Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 19.djvu/110

 , vi. 966;, p. 159). Almost immediately afterwards Henry was at Valognes, whence he despatched Fitzaldhelm to Ireland to act as the royal representative until Henry obtained leisure to settle the affairs of the island in person (Fœdera, i. 36, dated by the Record commissioners' editors in 1181, but assigned to this date with more probability by , Itinerary, p. 159 ; , Viceroys, p. 41, gives the date 1176-7). In the letter of appointment he is described as the king's steward. It cost 27s. 6d. to convey him and his associates, with their armour, to Ireland (Calendar of Documents, Ireland, 1171-1251, No. 40). On 18 Oct. he, with his followers, was at Waterford to meet the king, who had landed close by on the previous day (, i. 25; 's statement that he accompanied Henry, p. 124, is of less authority). He remained in Ireland with Henry, witnessing among other acts the charter which gave Dublin to the men of Bristol (, Historical and Municipal Documents of Ireland, p. 1). He was sent by Henry with Hugh de Lacy on a mission to Roderick O'Conor, king of Connaught, to receive his homage ( in Opera, v. 279, Rolls Ser.) He also made a recognition of the lands given to the monks of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, before his arrival in Ireland (Chartulary of St. Mary's, i. 138, Rolls Ser.) Giraldus also says that when Henry went home he left Fitzaldhelm behind as joint-governor of Wexford (ib. p. 286), but this may be a confusion with a later appointment (, p. 39, says that Strongbow was governor of Wexford in 1174). Fitzaldhelm was also sent in 1174 or 1175 with the prior of Wallingford to Produce the bull of Pope Adrian, granting reland to Henry, and a confirmatory bull of Alexander III to a synod of bishops at Waterford (Exp. Hib. p. 315). He soon left Ireland, for he appears as a witness of the treaty of Falaise in October 1174 (Fœdera, i. 30;, i. 99), and in 1175 and 1176 he was constantly in attendance at court in discharge of his duties as steward or seneschal (, pp. 191, 194, 195, 198, from Pipe Rolls ; , Stahlhof, p. 5). On 5 April 1176 Strongbow, conqueror and justiciar of Ireland, died (, i. 407), and Henry sent Fitzaldhelm to Ireland to take his place (, i. 125;, ii. 100) and to seize all the fortresses which his predecessor had held. With him were associated several other rulers, very different lists of which are given by Giraldus (Exp. Hib. p. 334) and 'Benedict of Peterborough' (, i. 161). It was at this time that Wexford and its elaborately defined dependencies were assigned to Fitzaldhelm (ib. i. 163). It is remarkable that he is never called 'justice' of Ireland, like most viceroys of the period, but generally 'dapifer regis ' (e.g. Hist. MSS. Comm. 10th Rep. pt. v. p. 211). Giraldus calls him 'procurator' (Exp. Hib. p. 334). Fitzaldhelm had no easy task before him. John de Courci [q. v.], one of his colleagues, almost at once defied his prohibition, and, under the pretext of disgust at his inactivity, set forth on his famous expedition to Ulster (, i. 137). He also had a difference with Cardinal Vivian, the papal legate, which led to Vivian's withdrawal to Scotland (, i. 239, Rolls Ser.) But his most formidable opponents were the ring of Welsh adventurers who resented the intrusion of a royal emissary to reap the fruits of their private exploits. Their literary representative, Giraldus, draws the blackest picture of Fitzaldhelm, which, though suspicious, cannot be checked from other contemporary sources. Fitzaldhelm was fat, greedy, profligate, and gluttonous. Plausible and insinuating, he was thoroughly deceitful. He was only brave against the weak, and shirked the duties of his office. His inactivity drove De Courci and the choicer spirits into Ulster. From the day on which Raymond, the acting governor, came to meet him at Waterford he envied the bravery, the devotion, and the success of the Geraldines, and vowed to humble their pride. When Maurice Fitzgerald died he cheated his sons of their stronghold of Wicklow, though compelled ultimately to give them Ferns as an inadequate compensation. He refused to restore Offaly to Fitzstephen, and deprived Raymond of his lands in the valley of the Liffey. His nephew, Walter the German, was suborned by Irish chieftains to procure the destruction of Ferns. He went on progress through the secure coast towns, but feared to penetrate into the mountainous haunts of the natives. He had little share in Miles de Cogan's dashing raid into Connaught. The only good thing that he did was to transfer the wonder-working staff of Jesus from Armagh to Dublin. Giraldus forgets that Fitzaldhelm was also the founder of the monastery of St. Thomas of Canterbury at Donore in the western suburbs of Dublin (charter of foundation printed in, Hist. of Ireland, i. 127 ; cf. Monasticon, vi. 1140). It was also during his tenure of office that John became lord of Ireland. At last Henry listened to the complaints which a deputation from Ireland laid before him at Windsor just after Christmas 1178 (, i. 221), and removed Fitzaldhelm and his colleagues from office, and for a long time