Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, (b. ca.1130), Tonbridge, Kent, England, d. 20 Apr 1176, Dublin, Ireland.
Named "Strongbow", was an Anglo-Norman lord, notable in supporting Henry II of England in Ireland.
Richards father died when he was about 18 years old, and he inherited the title, but not at that stage his father's lands in the Welsh marches.

When Diarmuid MacMorrough, king of Leinster, sought help from Henry II to regain his kingdom, he was pointed in the direction of Richard de Clare and other marcher barons and knights, together with Welsh archers (hence the name "Strongbow"). This army took Wexford, Waterford and Dublin in 1169 and 1170, and Strongbow joined them in August 1170. The day after the capture of Waterford, he married MacMorrough's daughter Aoife of Leinster. When MacMorrough died, Strongbow claimed the kingship of Leinster in right of his wife. Henry II was concerned about his barons' new lands in Ireland and summoned him back to England in 1171, to extract their fealty and to prepare for his own invasion of Ireland that year to create the lordship of Ireland. In 1173, Henry's sons rose against him in Normandy; Strongbow's support for Henry led to him being made Henry's governor of Ireland.

Strongbow died of an infection in his foot in 1176 during a rebellion by the Irish and was buried in Dublin - his tomb can be viewed in Christ Church Cathedral. He left a young son Gilbert who died in 1185 while still a minor, and a daughter Isabel. King Henry II promised Isabel in marriage to William Marshal together with her father's lands and title. Strongbow's widow, Aoife, lived on to 1188, when she is last found in a charter.
Spouse:

• m. Aug 29 1170, Aoife of Leinster (Eva MacMurrough), (ca. 1145-1188), daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster , and More o'Toole.
• Unknown mistress.

Children:

• From Eva
  • Isabel de Clare, (ca. 1172-1240).
    • m. Aug 1189, Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, Lord Marshal, son of John Fitz Gilbert, Marshal (Marechal) of England, and Sibylla of Salisbury.
  • Gilbert de Striguil (Chepstow), 3rd Earl of Pembroke, (ca. 1173-1185). Inherited title from father but died as a minor. The title then went to his sisters husband on marriage.

• From mistress
  • Basile de Clare, (ca. 1156-1203).
    • m. 1172, Robert de Quincy. Child: Maud de Quincy, (b. ca.1173).
      • m. Philip de Prendergast.
    • m. (ca. 1173), Raymond Fitz William/Carew, Constable of Leinster.
    • m. (ca. 1188), Geoffrey Fitz Robert, Baron of Kells.

Parents:

• Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke, (ca. 1100-1148).
• Isabel de Beaumont, (ca. 1112-1172).

External links

[de Clare, Earls, Lords, and Magna Charta Sureties