county · British Isles
Lordship of Leinster
Origins
Diarmait Mac Murchada, deposed king of Leinster, sought Norman help and promised his daughter Aoife and succession to Richard de Clare, Strongbow. After Diarmait's death in 1171 Strongbow claimed Leinster, and Henry II granted it to him as a lordship under the crown in the Lordship of Ireland.
Rule and society
Strongbow and his successors settled knights, founded towns and built castles such as Kilkenny and Ferns. William Marshal, who married Strongbow's daughter Isabel, developed New Ross, Kilkenny and many abbeys, and granted Kilkenny its charter. The lordship had its own courts, exchequer and seneschal.
Decline and legacy
The five sons of William Marshal all died without heirs, and in 1247 the liberty was divided among his daughters' heirs, forming Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Kildare and part of Laois. The Butler earls of Ormond later held much of it.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Lordship of Leinster was a vassal of Lordship of Ireland1171 CE – 1247 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lordship of Leinster. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-leinster
- MLA
- “Lordship of Leinster.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-leinster. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Lordship of Leinster.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-leinster.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lordship of Leinster’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-leinster (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻