(C. 1357-1416/1417), son of Art MacMurrough (Mac Murchada) the elder (d. 1362), king of Leinster, and a daughter of Philip O’Byrne (Ua Broin) (viv. 1334). Art’s father died a hostage at Trim Castle, County Meath in 1362, whereupon the kingship reverted to a collateral branch of the family, but it was recovered by Art’s uncle Donnchad in 1369. When he was killed in 1375, the rival line retook the kingship in the person of another Art MacMurrough (d. 1414), son of Diarmait Laimhdhearg, who was recognized as king by the English in 1377. Art, though, did not recognize his rival’s position and proclaimed himself king of Leinster in 1377. Throughout 1377, Art raided the counties of Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, and Kildare demanding an annual fee of 80 marks. Upon his coming to peace in January 1378, the English administration met Art’s demands in full, as well as giving him £40 in compensation for the killing of Donnchadh.
Besides being a great soldier, Art was an astute politician, fostering links with other Irish dynasties. One of his preferred methods was the traditional ploy of marriage—giving kinswomen in marriage to Irish leaders, creating alliances stretching from Leinster to the Shannon. In north Munster and the midlands, he focused his charms upon the O’Connor Falys of Offaly, O’Dempseys of Clanmaliere, O’Dunnes of Iregan, O’Mores of Laois, O’Carrolls of Ely, the MacGillap-atricks of North Ossory, and the O’Briens of Arra to the horror of the Butler earls of Ormond, while he developed relations with the O’Byrnes and the O’Tooles of East Leinster. By 1384 Art’s importance among the wider Irish aristocracy was also evident, as he formed an alliance with Brian Sreamach O’Brien of Thomond. Behind Art’s diplomatic front lay a determination to support his allies. In 1386/1387, the English of Ossory pressed the MacGillapatricks of North Ossory—leading Art to intervene and rout the settlers utterly. An incident from 1386-1388 also shows how active Art was among the midland Irish during this period, as the bishop of Meath earned £214 13s. 6d. for campaigning against Art and Tadhg O’Carroll.
Yet it would be a mistake to see Art as an outright enemy of the English of Ireland, for both Irish and English lived under his kingship. In 1384 he was compensated for an attack upon his tenants during a parley, while he and Gerald O’Byrne earned £48 14s. circa 1386 for fighting the Leinster Irish. His power over Carlow was further demonstrated in 1389, when he received 10 marks from the English for the killing of some followers. Art’s close relationship with the English of East Leinster was dramatically illustrated in 1390. He had married Elizabeth de Veel, heiress to the Kildare barony of Norragh. However, the Statutes of Kilkenny of 1366 prohibited mixed-race marriages, meaning that Elizabeth’s lands were forfeit and were granted to John Drayton in 1390. In 1391 Art petitioned unsuccessfully to have this decision reversed. In retaliation, Carlow was destroyed by Art in 1391/1392, leading a host that included O’Ryans, O’Nolans, and O’Carrolls. During 1392, Art and the O’Byrnes, O’Tooles, and O’Mores pillaged the counties of Carlow and Kildare as far as Naas, while the townsfolk of Castledermot paid him 84 marks to go away. Shortly afterward Norragh’s revenues were restored to Elizabeth.
In October 1394, Richard II of England landed at Waterford in an expedition intended to arrest the colony’s decline and to force Art’s submission. In response, Art plundered New Ross, but Richard proved too powerful, forcing him to submit by October 30. As a result of the charges of James Butler, third earl of Ormond, Art was briefly imprisoned, but was released for other hostages. Near Tullow in January 1395, Art and Gerald O’Byrne promised to evacuate Leinster and become royal mercenaries and conquer fresh territories. At a later meeting near Carlow, both men pledged to forfeit 20,000 marks each if these promises were broken. In return Richard restored Norragh to Elizabeth, allowing Art to encourage the Leinstermen’s acceptance of the agreement. Richard, elated by his success, brought Art to Dublin and knighting him there in March.
After Richard’s departure for England in May, the agreement slowly crumbled. Some of the Irish were not serious about leaving their ancestral lands, while Ormond provoked conflict with them. Also, some English attempted to kidnap Art in Dublin, although he escaped. The Leinster nobility remained at peace until the rising of the O’Tooles during the summer of 1396 and that of the O’Byrnes in early 1397. Much of the Irish anger was directed at Ormond whose ambitions were supported by Richard’s heir, the Lord Lieutenant Roger Mortimer. For much of 1398, though Art remained outwardly loyal, he approved of the attacks upon the English. The struggle culminated when the O’Byrnes and the O’Tooles, along with a contingent of Art’s troops, killed Mortimer at Kellistown, County Carlow in July 1398. The killing of Mortimer brought Art and the Dublin government into direct conflict, leading him to attack the English of Leinster and Meath.
On hearing of Mortimer’s death, Richard brought a second expedition to Ireland—revoking the agreement with Art and granting Norragh to the duke of Surrey in May 1399. The English king landed at Waterford on June 1, but he could not corner Art, pursuing him into the Leinster mountains. Richard’s decision was a disaster, as Art ceaselessly harried the English. At a failed parley, Art—described as a tall handsome man with a stern countenance—told Richard’s envoy that he would never submit. The landing in England of Henry Bolingbroke forced Richard to return home in July 1399. Despite Richard’s departure, Art promised his wife never to rest until Norragh was restored to her—traveling to Munster in August to aid Maurice Fitzgerald, fifth earl of Desmond, against Ormond. There he recruited mercenaries and encouraged his ally Tadhg O’Carroll to harry the lands of Ormond. Upon his return to Leinster, Art set about reenforcing his kingship over the eastern part of the province— attacking the English of Wexford in 1401.
At this stage his fame was such that there exists a strong possibility that the letter from the Welsh leader Owain Glyndwr (d. c. 1416), intercepted at Waterford in November 1401, urging the Irish kings to join him in a struggle against the English, was intended for Art. He also resumed his routine of extracting black rents from the English of Leinster—receiving 10 marks for his defense of New Ross. In 1405, he again flexed his military muscle to force the government to pay him his fee of 80 marks, ravaging Castledermot, Wexford, and Carlow until it was paid. The next year saw the government try to clip his wings. The Lord Lieutenant Thomas of Lancaster, James Butler, fourth earl of Ormond, Thomas Fitzgerald, sixth earl of Desmond, and Prior Thomas Butler of Kilmainham campaigned into Art’s territory to loosen his grip there. While they failed in their ultimate objective, this did not prevent them from trying again. During late August or early September 1407, the government attacked the MacMurroughs, fighting an inconclusive battle. A considerable reverse to Art’s ambitions was the killing of Tadhg O’Carroll by the English at Callan on September 9. The pressure on Art possibly encouraged the English of Wexford to resist his demands for protection money. In June 1408, Art punished them—devastating the cantreds of Forth and Bargy in southern Wexford. During the following year, Art pressed the Dublin government, laying charges against the Wexford English for non-payment of his fee. In response the administration authorized the payment to Art of his 80 marks. In spite of this, Art’s struggle with the English of Wexford intensified. MacMurrough power was further demonstrated in 1413, when he destroyed the town of Wexford.
Arguably this was the high point of MacMurrough power in Leinster. In his last years, Art declined and his sons lacked his ability. This new MacMurrough weakness became clear in 1414, when the English of Wexford burnt Idrone (Co. Carlow) and captured Art’s second son, Gerald MacMurrough. Although Art’s eldest son, Donnchad MacMurrough, rescued his brother, it was a sign of decline. Significantly during this period Art and the Butlers became allies as evidenced by the marriage of Donnchadto Aveline Butler, the half sister of Ormond. This may have been a reaction to the arrival in Ireland during 1414 of the Butlers’ enemy, the Lord Lieutenant John Talbot. Furthermore, in 1415 Art also dispatched his son Gerald Kavanagh to England with Abbot John Doun of Graiguenaman-agh, to take an oath of loyalty to Henry V. In the context of Art’s alliance with the Butlers, the MacMurroughs’ devastation in 1416 of the Wexford liberty belonging to Gilbert Talbot (d. 1419), the lord lieutenant’s elder brother, makes some sense. The annals are divided on the date and circumstance of Art’s death. One account records that he died in his bed during December 1416, while another tells that the greatest of the medieval kings of Leinster was fatally poisoned at New Ross in January 1417.
