Strongbow

MORE IRISH FAMILIES

Dr. Edward Mac Lysaght (1887 -1986)

Dr. Edward Mac Lysaght is one of the main sources for the history of Irish surnames. This is his entry on the Clear, Clare surname which he says is derived from the Anglo Norman name de Clare. The most famous de Clare was Richard 'Strongbow' de Clare who was related to the Kings and Queen's of England and his wife Aoife was related to the High Kings of Ireland. Our lineage is disputed in an e-mail (see below) by Mark Humphreys who has his own very interesting Genealogy web page which except from a Miss Letitia Blennerhassett has him related to King Edward III of England. Paul Bruton might appreciate that if Mark disputes mine I'll dispute his..!

True that even though the great MacLysaght says Strongbow was a de Clare, whether he was a Clear is another thing. Ireland has a heavy mix of Clear, Cleere, Cleare, Clery, Cleery, Cleary, O' Cleary. Many of which were either illiterate for a greater part of Irish history or else spoken Irish or bad English. Our lineage can easily be miscalculated by a spelling mistake.

See the other possibility O' Cleirigh. True my name Brian Clear in Irish is Brian de Cleir (pron Breen de Clare) but that was translated in our much underused national language by a schoolteacher who went around our class translating our names to encourage us to being learning Irish (he failed..).

I know myself that because Cleer is a more common spelling in Ireland. Most people try to be polite and spell my name that way by accident. As for my mother who's first name is Clare the problem is doubled...!

Lets just say that it's probably every genealogists dream to be related to either royal, famous or at least notorious people. That's why I like the Strongbow angle and I can also go visit his tomb in Dublin at Christchurch Cathedral. (I will try an scan a picture of I can get one).

Here's what Mr. Mac Lysaght has to say about it....

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'MORE IRISH FAMILIES' Dr. Edward Mac Lysaght (1887 -1986)

ISBN 0-7165-2604-2 First paperback edition 1996 Copyright Estate of Edward MacLysaght 1982 IRISH ACADEMIC PRESS Kill Lane, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland.

And in North America for IRISH ACADEMIC PRESS c/o ISBS 5804 N.E. Hassalo Street, Portland, OR 97213

OTHER BOOKS

1957 'Irish Families' published. 1970 'More Irish Families' published.

CLEAR, Clare Except when used as a synonym of O' Clery - examples of this are referred to below - Clear and Clare are names of Norman origin formerly written de Clare. The most famous, of course was Richard de Clare (died 1176) better known as Strongbow, the leader of the great Anglo-Norman invasion, whose sister married the almost equally famous Raymond le Gros and whose daughter made important alliances. Nicholas de Clere or Clare was Treasurer of Ireland in 1290. They were at first associated chiefly with County Wexford, Ireland where Clereston commemorates their occupation and the name recurs frequently in mediaeval records relating to the whole south-eastern part of Ireland.

Cleeres and Cleares indeed were prominent up to the end of the 17th century in County Kilkenny and in south of County Tipperary. As might be expected one of these, Simon Clear, was an officer in Colonel Edmund Butler's regiment of James II of England's army which was recruited from that area of Ireland.

Clear and Clare are now numerically about equal. There are a great many Clare wills (17th - 19th century) recorded in the reports of the Deputy Keeper of Records. The name is derived from a place in Normandy as the preposition 'de' implies; it does appear as le Clere occasionally, for example in a Kells (Ireland) deed of the year 1289, but possibly this is an error for le Clerc. The form de Clare may sometimes be derived from the place Clare in Suffolk, England and Clare is an English surname too - it is found in the list of Cromwellian "adventurers"; but at the present time, in the absence of an authentic pedigree or at least a strong family tradition, it cannot now be differentiated from Clear.

In the 16th and 17th centuries there was apparently a tendency to turn this Norman name into Clery. In the 1659 'census' which shows it to have been very numerous in County Tipperary, Ireland, Clear and Cleary are bracketed as one name and in Episcopal deeds of the Ormond Collection two 16th century ecclesiastics (members of the Roman Catholic Church) - James Clere Dean of St. Canice's Killkenny, and Mgr. Thomas Clere, Chancellor of Lismore are both called Clery.

Reverend Fr. Wallace Clare (1895 - 1963), founder of the Irish Genealogical Society, did much valuble work in that field.

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Mark Humphr(e)ys and how he's descended from Adam (Paul Bruton told me to write that)

See Mark Humphreys Web page to see how Strongbow is related to the High Kings of Ireland and also to The British Royal Family

Mark Humphreys Web - http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mh10006/FamTree/interesting.html

Mr. Humphreys disputes that any Clear could be a descendant of Strongbow as the de Clare line died out soon after. Here is his explanation in a e-mail

Strongbow, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke, had only one son, the 3rd Earl, who died without issue.Because there was no male line, the title went to Strongbow's daughter Isabel and her husband. William Marshal became the 4th Earl. From then on the title went down through this female line in the Marshal family, where it eventually went extinct (to be revived later in unrelated families and eventually in Elizabeth's ancestors). See: http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal02218

Basically, Strongbow left no male line descendants called Clare or de Clare.

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Other Strongbow links

Royal Genealogy at Hull - http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal06087

Strongbow's Son in Law - William Marshall - http://www.castlewales.com/marshall.html

Castles Built by William Marshall

Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny City, County Killkenny, Ireland - http://www.rtc-carlow.ie/Kilkenny/kilcas.html

Pembroke Castle in Wales - http://www.castlewales.com/pembroke.html

Carlow Castle, Carlow, Ireland - http://www.lowwwe.com/crt/castles/carlow.html

Strongbow's Tomb Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland - http://infomatique.iol.ie/dublin/libert~1.htm

Brief History of Ireland (Republic of Ireland) and where Strongbow was involved - http://www.wtgonline.com/country/ie/gen.html

See also (Northern Ireland (UK)) http://www.wtgonline.com/country/ukni/gen.html

Brief History lesson about Strongbow: Strongbow's army was the first serious invasion from England into Ireland (1169-70). England still controls Northern Ireland to this day and all the Troubles in Northern Ireland are caused by groups such as the Catholic IRA (Irish Republican Army and it's political wing Sinn Finn) who are still trying to get the British out. Protestant terrorist groups such as the UFF, UDA and UVF and political Unionist parties are fighting to stay under British control.

So depending on who you meet saying your related to the first English invader will return a good, bad but mostly indifferent response. Most people in the Republic will be indifferent and point any tourist towards Christchurch Cathedral to Strongbow's tomb. I can not speak for anyone else.

Strongbow's Marriage to Aoife Waterford Glass Vase - http://www2.cybershop.com/Cybershop/Online.f/wtf15732.din|1234567890123456789114394660

They were married in Reginald's Tower in Waterford City, Waterford, Ireland. A huge painting commemorating the marriage hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland.