While I was writing THE IRISH PRINCESS, I visited Ireland as a guest of Tee McNeil’s William Marshal Tours. Tee (who is wonderful) runs a small bespoke travel company that offers curated travel experiences ( https://www.facebook.com/mcneillluxurytravel/ ) This particular one was to look at the career and influence of the 12th century adventurer, knight, magnate and statesman William Marshal during his time in Ireland. William Marshal ruled lands in Ireland by right of his wife, Isabelle, whose mother was a Princess of Leinster – Aoife, daughter of Diarmait MachMurchada. Aoife is the female lead in my novel THE IRISH PRINCESS.
While on our voyage of discovery in Southern Ireland, our group visited the ROS TAPESTRY, a series of 15 large embroidered panels on permanent display in New Ross, the town founded by William Marshal and Isabelle de Clare. Click here for the Ros Tapestry website The panels, each 6ft by 4.5ft and involving over 150 stitchers, tell the story of Medieval New Ross in embroidery. It was a real pleasure, delight, and life experience to visit the exhibition and to even stitch some threads in one of the replica panels. Aoife features prominently, as does her father, Diarmait and Richard de Clare, Aoife’s Norman husband. Here are some of the photos I took during my visit to the marvellous tapestry.
- The first of my photos is not the first panel but shows Aoife Ni Murchada, my protagonist (she is blonde here, but in my story she is dark-haired). She is shown with the wheatsheaf symbol of her family and an Irish harp and pet dog. Her female family bloodline is shown sweeping through the ages with scenes from her life embroidered in the top and lower borders. The little horn with feet in the top left border represents a still existing drinking horn that (with alterations) still exists today and was thought to have belonged to her father Diarmait.
2. And above is Diarmait, the man himself. King of Leinster. Often vilified today as the man who brought the Normans to Ireland, but in his own day, a prince trying to hold onto his lands and make a bid to be High King of Ireland. As a small boy, he had lost his father when the men of Dublin had killed him and buried him with a dog, and it perhaps set him on a path for vengeance that would change the path of Irish history forever. But what a presence the stitchers have captured in their portrayal, and what eyes. Truly magnificent.
3. Here is Diarmait at the Norman landing of Bannow Bay, showing hospitality to the men who have come to restore his kingdom as they disembark. 
4. This border shows an episode from the Norman landings where a supposedly distraught Norman lady, a camp follower, whose man had been killed in the fighting, took up and axe and slaughtered the men of the enemy taken prisoner during the battle. Her name was Alice of Abergavenney and I have told her story in The Irish Princess.
5 More of the Norman landing party
6 An Irish warrior minus stirrups and saddle rides to bring the news.
7. The marriage of Strongbow and Aoife, he with his chevron banner, and Aoife with her wheatsheafs.
8. More scenes from the tapestry explained by one of the lovely lady guides. Here she is explaining the story of William Marshal to visitors.
9. Some of the very talented lady stitchers and their hanks of wool. They let me put in a stitch, which was very forgiving of them!
It was a wonderful experience and one I would not have missed for the world. If you go to Ireland, do drop in and visit the Ros Tapestry. It truly is a wonder to behold and I’ve only shown you a glimpse into the world
10.
My final, bonus, post script picture is of some Italian merchants who were visitors to the port in later centuries. No prizes for spotting Freddie Mercury!
THE IRISH PRINCESS the novel is available as from the 12th of September, published by LittleBrown. You can read an excerpt here: https://elizabethchadwick.com/novel-extracts/the-irish-princess-extract/
“With no doubt at all, this will be a fierce contender for my top novel of 2019. Absolutely, utterly engrossing and full of life, A truly wonderful novel”
Kate Atherton, book blogger and reviewer for The Sunday Express.