Clare, Richard de (died 1176)

Anglo-Norman soldier. At the request of the exiled king of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough, he invaded Ireland in August 1170 to support MacMurrough's reinstatement, sparking a full-scale Anglo-Norman invasion under Henry II in September 1171. He was forced to hand over his conquests to Henry II but after helping him on campaigns in Normandy in 1173 was granted Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin, the first Anglo-Norman lordship. He is buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

Strongbow was the son of Gilbert FitzGilbert de Clare, earl of Pembroke and Strigoil, and succeeded to the earldom in southern Wales in 1148. Having restored MacMurrough, de Clare married his daughter Aoife and inherited the kingship of Leinster on MacMurrough's death in 1171. His success forced the invasion of Henry II, who was fearful of the establishment of an independent Norman power on his western shores.