Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 31.djvu/396

 92). Henry I seems to have taken the Lacy estates into his own hands, but Gilbert, son of Hugh's sister, Emma, assumed the name of Lacy, and claimed to represent the family [see under, d. 1186)].

 LACY, WALTER, sixth by tenure and second  (d. 1241), was elder son of Hugh de Lacy (d. 1186) [q. v.], by Roysya de Monemue (Monmouth), and was elder brother of Hugh de Lacy, earl of Ulster (d. 1242?) [q. v.] On his father's death he became entitled to the ancestral estates in Normandy and England, and to his father's conquest of Meath in Ireland, but the last was taken into the king's hands, and he did not obtain seisin of the English or Norman lands till 1189 (, v. 256–7); it is, of course, possible that he may have been a minor at his father's death. He does not seem to have had possession of Meath till 1194, at which time he seized Peter Pippard, one of the Irish justiciars ( ap., Hist. of Trim, p. 6). It seems probable that he is the ‘son of Hugh de Lacy’ who supported John de Courci in 1195 in his warfare with the English of Leinster and Munster (Four Masters, iii. 101–3), for we know that his lands were escheated about this time, and that in 1198 he paid a fine of 2,100 marks (, v. 257–8);, ''Rot. Normanniæ'', ii. lxxi); moreover, in 1197 Ludlow Castle was in the royal hands (, iv. 35), and on 4 Sept. 1199 reference is again made to Walter de Lacy having been concerned with John de Courci in ravaging the king's lands in Ireland (, i. 90). But before this he had made his peace with the king, and in October 1199 was with John in Normandy. In the autumn of 1200 he came over to England, and remained there till early in 1201 (Charter Rolls, pp. 24, 67, 69, 79 b, 84 b). He then crossed over to Ireland, and shortly afterwards attempted to kill John de Courci at a conference there (, iv. 176). In 1203 he accompanied Meiler Fitz-Henry [q. v.] on his invasion of Munster to expel William de Burgh [see under ], and in March next year was appointed at the head of a commission to hear the complaints against Meiler (''Cal. Rot. Pat''. i. 39 b). During these years Walter had also assisted his brother Hugh against John de Courci, and on 31 Aug. 1204 was rewarded by the promise of eight cantreds of De Courci's land in Ulster. When in 1205 De Courci attempted to re-enter Ireland, it was Walter de Lacy who drove him away (, ''Chron. Manniæ, p. 15). Walter also supported his brother in his warfare with Meiler FitzHenry in 1207–8. On 14 April 1207 he was summoned to England on pain of forfeiture, and before 16 July left Ireland. He spent the winter in England, and after making his peace with the king, obtained, on 23 April 1208, a confirmation of Meath at fifty knights' service, and of Fingall at seven. He returned to Ireland in June (Cal. Rot. Pat''. i. 70 b, 80 b, 84 b; Cal. Rot. Claus. i. 81, 106 b; Charter Rolls, 167 b, 170 b, 173 b, 178).

No doubt it was Walter's influence which secured for William de Braose [q. v.] the support of the De Lacys, who were consequently expelled from Ireland. Walter made his submission to John on 28 June 1210, almost immediately after the king's landing in Ireland; he pleaded that both he and his tenants had suffered much from his brother Hugh (, i. 402). Both his English and Irish estates were taken into the king's hands, and he probably retired to France; for though the story of his sojourn at St. Taurin is somewhat legendary, he had special leave to come to England on 1 July 1213 (Cal. Rot. Claus. i. 134 b). On 29 July 1213 all his English lands except Ludlow Castle were restored to him (ib. i. 147). Walter de Lacy took part in John's expedition to the south of France in 1214, landing at La Rochelle with Henry FitzCount in March; in April he was sent on a mission to Narbonne to purchase horses (Cal. Rot. Pat. i. 112, 113 b). After his return Ludlow was restored to him on 23 Oct. 1214, and next year he recovered his Irish lands, except the castles of Drogheda and Airemaill, on paying a fine of four thousand marks (ib. i. 131, 132 b, 151, 181; Cal. Rot. Claus. i. 175, 224). During the next two years he was actively employed in John's service in England, and apparently stood high in the royal favour (see numerous references in the Close and Patent Rolls). On 18 Aug. 1216 he was put in charge of the castle and county of Hereford, and retained his office as sheriff of that county till November 1223 (Cal. Rot. Pat. i. 193 b;, i. 508). After John's death Walter de Lacy became one of the chief supporters of the young king (Fœdera, i. 145, Record ed.) In 1219 he was appointed on the forest inquisition for Gloucestershire (Cal. Rot. Claus. i. 435). In 1219 or 1220 he was sent into Ireland on the royal service, being given full seisin of his lands except the castle of Drogheda (ib. i. 408 b, 415 b, 427; Loch Cé, i. 261; Four Masters, iii. 199). In 1220 he