Maurice FitzGerald ( 1105 – c. September 1176) was Lord of

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 ...

Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...

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

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, Lord Llanstephan had fought alongside his older brother William FitzGerald, and half-brother Robert FitzStephen, constable of Cardigan, under Robert FitzMartin at the Battle of Crug Mawr in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1136. Llansteffan Castle overlooks the River Tywi estuary where it enters Carmarthen Bay. It was captured by Maredudd ap Gruffydd in 1146 against the forces of Maurice FitzGerald and his brother William, Lord of Emlyn who were the leading Norman settlers of the region. The castle was retaken by the Normans in 1158. Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough), the deposed King of Leinster who had been exiled by the

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...

, sought Cambro-Norman assistance to regain his throne. Lord Llanstephan participated in the resulting 1169

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the monarchs of England then claimed sovereignty. The Anglo-Normans ...

. He assisted his younger half-brother Robert Fitz-Stephen in the Siege of Wexford. His nephew

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was Strongbow's second-in-command and had the chief share both in the capture of

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and in the successful assault on

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in 1171. Lord Lanstephan and his sons the FitzMaurices also fought in this battle.

Marriage and issue

Maurice FitzGerald, Lord Llanstephan is known to have married Alice de Montgomery, a daughter of Arnulf de Montgomery. It has been asserted by eminent authorities that Arnulf left, by his wife, Lafracoth, a daughter, Alice, and that she was later the wife of Maurice FitzGerald, son of Gerald FitzWalter (Gerald of Windsor). By Maurice, one of the first conquerors of Ireland, who died in 1176, she was the mother of Gerald (died 1205), who laid the fortunes of the FitzGeralds of Kildare. (Even Curtis—referenced below—says he cannot find a source for Alice and, on the whole, she seems a) unlikely to have existed and b) impossible for Maurice to have met.) Alice herself was living in 1171, and was then in Ireland with her husband and sons.Curtis, E. "Murchertach O'Brien, High King of Ireland, and His Norman Son-in-Law, Arnulf De Montgomery, circa 1100". ''The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland'', vol. 11, no. 2, (1921), pp. 123-124. Maurice FitzGerald, by his wife Alice, had the following children: :* Thomas FitzMaurice, Lord OConnello (d. 1213) :* Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly (1150–1204) :* William FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Naas (d. 1199) :* Maurice FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Kiltrany :* Alexander FitzMaurice :* Robert FitzMaurice :* Nesta FitzMaurice (m. Hervey de Montmorenci, Constable of England) Lord Llanstephan's second eldest son Gerald FitzMaurice, the 1st Lord of Offaly was the progenitor of the FitzGerald and FitzMaurice Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster. The original Earldom of Desmond in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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was based on landholdings belonging to the descendants of Maurice's eldest son Thomas FitzMaurice, Lord OConnello. Thomas's son John FitzMaurice FitzThomas, who was killed in the Battle of Callann, became the 1st Baron Desmond. Others from this line include the Knights of Glin and Knights of Kerry.

Ancestry

Maurice FitzGerald, Lord Llanstephan was the second-eldest son of Gerald FitzWalter known as Gerald de Windsor, Constable of Pembroke by his wife, Nest ferch Rhys, Princess of Deheubarth and a member of the Welsh royal House of Dinefwr.

Notes

References

Citations

*. * *. *. *. *. * *. {{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGerald, Maurice 1100s births 1176 deaths 12th-century English nobility 12th-century Normans Normans in Ireland Anglo-Normans in Wales Norman warriors People from Pembrokeshire Maurice 12th-century Welsh nobility