Ormond (Theobald Walter)

Who he is

Name

Theobald Walter

Title

Butler of Ireland (pincerna Hibernie); lord of the cantreds of Ormond, Eile, Eliogarty, Owney and Arra; lord of Arklow

Since

John's grants of 1185

Born

Not pinned (about 1150s)

Family

Brother of Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor; married Maud le Vavasour (b. 1176), heiress of Robert le Vavasour (marriage date not pinned); ancestor of the Butlers of Ormond.

Confidence

high

Sheriff of Lancashire from 1194 to Christmas 1198 and again under John in 1199; early in 1200 John strips him of all his offices and lands over irregularities as sheriff, and he gets them back only in January 1202. In 1201 he takes his Ormond cantreds anew from William de Braose as part of the honour of Limerick. Dies at Arklow castle, 4 February 1206.

Overlord

King John (and from 1201 William de Braose for the Limerick cantreds)

What it holds

• The cantred of Ormond with Nenagh
• Eliogarty with Thurles
• Owney (Uaithne) and Arra on the Shannon
• Eile (Ely O'Carroll), claimed but largely in Ua Cerbaill hands
• Killaloe borough (in the grant; held in fact by the Irish see and the Ui Briain: thin)
• Arklow castle on the Leinster coast
• The hereditary butlership and the prise of wines in Irish ports
• Abbey of Owney (Abington), Cistercian, founded about 1200

How it was acquired

John's grants of 1185.

Allies and rivals

His brother the archbishop is his shield at court; Domnall Mor Ua Briain beat the English at Thurles in 1192; the Ui Chennetig and Ui Cerbaill are the dispossessed.

How things stand that morning

Holds his castles on 1 January 1200, but his credit with John is sinking: he will lose all his lands and offices early in 1200.

Wealth

The prise of wines; the lands of north Tipperary.

Military

Castles at Nenagh (the great keep is later), Thurles and Arklow; his household. No figures.

Threats

• Disgrace and forfeiture early in 1200
• Ua Cennetig and Ua Cerbaill

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. Early 1200John deprives Theobald of all his offices and lands; the Irish lands pass into royal hands until January 1202.Depends on: John's anger over Lancashire Stopped by: Hubert Walter buying the king's peace in time

Places of note

• Nenagh: Centre of Ormond
• Thurles: Centre of Eliogarty
• Arklow castle: Leinster coast castle; he dies here in 1206
• Abbey of Owney: Cistercian abbey he founded about 1200

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Grant and offices well documented; castle dates (Nenagh, Thurles) not pinned.

On the map: Castle districts; the cantreds were only partly occupied.

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.