Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond

Maurice FitzGerald
Died	1520
Resting place	Tralee
Title	Earl of Desmond
Tenure	1487–1520
Other names	Vehiculus, Bellicosus
Nationality	Hiberno-Norman
Predecessor	Thomas FitzJames FitzGerald
Successor	James FitzMaurice FitzGerald
Spouse(s)	Ellen Roche Honora Fitzgibbon
Issue	Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald James FitzMaurice FitzGerald Joan FitzGerald Ellis FitzGerald
Parents	Thomas FitzJames FitzGerald Ellice de Barry

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond (died 1520) was the brother of James FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Desmond.^[1]

Life

Ireland in 1450, showing the Earldom of Desmond, the Pale, and the territories of MacCarthy Mor

Upon the murder of James FitzThomas FitzGerald, the 8th Earl of Desmond, in 1487, his brother Maurice became the 9th Earl of Desmond. 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.'^[2]

Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald sided with the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, in the siege of Waterford and other expeditions. Nevertheless, making humble submission, King Henry VII not only forgave, but took him into favour, 26 August 1497, and granted him all the 'customs, pockets, poundage, and prize-wines of Limerick, Cork, Kingsale, Baltimore, and Youghall, 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 the Customs House.

Desmond Castle, Kinsale

"The condition of the inhabitants within the Pale 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 he made his prisoner, to wit, MacCarthy Mor, Lord of Muskerry; and now having passed thirty years opulent, powerful, and dreaded, he died [1520] to the sorrow of his friends and the exultation of his enemies.' He was buried at Tralee. His first wife was daughter of Lord Fermoy; his second, daughter of the White Knight."^[3]

Marriage and issue

The cannons of Reginald's Tower helped repel the forces of Perkin Warbeck and Maurice FitzGerald from Waterford in 1495.^[4]

Maurice first married Ellen,^[5] daughter of Maurice Roche, Baron Fermoy and had issue:

1. Thomas FitzMaurice, who predeceased his father, leaving behind one daughter^[5]
2. James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond^[5]
3. Joan, who married Cormac Óg MacCarthy^[5]
4. Ellis, who married Connor O'Brien, King of Thomond^[5]

Maurice's second wife was Honora, daughter of the White Knight.^[5]

Ancestors of Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond

Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond               Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond                       Aveline fitz Nicholas               James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond                             James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond               Eleanor Butler                       Elizabeth Darcy               Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond                                   Mary de Burgh                             Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond                                         William Barry, 8th Baron Barry                             Ellice de Barry                                   Ellen de la Roche

References

1. 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
2. Webb, Alfred. A Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: 1878.
3. Webb, Alfred. A Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: 1878.
4. http://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/reginald-s-tower/601
5. Burke, Bernard, A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire. London: Harrison. 1866. p. 205