George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare (23 January 1612 – 29 May 1660) was known as the "Fairy Earl", apparently for no other reason than that his portrait, which is extant, was painted on a small scale."

Biography

FitzGerald was the son of Thomas FitzGerald (died 1619) and Frances (1576–1618), daughter of Thomas Randolph, and grandson of

Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare Gerard FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (1487 – 12 December 1534; Irish: ''Gearóid Óg Mac Gearailt'', meaning "Young Gerald FitzGerald"), was a leading figure in 16th-century Irish history. In 1513 he inherited the title of Earl of Kildar ...

. George Fitzgerald was in his ninth year when, in 1620, he inherited the Kildare peerage, on the death of Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Kildare, at the age of eight years and ten months. Earl George was given in wardship by the king to

Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox and 1st Duke of Richmond (29 September 157416 February 1624) was a Scotland, Scottish nobleman and a second cousin of King James VI and I. He was involved in court theatre and the Plantation of Ulster in ...

. On the decease of the latter, his widow transferred the wardship of the minor and his estates to

Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as 'the Great Earl of Cork', was an English politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland. Lord Cork was an important figure in the continu ...

, for £6,600. Kildare studied for a time at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and in his eighteenth year married Joan, fourth daughter of Lord Cork. He appears to have been much under the influence of that astute adventurer; but occasional differences occurred between them, for the settlement of which the intervention of the lord deputy, Wentworth, was obtained. A portrait of Kildare, painted in 1632, in which he is represented as of diminutive stature, is extant at Carton, the residence of the Duke of Leinster. There is also preserved at Carton a transcript, made in 1633 for Kildare, of an ancient volume known as the "Red Book of the Earls of Kildare". Kildare sat for the first time in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

, in 1634, and was appointed colonel of a foot regiment in the English army in Ireland. With pecuniary advances from Lord Cork Kildare rebuilt the decayed castle of his ancestors at

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

in the county of Kildare.

James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb (writer), Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of ...

, the English dramatist, during his visit to Dublin in 1637–1638, was befriended by Kildare, and dedicated to him his tragi-comedy entitled 'The Royal Master,' acted at the castle and the theatre, Dublin, in 1638. Kildare was about that time committed to prison for having disobeyed an order made by the lord deputy for the delivery of documents connected with a suit at law with Lord Digby. In 1641 Kildare was appointed governor of the county of Kildare, and subsequently took part with the leaders of the protestant party in Ireland in opposing the movements of the Irish Catholics to obtain from Charles I redress of their grievances. Correspondence between Kildare and the viceroy, Duke of Ormonde, in 1644 appears in the third and fourth volumes of the "History of the Irish Confederation and War." In January 1646 Kildare and the Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde became sureties to the extent of £10,000 each for the Edward Somerset, Earl of Glamorgan, on the occasion of his liberation from prison at Dublin. Kildare acted as governor of Dublin under the Parliamentarian colonel, Michael Jones, in 1647, and in 1649 he received a pension of 46s. weekly from the government. In a subsequent petition to the chief justice of Munster Kildare stated that during eleven years he and his family had been driven to great extremities and endured much hardship in England and Ireland through his constant adherence and faithful affection to the parliament of England; that he was then, for debt, under restraint in London, and had despatched his wife and some of his servants to Ireland in hopes to raise a considerable sum out of his estate for his enlargement and subsistence. Kildare died early in 1660. He was buried at Kildare. His second son, Wentworth, succeeded him as 17th

Earl of Kildare Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

Family

Kildare married Lady Joan Boyle (1611–1656) on 15 August 1630. She was the daughter of

and his second wife Catherine Fenton. George and Joan had three sons and six daughters. One of the sons (Robert, the eldest) and two of the daughters died young. One more of the daughters, Catherine, did not marry. * Wentworth FitzGerald, 17th Earl of Kildare (1632 – 5 March 1664) married Lady Elizabeth Holles. *Lady Eleanor Fitzgerald (Christened 18 May 1634 – 3 August 1681 married Sir Walter Borrowes, 2nd Baronet. *

Robert Fitzgerald Robert Stuart Fitzgerald (12 October 1910 – 16 January 1985) was an American poet, literary critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students".Mitgang, Herbert (Januar ...

(born 1638), married Mary Clotworthy and was the father of Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare. *Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald (1642 – died c. 1697/98) married Callaghan MacCarty, 3rd Earl of Clancarty, and subsequently Sir William Davys, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. *Frances married Sir James Shaen, 1st Baronet.

Notes

External links

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Accessed 8 May 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kildare, George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of George 1612 births 1660 deaths 17th-century Irish nobility People from County Kildare Earls of Kildare Barons Offaly