Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond (died 1520) was the brother of James FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Desmond.

Cokayne, George Edward George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standar ...

,
Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Volume III
'. London: George Bell & Sons. 1890. p. 83

Life

Upon the murder of James FitzThomas FitzGerald, the 8th Earl of Desmond, in 1487, his brother Maurice became the 9th Earl of Desmond. The murderer, John Murtagh was apprehended and put to death.Connellan, Owen. ''The Annals of Ireland [from A.D. 1171 to A.D. 1616'', Dublin. Brian Geraghty, 1846, p. 312
/ref> In 1489 a plague ravaged the country, followed by a famine in 1497, and many died. According to Alfred Webb: "Being lame, and usually carried in a horse-litter, he was styled 'Vehiculus,' and by some, on account of his bravery, 'Bellicosus.'"Alfred Webb, Webb, Alfred.
A Compendium of Irish Biography
'. Dublin: 1878. In 1495, Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald supported the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, in the

Siege of Waterford The city of Waterford in southeastern Ireland was besieged twice during 1649 and 1650 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The town was held by Irish Confederate Catholic under General Richard Farrell and English Royalist troops u ...

and other expeditions. Nevertheless, making a humble submission, King Henry VII not only forgave, but took him into favour, 26 August 1497, and granted him all the 'customs, pockets, poundage, and prize-wines of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Cork, Kingsale,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...

l, with other privileges and advantages.' About the year 1500, Maurice FitzGerald rebuilt Desmond Castle, a three-story tower house in the town of Kinsale, to serve as a Customs House for wine and gunpowder. "The condition of the inhabitants within

the Pale The Pale (Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast st ...

at this period is thus described by a contemporary writer: 'What with the extortion of coyne and lyverye dayly, and wyth the wrongful exaction of osteing money, and of carryage and cartage dayly, and what with the Kinge's great subsydye yerely, and with the said trybute, and blak-rent to the Kinge's Iryshe enymyes, and other infynyt extortions, and dayly exactions, all the Englyshe folke of the countys of Dublyn, Kyldare, Meathe, and Uryell ben more oppressyd with than any other folke of this land, Englyshe or Iryshe, and of worsse condition be they athysside than in the marcheis.' O'Daly thus writes of Earl Maurice: 'This man was subsequently far famed for his martial exploits. He augmented his power and possessions — for all his sympathies were English — and a furious scourge was he to the Irish, who never ceased to rebel against the crown of England. The bitterest enemy of the

Geraldines 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 ...

he made his prisoner, to wit, MacCarthy Mor, Lord of Muskerry; and now having passed thirty years opulent, powerful, and dreaded, he died 520to the sorrow of his friends and the exultation of his enemies.' He was buried at

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in Count ...

. His first wife was daughter of Lord Fermoy; his second, daughter of the White Knight."

Marriage and issue

Maurice first married Ellen, Burke, Bernard,
A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire
'. London: Harrison. 1866. p. 205 daughter of Maurice Roche, 2nd Lord of Fermoy (distantly related to the Barons Fermoy), and his wife Lady Joan FitzGerald, daughter of James FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Desmond, and had issue: # Thomas FitzMaurice, who predeceased his father, leaving behind one daughter #

James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond James fitz Maurice FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond (died 1529), 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. Birth and origins James was born ...

# Joan, who married Cormac Óg MacCarthy # Ellis, who married Connor O'Brien, King of Thomond Maurice's second wife was Honora, daughter of the White Knight.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of

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 ...

15th-century Irish people 16th-century Irish people 1520 deaths Normans in Ireland Norman warriors People of the Tudor period Year of birth unknown Earls of Desmond (1329 creation)