Ulster (de Courcy)

Who he is

Name

John de Courcy

Title

Lord of Ulster (he styles himself princeps Ulidie in his own charters, by the usual account)

Since

Conquest, February 1177, when he took Downpatrick from Ruaidri Mac Duinn Shleibe, king of Ulaid

Born

About 1150 (not pinned)

Family

Married Affreca, daughter of Gofraid, king of Man, and sister of Rognvaldr, king of Man and the Isles (marriage about 1180). No legitimate children recorded.

Confidence

high

Justiciar of Ireland 1185-92. Backed Richard against John in 1193-94. In 1199 John complained of the damage de Courcy and Walter de Lacy had done to his Irish lands. Captured by Hugh de Lacy the younger in 1204; Hugh is made earl of Ulster on 29 May 1205.

Overlord

King John in name; Ulster was conquered without a royal grant and is held in fact by right of the sword

What it holds

• Downpatrick (seat) and Lecale; the Benedictine priory of Down (1183) and Inch Abbey
• Carrickfergus castle (begun about 1178) and its town; Dundrum castle
• The Ards with Grey Abbey (founded by Affreca, 1193) and the Black Abbey
• The Antrim plain to Lough Neagh; the castle at Kilsantan by Coleraine (1197) on the Bann
• The barons of Ulster (the Savages, Logans, Copelands, Russells and others; who held what in 1200 is thin)
• His own coinage of farthings struck at Downpatrick and Carrickfergus

How it was acquired

Conquest, 1177; never confirmed by a royal charter that survives.

Allies and rivals

Allied by marriage to the kings of Man; Cathal Crobderg will flee to him in 1200. Enemies: Aed Ua Neill and the Cenel nEogain, the Lacys, and John.

How things stand that morning

Holds Down and south Antrim firmly. In 1199 he made three raids into Tir Eogain and was beaten by Aed Ua Neill at Donaghmore, while Aed's ships raided Larne behind him. His standing with John is poor but he has not been summoned or attacked.

Wealth

Grain lands of Lecale and the Ards, the ports of Carrickfergus and Strangford, trade with Man, Galloway and Chester.

Military

Carrickfergus, Dundrum and the mottes of his barons; his own knights and Manx and Galwegian connections. No figures.

Threats

• Aed Ua Neill
• John's distrust
• The Lacy brothers, who want Ulster

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.

In 1200

1. 1200 (not pinned)De Courcy's men cause a slaughter in the Oirthir (Orior) by treachery at Sliab Fuait; Aed Ua Neill raids the colonists of Ulster.Depends on: Continued war in the north Stopped by: A truce with Ua Neill
2. 1200 (not pinned)Cathal Crobderg, driven from Connacht, comes to de Courcy for help.Depends on: Crobderg's expulsion Stopped by: Crobderg keeping his throne

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201 (later course)De Courcy leads an army into Connacht for Crobderg and is routed by Cathal Carrach; he is taken back across Lough Ree by the Lacys.Depends on: The alliance with Crobderg Stopped by: Refusing the venture

Places of note

• Carrickfergus castle: De Courcy's great castle
• Dundrum castle: Castle on Dundrum Bay
• Kilsantan castle: Castle of 1197 by Coleraine
• Grey Abbey: Cistercian house founded by Affreca, 1193

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Annals, charters and coins are well known; the inner geography of his baronies in 1200 is thinner.

On the map: The settled core is drawn; the Glens and the north Antrim interior were thinly held or Irish.

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.