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| STRONGBOW'S MONUMENT, CHRIST CHURCH, DUBLIN. -Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, nicknamed "Strongbow," because of his strength and skill in archery, was the chief, and most accomplished, of the band of Norman adventurers that invaded Ireland on the invitation of Dermod MacMurrough, the traitor King of Leinster, during the years 1169-72. MacMurrough eloped with his wife of O'Ruarc, Prince of Breffni, during the latter's absence on a pious pilgrimage. This led to the adulterer's flight from Ireland, and the subsequent fatal invasion of the Normans. The poet Moore has immortalized the episode in his well known ballad, "The Valley Lay Smiling before Me." Strongbow, after making nominal conquest of Leinster, married Eva, the heiress of MacMurrough, and laid claim to a large portion of Irish territory, which he held with the strong hand. This great Norman chief was a polite as brave says his biographer, Cambrensis, "what he could not effect by force, he accomplished by soft words and fair promises." He died not many years after the invasion and was interred in Christ Church, which he had aided in restoring. The roof fell in and wrecked the original monument during the fifteenth century, but the latter was re-erected by Sir Henry Sydney, Lord Deputy, during the reign of Elizabeth. The full length effigy shown in the sketch is alleged to be that of Strongbow, while the half length figure is said to represent his son, who, for cowardice or disobedience in battle, was cut in two by his affectionate sire. |
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