urers who
thronged the port of Bristol, he applied to the Earl of Pembroke,
Richard de Clare. This nobleman had obtained the name of Strongbow, by
which he is more generally known, from his skill in archery. Two other
young men of rank joined the party; they were sons of the beautiful and
infamous Nesta,[274] once the mistress of Henry I., but now the wife of
Gerald, Governor of Pembroke and Lord of Carew. The knights were Maurice
FitzGerald and Robert FitzStephen. Dermod had promised them the city of
Wexford and two cantreds of land as their reward. Strongbow was to
succeed him on the throne of Leinster, and to receive the hand of his
young and beautiful daughter, Eva, in marriage.

There is considerable uncertainty as to the real date and the precise
circumstances of Dermod's arrival in Ireland. According to one account,
he returned at the close of the year 1168, and concealed himself during
the winter in a monastery of Augustinian Canons at Ferns, which he had
founded. The two principal authorities are Giraldus Cambrensis and
Maurice Regan; the latter was Dermod Mac Murrough's secretary. According
to his account, Robert FitzStephen landed at Bannow, near Waterford, in
May, 1169, with an army of three hundred archers, thirty knights, and
sixty men-at-arms.[275] A second detachment arrived the next day, headed
by Maurice de Prendergast, a Welsh gentleman, with ten knights and sixty
archers. Dermod at once assembled his men, and joined his allies. He
could only muster five hundred followers; but with their united forces,
such as they were, the outlawed king and the needy adventurers laid
siege to the city of Wexford. The brave inhabitants of this mercantile
town at once set forth to meet them; but, fearing the result if attacked
in open field by well-disciplined troops, they fired the suburbs, and
entrenched themselves in the town. Next morning the assaulting party
prepared for a renewal of hostilities, but the clergy of Wexford advised
an effort for peace: terms of capitulation were negotiated, and Dermod
was obliged to pardon, when he would probably have preferred to
massacre. It is said that FitzStephen burned his little fleet, to show
his followers that they must conquer or die. Two cantreds of land,
comprising the present baronies of Forth and Bargy,[276] were bestowed
on him: and thus was established the first English colony in Ireland.
The Irish princes and chieftains appear to have regarded the whole
affair with