James Fitzedmund Fitzgerald

Last updated April 10, 2019

John Fitzedmund Fitzgerald (died 1589) was the hereditary Seneschal of Imokilly, an Irish nobleman of the Welsh-Norman FitzGerald dynasty in the province of Munster, who rebelled against the crown during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

The FitzGerald / FitzMaurice dynasty is a Cambro-Norman and Anglo-Norman, and later Hiberno-Norman, aristocratic and royal dynasty. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the Four Masters as being "more Irish than the Irish themselves" or Galls, due to assimilation with the native Gaelic aristocratic and popular culture. The dynasty has also been referred to as the Geraldines. They achieved power through the conquest of large swathes of Irish territory by the grandsons of Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor. Gerald was a Norman castellan in Wales, and is the male progenitor of the FitzMaurice and FitzGerald dynasty.

Munster is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south west of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings". Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties.

Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death on 24 March 1603. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.

Fitzgerald was the son of Edmund Fitzmaurice Riskald and Shylie, daughter of Sir Maolrony McShane O'Carroll, lord of Ely O'Carroll in Éile),^[1] and the family's territory was in modern County Cork.

O'Carroll, also known as simply Carroll or Carrell, is a Gaelic Irish clan which is the most prominent sept of the Ciannachta. Their genealogies claim that they are kindred with the Eóganachta, descended paternally from Ailill Aulom. From the Middle Ages until 1552, the family ruled an area within the Kingdom of Munster known as Éile. The last monarch Tiege Caoc O'Carroll surrendered and regranted to the Tudor Kingdom of Ireland.

Éile[ˈeːle], was a medieval petty kingdom in Co.Offaly and parts of North Tipperary, Ireland. The historic barony of Eliogarty was the core of the kingdom.

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is the largest and southernmost county of Ireland, situated in the province of Munster and named after the city of Cork, Ireland's second-largest city. The Cork County Council is the local authority for the county. Its largest market towns are Mallow, Macroom, Midleton, and Skibbereen. In 2016, the county's population was 542,868, making it the third-most populous county in Ireland. Notable Corkonians include Michael Collins, Jack Lynch, and Sonia O'Sullivan.

First Desmond Rebellion

During the first of the Desmond Rebellions in 1569, Fitzgerald was besieged in Ballymartyr by the lord deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, and having taken casualties he fled with his company through a bog which was hard by the walls of the town. He held out with his fellow rebel, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald in the woods of Aherlow till February 1573, when he submitted with Fitzmaurice to the President of Munster, Sir John Perrot, and was granted his pardon in the church of Kilmallock. In March 1575 he accompanied Fitzmaurice and the White Knight, Edmund Fitzgibbon, on the La Arganys to St Malo Brittany, where they were received by the governor; he returned in July of the same year. On 16 November 1576 he complained to Lord Justice Sir William Drury that Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, was coshering 60 horse and 100 horseboys on his territory.

The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster.

Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the principal residence of the family.

Sir John Perrot served as Lord Deputy to Queen Elizabeth I of England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. He died in custody in the Tower of London after conviction on charges of high treason for his conduct in that office. It was speculated that he was an illegitimate son of Henry VIII.

Second Desmond Rebellion

On Fitzmaurice's landing in July 1579 at the start of the Second Desmond Rebellion, Fitzgerald went into rebellion instantly. After Fitzmaurice's untimely death he, rather than Desmond, became the real leader of the rebellion, receiving the brunt of the crown's offensive under the command of Sir Thomas Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormonde. It was often reported that he had been killed, but he survived many engagements, despite a severe wound and the death of his brother. In February 1581 he almost captured Sir Walter Raleigh. In May 1583, as the rebellion petered out, his mother was executed by Ormond. On 14 June he submitted on conditions, having only 24 sword and 4 horse left at his command. Ormond respected his bravery and pleaded with the queen's secretary, Sir William Cecil, for his pardon. His lands became a serious controversy in the subsequent plantation of Munster, and he was considered a main route for Spanish intelligence. In March 1587 he was arrested by Sir Thomas Norris and confined in Dublin Castle, where he died in February 1589, a few days after it had been decided that he should enjoy the profit of his lands.

The Second Desmond Rebellion (1579–1583) was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions launched by the FitzGerald dynasty of Desmond in Munster, Ireland, against English rule in Ireland. The second rebellion began in July 1579 when James FitzMaurice FitzGerald landed in Ireland with a force of Papal troops, triggering an insurrection across the south of Ireland on the part of the Desmond dynasty, their allies and others who were dissatisfied for various reasons with English government of the country. The rebellion ended with the 1583 death of Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, and the defeat of the rebels.

Sir Walter Raleigh, also spelled Ralegh, was an English landed gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer. He was cousin to Sir Richard Grenville and younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England. Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era.

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. Albert Pollard says, "From 1558 for forty years the biography of Cecil is almost indistinguishable from that of Elizabeth and from the history of England."

Legacy

Fitzgerald married Honora Fitzmaurice, who bore him male twins in about 1589, and two daughters. His heir was granted in wardship, at the age of one and a half years, to one Captain Moyle.

Notes

↑ James FITZGERALD (14th E. Desmond) by www.tudorplace.com.ar ^{[ unreliable source ]}

Related Research Articles

Sir William Stanley, son of Sir Rowland Stanley of Hooton, was a member of the Stanley family. He was an officer and a recusant, who served under Elizabeth I of England and is most noted for his surrender of Deventer to the Spanish in 1587.

Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde, 3rd Earl of Ossory, Viscount Thurles, was an Irish peer and the son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and Lady Joan Fitzgerald daughter and heiress-general of James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond. He was Lord Treasurer of Ireland and a very prominent personage during the latter part of the 16th century.

Finnian or Fínghin mac Donnchadh Mac Cárthaigh (1560–1640), known to the English as Florence MacCarthy, was an Irish prince of the late 16th century and the last credible claimant to the MacCarthy Mór title before its suppression by English authority. MacCarthy's involvement in the Nine Years' War (1595–1603) led to his arrest by the Crown, and he spent the last 40 years of his life in custody in London. His lands were distributed among his relatives and English colonists.

Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond was an Irish nobleman and leader of the Desmond Rebellions of 1579.

Fiach Mac Aodha Ó Broin was Lord of Ranelagh and sometime leader of the Clann Uí Bhroin, or the O'Byrne clan, during the Elizabethan conquest of Ireland.

James FitzMaurice FitzGerald was a member of the 16th century ruling Geraldine dynasty in the province of Munster in Ireland. He rebelled against the crown authority of Queen Elizabeth I of England in response to the onset of the Tudor conquest of Ireland. He led the first of the Desmond Rebellions in 1569, spent a period in exile in continental Europe, but returned with an invasion force in 1579. He died shortly after landing. His rebellions were strongly associated with counter-reformation Catholic ideology.

Edmund Fitzgibbon, 11th White Knight, was an Irish nobleman of the FitzGerald dynasty, who held a Hiberno-Norman hereditary knighthood. His loyalty to Elizabeth I resulted in the capture of his kinsman, the self-declared 16th Earl of Desmond, James FitzThomas FitzGerald.

The Battle of Affane was fought in county Waterford, in south-eastern Ireland, in 1565, between the forces of the Fitzgerald Earl of Desmond and the Butler Earl of Ormond. The battle ended in the rout of the Desmond forces. It was one of the last private battles fought in Britain or Ireland.

Events from the year 1583 in Ireland.

Joan FitzGerald, Countess of Carrick was an Irish noblewoman, and the wife of Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick, Justiciar of Ireland. She was the mother of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond.

Connor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond, called Groibleach, grandson of Conor O'Brien ; succeeded to the earldom, 1553; his right to the lordship of Thomond was disputed by his uncle, Donnell; confirmed in his possessions by Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex in 1558, who proclaimed his uncles traitors, though peace was not established until 1565. He intrigued with Fitzgerald in 1569, and fled to France; returned to Ireland and received pardon, 1571, with the restoration of his lands, 1573.

Sir Warham St Leger (1525?–1597) was an English soldier.

Sir William Pelham was an English soldier and Lord Justice of Ireland, which was a military and political role rather than a judicial one.

Sir Edmund Butler (1534–1602) of Cloughgrenan, was the second son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and Lady Joan Fitzgerald. He was a Tudor rebel and scion of the noble House of Ormond.

James (Séamus) FitzJohn FitzGerald was an Irish nobleman, the second son of John FitzGerald, de facto 12th Earl of Desmond, and Móre O'Brien, daughter of Donogh O'Brien of Carrigogunnell, Lord of Pobble. He held the title of Earl of Desmond from 1536 until his death in 1558.

John Fitzedmund Fitzgerald was the hereditary Seneschal of Imokilly, an Irish nobleman of the originally Welsh-Norman FitzGerald dynasty in the province of Munster.

Thomas Fitzmaurice, 16th Baron Kerry and Baron Lixnaw (1502–1590) was an Irish nobleman, politician, and peer.

References

Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors (3 yols., London, 1885-1890)
Calendar of State Papers: Carew MSS. i., ii., (6 vols., 1867-1873).

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] James FITZGERALD (14th E. Desmond) by www.tudorplace.com.ar ^{[ unreliable source ]}