[citation needed] As the daughter of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, the young Aoife would have been raised in much higher dignity than most other girls in Ireland who were of poorer stock than she; her privileged status ensured that she was educated in Brehon law and would have ensured that she was literate in Ecclesiastical Latin.

[citation needed] Aoife's father Dermot was deposed by Ireland's High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair.

In 1166[11] or 1168,[9] Dermot promised Aoife's hand in marriage to Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard "Strongbow" de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in exchange for military support.

[1] At some point between her marriage in 1170 and Richard's death in 1176, Aoife gave birth to two children: Gilbert (born c. 1173) and Isabel.

[1] Aoife was buried in Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, alongside her father-in-law Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke.

One tale of her demise exists; It supposes that, as a young woman, she lived many years following the death of Strongbow in 1176, and devoted herself to raising their children and defending their territory.

In 1189 Isabel's hand in marriage was promised to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, by King Henry II.

[17] In contrast to her apparently strong personality, Maclise portrays Aoife as a despondent young girl who looks sullenly at the ground as the marriage ceremony is performed.

[5] Her misery is highlighted by the poses of her father and fiancé—Dermot pushes Aoife towards Richard, who grasps her by the hand[6] and crushes a Celtic cross under his foot.

[16] Aoife's reluctant marriage to Richard, under the orders of her father Dermot, symbolically represents Ireland's conquering by the Normans.