Alternatively, the appellation Mac Fheorais may have begun with Peter of Tethmoy, father of Rickard's grandfather, Meyler de Bermingham.
He had land around the Moy in northern Connacht, but his main estate laid between Dunmore and Athenry in what is now County Galway, the caput of the lordship been based at the latter town.
When finished, they enclosed over one hundred acres (40 ha) on the west bank of the Clarin River, making it one of the largest walled towns in Ireland.
When work was completed c. 1315, it stood over three stories and had a vaulted roof, thought to be slated as thatch would make it vulnerable to lighting, fire arrows, and accident.
A coalition of Gaelic and Anglo forces defeated and killed Ruaidhri at the battle of Mullach Fidicci in north Galway, in January 1316.
He began destroying their settlements, killing their inhabitants and stealing their goods, his ultimate aim was to exterminate the entire colony and re-establish an independent Connacht kingship, and later, establish himself as King of Ireland.
Due to the ongoing warfare with Edward Bruce in Meath and Leinster, no help was forthcoming and the Anglo-Irish of Connacht were left to fend for themselves.
In the same year, Rickard's kinsman, John de Bermingham of Offaly, fought and defeated Edward Bruce at Faughart, for which he was made Earl of Louth.
Local tradition holds that a soldier prayed for deliverance at Lady's Well, one mile east of the town, on the day of the battle, and was rewarded with a vision of the Virgin Mary.
A third son, Andrew, became notorious for murdering the Royal judge Sir Hugh Canoun, against whom he had a grievance, near Naas, County Kildare, about New Year of 1318.