Despite his ethnic background, de Bermingham and his family are always described in the Gaelic-Irish annals as Mac Fheorais, indicating his descent from Peter (Piarus, a quo Fheorais) de Bermingham. The identity of Rickard's mother is uncertain though it is thought she was Gaelic.
This may explain why the family were regarded as at least semi-Gaelic by bards and seanchai so early in their history. Alternatively, the appellation Mac Fheorais may have begun with Peter of Tethmoy, father of Rickard's grandfather, Meyler de Bermingham.
Risteard na gCath [=of the battles] – the battle of Ath na Riogh [=Athenry], the battle of Cnoc an Tochair [=Knocktopher] and the battle of Fionnlugh
Lord of Athenry
He succeeded his father, Peter, around 1309. He had land around the Moy in northern Connacht, but his main estate laid between Dunmore and Athenry in what is now County Galway, the caput of the lordship been based at the latter town. Immediately due east was the Gaelic kingdom of Uí Maine, which had only been lightly settled by the Anglo-Irish, mainly along the border between it and the lordship.
In 1310 he obtained a muragecharter, to enable him to enclose Athenry in stone walls. When finished, they enclosed over one hundred acres (40 ha) on the west bank of the Clarin River, making it one of the largest walled towns in Ireland. Over two-thirds of the walls still remain, almost unique for a town in medieval Ireland and Great Britain. Some six round watchtowers were included in the walls, most of which survive in some form, two exceptionally well-preserved.
He also extended and raised Athenry Castle. When work was completed c. 1315, it stood over three stories and had a vaulted roof, thought to be slated as thatch would make it vulnerable to lighting, fire arrows, and accident. It was situated at the north edge of the town, overlooking the Tuam and Monivea roads. It was abandoned by Rickard's descendants c. 1550, but the stonework survived almost intact. It was refurbished and re-roofed in 1990 and is at present open to the public.
Finally, he incorporated the Clarin into the town moat, and built a number of tower gates along the wall. The total number is uncertain but it is thought there were around four. Only one partially restored gate, the North Gate, now survives, though it may date from as much as one hundred years later.
Connacht Wars of 1315–16
During the Connacht Wars of 1315–16 (an offshoot of the Irish Bruce Wars 1315–1318, de Bermingham defended the Anglo-Irish colony in Connacht against Ruaidhri O Conchobair, who was supported by Prince Edward Bruce in his wish to become King of Connacht. Ruaidhri defeated the then king, Fedlim Ó Conchobair, who turned to the Anglo-Irish such as de Bermingham for help.
A coalition of Gaelic and Anglo forces defeated and killed Ruaidhri at the battle of Mullach Fidicci in north Galway, in January 1316. De Bermingham was wounded, how seriously is unknown.
After the battle, Fedlim betrayed his Anglo-Irish allies. He began destroying their settlements, killing their inhabitants and stealing their goods, his ultimate aim was to exterminate the entire colony and re-establish an independent Connacht kingship, and later, establish himself as King of Ireland. Due to the ongoing warfare with Edward Bruce in Meath and Leinster, no help was forthcoming and the Anglo-Irish of Connacht were left to fend for themselves. Famine had broken out the previous year and its effect exacerbated the situation.
Second Battle of Athenry
Sir William Liath de Burgh had been captured at the battle of Connor in 1315 and had been held hostage in Scotland. Sometime in early, the Earl of Ulster obtained his release. De Burgh arrived back in Connacht with new forces and made his way to Athenry to support de Bermingham. Upon hearing of this, King Fedlim broke off a march towards Roscommon, assembled an army estimated as much as eight thousand, and marched towards Athenry, intending to raze it to the ground.
The exact circumstances surrounding the events, and location, of the Second Battle of Athenry are obscure. All that can be said with certainty is that it was fought somewhere very close to the town on 10 August 1316, and the Gaelic-Irish forces were comprehensively defeated. John Clyn states that one thousand five hundred heads were collected from the battlefield and sent to Dublin for bounty. Among the dead were King Fedlim and Tadhg Ó Cellaigh, King of Uí Maine. Their heads were afterwards set on pikes on either side of the town gate. This image is still the coat of arms of Athenry.
Due to a falling-out with King Fedlim, Muirchertach O Brian, Prince of Thomond, defected at some point and aided de Bermingham and de Burgh in defending the town. He became undisputed king of Thomond in 1318. In the same year, Rickard's kinsman, John de Bermingham of Offaly, fought and defeated Edward Bruce at Faughart, for which he was made Earl of Louth.
Local tradition holds that a soldier prayed for deliverance at Lady's Well, one mile east of the town, on the day of the battle, and was rewarded with a vision of the Virgin Mary. The soldier may have been Rickard de Bermingham.
Children
Rickard was succeeded by his son Thomas in 1322.
Another son, Risteard Ruadh, is listed by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh as an ancestor of "The family of Feorus of Clar Cairbre", giving a descent for a Eabhard Mac Feorais from An Charraig s. Baitear s. Seaan over thirteen generations inclusive, though part of the pedigree is faulty.
A third son, Andrew, became notorious for murdering the Royal judge Sir Hugh Canoun, against whom he had a grievance, near Naas, County Kildare, about New Year of 1318. Andrew in his turn was murdered in 1323, in the course of a feud with the O'Nolans.
One Baitear mc Risder an Chatha is given in the same work as the ancestor of a line whose pedigree is given as Thomas s. Risteard an Bhealaigh s. Maoilir Buidhe s. Thomas Og (or Dubh) s. Thomas na Feasoige [=of the beard] s. Baitear s. Risteard an Chatha. They are listed as of Dunmore, County Galway.
Select genealogy
Peter (Piers) of Tethmoy, d. 1254 | |__________________________ William de Worchester, fl. 1230. | | | | | | | | | | James Andrew Maurice Meyler de Bermingham= Basilia de Worchester | | | |_______________________________________ John de Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth | | | | | | Peter Basilia William, Archbishop of Tuam =Ni Cellaigh? =Jordan de Exeter d. 1309 | | | | | | RickardJordan Óge de Exeter Simon =? d.1319 d. 1329. | |________________________________________________ | | | | | | | | Myler Thomas, d. 1375 Risteard Ruadh Baitear (Walter) d.1302. | (Bermingham of Carbury) (Bermingham of Dunmore) | (in County Sligo) (in County Galway) Walter, d.1428 | | Thomas, d.1473, from who descended the later Lords Athenry.
Connacht or Connaught, is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms.
Athenry is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virtue of the song "The Fields of Athenry".
Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick, was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 struggle for the Scottish crown, then pursued his own claims in Ireland. Proclaimed High King of Ireland in 1315 and crowned in 1316, he was eventually defeated and killed by Anglo-Irish forces of the Lordship of Ireland at the Battle of Faughart in County Louth in 1318.
The Second Battle of Athenry took place at Athenry in Ireland on 10 August 1316 during the Bruce campaign in Ireland.
The First Battle of Athenry was fought on 15 August 1249 at Athenry in modern County Galway, Ireland. The Gaelic forces of Connacht besieged the town but were repelled by the Normans under Jordan de Exeter, Sheriff of Connacht.
Felim McHugh O'Connor was king of Connacht in Ireland from January 1310 to 10 August 1316. The beginning of his kingship saw a revival in the ancient form of inauguration performed for the Kings of Connacht after a period of apparent lapse in the practice. His reign took place against the background of a Gaelic recovery following the Anglo-Norman invasion and the disputed High Kingship of Edwurd Bruce. He was the last King of Connacht to truly hold power over the entire province and his death halted the gains that had been made following the Anglo Norman invasion, by his kingdom. His foster father Maelruanid Mac Diarmata King of Magh Lurg would play an instrumental role in his reign.
Áed mac Felidlimid Ó Conchobair, known as Áed na nGall, was king of Connacht alongside his father Felim from 1258 reigning solely from 1265 until his own death in 1274. He is credited with turning the tide on Norman expansion in Connacht at the Battle of Áth an Chip. Aed took a different approach than his father to dealing with English crown authority in Ireland, placing his faith in alliances with the Gaelic speaking world and becoming the chief supporter of Brian Ua Neill's bid to revive the high kingship of Ireland. His byname na nGall comes from his marriage in 1259 to a daughter of Dubhghall mac Ruaidri King of the Hebrides which brought him 160 gallowglass commanded by Dubhghall's younger brother Ailéan as a dowry.
Jordan de Exeter (1239–58), alternatively known as Jordan d'Exeter, was an Anglo-Norman knight, Sheriff of Connacht, and ancestor of the Mac Siúrtáin/Mac Jordan clan.
John de Bermingham, 1st and last Earl of Louth was an Irish peer. He was the commander of the Anglo-Irish army in the Battle of Faughart, the decisive battle in the Irish Bruce Wars 1315–1318. In this battle, Edward Bruce was killed, and Bermingham had Bruce's severed head 'salted in a chest' and transported to England to be put on display before Edward II. He was briefly Viceroy of Ireland in 1321.
Meyler de Bermingham was an Anglo-Irish lord, founder of Athenry.
Peter de Bermingham was the Anglo-Irish second lord of Athenry who died c. 1309.
Thomas de Bermingham was an Anglo-Irish lord who died in 1375.
Richard II de Bermingham was an Anglo-Irish lord.
Edmond I de Bermingham was an Anglo-Irish lord.
Francis de Bermingham was an Anglo-Irish lord of Athenry and Dunmore, County Galway.
Edward de Bermingham, Anglo-Irish lord of Athenry and Dunmore, County Galway, died 1709, was the son of Francis de Bermingham, 12th Baron Athenry and Bridget, daughter of Sir Lucas Dillon. He succeeded as 13th Baron Athenry in 1677.
Tadhg Ó Cellaigh, also known as Tadhg mac Domnall O Cellaigh was King of Uí Maine and Chief of the Name.
Sir William Liath de Burgh was an Irish noble and Justiciar of Ireland (1308–09). He was an ancestor of the Mac William Uachtar and Mac William Íochtar who were earls of Galway and Mayo respectively.
There are numerous Bermingham monuments in Ireland particularly in counties Kildare, Offaly, Galway, and Dublin. Most are now in a poor state. Athenry Castle in Galway has been restored, using building techniques similar to those employed when it was originally built.
The Priory Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athenry, also called Athenry Priory, is a medieval Dominican priory and National Monument located in Athenry, Ireland.
Notes on the Burgus of Athenry, its first defences and its town walls, 7 corrigendum, H.T. Knox and a college, J.G.A.H.S., volume 11, numbers i and ii, 1920–21
Remarks on the walls and church of Athenry, Charles Mac Neill, J.G.A.H.S., volume 11, numbers iii and iv, 1921
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