Lionel of Clarence, Leaves Ireland

Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, (29 November 1338 – 17 October 1368) was an English prince who served as Lieutenant of Ireland from 1361 to 1366. The third son, but the second to survive infancy, of King Edward III and his wife Philippa of Hainault, he was named after his birthplace at Antwerp in the Duchy of Brabant.

He served as the king’s lieutenant in Ireland during the 1360s. Lionel’s appointment as the king’s lieutenant in Ireland was significant, as it marked the beginning of the English Crown’s direct involvement in governing Ireland.

Having been named as his father’s representative in England in 1345 and again in 1346, Lionel joined an expedition into France in 1355, but his chief energies were reserved for the affairs of Ireland.

Appointed governor of that country, he landed at Dublin in 1361, and in November of the following year was created Duke of Clarence, the third dukedom created in England, while his father made an abortive attempt to secure for him the crown of Scotland. His efforts to secure an effective authority over his Irish lands were only moderately successful. After holding a parliament at Kilkenny, which passed the largely unsuccessful Statutes of Kilkenny in 1366, he dropped the task in disgust and returned to England.

The poet Geoffrey Chaucer was at one time a page in Lionel’s household.

During his tenure in Ireland, Lionel made efforts to assert English authority and governance in the region. His appointment laid the foundation for the future involvement of the English Crown in Irish affairs, which had far-reaching implications for Irish history.