Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster (born 7 April 1948), styled ''Earl of Offaly'' before 1976 and ''Marquess of Kildare'' between 1976 and 2004, is an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

nobleman and

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and ga ...

er. The Duke is the highest-ranking member of the

peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

Family and education

The elder son of Gerald, 8th Duke of Leinster, and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Philip Smith, he was educated at

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...

Street, Somerset Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, with a population of 11,805 in 2011. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, it is south-west of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation ...

. Upon his father's death in 2004 he succeeded to the

dukedom Dukedom may refer to: * The title and office of a duke * Duchy, the territory ruled by a duke * Dukedom, Kentucky and Tennessee, United States * ''Dukedom'' (game), a land management game See also * Lists of dukedoms Lists of dukedoms include: ...

as the 9th Duke.

Marriage and children

Maurice FitzGerald, then styled ''

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particu ...

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, i ...

'', married Fiona Mary Francesca Hollick on 19 February 1972. The Duke and Duchess have had three children: *

Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (12 January 1974 – 9 May 1997), styled The Hon. Thomas FitzGerald before 1976 and as Earl of Offaly between 1976 and 1997, was the only son of Maurice, Marquess of Kildare (now the 9th Duke of Leinster). ...

(1974–1997); killed in a motor accident. *

Lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inf ...

Francesca Emily Purcell FitzGerald-Hobbs (born 6 July 1976), has two daughters, Amelia Grace Francesca and Daisy Emily Matilda by Stephen Thompstone (now separated) and one son, Rufus James Thomas by Mark Hobbs, whom she married on 25 October 2017. *

Pollyanna Louisa Clementine FitzGerald (born at

John Radcliffe Hospital The John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe, an 18th-century physic ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, 9 May 1982); as yet unmarried.

Heir

The present

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

's only son died childless in 1997, thus his brother,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Lord John FitzGerald Lord John FitzGerald (3 March 1952 – 3 August 2015), was an Irish nobleman, British Army officer, racehorse trainer, and horseracing administrator. Lord John was the second son of Gerald, 8th Duke of Leinster, and his second wife, Anne, daugh ...

(1952–2015), became

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the family titles; educated at

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding sch ...

and the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town o ...

, he served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. It served in the Second World ...

and later was a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

by profession. Lord John married Barbara Zindel, daughter of Andreas and Daniela Zindel, of

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

and St. Moritz,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, at St. Nicholas Church,

Chadlington Chadlington is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode Valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village has five neighbourhoods: Brookend, Eastend, Greenend, Millend and Westend. Archaeology There is a bowl barrow about wes ...

, on 11 December 1982; they divorced in 2013 and Lord John died on 3 August 2015. Lord and Lady John FitzGerald had two children: *

Hermione FitzGerald Hermione FitzGerald (born 11 October 1985) is an Irish professional golfer. Early life FitzGerald is the daughter of Lord John FitzGerald and wife Barbara Zindel. She is of Irish and Swiss descent. She began playing golf at the age of eight wh ...

(born Newmarket,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, October 1985) * Edward FitzGerald (born Newmarket, Suffolk, October 1988) Edward FitzGerald is the current

to the dukedom and other family titles.

Title dispute

A controversial claim by the supposed descendants of the 5th Duke (largely debunked by Michael Estorick in 1981) was made in 2006 and rejected in 2007 by the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

, who accepted the claim made by the 9th Duke of Leinster.
In 2010, however, DNA evidence was presented that indicates that Paul FitzGerald is related to the wife of the 5th Duke, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe. As reported in ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'',

With the help of Dunfermline-based genealogist Lloyd Pitcairn, Mrs FitzGerald Caudill
aul FitzGerald's aunt An aul (; ce, oil; russian: аул) is a type of fortified village or town found throughout the Caucasus mountains and Central Asia. The word itself is of Turkic origin and simply means ''village'' in many Turkic languages. Auyl ( kk, Ау� ...
traced Maud Crawford, the grand-daughter of Lady Hermione's younger sister Urica Duncombe. The results of the tests found that it was "41 times more probable" that Ms Crawford and Paul FitzGerald were extremely closely related than were from different families. The proof that Paul FitzGerald is related to the titled family is the first DNA evidence ever produced in the case, and it strongly supports Mrs Fitz-Gerald Caudhill's long-held claim suggesting that her mysterious father was the son of Lady Hermione, the wife of the fifth Duke of Leinster.“DNA test the latest twist in aristocratic tale of a cowboy, a gambler and a web of deceit”
''The Scotsman'', 4 November 2010. ''(Retrieved 6 June 2021.)''

References

External links

*
Leinster Leader, Moving Maynooth visit by FitzGerald

Hermione FitzGerald professional golf

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinster, Maurice Fitzgerald, 9th Duke Of 1948 births Living people People educated at Millfield

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

Dukes of Leinster (1766)