Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare (d. before 24 June 1428) was an Irish peer. Gerald was the son of

Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare (1318 - 25 August 1390) was a prominent Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland who held the office of Lord Justice of Ireland. The second son of Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare by hi ...

and Elizabeth Burghersh.

Career

Gerald served as

Justiciar of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarch ...

in 1405.thepeerage.com Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare
/ref> In 1407 he defeated the O'Carrol clan at Kilkenny. About 1418 he emerged as a leading opponent of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. Together with

Christopher Preston, 2nd Baron Gormanston Christopher Preston, 2nd Baron Gormanston ( 1354 – 1422) was an Anglo-Irish peer and statesman. He was accused of treason and imprisoned in 1418-19, but was soon released and restored to Royal favour. Early career He was the son of Robert Pre ...

, he was accused of treasonable correspondence with

Thomas Le Boteller Thomas Le Boteller, or Thomas Butler, nicknamed Thomas ''Bacach'' i.e. ''Thomas the Lame'' (before 1386 – 1420), was the illegitimate son of the 3rd Earl of Ormond, and a leading political figure in early fifteenth-century Ireland. He held the o ...

, the Prior of the Order of

Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum. History In t ...

, imprisoned and threatened with forfeiture of his titles and estates. No plausible evidence of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

was produced against either Kildare or Gormanston, and they were released and restored to their estates. It is unlikely that either of these elderly pillars of the Anglo-Irish establishment were guilty of anything more serious than opposition to Shrewsbury's policies. He was buried at the Grey Abbey at

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

Family

Gerald married, firstly, Margaret Rocheford, daughter of Sir John Rocheford. Their children included: *Thomas FitzGerald, died before his father without issue. *Lady Joan FitzGerald d. Jul 1452, married James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde , who claimed the Kildare title in right of his wife. He married secondly, Agnes Darcy, daughter of Philip Darcy, 4th Baron Darcy de Knayth and Elizabeth Gray. Their children included: *Elizabeth FitzGerald, who married John Grey, 2nd

Baron Grey of Codnor The title of Baron Grey of Codnor is a title in the peerage of England. This barony was called out of abeyance in 1989, after 493 years, in favour of the Cornwall-Legh family of East Hall, High Legh, Cheshire. The Lords Grey of Codnor are seni ...

. He reputedly had one illegitimate son, Richard. He has been identified as Richard FitzGerald of Ballysonan, who married into the Castlemartin family, and was the ancestor of the

Baron of Dunsany The title Baron of Dunsany or, more commonly, Lord Dunsany, is one of the oldest dignities in the Peerage of Ireland, one of just a handful of 13th- to 15th-century titles still extant, having had 21 holders, of the Plunkett name, to date. Other ...

. Since his only legitimate son predeceased him the title should have passed to his brother John,

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

6th Earl, although his son-in-law, the Earl of Ormonde, also claimed the title in right of his wife, Joan. The dispute was eventually resolved in favour of John's son

Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare ( – 25 March 1477), was an Irish peer and statesman of the fifteenth century who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Background Kildare was the son of John Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, 6th ...

.Otway-Ruthven

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kildare, Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Earl of

Gerald Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iris ...

1432 deaths 15th-century Irish people People from County Kildare 14th-century births Earls of Kildare Lords Lieutenant of Ireland