William fitz Roger
William fitz Roger was an Anglo-Norman cleric, judge and Crown official in late thirteenth-century Lordship of Ireland. He was Prior of the Irish House of the Knights Hospitallers at Kilmainham, and served as a Privy Councillor and as a justice in eyre. He led several military expeditions, but was a notoriously incompetent commander, whose campaigns invariably ended in failure. He served as Deputy Justiciar in 1284–85, and as acting Justiciar of Ireland in 1294.
Early career
He is thought to have been a Norman from the Kingdom of England, but little is known of him until 1274, when he was appointed Prior of Kilmainham.Glenmalure and afterwards
As the head of a great military order, fitz Roger was expected to lead troops in battle, and soon after his appointment he led an expedition against the O'Byrne clan of County Wicklow, who periodically raided Dublin. These raids were always a cause of great concern to the Dublin Government, and the Prior of Kilmainham was one of those entrusted with the city's defences. The expedition was a disastrous failure: most of fitz Roger's forces, including numerous monks, were slaughtered in the valley of Glenmalure in the Wicklow Mountains, and the survivors, including the Prior himself, were taken captive. They were only released after a hostage exchange was arranged by the Justiciar. An Irish historian of the Victorian era commented severely on the unpleasant spectacle of Christian monks fighting their fellow Christians.Image:Glenmalure Valley, Wicklow.jpg|thumb|Glenmalure, County Wicklow, the site of a disastrous military defeat suffered by fitz Roger and his monks in 1274
Perhaps understandably, fitz Roger quickly went to England, with the stated intention of going on Crusade. He attempted to resign as Prior, and nominated William de Buries as his successor. His actions brought on him the wrath of the formidable King Edward I of England, who ordered him to return at once to Ireland and resume his duties, and in particular the defence of Dublin. When fitz Roger objected that he had received an express command to go to the Holy Land from Hugues de Revel, the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallers, the King would have none of it, and threatened to confiscate all the Orders' Irish possessions if fitz Roger did not return. The Prior, faced with this dilemma, evidently felt that the present anger of the King was more to be feared than the displeasure of the Grand Master in faraway Rhodes, and duly returned.