Fitzgerald

In Irish history, one of the great Anglo‐Irish houses, founded in 1170 by the Anglo‐Norman baron Maurice Fitzgerald, ‘the Invader’ (d. 1176), with lands at Maynooth, Kildare, granted in 1176. Kildare, and later Desmond, were the two main family branches; the earls of Desmond, with lands in Munster, being the first to gain national prominence in the 14th and 15th centuries. The earls of Kildare enjoyed unprecedented supremacy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, until their rebellion of 1534–36, following Tudor attempts to curb their power, ended the family's dominance. In the 18th century the Kildares regained political importance, being rewarded with the hereditary dukedom of Leinster in 1766, but they retired from national public life after the Act of Union (1800). The line continues in Maurice Fitzgerald, 9th Duke of Leinster (1976– ).

Fitzgerald house of Desmond
Maurice Fitzgerald, ‘the Invader’ came to Ireland with Richard de Clare (‘Strongbow’) in 1170, and was granted the manor of Maynooth, Kildare, by him in 1176. Though the Kildare branch was the first founded, it was the Fitzgerald house of Desmond, established by the direct descendants of Maurice ‘the Invader’, that first rose to national significance. Maurice fitzThomas Fitzgerald, 1st Earl of Desmond (earl 1329–56), and Gerald fitzMaurice Fitzgerald, 3rd Earl (b. c.1338, earl 1363–98), established their authority over the Gaelic Irish lordships of Munster and occupied some of the richest lands in the province. The Desmond earls regularly served as chief governors for the crown, but the sudden dismissal and execution for treason of the 8th Earl of Desmond, Thomas fitzJames Fitzgerald (b. c.1426, earl 1462–68), by the English chief governor John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester (1427–1470), put an end to their national influence.

Fitzgerald house of Kildare
The eclipse of the Desmond Geraldines, however, was followed by the rapid rise of their cousins in Kildare. Though the earldom of Kildare was first established in 1316, Kildare ambitions were thwarted by rivalries with the de Burgh family and the Butlers of Ormond, and by a severe succession crisis following the death of the 5th Earl of Kildare, Gerald fitzMaurice Fitzgerald (1390–1432). Kildare ascent began with the appointment of the 7th Earl, Thomas fitzMaurice Fitzgerald (earl 1456–78), as governor of Ireland by Edward IV in 1471. There followed over 50 years of Geraldine dominance in Ireland, during which Gerald Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl (1456–1513), and Gerald Óg Fitzgerald (‘the Young’), 9th Earl (1487–1534), enjoyed an unprecedented degree of influence over the whole of the island. Tudor attempts to reduce Kildare power provoked the rebellion of 1534–36 led by ‘Silken Thomas’Fitzgerald, 10th Earl (1513–1537), and the attainder of the house in 1537. The family was restored under Gerald Fitzgerald, 11th Earl of Kildare (b. 1525, earl 1554–85), but his own over‐ambitious schemes as well as the early deaths of the 12th, 13th, and 14th earls and consequent disputes, severely damaged the family, whose leaders remained largely absent from Irish public life in the 17th century.

The family resumed a prominent position in Irish politics under James, 20th Earl of Kildare (b. 1722, earl 1744–73), whose service to the crown was rewarded with the hereditary dukedom of Leinster in 1766. William, 3rd Duke of Leinster (1773–1804), played a central role in 18th‐century Irish political life together with his wife Emily (d. 1798), whose personal correspondence provides a remarkable record of the affairs of their time.