DERMOT MAC MURROUGH (d. 1171)  , Irish

king of Leinster, succeeded his father in the principality of the Hui Cinsellaigh (1115) and eventually in the kingship of Leinster . The early events of his life are obscure; but about 1152 we find him engaged in a feud with 0 Ruairc, the lord of Breifne (Leitrim and Cavan) . Dermot abducted the wife of 0 Ruairc more with the object of injuring his rival than from any love of the lady . The injured husband called to his aid Roderic, the high king (airdrigh) of Connaught; and in 1166 Dermot fled before this powerful coalition to invoke the aid of England . Obtaining from Henry II. a licence to enlist allies among the Welsh marchers, Dermot secured the aid of the Clares and Geraldines . To Richard Strongbow, earl of Pembroke and head of the house of Clare, Dermot gave his daughter Eva in marriage; and on his death was succeeded by the earl in Leinster . The historical importance of Dermot lies in the fact that he was the means of introducing the English into Ireland . Through his aid the towns of Water-ford, Wexford and Dublin had already become English colonies before the arrival of Henry II. in the island . See The Song of Dermot and the Earl, an old French Poem (by M . Regan?), ed. with trans. by G . H . Orpen, 1892; Kate Norgate, England under the Angevin Kings, vol. ii .

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