Desmond John Villiers FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin (13 July 1937 – 14 September 2011)
rte.ie; accessed 1 May 2016.
/ref> was an Anglo-Irish hereditary knight,Profile
, newyorksocialdiary.com; accessed 1 May 2016. and author. He was the president of the Irish Georgian Society between 1991 and until his death in 2011.

Career

The son of Desmond FitzGerald, 28th Knight of Glin (1901–1949), and Veronica Villiers (daughter of

Ernest Villiers Ernest Amherst Villiers (14 November 1863 – 26 September 1923), was a British clergyman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. Villiers was the son of Reverend Charles Villiers of Croft-on-Tees, Croft, Yorkshire, and his wife Florence Mar ...

, M.P.), FitzGerald was born in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

into an old

Hiberno-Norman Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans (; ) is a modern term for the descendants of Norman settlers who arrived during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. Most came from England and Wales. They are distinguished from the native ...

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

family of

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

Obituary
independent.co.uk; accessed 1 May 2016. and was educated at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He worked at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London, in the furniture department. He later returned to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and became active in conservation issues, becoming involved with the Irish Georgian Society. He was appointed its president in 1991. He has also represented the

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

art auctioneers in Ireland. He died in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 2011.

Family

He first married

Loulou de la Falaise Louise Vava Lucia Henriette Le Bailly de La Falaise (; 4 May 1947 – 5 November 2011), known as Loulou de la Falaise, was an English fashion muse and accessory and jewellery designer associated with Yves Saint Laurent. Author Judith Thurma ...

. In 1970, he married his second wife, Olda Ann Willes, daughter of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Thomas and Georgina Willes. His three daughters are: landscape designer

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

(who married actor

Dominic West Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director, producer, and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's '' The Affair'' (20 ...

in 2010 and was previously married to Ned Lambton), artist Nesta, and Honor. At the time of his death, he had four grandchildren – Dora, Senan, Francis, and Rose, as well as a step-granddaughter, Martha.

Title

FitzGerald was the last

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with ...

; as he had no sons and the title cannot be passed to a daughter, the title became dormant with his death.Interview
independent.ie; accessed 1 May 2016. A similar title, the

Knight of Kerry Knight of Kerry (), also called The Green Knight, is one of three Hiberno-Norman Knight#Ireland, hereditary knighthoods, all of which existed in Ireland since feudal times. The other two were White Knight (Fitzgibbon family), The White Knight ( ...

, is held by his distant cousins.

Glin Castle

FitzGerald divided his time between

Glin Castle Glin Castle is a Georgian country house and protected structure located along the River Shannon in Glin, County Limerick, Ireland. It was built in the late 18th century to replace an earlier tower house of the same name. The estate has belong ...

, Glin,

, which he inherited as a child, and his

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

. He devoted his life to restoring the belongings of the castle, which had been sold due to previous financial difficulties, and rebuilding and finishing the remaining parts of the estate including the Georgian house that had remained incomplete for centuries.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* Book about Desmond FitzGerald: ''The Last Knight: A Tribute to Desmond Fitzgerald, 29th Knight of Glin'' by Robert O'Byrne, Lilliput Press, September 2013;.

Publications

* FitzGerald, Desmond, and James Peill, with photography by James Fennell. ''The Irish Country House'', New York, Vendome Press, 2010 * FitzGerald, Desmond, and James Peill. ''Irish Furniture'', New Haven, Yale University Press, 2007

External links

Bibliography by Knight of Glin
amazon.ca; accessed 1 May 2016.
''Desmond Fitzgerald profile''
limerickcity.ie; accessed 1 May 2016.
The Knight of Glin Papers, University of Limerick, accessed 14 August 2016.
(Ireland) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Desmond Irish knights Desmond 1937 births 2011 deaths Irish architectural historians Writers from County Limerick University of British Columbia alumni Harvard University alumni People associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum