James Fitzgerald, 14th Earl of Desmond (d. 1558), second son of John (Seán) FitzGerald, de facto 13th Earl of Desmond

Earl of Desmond

The title of Earl of Desmond has been held historically by lords in Ireland, first as a title outside of the peerage system and later as part of the Peerage of Ireland....

, and Móre O'Brien, daughter of Donogh O'Brien of Carrigogunnell, Lord of Pobble.

Early years

Immediately on the death of his grandfather in June 1536, James FitzGerald assumed the position and title of Earl of Desmond. In order to support his position, FitzGerald united with O'Brien of Thomond, the head of the discontented party in Ireland. The government, which had just suppressed the rebellion of Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare

Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare

Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare , also known as Silken Thomas , was a figure in Irish history.He spent a considerable part of his early life in England: his mother Elizabeth Zouche, was a cousin of Henry VII...

, could not brook such insolence, and accordingly on 25 July, 1536, Lord Leonard Grey, Lord Deputy of Ireland

Lord Deputy of Ireland

The Lord Deputy was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and later the Kingdom of Ireland...

 marched against him. Breaching the border of Cashel, Grey sought to separate FitzGerald from O'Brien, "so as we might have entangled but with one of them at once." Grey then marched forward and took possession of FitzGerald's castle in Lough Gur, the doors and windows of which had been carried away and the roof burnt by the rebels themselves. Grey then entrusted Lough Gur to Lord James Butler, who made it defensible.

Claim to the earldom

Fitzgerald had no intention of imitating his unfortunate kinsman Thomas, Earl of Kildare. Although he refused to place his person within the power of the deputy, "he showed himself in gesture and communication very reasonable." Moreover, he offered to deliver up his two sons as hostages for his loyalty, and to submit his claims to the earldom to the decision of Lord Grey. FitzGerald's claim was renewed in December of the same year. "And as far as ever I could perceive," wrote Grey to Thomas Cromwell in February 1537, "the stay that keepeth him from inclining to the king's grace's pleasure is the fear and doubt which he and all the Geraldines in Munster have in the Lord James Butler, both for the old malice that hath been betwixt their bloods, and principally for that he claimeth title by his wife to the earldom of Desmond."

Grey argued in favour of FitzGerald's claims. In August 1538, Anthony St Leger

Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy of Ireland)

Sir Anthony St Leger was Lord Deputy of Ireland during the Tudor period.The eldest son of Ralph St Leger, a gentleman of Kent and Elizabeth Haut. He was educated abroad and at the University of Cambridge. He quickly gained the favour of King Henry VIII, and in 1537 was appointed president of a...

, who was at the time serving on the commission "for the order and establishment to be taken and made touching the whole state of Ireland," was advised by Cromwell "to handle the said James in a gentle sort." Accordingly, on the 15th of September, FitzGerald was invited to submit his claims to the commissioners at Dublin. Suspecting their intention, he declined to place himself in their power, though signing articles of submission and promising to deliver up his eldest son as hostage for his good faith. The negotiations continued to be delayed. In March 1538, the commissioners wrote that FitzGerald "hath not only delivered his son, according to his first promise, to the hands of Mr. William Wyse of Waterford to be delivered unto us, but also hath affirmed by his secretary and writing all that he afore promised."

Fortune's chance

FitzGerald had good reason for his cautious conduct. The Ormonde faction in the council, violently opposed to Grey and St. Leger, were assiduously striving to effect his ruin by entangling him in rebellious projects. In July 1539, John Allen

John Allen

-Politicians:*John Allen , U.S. Representative from Connecticut*John B. Allen , first U.S. Senator from Washington*John Clayton Allen , U.S. Representative from Illinois...

 related to Cromwell how the "pretended Earl of Desmond" had confederated with O'Donnell and O'Neill "to make insurrection against the king's majesty and his subjects, not only for the utter exile and destruction of them, but also for the bringing in, setting up, and restoring young Gerald (the sole surviving scion of the house of Kildare) to all the possessions and pre-eminences which his father had; and so finally among them to exclude the king from all his regalities within this land."

In April 1540 the council informed the king that "your grace's servant James Fitzmaurice

James FitzMaurice FitzGerald

James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald was a member of the 16th century ruling Geraldine dynasty in the province of Munster in Ireland. He rebelled against the crown authority of Queen Elizabeth I of England in response to the onset of the Tudor conquest of Ireland and was deemed an archtraitor...

, who claimed to be Earl of Desmond, was cruelly slain the Friday before Palm Sunday, of unfortunate chance, by Maurice Fitzjohn, brother to James Fitzjohn, then usurper of the earldom of Desmond. After which murder done, the said James Fitzjohn immediately resorted to your town of Youghal

Youghal

Youghal is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Sitting on the estuary of the River Blackwater, in the past it was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout...

, where he was well received and entertained, and ere he departed entered into all such piles and garrisons in the county of Cork as your majesty's deputy, with the assistance of your army and me, the Earl of Ormonde, obtained before Christmas last."

Ormonde was sent to parley with FitzGerald, but he refused to trust him. On the arrival of St. Leger, as deputy, however, FitzGerald again renewed his offer of submission, and promised, upon pledges being given for his safety, to meet him at Cashel. This he did, and on bended knees renounced the supremacy of the pope. "And then," writes St. Leger, "considering the great variance between the Earl of Ormonde and him, concerning the title of the earldom of Desmond ... I and my fellows thought it not good to leave that cancer remain, but so laboured the matter on both sides, that we have brought them to a final end of the said title."

Investiture

St. Leger assured the king "that sith my repair into this your land I have not heard better counsel of no man for the reformation of the same than of the said Earl of Desmond, who undoubted is a very wise and discreet gentleman," for which reason, he said, he had sworn him of the council and given him "gown, jacket, doublet, hose, shirts, caps, and a riding coat of velvet, which he took very thankfully, and ware the same in Limerick and in all places where he went with me." By such conciliatory conduct did St. Leger, in the opinion of Justice Cusack, win over to obedience the whole province of Munster.

In July 1541, James FitzGerald he was appointed chief executor of the "ordinances for the reformation of Ireland" in Munster. In token of the renunciation of the privilege claimed by his ancestors of not being obliged to attend the great councils of the realm, he took his seat in a parliament held at Dublin. In June 1542 he visited England, where, being admitted to the presence of the king, he was by him graciously received, his title acknowledged, and the king himself wrote to the Irish council "that the Earl of Desmond hath here submitted himself in so honest, lowly, and humble a sort towards us, as we have conceived a very great hope that he will prove a man of great honour, truth, and good service." Nor did he, during the rest of his life, fail to justify this opinion. On 9 July 1543 he obtained a grant of the crown lease of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, "for his better supporting at his repair" to parliament.

By Edward VI he was created Lord Treasurer on the death of the Earl of Ormonde

Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormonde

Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond and 1st Earl of Ossory , also known as Red Piers, was from the Polestown branch of the Butler family of Ireland.-Claims to the title:...

 (patent 29 March 1547), and on 15 October, 1547, when thanking him for his services in repressing disorders in Munster, the king offered to make a companion of his son. During the government of Bellingham he was suspected of treasonable designs, and having refused a peremptory order to appear in Dublin, the deputy swooped down upon him unexpectedly in the dead of winter, 1548, and carried him off prisoner. He was soon released and continued in office by Mary.

Marriages and progeny

James FitzGerald married four times: first, Joan Roche, daughter of Maurice, Lord Fermoy, and his own grandniece, for which reason, the marriage was annulled. Their son, Sir Tomás Ruadh FitzGerald of Conna (father of James (Séamus) Fitzgerald, "the Sugán Earl," was duly disinherited. James FitzGerald then married Móre O'Carroll, daughter of Sir Maolrony McShane O'Carroll, Lord of Ely, by whom he had Géaroîd

Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond

Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond was an Irish nobleman and leader of the Desmond Rebellions of 1579.-Life:...

, his heir, as well as a son, Seán, and four daughters. Móre O'Carroll died in 1548. FitzGerald's third wife was Caitríona Butler, second daughter of Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, and widow of Richard, Baron le Poer who died at Askeaton

Askeaton

Askeaton is a town in County Limerick, Ireland. Located on the N69, the town is built on the banks of the River Deel some 3 km upstream from the estuary of the River Shannon. There is also a secondary school in Askeaton...

, 17 March 1553. His last marriage was to Evelyn Mór MacCarthy, daughter of Donal MacCormac, MacCarthy Môr, by whom he had a son, Sir Séamus-Sussex Fitzgerald who died in 1580, and a daughter, Elinor.

Death

In the summer of 1558 the 14th Earl of Desmond was attacked by a serious illness, and died at Askeaton on Thursday, 27 October. He was buried in the abbey of the White Friars, Tralee. Within a half century after James FitzGerald's death, chroniclers of the Annals of Four Masters observed, "The loss of this good man was woful to his country; for there was no need to watch cattle, or close doors from Dun-caoin, in Kerry, to the green bordered meeting of the three waters, on the confines of the province of Eochaidh, the son of Lachta and Leinster."