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John FitzGerald (c1200-1261)

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  • 1st Baron of Desmond
  • Lord of Connello
  • Lord of Decies and Desmond (by right of wife)
  • 1261, Killed at Battle of Callann
  • FitzGerald dynasty

John FitzThomas FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond, 1st Baron Desmond, was born circa 1200 in Ireland to Thomas FitzGerald (c1145-c1213) and Ellinor de Marisec (c1150-1220) and died 23 July 1261 Battle of Callann of battle wounds. He married Margery FitzThomas (c1205-1261) 1226 JL in Ireland. He married Honora O'Connor (c1205-) 1232 JL in Ireland.


John FitzThomas, 1st Baron Desmond was the son of Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord OConnello by his wife Ellinor, daughter of Jordan de Marisco, and sister of Geoffrey de Marisco, who was appointed justiciar of Ireland in 1215.[1][2] He was the grandson of Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan.

He was feudal Lord of Connello and in right of his wife, Lord of Decies and Desmond.2 Tradition says he had four (possibly five) illegitimate sons by four different mothers, three of whom he made knights by virtue of his royal status as a Count Palatine, though other sources say they were knighted by King Edward III at the Battle of Halidon Hill . The knighthoods probably became hereditary by long usage because the heads of these junior branches of the Geraldine family were almost always so created on an individual basis

Ancestry

Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord OConnello was the founder of the Desmond line of the FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty and ancestor of the powerful Earls of Desmond (now extinct), as well as other dynasties, including the modern Green Knights of Kerry and former Black Knights of Glin. The other extinct Desmond Geraldines are the Lords of Decies and the White Knights.

Ongoing Norman Conquests in Ireland

John FitzThomas of Shanid acquired lands in northern Kerry and Waterford to add to his Limerick estates, laying the foundations of the power his descendants wielded as earls of Desmond. He enjoyed not only vast new territory, but a family as well. John was wed to Margery FitzAnthony, and by her had a son and heir, Maurice FitzJohn Fitzgerald; who was named for his infamous great-grandfather, the Invader of Ireland.

The mid-thirteenth century more than any other time saw the rise of the Geraldines. In Desmond, South Munster and the lands adjoining, John and his family ruled as absolute monarchs over a hundred miles of territory. Their Fitzgerald cousins in the north and east held the entire county of Kildare, with parts of Meath, Dublin and Carlow. All in all, Fitzgerald castles stretched from Strangford Lough on the coast of Down to the village of Adare, in the southwest of the island. The Welsh-Normans had occupied the village of Adare in County Limerick since the reign of Henry II, and in the thirteenth century it became the property of the family of John FitzThomas Fitzgerald. Here they built Desmond Castle in 1227; a strongly fortified keep built on the site of an ancient ring fort.


1261: Battle of Callann

Battle of Callan Grave

A memorial at the site of the Battle of Callann

In 1259, FitzThomas received a royal grant of Desmond and west Waterford in fee. Fineen MacCarthy, son of Donal Gott MacCarthy and King of Desmond gathered his troops to oppose this.[3] MacCarthy's forces included the O'Sullivans, whom the Norman incursions into Munster in the 1180s had forced from their original homeland in County Tipperary. They became the chief princes underneath their close kinsmen the MacCarthys. MacCarthy was also joined by the O'Donoghue, also related.

In July 1261 the three Gaelic clans joined to face the Normans at the Battle of Callann and won a complete victory.[3] Both John FitzGerald and his son, Maurice FitzJohn, died in the fighting. John FitzGerald was succeeded by his grandson, Maurice's son Thomas FitzGerald (c1250-1296) as the 2nd Baron Desmond.

Family Line

The FitzMaurice Barons and later Earls of Kerry continue in the male line with the current Petty-FitzMaurice Marquesses of Lansdowne, but they descend from the 1st Baron Desmond's nephew, Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Baron of Kerry, son of his brother Maurice FitzThomas. Thus in fact they represent a "sister" branch to the FitzGeralds of Desmond. However this technically makes them slightly closer to the FitzGeralds of Desmond than either are to the Offaly-Kildare-Leinster Geraldines, represented by the modern Dukes of Leinster, who descend from Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly, uncle of the 1st Baron Desmond.

Marriages and issue

1st Marriage: Margery

John was the father of Maurice FitzJohn,

  1. Maurice FitzGerald (c1225-1261) - who died with him at the Battle of Callan. John was succeeded in his baronial title by Maurice's son, Thomas FitzGerald (c1250-1296), 2nd Baron Desmond.
  2. Olyvia fitz John (c1227-) - She married Elias Ketyng

2nd Marriage: Honora

He married, secondly, Honora O'Connor (c1205-), daughter of Hugh O'Connor, The O'Connor Don.2

  1. Sir Gilbert fitz John+3
  2. Sir John fitz John, 1st Knight of Glin+3
  3. Sir Maurice Buidhe fitz John, 1st Knight of Kerry+5 d. 1346
  4. Thomas fitz John5
  5. Philip fitz John+5


Children


Offspring of John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond and Margery FitzThomas (c1205-1261)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Maurice FitzGerald (c1225-1261) 1225 Ireland 23 July 1261 Callan, County Kerry, Ireland Mathilda de Barry (c1225-1293)
Olyvia fitz John (c1227-) 1227 Ireland 9999 Ireland Elias Ketyng


Offspring of John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond and Honora O'Connor (c1205-)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Gilbert FitzGerald (c1230-)
John FitzGerald (c1232-)
Maurice Buidhe FitzGerald (c1234-)
Thomas FitzGerald (c1236-)
Philip FitzGerald (c1238-)



Siblings


Offspring of Thomas FitzGerald (c1145-c1213) and Ellinor de Marisec (c1150-1220)
Name Birth Death Joined with
John FitzGerald (c1200-1261) 1200 Ireland 23 July 1261 Callan, County Kerry, Ireland Margery FitzThomas (c1205-1261)
Honora O'Connor (c1205-)
Maurice FitzThomas (c1201-1253) 1201 Ireland 1253 Ireland


References

  1. ^ Cokayne, George Edward, 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
  2. ^ Burke, Bernard, A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire. London: Harrison. 1866. p. 204
  3. ^ a b Curtis, Edmund. A History of Ireland, Routledge, 2005, ISBN 9781134466665, p. 75
  • [S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume VII, page 200. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
  • [S37] BP2003 volume 1, page 1435. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
  • [S133] Unknown, Pedigree Showing the Descent of the Family of King-Tenison from The White Knight (not published).
  • [S22] Sir Bernard Burke, C.B. LL.D., A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, new edition (1883; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1978), page 204. Hereinafter cited as Burkes Extinct Peerage.
  • [S37] BP2003. [S37]

External links



Footnotes (including sources)

Ω Birth
  • year of birth from father
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Baron Desmond
1st creation
until 1261 		Succeeded by
Thomas FitzGerald (c1250-1296)d
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