General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> Dermot MacMurrough /Diarmaid/
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica:
"Irish king of Leinster whose appeal to the English for help in settling
an internal dispute led to the Anglo-Norman invasion and conquest of
Ireland by England.  After succeeding to the throne of his father, Enna,
in 1126, Dermot faced a number of rivals who disputed his claim to the
kingship.  He established his authority by killing or blinding 17 rebel
chieftains of northern Leinster in 1141.  In 1153 he abducted the wife of
Tiernan O'Ruark, king of Breifne (modern counties of Leitrim and Cavan).
A bitter feud ensued, and in 1166 Dermot was driven from Ireland. King
Henry II of England then granted the exiled ruler permission to enlist
the aid of several Anglo-Norman lords of south Wales, notably Richard de
Clare, 2nd earl of Pembroke.  Returning to Leinster in 1167 with an
afvance party of Anglo-Normans, Dermot established a foothold there. 
Pembroke arrived in August 1170, and dermot then helped the invaders
capture Dublin.  Dermot married his daughter Eva to Pembroke, and at
Dermot's death Pembroke succeeded as ruler of Leinster."
According to LEINSTER HISTORY RITHEAGHLACH LAIGNEACH
(http://www.luminet.net/~tiraha/leinster/history.html): "It has often
been suggested that Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough) earned the
sobriquet "Diamait na nGall" (Dermot of the Foreigners) from the fact
that he entered a military alliance with, and gave his daughter Aife in
marriage to, Richard de Clare (Strongbow), but it is more probable that
the cognomen refers to the fact that he asserted control over the
Hiberno-Norse kingdom of Dublin.  Despite his negative posthumous
reputation as the catalyst for Norman rule in Ireland, Diarmait was
roundly praised by contemporary accounts as a great patron of church
reform, having endowed the Cistercian abbey of Baltinglass.  This act
moved St. Bernard of Clairvaux to write a letter of commendation to
Diarmait."