John de Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth
John de Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth, was a 14th‑century Irish noble and soldier who died on 13 June 1329. He led the Anglo‑Irish army at the decisive Battle of Faughart in 1318, where Edward Bruce was killed. Bermingham is said to have had Bruce’s severed head salted in a chest and sent to England to be shown to King Edward II.
He briefly served as Viceroy of Ireland in 1321. Bermingham came from Piers FitzJames MacPhioris de Bermingham and Ela de Odingsells. Although he was contracted to marry Matilda de Burgh in 1308, he married Aveline de Burgh instead; both women were daughters of Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster. He was made a knight in 1312 by the Lord Deputy of Ireland and became commander of the English army in Ireland in 1318.
On 12 May 1319 he was created the 1st Earl of Louth and given estates at Ardee and the county of Louth to govern as a Liberty. In 1320 the pope approved his marriage to Aveline despite the earlier betrothal to her sister. John and Aveline had three children: Richard, who became Lord Ardee and died in 1322; Catherine, who married Edmund Lacy; and Maud, who married Sir William Tealing.
In 1320 he led a force into Connacht to fight the O’Connors and the MacKellys. He served as Justiciar of Ireland from 21 May 1321 to 18 November 1323. In 1322 he traveled to England with a large force to help King Edward II in battles against the Scots. He also founded a Franciscan priory at Monasteroris, County Offaly in 1325.
Bermingham was killed in the Braganstown massacre on 13 June 1329, during a feud among Anglo‑Irish families in Louth. About 200 members of his family and household died with him. His death ended the Earldom of Louth, and the Liberty of Louth was taken by Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March.
The earldom was revived in 1749 for a collateral descendant, Thomas Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth, but it became extinct again when he died in 1799.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 04:31 (CET).