Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare

Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare (d. before 24 June 1428)[1] was an Irish peer. Gerald was the son of Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare and Elizabeth Burghersh.

Career

Gerald served as Justiciar of Ireland in 1405.[2] In 1407 he defeated the O'Carrol clan at Kilkenny. About 1418 he emerged as a leading opponent of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. Together with Christopher Preston, 2nd Baron Gormanston, he was accused of treasonable correspondence with Thomas Le Boteller, the Prior of the Order of Hospitallers at Kilmainham, imprisoned and threatened with forfeiture of his titles and estates. No plausible evidence of treason was produced against either Kildare or Gormanston, and they were released and restored to their estates. It is unlikely that either of these elderly pillars of the Anglo-Irish establishment were guilty of anything more serious than opposition to Shrewsbury's policies.[3]

He was buried at the Grey Abbey at Kildare.[4]

Family

Gerald married, firstly, Margaret Rocheford, daughter of Sir John Rocheford. Their children included:

  • Thomas FitzGerald, died before his father without issue.
  • Lady Joan FitzGerald d. Jul 1452, married James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde

He married secondly, Agnes Darcy, daughter of Philip Darcy, 4th Baron Darcy de Knayth and Elizabeth Gray. Their children included:

Since his only son predeceased him the title should have passed to his brother John, de jure 6th Earl, although his son-in-law, the Earl of Ormonde, also claimed the title in right of his wife, Elizabeth. The dispute was eventually resolved in favour of John's son Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare.[5]

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References
  1. FitzGerald, Walter. "The FitzGeralds of Ballyshannon", Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society and Surrounding Districts, Vol. 3, County Kildare Archaeological Society, 1902, p. 427
  2. thepeerage.com Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare
  3. Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Barnes and Noble reissue 1993
  4. Webb, Alfred. "Fitzgerald, Gerald, 5th Earl of Kildare", A Compendium of Irish Biography, M.H. Gill & Son, Dublin, 1878
  5. Otway-Ruthven
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
Maurice FitzGerald		 Earl of Kildare
1390–1432		 Succeeded by
John FitzGerald
(de jure)
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