In case anyone here is from this line, I thought I'd post a little information on the de Clare family from which I am descended. It's traced back to the Jarls of Norway, and eventually became the powerful Clare family of England.

The de Clare family from which I descend starts with Rollo, "the Granger", Ragnvaldsson, a roving Viking from Norway who settled in the duchy of Normandy and became it's first Duke with consent from the King of France. He and his mistress, Poppa de Valois, had a son, Guilliame (also called William the Longsword) who became Normandy's second Duke. His son, Richard I, "the Fearless", had an illegitimate son named Godfrey (Geoffrey) de Brionne. Godfrey's grandson was Richard Fitzgilbert, who fought in the Norman invasion with his kinsman, William the Conquerer (so therefore all who come from this line are distant cousins of the Conquerer and his descendants).

Richard was, at the time of the Domesday book survey, called Richard de Tonebruge, now Tunbridge, in Kent, which town he obtained from the Archbishop of Canterbury in lieu of the castle of Brionne. At that time he held nearly 200 lordships in various counties, one of which was Clare in County Suffolk. After making Clare his chief seat, he was styled Richard de Clare. He or his son is said to have died in a skirmish with the Welsh, and was succeeded by his son Gilbert, who was born about 1066.

Gilbert's descendants included Gilbert, "the Strongbow", de Clare and Isabella de Clare, who was a mistress of King Henry I. For some added information on this line, you can visit: http://www.castlewales.com/clares.html or http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal06102

Neither of these are my sites, but they are both good resources for genealogical and historical research.

Cheers!

Jessica