieval original lost; translated 1627). A midland chronicle, tied to Clonmacnoise and the kings of Meath and Connacht, surviving only in a 1627 translation. Read online
• Annals of Inisfallen, Anonymous (monks of Inisfallen, Kerry, and earlier of Emly and Lismore) (the manuscript was written in 1092 and continued at Inisfallen in many contemporary hands to 1450). The Munster chronicle, written in Kerry in a hand close to the events. Read online
• Annals of Loch Ce, Various (compiled for the Mac Diarmada of Moylurg) (compiled 1580s from older annals; the medieval section rests on a Connacht chronicle). The fullest Connacht account of the year: Cathal Carrach's seizure of the kingship, Cathal Crobderg's flight north, the Connacht expedition of de Courcy and the Ui Neill on Crobderg's behalf and its defeat, William de Burgh's role, and the devastation of the province's churches, with the names of the Connacht nobles and clergy who died. Read online
• Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, Various; compiled by Micheal O Cleirigh and others (1632 to 1636, from medieval annals now partly lost). A seventeenth century compilation but it draws on lost medieval annals, so its 1200 entries add names and incidents missing elsewhere: the Connacht war and the English of Meath and Munster, the deaths of Irish kings and churchmen across the island, and raids in Thomond and Desmond. Read online
• Annals of Ulster, Various; compiled by Cathal Mac Maghnusa (compiled about 1498 from much older annals; the entries for 1200 derive from contemporary record). The most reliable Irish annal for the north. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Mac Carthaigh's Book (Miscellaneous Irish Annals), Anonymous (a Munster compilation) (compiled in the later Middle Ages from Munster annals; manuscript of the 17th century). A Munster annal with a Mac Carthaig and Desmond slant, giving for the years around 1200 the kings of Desmond and Thomond, their wars with each other and with the English of Cork and Limerick, and the castles the settlers were building. Read online
• The History of William Marshal, Anonymous (a poet called John, writing for the Marshal family) (about 1224 to 1226). A knight's view of the Angevin succession: the council at Vaudreuil in April 1199 where the Marshal and Hubert Walter argued for John over Arthur, the Marshal's crossing to secure England, John's coronation, and the Marshal's part in Normandy in 1199 and 1200 as holder of Longueville and Orbec and a go-between with Philip. Read online

7 more in the sources library for The British Isles.