De Lacy (No. 1.) family genealogy

Arms: Or, a lion ramp. purp.

The ancient Irish antiquaries say that Charlemagne (or the Emperor Charles the Great) was the ancestor of Lacy; from him down to Sir Hugo (or Hugh) De Lacy[1] (to whom by charter, King Henry the Second of England granted the Kingdom of Meath, A.D. 1172), the following is the pedigree:

1. Charlemagne (or Carolus Magnus).

2. Oliver: his son.

3. Roland: his son.

4. Aroibel: his son.

5. Longobert: his son.

6. Dorobert: his son.

7. Dermarg: his son.

8. George: his son.

9. Richard: his son.

10. Roland (2): his son.

11. Sir Hugo de Lacy: his son: living A.D. 1172.

12. William: his son.

13. Nioclas: his son.

14. Saan: his son.

15. Muiris: his son.

16. Eda: his son.

17. Tomas: his son.

18. Daibhidh: his son.

19. Tomas: his son.

20. Nioclas: his son.

21. Olibhear: his son.

22. Muiris: his son.

23. Seon: his son.

24. Seaan: his son.

25. Piarus: his son.

26. Seaan: his son.

27. William: his son.

28. Piarus: his son.

29. Piarus Oge: his son (or Young Pierce); living in 1691.

Notes

[1] Hugh de Lacy: The De Lacys came from Normandy with William the Conqueror, and were earls of Lincoln, in England. Hugh de Lacy came to Ireland with Henry the Second, A.D. 1171, and obtained from that monarch a grant of the the whole kingdom of Meath, as already mentioned. He was lord palatine of Meath, and many years chief governor of Ireland. He erected numerous castles, particularly in Meath and Westmeath, as those of Trim, Kells, Ardnorcher, Durrow, &c., and endowed some monasteries. He is thus described in Holingshed:—“His eyes were dark and deep-set, his neck short, his stature small, his body hairy, not fleshy, but sinewy, strong, and compact; a very good soldier, but rather harsh and hasty.” It appears from Hanmer and others, that he was an able and politic man in state affairs, but very ambitious and covetous of wealth and great possessions; he is also represented as a famous horseman. De Lacy’s second wife was a daughter of King Roderick O’Connor; and his descendants, the De Lacys, were lords of Meath, and earls of Ulster, and founded many powerful families in Meath, Westmeath, and Louth, and also in Limerick, some of whom were distinguished marshals in the service of Austria and Russia. The castle of Dearmagh or “Durrow,” in the King’s County, was erected by De Lacy on the site of a famous monastery of St. Columkille, which he had thrown down; and his death was attributed by the uneducated Irish to that circumstance as a judgment from Heaven. The man who killed De Lacy fled to his accomplices in the wood of Clair or “Clara,” but it appears from MacGeoghegan and others, that the Irish attacked and put to the sword the English retinue at the castle of Durrow, and that having got De Lacy’s body into their possession, they concealed it nearly ten years, when, A.D. 1195, it was interred with great pomp in the abbey of Bective, in Meath; Mathew O’Heney, archbishop of Cashel, and John Comyn, archbishop of Dublin, attending at the ceremony.—Connellan.