Art Óg Mac Murchadha Caomhánach

Art Óg Mac Murchadha Caomhánach (anglicized Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh and Art MacMorrough;[1] 1357 – c. December 1417) was an Irish king who is generally regarded as the most formidable of the later kings of Leinster. He revived not only the royal family's prerogatives, but also their lands and power. During his 42-year reign, he dominated the Anglo-Norman settlers of Leinster. His dominance of the province and its inhabitants, both Gaelic and Hiberno-Norman, was deemed sufficiently detrimental to the colony that Richard II of England spent much of the years 1394 and 1395 sparring with him. While MacMurrough-Kavanagh did eventually submit to Richard, he renounced this fealty on Richard's departure and made much of his kingdom a death trap for any invading English or Anglo-Irish forces. The Crown accordingly dealt with him cautiously and he was granted an amnesty in 1409.

Art Óg
Mac Murchadha, King of Laighin
MacMurrough-Kavanagh riding
Reign1375 – c. 1417
PredecessorDonnchadh mac Muircheartaigh
SuccessorDonnchadh mac Airt Mhóir
Born1357
Diedc. December 1417
Ferns, Ireland
or
New Ross, Ireland
Burial
St Mullin's, Ireland
SpouseElizabeth le Veel
IssueDonnchadh, Gerald (Gearalt), Diarmuid Lamhdearg
Names
Art Óg Mac Murchadha Caomhánach
IrishArt mac Airt Mac Murchadha Caomhánach
EnglishArt MacMurrough-Kavanagh
HouseMac Murchadha-Caomhánach
FatherArt Mór Mac Murchadha Caomhánachh
Art Mór riding to meet the earl of Gloucester, as depicted in an illustration to Jean Creton's Histoire du roy d'Angleterre Richard II

MacMurrough-Kavanagh was married to Anglo-Irish noblewoman Elizabeth le Veel, widow of Sir John Staunton of Clane and the only daughter of Sir Robert le Veel. Through her father, she was the heiress of the Anglo-Norman barony of Norragh. Such an interracial marriage violated the Statutes of Kilkenny and the Crown thus forfeited Elizabeth's lands, which later became one of the causes of her husband's enmity with the English. They had three sons: Donnchadh, King of Leinster; Diarmuid Lamhdearg; and Gerald, Lord of Ferns. Elizabeth's estates later passed to the Wellesley family, who were ancestors of the Duke of Wellington and descendants of her daughter, Elizabeth, by her first husband.

MacMurrough-Kavanagh died soon after Christmas 1417, perhaps in his bed in Ferns, or perhaps was poisoned in New Ross—accounts differ.[2][3] The 1885 historical novel Art M'Morrough O'Cavanagh, Prince of Leinster: An Historical Romance of the Fourteenth Century by M. L. O'Byrne is a loosely biographical account of his life, written from a nationalist perspective.

The politician Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh (1831–1889) was a descendant of MacMurrough-Kavanagh.

See also

References
  1. Ryan, John (1833). The History and Antiquities of the County of Carlow.
  2. Curtis, Edmund (2013). A History of Medieval Ireland (Routledge Revivals): From 1086 to 1513. Routledge. ISBN 978-1136298707.
  3. "Art Mac Murrogh Kavanagh (1377–1417) – Concise History of Ireland". www.libraryireland.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

Books
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