Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald (1335–1398), Webb, Alfred.
A Compendium of Irish Biography
'. Dublin: 1878. also known by the Irish Gaelic ''Gearóid Iarla'' (Earl Gerald), was the 3rd

Earl of Desmond Earl of Desmond ( meaning Earl of South Munster) is a title of nobility created by the English monarch in the peerage of Ireland. The title has been created four times. It was first awarded in 1329 to Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, Maur ...

, in southwestern Ireland, under the first creation of that title, and a member of the Anglo-Norman dynasty of the

FitzGerald Fitzgerald may refer to: People * Fitzgerald (surname), a surname * Fitzgerald Hinds, Trinidadian politician * Fitzgerald Toussaint (born 1990), former American football running back Place Australia * Fitzgerald River National Park, a nati ...

, or

Geraldines The FitzGerald dynasty is a Hiberno-Norman noble and aristocratic dynasty, originally of Cambro-Norman and Anglo-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the Four M ...

. He was the son of

Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond (died 25 January 1356) 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 ...

, by his third wife Aveline (Eleanor), daughter of Nicholas FitzMaurice, 3rd

Lord of Kerry Baron Kerry is an ancient title in the Peerage of Ireland, named after County Kerry. It was created circa 1223 for Thomas FitzMaurice, Lord OConnello, son of Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan. In 1325, Maurice FitzMaurice, 4th Baron Ke ...

. He was half-brother to

Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Desmond Maurice FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Desmond (d. 1358 Year 1358 ( MCCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 10 – Muhammad II as Said becomes ruler of the ...

. Maurice Fitzgerald, 2nd Earl of Desmond, would have been followed by Gerald's older brother, Nicholas, but Nicholas was described as "an idiot", and so was passed over for the earldom. Because of this, some older histories list Gerald as the 4th Earl.

Life

In 1356 he was brought to England as a hostage for his father's good behaviour, but as his father died that same year, he was soon released. Three years later, he succeeded his brother Maurice, who had died without male heirs, and became the 3rd Earl of Desmond. King

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

confirmed Gerald in his large estates in Munster, provided that he marry Eleanor Butler, daughter of the Justiciar,

James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond (4 October 133118 October 1382) was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland. He was Lord Justice of Ireland in 1359, 1364, and 1376, and a dominant political leader in Ireland in the 1360s and 1370s. The son of James B ...

. Gerald did so, but did not make peace with Ormond, nor adopt English ways and customs as expected.

Career and poetry

According to

Alfred Webb Alfred John Webb (10 June 1834 – 30 July 1908) was an Irish Quaker from a family of activist printers. He became an Irish Parliamentary Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP), as well as a participant in nationalist movements around ...

: ''Duanaire Ghearóid Iarla'' (‘'The Poem-Book of Earl Gerald'') is preserved in a fifteenth-century manuscript, the Book of Fermoy. In addition, nine of his poems are preserved in the Book of the Dean of Lismore. ''Duanaire Ghearóid Iarla'' was published by Gearóid Mac Niocaill in Studia Hibernica 3 (1963): 7-59. In 1367 Desmond was made

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

, but was soon replaced by Sir William de Windsor. In 1370 Brian O'Brien of

Thomond Thomond ( Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the Kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nena ...

expelled his cousin Turlough. Desmond attempted to reinstate him. Brian marched on Limerick, and defeated Desmond, burning the city and Desmond's lands and imprisoning him. While in prison, Gerald wrote poetry in Irish, most famously the poem ''Mairg adeir olc ris na mnáibh'' (''Speak not ill of womankind''). Also an accomplished poet in Norman French, Gerald was instrumental in the move by the Desmond

towards greater use of the Irish language.

In legend

In legend, Gerald's conception was the result of his father's romantic relationship with, or rape of, the goddess

Áine Áine () is an Irish goddess of summer, wealth, and sovereignty. She is associated with midsummer and the sun,MacKillop, James (1998) ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' Oxford: Oxford University Press pp.10, 16, 128 and is sometimes represent ...

, a legend that draws upon a pre-existing

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic legend about the

King of Munster The kings of Munster () ruled the Kingdom of Munster in Ireland from its establishment during the Irish Iron Age until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasions'', the earli ...

Ailill Aulom Ailill Ollamh (or Oilill Olum) in Irish traditional history was the son of Mug Nuadat and was a king of the southern half of Ireland, placed in the 3rd century by early modern Irish genealogy. Sadb ingen Chuinn, daughter of Conn of the Hundred B ...

raping this deity, updating it with themes drawn from the Francophone courtly love poetry of Continental Europe, in particular the motif of the man who falls in love with a

swan maiden The "swan maiden" () is a tale classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, ATU 400, "The Swan Maiden" or "The Man on a Quest for His Lost Wife," in which a man makes a pact with, or marries, a supernatural female being who later departs. The ...

. The Geraldine claim to an association with Áine is typical of the family's

Gaelicisation Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaels, Gaelic or gaining characteristics of the ''Gaels'', a sub-branch of Celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread fro ...

. After his disappearance in 1398, another legend grew up that Gerald sleeps in a cave beside (or under)

Lough Gur Lough Gur () is a lake in County Limerick, Ireland between the towns of Herbertstown and Bruff. The lake forms a horseshoe shape at the base of Knockadoon Hill and some rugged elevated countryside. It is one of Ireland's most important archaeo ...

, and will someday awaken and ride forth on a silver-shod steed to rule again in Desmond, – one of the many worldwide versions of the

King asleep in mountain The king asleep in the mountain (D 1960.2 in Stith Thompson's Motif (folkloristics), motif-index) is a prominent folklore Trope (literature), trope found in many folktales and legends. Thompson termed it as the Kyffhäuser type. Some other design ...

mythologisation of heroes.

Marriage and issue

In 1359 Gerald married Eleanor (or Ellen) Butler, daughter of

. She died in 1404. They had four sons: # John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond # Maurice FitzGerald #

James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond (d. 1462), called 'the Usurper', was a younger son of Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, and Lady Eleanor, daughter of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond. Life The younger brother of John FitzGerald ...

, 'the Usurper' # Robert FitzGerald de Adair and two daughters: # Joan, who married Maurice FitzJohn, Lord of Kerry # Catherine, who married John FitzThomas

Ancestry

References

External links

''The Noble Earl''
a review in the ''Dublin Review of Books'' of ''Scéal Ghearóid Iarla'' by Máire Mhac an tSaoi {{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, Gerald Fitzgerald, 3rd Earl Of 1335 births 1398 deaths 14th-century Irish nobility Áine Normans in Ireland Earls of Desmond (1329 creation)

Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

Missing person cases in Ireland People from County Cork King asleep in mountain Lords Lieutenant of Ireland