Thomas Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, 2nd Baron of Desmond (d. 1298), was the son of Maurice FitzJohn FitzGerald and grandson of John FitzThomas FitzGerald from whom he inherited the title.
Thomas succeeded to the barony of Desmond, which lay in Munster, in the southwest of Ireland, in 1282. Thomas's succession followed his long minority (he did not inherit his lands until the age of 21). His father and grandfather died in the Battle of Callann in 1261. Tenants in-chief could not acquire their lands and title without special permission, and most likely a large fine, before the age of 21.
"[He] was called 'Thomas an-Apa,' or 'Thomas Simiacus,' from an incident which is thus related in the Desmond Pedigree: 'This Thomas, being in his swadling cloaths accidentally left alone in his cradle, was by an ape carryed up to the battlements of the monastery of Traly, where the little beast, to the admiration of many spectators, dandled him to and froe, whilst everyone ran with theire beds and caddows, thinking to catch the child when it should fall from the ape. But Divine Providence prevented that danger; for the ape miraculously bore away the infant, and left him in the cradle as he found him, by which accident this Thomas was ever after nicknamed from the ape.' (A similar anecdote is related of the 1st Earl of Kildare, whose family adopted as their crest two monkeys 'environed and chained.')."[1]
In 1294, Thomas was appointed deputy justiciar, acting as Lord Justice after the death of William d'Oddingseles.[2] He was called to Parliament in 1295. He died in 1298, and was buried in the Dominican Priory of North Abbey, Youghal, which he had founded in 1268.[3]
Marriage and issue
Thomas Fitzmaurice FitzGerald married Margaret Berkeley.[4] Their children were:
The Knight of Glin, also known as the Black Knight or Knight of the Valley, was a hereditary title held by the FitzGerald families of County Limerick, Ireland, since the early 14th century. The family was a branch of the FitzGerald dynasty, or Geraldines, related to the now extinct Earls of Desmond, who were granted extensive lands in County Limerick by the Crown. The title was named after the village of Glin, near the Knight's lands. The Knight of Glin was properly addressed as "Knight".
The title of Earl of Desmond has been held historically by lords in Ireland, first as a title outside of the peerage system and later as part of the Peerage of Ireland.
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 sons and grandsons of Gerald of Windsor. Gerald of Windsor was a Norman castellan in Wales, and he is the male progenitor of the FitzMaurice and FitzGerald dynasty.
Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond was an Irish nobleman and leader of the Desmond Rebellions of 1579.
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.
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.
Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald (1335–1398), also known by the Irish Gaelic Gearóid Iarla, was the 3rd Earl of Desmond, in southwestern Ireland, under the first creation of that title, and a member of the Hiberno-Norman dynasty of the FitzGerald, or Geraldines. He was the son of Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, by his third wife Aveline (Eleanor), daughter of Nicholas FitzMaurice, 3rd Lord of Kerry. He was half-brother to Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Desmond.
Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond in Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland was an Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland, Captain of Desmond Castle in Kinsale, so-called ruler of Munster, and for a short time Lord Justice of Ireland. Called "Maurice the Great", he led a rebellion against the Crown, but he was ultimately restored to favour.
The Second Desmond Rebellion (1579–1583) was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions in Ireland launched by the FitzGerald dynasty of Desmond in Munster against English rule. 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.
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Maynooth, Naas, and Llanstephan (born: Windsor Castle c.1105 – September c.1176 Wexford, Ireland. He was a medieval Anglo-Norman baron and a major figure in the Norman Invasion of Ireland.
Fitzmaurice is a Hiberno-Norman, Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman surname. It is patronymic as the prefix Fitz- derives from the Latin filius, meaning "son of". The surname variants include FitzMaurice, Fitz Maurice, Fitz-Maurice, fitz Maurice, and the alternate spelling Fitzmorris. According to Irish genealogist Edward MacLysaght:
The first Fitzmaurice family known in Ireland and Britain were the sons and daughter of Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan and they were the progenitors of the famous Geraldines through Thomas FitzMaurice, eldest son, known as Lord OConnello, 1st Baron of Kerry, progenitor of the Earls of Desmond and through Gerald FitzMaurice, 2nd eldest son, 1st Lord of Offaly, progenitor of the Earls of Kildare and Earls of Leinster. They were known as lords of Lixnaw in Kerry notable for their resistance to the English in the sixteenth century. They were the grandsons and grand daughter of Gerald FitzWalther, Gerald de Windsor. The name Fitzmaurice is also connected with Mayo because some Connacht Prendergasts adopted it.
Elizabeth Butler, Countess of Ormond was the wife of Irish peer James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, and the mother of his six children, including James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond.
Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare, was an Irish peer and statesman of the fifteenth century who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Maurice FitzMaurice FitzGerald was an Irish magnate born in Ireland; a soldier, and Justiciar of Ireland from 1272 to 1273. His family would come to epitomize the ideal of cultural synthesis in Ireland, becoming More Irish than the Irish themselves, fusing Gaelic and Norman customs in Irish identity. "But others say that he never enjoyed that lordship himself, but passed it the son and grandson of his eldest brother Gerald."
Maurice Fitzmaurice FitzGerald I, 2nd Lord of Offaly was a Norman-Irish peer, soldier, and Justiciar of Ireland from 1232 to 1245. He mustered many armies against the Irish, and due to his harsh methods as Justiciar, he received criticism from King Henry III of England. He was succeeded as Lord of Offaly by his son, Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly.
John FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond was the son of Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald by his wife Ellinor, daughter of Jordan de Marisco, and sister of Geoffrey de Marisco, who was appointed justiciar of Ireland in 1215. He was the grandson of Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan.
James FitzThomas FitzGerald, the Súgán Earl of Desmond, was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Fitzgerald, commonly called "Thomas Roe", "Tomás Ruadh" or "Red Thomas."
Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond was the brother of James FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Desmond.
James FitzGerald, de jure 12th Earl of Desmond was the grandson of Thomas FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Desmond. James's father, Maurice, had died of the plague shortly after Thomas attained the earldom, so upon Thomas's death, James inherited it. However, James's title was disputed by his granduncle John FitzGerald, de facto 12th Earl of Desmond. John died in 1536. Although James lived until 1540, he was succeeded by John's son James FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond.
Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare KG, known variously as "Garret the Great" or "The Great Earl", was Ireland's premier peer. He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1477 to 1494, and from 1496 onwards. His power was so great that he was called "the uncrowned King of Ireland".
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