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FITZGERALD

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 443 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FITZGERALD , the name of an historic Irish See also:

house, which descends from See also:Walter, son of Other, who at the See also:time of the Domesday Survey (xo86) was castellan of See also:Windsor and a tenantin-See also:chief in five counties. From his eldest son See also:William, known as " de Windsor," descended the Windsors of Stanwell, of whom See also:Andrew Windsor was created See also:Lord Windsor of Stanwell (a Domesday See also:possession of the house) by See also:Henry VIII., which See also:barony is now vested in the See also:earl of See also:Plymouth, his descendant in the See also:female See also:line. Of Walter's younger sons, See also:Robert was given by Henry I. the barony of Little See also:Easton, See also:Essex; See also:Maurice obtained the stewardship (dapiferatus) of the See also:great See also:Suffolk See also:abbey of See also:Bury St See also:Edmunds; Reinald the stewardship to Henry I.'s See also:queen, Adeliza; and Gerald (also a dapifer) became the ancestor of the FitzGeralds. As See also:constable and See also:captain of the See also:castle that See also:Arnulf de See also:Montgomery raised at See also:Pembroke, Gerald strengthened his position in See also:Wales by marrying Nesta, See also:sister of See also:Griffith, See also:prince of See also:South Wales, who See also:bore to him famous See also:children, " by whom the See also:southern See also:coast of Wales was saved for the See also:English and the bulwarks of See also:Ireland stormed." Of these sons William, the eldest, was succeeded by his son See also:Odo, who was known as " de See also:Carew," from the fortress of that name at the See also:neck of the Pembroke See also:peninsula, the eldest son Gerald having been slain by the Welsh. The descendants of Odo held Carew and the See also:manor of Moulsford, Berks, and some of them acquired lands in Ireland. But the See also:wild claims of See also:Sir See also:Peter Carew, under Queen See also:Elizabeth, to vast Irish estates, including See also:half of " the See also:kingdom of See also:Cork," were based on a fictitious See also:pedigree. Odo de Carew's See also:brothers, Reimund " Fitz William " (known as " Le See also:Gros ") and See also:Griffin " Fitz William," took an active See also:part in the See also:conquest of Ireland. Returning to Gerald and Nesta, their son See also:David " Fitz Gerald " became See also:bishop of St David's (1147—1176), and their daughter Angharat See also:mother of Gerald de Barri (Giraldus Cambrensis, q.v.), the well-known historian and the eulogist of his mother's See also:family. A third son, Maurice, obtained from his See also:brother the stewardship (dapiferatus) of St David's, c. 1174, and having landed in Ireland in 1169, on the invitation of See also:King Dermod, founded the fortunes of his house there, receiving lands at See also:Wexford, where he died and was buried in 1176. His eventual territory, however, was the great barony of the Naas in Ophaley (now in See also:Kildare), which Strongbow granted him with See also:Wicklow Castle; but his sons wereforced to give up the latter. His eldest son William succeeded him as See also:baron of the Naas and steward of St David's, but William's granddaughter carried the Naas to the Butlers and so to the Loundreses.

Gerald, a younger son of Maurice, who obtained lands in Ophaley, was See also:

father of Maurice " Fitz Gerald," who held the great See also:office of See also:justiciar of Ireland from 1232 to 1245. In 1234 he fought and defeated his overlord, the earl See also:marshal, See also:Richard, earl of Pembroke, and he also fought for his king against the Irish, the Welsh, and in See also:Gascony, dying in 1257. He held See also:Maynooth Castle, the seat of his descendants. Much confusion follows in the family See also:history, owing to the justiciar leaving a See also:grandson Maurice (son of his eldest son Gerald) and a younger son Maurice, of whom the latter was justiciar for a See also:year in 1272, while the former, as See also:heir male and See also:head of the See also:race, inherited the Ophaley lands, which he is said to have bequeathed at his See also:death (1287) to See also:John " Fitz See also:Thomas," whose fighting See also:life was crowned by a See also:grant of the castle and See also:town of Kildare, and of the earldom of Kildare to him and the heirs male of his See also:body (May 14th, 1316), Dying shortly after, he was succeeded by his son Thomas, son-in-See also:law of Richard (de See also:Burgh) the " red earl " of See also:Ulster, who received the hereditary shrievalty of Kildare in 1317, and was twice (1320, 1327) justiciar of Ireland for a year. His younger son Maurice " Fitz Thomas," 4th earl (1331—1390), was frequently appointed justiciar, and was great-grandfather of Thomas, the 7th earl (1427-1477), who between 1455 and 1475 was repeatedly in See also:charge of the See also:government of Ireland as " See also:deputy," and who founded the " brotherhood of St See also:George " for the See also:defence of the English See also:Pale. He was also made lord See also:chancellor of Ireland in 1463. His son Gerald, the 8th earl (1477—1513), called " More " (the Great), was deputy See also:governor of Ireland from 1481 for most of the See also:rest of his life, though imprisoned in the See also:Tower two years (1494—1496) on suspicion as a Yorkist. He was mortally wounded while fighting the Irish as " deputy." Gerald, , the 9th earl (1513-1534), followed in his father's steps as deputy, fighting the Irish, till the enmity of the earl of See also:Ormonde, the hereditary See also:rival of his house, brought about his deposition in 1520. In spite of temporary restorations he finally died a prisoner in the Tower. In his anger at his rival's successes the 9th earl had been led, it was suspected, into See also:treason, and while he was a prisoner in See also:England his son Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, " Silken Thomas," See also:broke out into open revolt (1534), and declared See also:war on the government; his followers slew the See also:archbishop of See also:Dublin and laid See also:siege to Dublin Castle. Meanwhile he made overtures to the native Irish, to the See also:pope and to the See also:emperor; but the Butlers took up arms against him, an English See also:army laid siege to his castle of Maynooth, and, though its fall was followed by a See also:long struggle in the See also:field, the earl, deserted by O'Conor, had eventually to surrender himself to the king's deputy. He was sent to the Tower, where he was subsequently joined by his five uncles, arrested as his accomplices.

They were all six executed as traitors in See also:

February 1537, and acts of See also:attainder completed the ruin of the family. But the earl's half-brother, Gerald (whose sister Elizabeth was the earl of See also:Surrey's " See also:fair Geraldine "), a See also:mere boy, had been carried off, and, after many adventures at See also:home and abroad, returned to England after Henry VIII.'s death, and to propitiate the Irish was restored to his estates by See also:Edward VI. (1552). Having served See also:Mary in See also:Wyat's See also:rebellion, he was created by her earl of Kildare and Lord Offaley, on the 13th of May 1554, but the old earldom (though the contrary is alleged) remained under attainder. Although he conformed to the See also:Protestant See also:religion under Elizabeth and served against the See also:Munster rebels and their See also:Spanish See also:allies, he was imprisoned in the Tower on suspicion of treason in 1583. But the acts attainting his family had been repealed in 1569, and the old earldom was thus regained. In 1585 he was succeeded by his son Henry (" of the Battleates "), who was mortally wounded when fighting the See also:Tyrone rebels in 1597. On the death of his brother in 1599 the earldom passed to their See also:cousin Gerald, whose claim to the estates was opposed by Lettice, See also:Lady See also:Digby, the heir-See also:general. She obtained the ancestral castle of Geashill with its territory and was recognized in 162o as Lady Offaley for life. George, the 16th earl (162o-1660), had his castle of Maynooth pillaged by the See also:Roman Catholics in 1642, and after its subsequent occupation by them in 1646 it was finally abandoned by the family. The history of the earls after the Restoration was uneventful, See also:save for the re-acquisition in 1739 of Carton, which thenceforth became the seat of the family, until See also:James the loth earl (1722-1773), who obtained a viscounty of Great See also:Britain in 1747, built See also:Leinster House in Dublin, and formed a powerful party in the Irish See also:parliament. In 1756 he was made lord deputy; in 1760 he raised the royal Irish See also:regiment of See also:artillery; and in 1766 he received the dukedom of Leinster, which remained the only Irish dukedom till that of See also:Abercorn was created in 1868.

His See also:

wealth and connexions secured him a commanding position. Of his younger children one son was created Lord Lecale; another was the well-known See also:rebel, Lord Edward Fitzgerald; another was the ancestor of Lord De See also:Ros; and a daughter was created Baroness See also:Rayleigh. William Robert, the 2nd See also:duke (1749–1804), was a cordial supporter of the See also:Union, and received nearly £30,000 for the loss of his See also:borough See also:influence. In 1883 the family was still holding over 70,000 acres in Co. Kildare; but, after a See also:tenure of nearly 750 years, arrangements were made to sell them to the tenants under the See also:recent See also:Land See also:Purchase Acts. In 1893 Maurice Fitzgerald (b. 1887) succeeded his father Gerald, the 5th duke (1851–1893), as 6th duke of Leinster. The other great Fitzgerald line was that of the earls of See also:Desmond, who were undoubtedly of the same stock and claimed descent from Maurice, the founder of the family in Ireland, through a younger son Thomas. It would seem that Maurice, grandson of Thomas, was father of Thomas "Fitz Maurice " Nappagh (" of the See also:ape "), See also:justice of Ireland in 1295, who obtained a grant of the territory of " Decies and Desmond " in 1292, and died in 1298. His son Maurice Fitz Thomas or Fitzgerald, inheriting vast estates in Munster, and strengthening his position by marrying a daughter of Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster, was created earl of Desmond (i.e. south Munster) on the 22nd of See also:August 1329, and See also:Kerry was made a See also:palatine See also:liberty for him. The greatest Irish See also:noble of his See also:day, he led the Anglo-Irish party against the English representatives of the king, and was attacked as the king's enemy by the See also:viceroy in 1345. He surrendered in England to the king and was imprisoned, but eventually regained favour, and was even made viceroy himself in 1355.

He died, however, the following year. Two of his sons succeeded in turn, Gerald, the 3rd earl (1359–1398), being appointed justiciar (i.e. viceroy) in 1367, despite his adopting his father's policy which the See also:

crown still wished to thwart. But he was superseded two years later, and defeated and captured by the native king of See also:Thomond shortly after. Yet his sympathies were distinctly Irish. The remote position of Desmond in the south-See also:west of Ireland tended to make the See also:succession irregular on native lines, and a younger son succeeded as 6th or 7th earl about 1422. His son Thomas, the next earl (1462-1467), governed Ireland as deputy from 1463 to 1467, and upheld the endangered English See also:rule by stubborn conflict with the Irish. Yet Tiptoft, who superseded him, procured his attainder with that of the earl of Kildare, on the charge of See also:alliance with the Irish, and he was beheaded on the 14th of February 1468, his followers in Munster avenging his death by invading the Pale. His younger son Maurice, earl from 1487 to 1520, was one of See also:Perkin See also:Warbeck's Irish supporters, and besieged See also:Waterford on his behalf. His son James (1520–1529) was proclaimed a rebel and traitor for conspiring with the See also:French king and with the emperor. At his death the succession reverted to his See also:uncle Thomas (1529–1534), then an old See also:man, at whose death there was a contest between his younger brother Sir John " of Desmond " and his grandson James, a See also:court See also:page of Henry VIII. Old Sir John secured possession till his death (1536), when his son James succeeded de facto, and de jure on the rightful earl being murdered by the usurper's younger brother in 1540. Intermarriage with Irish chieftains had by this time classed the earls among them, but although this James looked to their support before 1540, he thenceforth played so prudent a part that in spite of the efforts of the Butlers, the hereditaryfoes of his race, he escaped the See also:fate of the Kildare See also:branch and kept Munster quiet and in See also:order for the English till his death in 1558.

His four marriages produced a disputed succession and a break-up of the family. His eldest son Thomas " See also:

Roe " (the Red) was disinherited, and failed to obtain the earldom, which was confirmed by Elizabeth to his half-brother Gerald " the rebel earl " (1558–1582), but Gerald had other enemies in his uncle Maurice (the murderer of 1540) and his son especially, the famous James " Fitz Maurice " Fitz Gerald. Gerald's turbulence and his strife with the Butlers led to his detention in England (1562–1564) and again in 1565–1566. In 1567 See also:Sidney imprisoned him in Dublin Castle, whence, with his brother, Sir John " of Desmond," he was sent to England and the Tower, and not allowed to return to Ireland till 1573. Meanwhile the above James, in spite of the protests of Thomas " Roe," had usurped his position in his See also:absence and induced the natives to choose him as " captain " or chieftain of Desmond. He formed a strong Irish See also:Catholic party and broke into revolt in 1569. Suppressed by Sidney, he rebelled again, till crushed by See also:Perrot in 1573. As Earl Gerald on his return would not join James in revolt, the latter withdrew to See also:France. But Gerald himself, after some trimming, See also:rose in rebellion (See also:July 1574), though he soon submitted to the queen's forces. On the See also:continent James Fitz Maurice offered the crown of Ireland in succession to France and to See also:Spain, and finally to the See also:nephew of Pope See also:Gregory XIII. With the papal See also:nuncio and a few troops he landed at See also:Dingle in Kerry (See also:June 1579) and called on the earls of Kildare and Desmond to join him, but the latter assured the English government of his See also:loyalty, and James was killed in a skirmish. Yet Desmond was viewed with suspicion and finally forced, by being proclaimed as a traitor (Nov.

1st, 1579), into a miserable rebellion. His castles were soon captured, and he was hunted as a fugitive; till surprised and beheaded on the rrth of See also:

November 1583, after long wanderings, his head being fixed on See also:London See also:Bridge. His ruin is attributable to his restless turbulence and lack of settled policy. The vast estates of the earls, estimated at 600,000 acres, were forfeited by See also:act of parliament. But the influence of his mighty house was still great among the Irish. The disinherited Thomas " Roe " See also:left a son James " Fitz Thomas," who, succeeding him in 1595 and finding that the territory of the earls would never be restored, assumed the earldom and joined O'See also:Neill's rebellion in 1598, at the head of 8000 of his men. Long sheltered from See also:capture by the fidelity of the peasantry, he was eventually seized (1601) by his kinsman the See also:White See also:Knight, See also:Edmund Fitz See also:Gibbon, whose sister-in-law he had married, and sent to the Tower. The "sugan " (sham) earl lingered there obscurely as " James M'Thomas " till his death. In consequence of his rebellion and the devotion of the Irish to his race, James, son of Gerald " the rebel earl," who had remained in the Tower since his father's death (1583), was restored as earl of Desmond and sent over to Munster in 1600, but he, known as " the queen's earl," could, as a Protestant, do nothing, and he died unmarried in 16o,. The " sugan " earl's brother John, who had joined in his rebellion, escaped into Spain, and left a son Gerald, who appears to have 'assumed the See also:title and was known as the See also:Conde de Desmond. He was killed in the service of the emperor See also:Ferdinand in 1632. The See also:common origin of the earls of Desmond and of Kildare had never been forgotten, and intermarriage had cemented the See also:bond.

Just before his death the See also:

exile wrote as " Desmond See also:alias Gerratt Fitz Gerald " to his " Most Noble Cosen " the earl of Kildare, that " wee must not be oblivious of the true amity and love that was inviolably observed betweene our antenates and elders." There can be no doubt that the house of Fitzmaurice was also of this stock, although their actual origin, in the 12th See also:century, is doubtful. From a very See also:early date they were feudal lords of Kerry, and their dignity was recognized as a See also:peerage by Henry VII. in 1489. The isolated position of their territory (" Clanmaurice ") threw them even more among the Irish than the earls of Desmond, and they often adopted the native See also:form of their name, " MacMorrish." Under Elizabeth the lords of Kerry narrowly escaped sharing the ruin of the earls. The conduct of Thomas in the rebellion of James " Fitz Maurice " was suspicious, and his sons joined in that of the earl of Desmond, while he himself was a rebel in 1582. See also:Patrick, his successor (1590-1600), was captured in rebellion (1587), and when See also:free, joined the revolt of 1598, as did his son and heir Thomas, who continued in the field till he obtained See also:pardon and restoration in 1603, though suspect till his death in 163o. His grandson with-See also:drew to France with James II., but the next peer became a supporter of the Whig cause, married the eventual heiress of Sir William See also:Petty, and was created earl of Kerry in 1723. From him descend the family of Petty-Fitzmaurice, who obtained the marquessate of See also:Lansdowne (q.v.) in 1818, and still hold among their titles the feudal barony of Kerry together with vast estates in that See also:county. From the three sons by a second wife of one of the earls of Desmond's ancestors, descended the hereditary White Knights, Knights of Glin and Knights of Kerry, these feudal dignities having, it is said, been bestowed upon them by their father, as Lord of Decies and Desmond. Glin Castle, county See also:Limerick, is still the seat of the (Fitzgerald) Knight of Glin. See also:Valencia See also:Island is now the seat of the Knights of Kerry, who received a baronetcy in 1880.

End of Article: FITZGERALD

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