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Duke of Leinster is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are: Marquess of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (1747), Baron of Offaly, Baron Offaly (1620) and Baron Kildare, of Kildare in the County of Kildare (1870). The viscounty of Leinster is in the Peerage of Great Britain, the barony of Kildare in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and all other titles in the Peerage of Ireland. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir of the Duke of Leinster is Marquess of Kildare. The Duke of Leinster is the head of the House of Kildare.
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. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arm against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates, some 574 628 acres of land. Since 1640 the title has been held as a secondary title by the Earl of Denbigh.
Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire), styled Lord Offaly until 1743 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1743 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 1766, was an Irish nobleman, soldier and politician.
The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the Four Masters as having become "more Irish than the Irish themselves" or Gaels, due to assimilation with the native Gaelic aristocratic and popular culture. The dynasty has also been referred to as the Geraldines and Ireland's largest landowners. 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 the first Castellan of Pembroke Castle in Wales, and became the male progenitor of the FitzMaurice and FitzGerald Dynasty. His father, Baron Walter FitzOther, was the first Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle for William the Conqueror, and was the Lord of 38 manors in England, 21 of which he owned as tenant-in-chief. "Castle Dodd", of the Fitzgerald family, appears on a 1736 map of north County Cork.
The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is Lords Deputy.
Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, also known as Silken Thomas, was a leading figure in 16th-century Irish history.
There have been two creations of the title Baron Offaly, both in the Peerage of Ireland.
Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, also known as the "Wizard Earl", was an Irish peer. He was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare and his second wife Elizabeth Grey.
John FitzThomas was an Anglo-Norman in the Peerage of Ireland, as 4th Lord of Offaly from 1287 and subsequently as 1st Earl of Kildare from 1316.
Thomas FitzJohn, 2nd Earl of Kildare, Lord Offaly was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland who held the office of Lord Justice of Ireland.
Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare was an Irish peer. Gerald was the son of Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare and Elizabeth Burghersh.
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.
Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare was an Irish peer and soldier.
Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Kildare was an Irish peer. Much of his adult life was dominated by litigation with relatives over the Kildare inheritance.
Lettice FitzGerald, 1st Baroness Offaly was an Irish noblewoman and a member of the FitzGerald dynasty. Although she became heiress-general to the Earls of Kildare on the death of her father, the title instead went to the next FitzGerald male heir when her grandfather, the 11th Earl of Kildare, died in 1585. In 1620 she was created suo jure Baroness Offaly by King James I of England.
Thomas FitzJames FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond, called 'Thomas of Drogheda', and also known as the Great Earl, was the son of James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond and Mary de Burgh. He was Lord Deputy of Ireland under the Lieutenancy of Duke of Clarence from 1463 to his death, and in 1464 founded the College of Youghal. His plan to found a University at Drogheda failed due to his judicial assassination.
Thomas Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, 2nd Baron of Desmond, was the son of Maurice FitzJohn FitzGerald and grandson of John FitzThomas FitzGerald from whom he inherited the title.
James fitz Maurice FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond, also counted as the 11th, plotted against King Henry VIII with King Francis I of France in 1523 and with Emperor Charles V in 1528 and 1529.
John FitzGerald, de facto 12th Earl of Desmond was the brother of Thomas FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Desmond. Upon his brother's death in 1534, John disputed the title to the earldom of his brother's grandson, James FitzGerald, de jure 12th 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".
References
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain :Webb, Alfred (1878), A Compendium of Irish Biography, Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son, endnote: - Kildare, The Earls of, and their Ancestors: from 1057 to 1773, with Supplement: Marquis of Kildare. 2 vols., Dublin, 1858–1862
