John FitzThomas, 1st Baron Desmond (died 1261) was the son of Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord OConnello by his wife Ellinor, daughter of Jordan de Marisco, and sister of Geoffrey de Marisco, who was appointed justiciar of Ireland in 1215. Cokayne, George Edward,
Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Volume III
'. London: George Bell & Sons. 1890. p. 83 He was the grandson of

Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan Maurice FitzGerald ( 1105 – c. September 1176) was Lord of Maynooth, Naas and Llanstephan. He was a medieval Anglo-Norman baron and a major figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland. Cokayne 1890 Wars in Wales and Ireland A Welsh Marcher L ...

.Pedigree of the family of Wynne, of Peniarth
William Watkin E. Wynne, Taylor & Co., London, 1872, p. 3-12 Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord OConnello was the founder of the Desmond line of the FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty and ancestor of the powerful

Earls of Desmond Earl of Desmond ( meaning Earl of South Munster) is a title of nobility created by the English monarch in the peerage of Ireland. The title has been created four times. It was first awarded in 1329 to Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, Maur ...

(now extinct), as well as other dynasties, including the modern Green Knights of Kerry and former Black Knights of Glin. The other extinct Desmond Geraldines are the Lords of Decies and the White Knights. In 1259, FitzThomas received a royal grant of Desmond and west Waterford in fee. Fineen MacCarthy, son of Donal Gott MacCarthy and King of Desmond gathered his troops to oppose this.Curtis, Edmund. ''A History of Ireland'', Routledge, 2005
, p. 75 MacCarthy's forces included the

O'Sullivan O'Sullivan may refer to: People * O'Sullivan family, a gaelic Irish clan * O'Sullivan (surname), a family name * Sullivan (surname), a variation of the O'Sullivan family name Places * O'Sullivan Dam, Washington, United States * O'Sullivan Army He ...

s, whom the Norman incursions into Munster in the 1180s had forced from their original homeland in County Tipperary. They became the chief princes underneath their close kinsmen the MacCarthys. MacCarthy was also joined by the O'Donoghue, also related. In July 1261 the three Gaelic clans joined to face the Normans at the Battle of Callann and won a complete victory. Both John FitzGerald and his son, Maurice FitzJohn, died in the fighting. John FitzGerald was succeeded by his grandson, Maurice's son Thomas FitzMaurice, 2nd Baron Desmond. The FitzMaurice Barons and later Earls of Kerry continue in the male line with the current Petty-FitzMaurice Marquesses of Lansdowne, but they descend from the 1st Baron Desmond's nephew, Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Baron of Kerry, son of his brother Maurice FitzThomas. Thus in fact they represent a "sister" branch to the FitzGeralds of Desmond. However this technically makes them slightly closer to the FitzGeralds of Desmond than either are to the Offaly-Kildare-Leinster Geraldines, represented by the modern Dukes of Leinster, who descend from

Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly Gerald FitzMaurice, jure uxoris 1st Lord of Offaly ( – 15 January 1204) was a Cambro-Norman nobleman who took part with his father, Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan, in the Norman Invasion of Ireland (1169–71). Together with his fi ...

, uncle of the 1st Baron Desmond.Orpen, Goddard H. �
The Fitz Geralds, Barons of Offaly
” The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 4, no. 2, 1914, pp. 99–113. JSTOR. Accessed 8 Mar. 2024.

Marriages and issue

John was the father of Maurice FitzJohn, who died with him at the Battle of Callann, and of Osborn Fitzgerald, founder of the House of Corsygedol.Davies, W. Ll., (1959)
OSBWRN WYDDEL (' Osborn the Irishman ')
living in 1293 Irish nobleman and ancestor of landed families in Merioneth. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 8 Mar 2024 John was succeeded in his baronial title by Maurice's son,

Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Baron Desmond Thomas Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, 2nd Baron of Desmond (died 1298), was the son of Maurice FitzJohn FitzGerald and grandson of John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond, John FitzThomas FitzGerald from whom he inherited the title. Thomas succeeded to th ...

References

External links

The Battle of Callan, A.D. 1261
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, John Fitzgerald, 1st Baron 1261 deaths Normans in Ireland

John 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 E ...

People from County Cork 13th-century Irish people Year of birth unknown Barons in the Peerage of Ireland