Walter de Riddlesford (fl. 1150 – d. 1226) was an Anglo-Norman lord who was granted in Ireland the baronies of Bray, County Wicklow and Kilkea, County Kildare between 1171 and 1176.

Walter de Riddlesford
Born
Walter

Carriebenan, County Kildare, Ireland
Died1226
SpouseAmabilis Fitzhenry

De Riddlesford was born in Carriebenan, Kildare, Ireland. He married a daughter of Henry fitz Henry named Amabilis Fitzhenry.[1]

He built a castle in Bray, located on the south side of the Dargle River, a short distance to the west of the existing Bray Bridge [2] which may have included a mote some time after acquiring the land c.1173. this castle would have been on the south side of the river Dargle a short distance upstream from the existing bridge in Bray. [3]

He built a motte-and-bailey fortress on the site of what is now Kilkea Castle in County Kildare in 1181.

He died in 1226 and was succeeded by his son Walter. His granddaughter, Emmeline, married Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster (as his second wife) and, then, Stephen Longespée, son of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and grandson of Henry II of England (one of their daughters was Ela Longespee).[4][5][6]

References edit

  1. ^ An Hitherto Unnoted Descent from King Henry I, NEHGR, Vol. 116, Oct. 1962, p. 278-279
  2. ^ Irish Historic Town Atlas, Bray
  3. ^ Bray Irish Historic towns atlas
  4. ^ Eds, (1850) Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Volume 4 Royal Irish Academy, pg 485
  5. ^ Adams, Arthur, et al (1964) The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215, and Some of Their Descendants who Settled in America, 1607-1650 Genealogical Publishing Company, pg 116
  6. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Lacy, Hugh de (d.1242?)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 31. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 379.