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and that he was a munificent friend of the Church. He died in 1 1 56, aged 68, and was interred in the church of St. Ciaran at Clonmacnoise.
O'Conor, Roderic, last Monarch of Ireland, King of Connaught, was born about 1 1 16. He succeeded to the govern- ment of Connaught on the death of his father, Turlough, in 11 56, and to the nominal rule of Ireland on the death of Murtough O'Lochlainn in 1 166. He began his reign by imprisoning three of his bro- thers, one of whom he blinded, and he was soon engaged in the accustomed hostilities with other Irish princes. On the death of O'Lochlainn he marched to Dublin, paid the Danes a stipend in cattle, levied for them a tax of 4,000 cows on Ireland at large, and was with much pomp inaugurated King of Ireland. One of his first acts was to deprive O'Lochlainn's old ally, Dermot MacMurrough, of his kingdom of Leinster, whereupon the latter appealed to Henry II., and brought over the Anglo- Normans to assist him in obtaining posses- sion of his territories. In 1169 O'Conor celebrated, with extraordinary ceremony, the ancient fair of Tail tin, in Meath ; while within a few miles Dermot MacMur- rough and his allies were permitted to overrun the province of Leinster, and lay the foundations of Anglo-Norman rule in Ireland. Later in the same year he col- lected a large army, and arrived before Ferns, where Dermot and FitzStephen were intrenched. Instead of insisting on the unconditional submission of Dermot, and the expulsion of FitzStephen and his knights, he entered into an arrangement, by which, on his nominal supremacy being acknowledged, he permitted Dermot (who bound himself by a secret treaty to bring over no more foreign auxiliaries, and to take the first opportunity to dismiss those then in his service) to resume the full sovereignty of Leinster. Eoderic there- upon withdrew his levies, and MacMur- rough proved the worthlessness of his promises by hastening to welcome a newly-arrived band of Anglo-Normans under Maurice FitzGerald. On Earl Strongbow's arrival in August 11 70, Eo- deric hastily collected a large body of men and occupied the passes between Waterford and Dublin ; but the Anglo- Normans and their allies passed through Wicklow, and captured Dublin before O'Conor was able to co-operate with the Danish inhabitants for its defence. Ac- cording to the Four Masters, the fall of Dublin was due to its inhabitants not acting in concert with him. After occu- pying Clondalkin, and engaging in a few
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skirmishes, he withdrew his ill-organized hosts. Eoderic now put to death the hostages delivered to him by MacMur- rough for the performance of the treaty of Ferns — Dermot's son, Conor (heir ap- parent of Leinster), his grandson, and the son of his foster-brother O'CeaUaigh, and collecting a fleet, passed down the Shan- non, and plundered Munster. In 11 71 he joined in an eflPort to drive the Anglo- Normans out of Dublin. He had his camp at Castleknock, while the forces of O'Eourk and O'CarroU completed the in- vestment of the town, and a fleet of thirty vessels from the Isle of Man blockaded the harbour. The Irish chiefs, relying on their numbers, contented themselves with an inactive blockade. After some weeks the besieged were reduced to extremities. Strongbow demanded a parley, and Arch- bishop O'Toole acted as negotiator. Earl Strongbow oifered, upon being left in peaceable possession of Leinster, to hold it as Eoderic's vassal. The latter de- manded that the Anglo-Normans should leave Ireland. Eef using to agree to these terms, the Normans made a desperate sally. The Irish were taken by surprise ; Eoderic, bathing in the Lifley, had some difficulty in efiiecting his escape ; great num- bers were slain, and the rest put to flight. Earl Strongbow and his companions re- turned to the city laden with provisions and spoils. Next year Eoderic came to terms with Henry II., and, according to the English chroniclers, did homage through his envoy, Archbishop O'Toole, for his kingdom of Connaught. In 11 74 O'Conor and Donald O'Brien combined their forces to resist an invasion of Munster by Earl Strongbow, at the head of an army of Dublin Northmen, and defeated him near Thurles. This disaster necessitated Ea/- mond FitzGerald's recall from Wales, and his being placed at the head of the Anglo- Norman forces. On his approach the league which had been formed amongst the native princes fell to pieces. In 11 75 the "Treaty of Windsor" is said to have been entered into between Henry II. and Eoderic. It commences with the words : " Hie est finis et concordia quae facta f uit apud Windsore in octavis Sancti Michaelis, anno gratiag 11 75, inter domi- num regem Angliae Henricum II. et Eo- dericum regem Conacise." O'Halloran condenses its terms : " By the first ar- ticle, on Eoderic's agreeing to do homage to Hem"y,and to pay him a certain tribute, he was to possess his kingdom of Con- naught in as full and ample a manner a.s before Henry's entering that kingdom. By the second article, Henry engages to 385
