Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster

Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster (c. 1176after 26 December 1242) was an Anglo-Norman soldier and peer. He was a leading figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, and was created Earl of Ulster in 1204 by King John of England.

De Lacy was the younger son of Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, a descendant of Walter de Lacy, who went to England after the Norman conquest. Around 1189, he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland, a position previously held by his father. He was replaced in 1190 by Guillaume la Petil. He was later reappointed to serve as viceroy from 1205 to 1210.

Carlow motte and bailey He erected a motte in the 1180s in Carlow, on the site of which Carlow Castle was built in the 13th century. When Carlow Castle was excavated in 1996, a series of post-holes was found to lie under the walls of the towered keep, indicating that they pre-dated the keep.

Capture of John de Courcy and Earldom of Ulster De Lacy was for a time a coadjutor with John de Courcy in Leinster and Munster.

Hugh continued the conquest of the north-eastern over-kingdom of Ulaid, building on de Courcy's success, with the earldom spanning across the modern counties of Antrim and Down and parts of Londonderry. He tried, without much success, to reduce the O'Neill of Tyrone to submission. In 1207, war broke out between Hugh de Lacy and Meiler Fitzhenry, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

In 1208, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in England, fell out of favour with King John and fled to Ireland where he took refuge with Hugh's brother Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath, who was married to his daughter Margaret de Braose. Enraged, John raised an army to bring to Ireland to punish Walter de Lacy, take de Lacy lands, and capture de Braose. John's force landed in Waterford in 1210 and marched north. Walter de Lacy quickly submitted, but Hugh resisted and was defeated. He fled to Scotland.

On his return to Ireland in 1223, he allied himself with O'Neill against the English. He invaded Ulster and besieged Carrickfergus but was forced to surrender to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who had been sent to Ireland to put down the rebellion. In 1226, his lands in Ulster were handed over to his brother Walter de Lacy by King Henry III, but were restored to him in the following year, after which he appears to have loyally served the king, being more than once summoned to England to give advice about Irish affairs. He died at Carrickfergus in 1242 or 1243. In 1263, Edward I granted the earldom to Hugh de Lacy's great-nephew, Walter de Burgh, grandson of Walter de Lacy of Meath.