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John de Courcy
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John de Courcy (also John de Courci ; 1160 – 1219) was a Norman knight who arrived in Ireland in 1177. From then until his expulsion in 1204, he conquered a considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for both the Benedictines and the Cistercians and built strongholds at Dundrum Castle in County Down and Carrickfergus Castle in County Antrim.
de Courcy marched north from Dublin in 1177 with a small contingent of knights and footmen and conquered eastern Ulster from the River Bann to the Irish Sea.
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Encyclopedia
John de Courcy (also John de Courci ; 1160 – 1219) was a Norman knight who arrived in Ireland in 1177. From then until his expulsion in 1204, he conquered a considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for both the Benedictines and the Cistercians and built strongholds at Dundrum Castle in County Down and Carrickfergus Castle in County Antrim.
Early career in Ireland
John de Courcy marched north from Dublin in 1177 with a small contingent of knights and footmen and conquered eastern Ulster from the River Bann to the Irish Sea. After conquering eastern Ulster he established his caput at Carrickfergus, where he built an impressive stone castle. He married Affreca Godfredsdottir, daughter of Godfred II "the Black" Olafsson, King of Mann and Findguala MacLochlainn, in c. 1180. A castle at Dundrum was established in the 1180s, although the stone tower is likely the work of Hugh de Lacy II, Earl of Ulster.
Inch Abbey, near Downpatrick, County Down, was established as a Cistercian house by John de Courcy in c.1180/88 (the date is disputed). Inch, or Iniscourcy, was founded as an act of repentance for the destruction of the Abbey at Erinagh (or Erenagh) (3 miles (4.8km) to the south) by de Courcy in 1177. It was colonised directly by monks from Furness Abbey in Lancashire, along with some of the monks from Erinagh.
In 1183, John de Courcy provided for the establishment of a priory at the cathedral of Down with generous endowments to the Benedictines from Chester in England (free from all subjugation to Chester Cathedral). This building was destroyed by an earthquake in 1245. He also created a cell for Benedictines at St. Andres in Ards (Black Abbey) for the houses of Stoke Courcy in Somerset and Lonlay in France, which was near Inishargy, Kircubbin, in present-day County Down. The early Irish monastery of Nendrum was given to the Benedictine house of St Bees in Cumberland in order that they might also establish a cell. His wife, Affreca, founded the Cistercian monastery of Grey, Co. Down, as a daughter house of Holm Cultram (Cumberland) in 1193.
He also made incursions into the west in order to increase his territory and lordship. In 1188 he invaded Connacht, but was repulsed and the next year he plundered Armagh.
Later career in Ireland
In 1196 he defeated the King of the Cenél Conaill and most of Donegal was at his mercy. Two years later he returned to devastate Inishowen and on his way destroyed churches at Ardstraw, County Tyrone and Raphoe, County Donegal.
In 1199, because of his separatist tendencies, King John authorized Hugh de Lacy, younger son of the Lord of Meath, to wage war on John de Courcy. Hugh captured John de Courcy in 1203. An account of his capture appears in the Book of Howth. This passage helps explain why John had a reputation as a strong, God-fearing warrior:
In May 1205, King John made Hugh Earl of Ulster, granting him all the land of the province "as John de Courcy held it on the day when Hugh defeated him". John de Courcy returned, sailing across the Irish sea from the Isle of Man in July 1205 with Norse soldiers and a hundred boats supplied by his brother-in-law, Ragnold, King of Mann. John and his army landed at Strangford and laid siege to Dundrum Castle in vain, because the defenses he himself had made were too strong.
King John then had John de Courcy imprisoned... He was subsequently released when he "crossed himself" to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Literary references
The story of John de Courcy's defeat of the French champion, and his winning the privilege to remain covered in the presence of the King, appears in Chapter 12 of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper.
In his book Saint Patrick's Town, Anthony M. Wilson said about John de Courcy:
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