FitzGerald dynasty

This article is about the Irish noble family. For other uses, see FitzGerald (disambiguation).

FitzGerald
The coat of arms of the Fitzgeralds of Kildare, Viscounts of Leinster, by Charles Catton (1790).
Information
Place of origin	Wales

The surname FitzGerald is a translation of the French-Norman fils de Gérald, or son of Gerald (Gerald from "ger", spear, and "wald", rule). Variant spellings include Fitz-Gerald and the modern Fitzgerald. The name can also be used as two separate words Fitz Gerald. Its current head is Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster.

Peers of Ireland

Among the most celebrated families of Ireland and Great Britain, the FitzGeralds are a Hiberno-Norman or Cambro-Norman dynasty, and have been Peers of Ireland since at least the 14th century.

The main branches of the family are:

• the FitzGeralds of Kildare (Earls of Kildare from 1316, later Marquesses of Kildare and from 1766 Dukes of Leinster and Premier Peers of Ireland) and
• the FitzGeralds of Desmond (Barons Desmond, later Earls of Desmond); see the articles on those titles for lists of people who have held them.

The dynasty is also sometimes referred to as the Geraldines, and the name Geraldine can be a derivation of this adjective. Elizabeth FitzGerald (1527–89) was known as the "Fair Geraldine" from her surname.

House of Kildare

• Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly (c.1150- 1204)
• Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly (1194–1257), Justiciar of Ireland
• Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly (1238–1286), Justiciar of Ireland
• John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare (died 1316)
• Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare (died 1390)
• Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, "The Great Earl" (died 1513)
• Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, "Young Gerald" (1487–1534)
• Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, "Silken Thomas" (1513–1537)
• Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, the "Wizard Earl" (1525–1585)
• Lettice FitzGerald, 1st Baroness Offaly, suo jure Baroness Offaly (1580–1658)
• Lord Edward FitzGerald (1763–1798), Irish aristocrat and revolutionary.
• Lady Edward FitzGerald, known as "Pamela" (c. 1773–1831), wife of Lord Edward FitzGerald.

  Maurice FitzGerald : 6th Duke of Leinster : Premier Duke, Marquess, and Earl of Ireland  

16. William Robert FitzGerald 2nd Duke of Leinster KP (1749-1804)

8. Augustus Frederick FitzGerald 3rd Duke of Leinster (1791-1874)

17. Emilia Olivia St. George (da. Usher St. George) (b.17??)

4. Charles William FitzGerald 4th Duke of Leinster (1847-1887)

18. Charles Stanhope 3rd Earl of Harrington (1853-1859)

9. Charlotte Augusta Stanhope (1793-1859)

19. Jane Fleming (da. John Fleming) (b.17??)

2. Gerald FitzGerald 5th Duke of Leinster (1851-1893)

20. George Granville Leverson-Gower 1st Duke of Sutherland KG (1758-1833)

10. George Granville Sutherland-Leverson-Gower 2nd Duke of Sutherland KG (1786-1861)

21. Elizabeth Countess of Sutherland (1765-1839)

5. Caroline Sutherland-Leverson-Gower (da. 2nd Duke of Sutherland) (1817-1887)

22. George Howard 6th Earl of Carlisle KG (1773-1848)

11. Harriet Elizabeth Georgina Howard (1806-1868)

23. Georgina Cavendish (da. 5th Duke of Devonshire KG) (b.17??)

1. Maurice FitzGerald 6th Duke of Leinster (b.1887)

24. Charles Dunscombe 1st Baron Feversham (1764-1841)

12. William Dunscombe 2nd Baron Faversham (1798-1867)

25. Charlotte Legge (da. 2nd Earl of Dartmouth) (d.1848)

6. William Ernest Dunscombe 1st Earl of Feversham (b.1829)

26. George Stewart 8th Earl of Galloway KT (1768-1834)

13. Lousia Stewart (d.1889)

27. Jane Paget (da. 1st Earl Uxbridge) (d. 1842)

3. Hermione Wilhelmina Duncombe (1864-1895)

28. James Grayham 1st Bart (1761-1824)

14. James Robert George Graham PC (1792-1861)

29. Catherine Stewart (da. 7th Earl of Galloway (d.1836)

7. Mabel Violet Graham (18??)

30. James Callander (b.1774)

15. Fanny Callender (d.1857)

31. Elizabeth MacDonnel (da. 5th Earl of Antrim) (d.1796)

Divisions of the Peerage

Peerage of England

Peerage of Scotland

Peerage of Great Britain

Peerage of Ireland

Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Most Noble Maurice (FitzGerald), 6th Duke of Leinster. (1887–1922).

Marquess and Earl of Kildare, co. Kildare, Earl and Baron of Offaly, all in the Peerage of Ireland;
Viscount Leinster of Taplow, co. Bucks, in the Peerage of Great Britain
and Baron Kildare of Kildare in the Peerage of the United Kingdom;

Premier Duke, Marquess, and Earl of Ireland.

House of Desmond

The line of the Earls of Desmond has been extinct since the 17th century. Their branch of the dynasty continues only in their distant collateral kinsmen, Ireland's hereditary knights (for whom see section below).

• Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond
• Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, "Gearóid Iarla" (14th century)
• James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond
• Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond
• Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, rebel killed at Glenageenty 1583
• Joan Fitzgerald, Countess of Ormond (died 1565), cousin and wife of the 15th Earl of Desmond
• James FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond (restored)
• James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, rebel killed in 1579-leader of the Desmond Rebellions (late 16th century)
• Katherine FitzGerald, Countess of Desmond, known as the "old Countess of Desmond" (15th to 17th centuries).
• Katherine FitzGerald, Viscountess Grandison (1660–1725)

Lords of Decies

• Gerald Fitzgerald, 3rd Lord Decies

FitzMaurice of Kerry

The closely related FitzMaurice Barons and later Earls of Kerry continue in the male line with the current Petty-FitzMaurice Marquesses of Lansdowne, but they descend from John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond's nephew, Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Baron of Kerry, son of his brother Maurice FitzThomas. Thus in fact they represent a "sister" branch to the FitzGeralds of Desmond. However this technically makes them slightly closer to the FitzGeralds of Desmond than either are to the Offaly-Kildare-Leinster Geraldines, represented by the modern Dukes of Leinster, who descend from Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly, uncle of the 1st Baron Desmond.

Hereditary Knights

These three hereditary knighthoods were created for their kinsmen by the Earls of Desmond, acting as Earls Palatine.

• Knight of Kerry (Green Knight) - the holder is Sir Adrian FitzGerald, 6th Baronet of Valencia, 24th Knight of Kerry. He is also a Knight of Malta, and President of the Irish Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
• Knight of Glin (Black Knight) - extinct (from 2011)
• White Knight (Fitzgibbon family) - extinct
  • Edmund FitzGibbon

Origins

The eponymous ancestor of the various FitzGerald branches, as well as of the De Barry family and FitzMaurices, was Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor by his wife, Nest ferch Rhys. Gerald was an Anglo-Norman adventurer who took part in the 1093 invasion of South Wales upon the death in battle of Rhys ap Tewdwr, its last king and Nest's father. Gerald was a younger son of another Norman adventurer, Walter FitzOtho, William the Conqueror's Constable for Windsor Castle, then a strategic military fortress, and the King's Keeper of the Forests of Berkshire. These positions were later inherited by Gerald's oldest brother, William. Their father - Walter - is recorded in the Domesday Book as tenant-in-chief of lands in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and Middlesex.

Various claims are made for Gerald's antecedents: that his father was a Saxon baron, rather than Norman; that his mother was Gwladys ferch Ryall, or she was "princess" Gwladys ferch Gruffydd of Gwynedd, or else Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys; that Gerald's grandfather was one "Dominus Otherus", a Tuscan nobleman descended from a Gherardini Duke of Florence named Cosmo or Cosimus. All the foregoing claims are erroneous. Pursuant to Domesday, Walter's wife was Beatrice, not Gwladys, and particularly not Gwladys of Powys, who was Gerald's mother-in-law. It's unlikely the Conqueror would have granted Walter lands in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Surrey, and Middlesex, let alone made him keeper of a strategic military fortress, had he not been a Norman and proven trustworthy. "Dominus Otherus" is a misreading of Domeday, and the Gherardini ancestry is a 16th century hoax: there was no Duchy of Florence until the 15th century, and the only Dukes Cosmo were Medicis.

Nest ferch Rhys ap Tewdwr was the daughter of the last king of South Wales by his wife, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys. Their grandchildren, Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan, Raymond le Gros and Philip de Barry were leaders in the Norman invasion of Ireland. Nest's son by her second marriage, Robert Fitz-Stephen, was another participant, as did William de Hay, husband of one of Gerald's and Nest's grand-daughters. Nest's grandson (through her son by Henry I of England), Meiler FitzHenry, was appointed Lord Justice of Ireland for his cousin, Henry II. The most renowned of Gerald's and Nest's grandchildren, Gerald of Wales, gave an account of the Norman invasion, as well as lively and invaluable descriptions of Ireland and Wales in the late 12th century.

See also

• Irish nobility
• FitzGerald Baronets