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  • Lord of Maynooth, Naas, and Llanstephan
  • Grandson of King of South Wales
  • 1169: Norman Invasion of Ireland
  • Maurice, "Invader of Ireland"
  • FitzGerald dynasty

Biography

Maurice FitzGerald. Lord of Llanstephan was born circa 1105 in Carew, Wales to Gerald FitzWalter (c1070-1136) and Nest ferch Rhys (c1085-1136) and died 1 September 1176 Grey Friars, Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland of unspecified causes. He married Alice of Montgomery (c1120-aft1175) 1128 JL in Wales.

Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Maynooth, Naas, and Llanstephan[1] (born: almost certainly not at Windsor Castle, more likely Carew in Wales c.1105 – September c.1176 Wexford, Ireland. He was a medieval Anglo-Norman baron and a major figure in the Norman Invasion of Ireland.[2]

Wars in Wales and Ireland

Llansteffan Castle Llansteffan

Llanstephan Castle

A Welsh Marcher Lord, Lord Llanstephan had fought alongside his older brother William FitzGerald, and half-brother Robert FitzStephen, constable of Cardigan, under Robert FitzMartin at the Battle of Crug Mawr in Wales in 1136.

Llansteffan Castle overlooks the River Tywi estuary where it enters Carmarthen Bay. It was captured by Maredudd ap Gruffydd in 1146 against the forces of Maurice FitzGerald and his brother William, Lord of Emlyn who were the leading Norman settlers of the region. The castle was retaken by the Normans in 1158.[3]

Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough), the deposed King of Leinster who had been exiled by the High King of Ireland, sought Cambro-Norman assistance to regain his throne. Lord Llanstephan participated in the resulting 1169 Norman invasion of Ireland. He assisted his younger half-brother Robert Fitz-Stephen in the Siege of Wexford (1169). His nephew Raymond was Strongbow's second-in-command and had the chief share both in the capture of Waterford and in the successful assault on Dublin in 1171. Lord Lanstephan and his son's the FitzMaurices also fought in this battle.[2]

He died on 1 September 1176.2 He was buried at Grey Friars, Wexford, County Wexford, IrelandG.4

He was also known as Maurice de Windsor.1 He gained the title of Lord of Llanstephan, Wales [feudal barony].2 In 1167 he was pledged Wexford by Dermot MacMurrogh, King of Leinster, if he would help restore him to his kingdom.2 In 1169 at IrelandG he went to Ireland and helped secure Wexford and Dublin.2 He held the office of Joint Keeper of Dublin after 1171, by King Henry II.2 He gained the title of Baron of Naas [feudal barony].5 He gained the title of Lord of Maynooth [feudal barony].5


Marriage and issue

Maurice FitzGerald, Lord Llanstephan is known to have married Alice de Montgomery, a daughter of Arnulf de Montgomery.[4] It has been asserted by eminent authorities that Arnulf left, by his wife, Lafracoth, a daughter, Alice, and that she was later the wife of Maurice FitzGerald, son of Gerald FitzWalter (Gerald of Windsor). By Maurice, one of the first conquerors of Ireland, who died in 1176, she was the mother of Gerald (died 1205), who laid the fortunes of the FitzGeralds of Kildare. (Even Curtis - referenced below - says he can't find a source for Alice and, on the whole, she seems a)unlikely to have existed and b)impossible for Maurice to have met.) Alice herself was living in 1171, and was then in Ireland with her husband and sons.[5] Maurice FitzGerald, by his wife Alice, had the following children:

  1. Thomas FitzGerald (c1145-c1213), Lord OConnello (d.1213)
  2. Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly (b.1150, d.1204) - the 1st Lord of Offaly was the progenitor of the FitzGerald and FitzMaurice Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster.
  3. William FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Naas (d.1199)
  4. Maurice FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Kiltrany
  5. Alexander FitzMaurice
  6. Robert FitzMaurice
  7. Nesta FitzMaurice (m.Hervey de Montmorenci, Constable of England)

The original Earldom of Desmond in the province of Munster was based on landholdings belonging to the descendants of Maurice's eldest son Thomas FitzGerald (c1145-c1213), Lord OConnello. Thomas's son John FitzMaurice FitzThomas, who was killed in the Battle of Callann, became the 1st Baron Desmond. Others from this line include the Knights of Glin and Knights of Kerry.[6]



Children


Offspring of Maurice FitzGerald. Lord of Llanstephan and Alice of Montgomery (c1120-aft1175)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Thomas FitzGerald (c1145-c1213) 1175 1213 Ellinor de Marisec (c1150-1220)
Gerald FitzMaurice (c1150-bef1204) 1150 Wales, United Kingdom 15 January 1204 Eve de Bermingham (?-c1225)
Alexander FitzMaurice
William of Naas (?-c1199)
Maurice of Kiltrany
Robert FitzMaurice
Nesta FitzMaurice



Siblings


Offspring of Gerald FitzWalter (c1070-1136) and Nest ferch Rhys (c1085-1136)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Maurice FitzGerald (c1105-1176) 1105 Carew, Wales 1 September 1176 Grey Friars, Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland Alice of Montgomery (c1120-aft1175)
William FitzGerald (c1106-1173)
David FitzGerald (c1107-1176)


Ancestry

Maurice FitzGerald, Lord Llanstephan was the second eldest son of Gerald FitzWalter known as Gerald de Windsor, Constable of Pembroke by his wife, Nest ferch Rhys, Princess of Deheubarth and a member of the Welsh royal House of Dinefwr.


References

  1. ^ FitzGerald
  2. ^ a b Cokayne 1890
  3. ^ Lloyd, Thomas; Orbach, Julian; Scourfield, Robert (2006). Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. London: Yale University Press. pp. 331–332. ISBN 0-300-10179-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=wEkcJb2lHx8C&pg=PA331. 
  4. ^ Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700. Eighth ed. (2008), p. 169. Line 178-3.
  5. ^ Curtis, E. "Murchertach O'Brien, High King of Ireland, and His Norman Son-in-Law, Arnulf De Montgomery, circa 1100". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 11, no. 2, (1921), pp. 123-124.
  6. ^ Round 1911, p. 443.
  • [S37] BP2003 volume 1, page 682. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
  • [S37] BP2003. [S37]
  • [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.
  • [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.
  • [S47] BIFR1976 Barron, page 62. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S47]

See Also

Residences

Footnotes (including sources)

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