Diarmait MacMurchada
1110 – 1171
Vitals
Family
About
Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster, is the man Irish schoolchildren are taught to call Diarmait na nGall, Diarmait of the Foreigners. Deposed in 1166, he crossed to Henry the Second, found himself an ally in Strongbow, and brought the Normans into Ireland. He died at Ferns in 1171. He reaches this family twice, through two daughters: Aoife, whom he married to Strongbow at Waterford in 1170, and her elder sister Orlaith, whom he married to Donal Mor O'Brien, King of Thomond. So one man's two daughters carry both the Norman and the Gaelic royal lines into this tree.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (well-attested historical king; entered 25 Jul 2026 at Aynsley's direction, one rung above his daughter Aoife who already named him, under the relaxed rule): DIARMAIT MAC MURCHADA (c.1110-1171), KING OF LEINSTER, of the Ui Cheinnselaig, remembered as 'Diarmait na nGall' (Diarmait of the Foreigners): deposed in 1166, he crossed to Henry II and brought STRONGBOW and the Normans into Ireland, giving his daughter Aoife to Strongbow at Waterford in 1170; died at Ferns 1171. Father of Aoife (our line). The named earliest of the Gaelic royal line in this tree. The Ui Cheinnselaig kings of Leinster above him, running back through the regnal genealogies toward Cathair Mor and the legendary past, are kept NOTE-ONLY, the honest frontier where documented kingship thins into myth (as Cerdic above Alfred, the Norman dukes above the Conqueror, the Capetians above Robert II). SECOND DIRECT DESCENT CONFIRMED 23 Jul 2026: besides Aoife (-> Strongbow), his daughter ORLACAN/ORLAITH (I99643) m. DONAL MOR O'BRIEN, King of Thomond - so Aynsley descends from Diarmait by TWO daughters, into both the Norman AND the O'Brien royal lines. Per the Dictionary of Irish Biography Orlacan was by his 1st wife Sadb Ni Faelain (making her Aoife's HALF-sister); O'Hart said 'dau. of O'Moore of Leix' - mother disputed, father agreed. Added 25 Jul 2026. [DIRECT ANCESTOR OF THE COMPILER: flag added 24 Jul 2026 by walking the tree from Aynsley, so that this marker is reliable and can be searched.]