Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond (died 1520) was the brother of James FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Desmond.

Life

Upon the murder of James FitzThomas FitzGerald, the 8th Earl of Desmond, in 1487, his brother Maurice, called Baccagh, or The Lame, became the 9th Earl of Desmond. The murderer, John Murtagh was apprehended and put to death.Connellan, Owen. ''The Annals of Ireland [from A.D. 1171 to A.D. 1616'', Dublin. Brian Geraghty, 1846, p. 312
/ref> In 1489 a plague ravaged the country, followed by a famine in 1497, and many died.Connellan, p. 335 According to Alfred Webb: "Being lame, and usually carried in a horse-litter, he was styled 'Vehiculus,' and by some, on account of his bravery, 'Bellicosus.'"Alfred Webb, Webb, Alfred.
A Compendium of Irish Biography
'. Dublin: 1878. In 1495, Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald supported the pretender,

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, would ...

, in the

Siege of Waterford The city of Waterford in southeastern Ireland was besieged twice during 1649 and 1650 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The town was held by Irish Confederate Ireland, Confederate Catholic under Richard O'Farrell (Irish Confedera ...

and other expeditions. Nevertheless, making a humble submission,

King Henry VII Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509), also known as Henry Tudor, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry ...

not only forgave, but took him into favour, 26 August 1497, and granted him all the 'customs, pockets, poundage, and prize-wines of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, Kingsale,

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, and

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long ...

l, with other privileges and advantages.' About the year 1500, Maurice FitzGerald rebuilt Desmond Castle, a three-story tower house in the town of Kinsale, to serve as a Customs House for wine and gunpowder. "The condition of the inhabitants within

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

at this period is thus described by a contemporary writer: 'What with the extortion of coyne and lyverye dayly, and wyth the wrongful exaction of osteing money, and of carryage and cartage dayly, and what with the Kinge's great subsydye yerely, and with the said trybute, and blak-rent to the Kinge's Iryshe enymyes, and other infynyt extortions, and dayly exactions, all the Englyshe folke of the countys of Dublyn, Kyldare, Meathe, and Uryell ben more oppressyd with than any other folke of this land, Englyshe or Iryshe, and of worsse condition be they athysside than in the marcheis.' O'Daly thus writes of Earl Maurice: 'This man was subsequently far famed for his martial exploits. He augmented his power and possessions — for all his sympathies were English — and a furious scourge was he to the Irish, who never ceased to rebel against the crown of England. The bitterest enemy of the

Geraldines The FitzGerald dynasty is a Hiberno-Norman noble and aristocratic dynasty, originally of Cambro-Norman and Anglo-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the Four M ...

he made his prisoner, to wit, MacCarthy Mor, Lord of Muskerry; and now having passed thirty years opulent, powerful, and dreaded, he died

520 __NOTOC__ Year 520 ( DXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Vitalianus (or, less frequently, year 1273 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...

to the sorrow of his friends and the exultation of his enemies.' He was buried at

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. His first wife was daughter of Lord Fermoy; his second, daughter of the

White Knight A white knight is a mythological figure and literary stock character. They are portrayed alongside a black knight as diametric opposites. A white knight usually represents a heroic warrior fighting against evil, with the role in medieval literatu ...

Marriage and issue

Maurice first married Ellen, Burke, Bernard,
A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire
'. London: Harrison. 1866. p. 205 daughter of Maurice Roche, 2nd Lord of Fermoy (distantly related to the Barons Fermoy), and his wife Lady Joan FitzGerald, daughter of James FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Desmond, and had issue: # Thomas FitzMaurice, who predeceased his father, leaving behind one daughter # James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond # Joan, who married Cormac Óg MacCarthy # Ellis, who married Connor O'Brien, King of Thomond Maurice's second wife was Honora, daughter of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Maurice 15th-century Irish nobility 16th-century Irish nobility 1520 deaths Normans in Ireland Year of birth unknown Earls of Desmond (1329 creation)