Mór Ní Tuathail

Mór Ní Thuathail
Queen consort of Leinster
Tenure c. 1140 – 1 May 1171
Born c. 1114
Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland
Died 1191
Ireland
Spouse Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster
Issue Conchobhar MacMurrough
Aoife of Leinster
Orlachan of Leinster
House O'Toole
Mac Murchada
Father Muitchertach Ua Tuathail
Mother Cacht Ní Morda

Mór Ní Thuathail (anglicised as Mor O'Toole) (c. 1114–1191) was a Queen-consort of Leinster as the principal first wife of King Diarmait Mac Murchada. Under Brehon Law, Irish men were allowed more than one wife. King Dermot's second wife was Sadhbh Ní Fhaolain.

Mór was the mother of Aoife of Leinster, the wife of Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, known to history as Strongbow.

Family

Mór was born in Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland in about 1114, the daughter of Muirchertach Ua Tuathail, King of the Uí Muirdeaigh, and Cacht Ní Morda.

Her paternal grandparents were Gilla Comgaill Ua Toole and Sadbh Ní Domnail and her maternal grandparents were Loigsig Ua Morda, King of Laois and Gormlaith Ní Caellaide.

One of Mor's four half-brothers was St. Lorcán Ua Tuathail, Archbishop of Dublin, who was canonised in 1225 by Pope Honorius III.

Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster, husband of Mor O'Toole

Marriage and issue

Sometime about 1140 in Loch Garman, County Wexford, Mór was married to King Diarmait Mac Murchada of Leinster as his principal first wife, making her Queen-consort of Leinster. His second wife was Sadhbh Ní Fhaolain. Under Brehon Law, Irish men were permitted more than one wife. In 1152, he abducted Derbforgaill Ní Mhaol Seachlainn, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tighearnán Ua Ruairc (Irish: Tighearnán Ua Ruairc).[1]

Together Dermot and Mór had about three children:

In 1167, Mór's son Conchobhar was killed by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, High King of Ireland, after having been taken hostage while Diarmait waged war against Ruaidrí with the aim of overthrowing him in order to take his place as the High King.

Queen Mór died in 1191, three years after her eldest daughter, Aoife. Her husband predeceased her on 1 May 1171 in Ferns, shortly after the Cambro-Norman invasion of Ireland led by their son-in-law, Strongbow.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Kings of Leinster
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