Dervorgilla O'Brien

[Michael o Hearn]

Dervorgilla O'Brien, not to be confused with O'Roark's daughter of the same name whom Dermot MacMurrogh abducted, was a granddaughter of Brian Boru who married Dermod nac Donnchad of Leinster, great-grandfather of Dermot MacMurrogh.  Dervorgilla's father was Donnchad mac Brien by his second wife.  It has been supposed, apparently on the authority of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, that her mother was a daughter of Godwin Earl of Wessex whose name was Driella.  Apart from the inconsistency of this name not appearing to be of Saxon origin, there is reason to believe that there is some truth to the story.

Godwin and his sons had wintered in Ireland during the rebellion against Edward the Confessor in 1051 enlisting the support of Donnchad O'Brien.  Godwin had five daughters, three of whom Gunhilda, Aelgifu and Marigard are otherwise unaccounted for.

It would seem that the name Driella is actually a corruption of Dervorgialla, perhaps from a copying error in substituting the name of the daughter for the mother.

As Godwin's ancestry has now been traced to Ethelred of Wessex, it is also possible that this account is the origin of the Cinderella story insofar as a prince marries a princess.

Godwin

Michael O'Hearn

[John P. Ravilious]

On Dec 13, 9:34 am, Michael o Hearn <mohearn_brights...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

==================

Sunday, 13 December, 2009

Dear Michael,

Whoever the mother of Dearbforgail ingen Donnchada may have
been, she was certainly not a daughter of Godwin. Her son Murchad mac
Diarmata was forced upon the inhabitants of Dublin as their king by
his father (Dearbforgail's husband) Diarmait in 1052. That Murchad
was not a young child at the time is evidenced by his daughter
Gormlaith being made abbess of Kildare in 1072 [1].

There is a wide range of time between the probable birth date of
Donnchad mac Briain and that of Murchard mac Diarmata, but I'd propose
a range for Murchad of say 1020 at the earliest, and 1035 at the very
latest.

Cheers,

John

Notes

[1] Art Cosgrove, A New History of Ireland II:22