Family history Earl of Desmond

Earl of Desmond – The Story of the FitzGeralds of Desmond

The FitzGerald family of Desmond belonged to the great „Geraldine“ families of Ireland. Their roots lay in Anglo-Norman followers who came to Ireland in the 12th century. Maurice FitzGerald and his descendants gained land in the south and west; from the line of his nephew Thomas Fitz Maurice developed the Desmond dynasty. The name referred to „South Munster“ in Irish and suited a territory that extended over parts of the counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford.

Maurice Fitz Thomas FitzGerald was elevated to the first Earl of Desmond in 1329. He was a military leader, justice minister of Ireland and a figure of family power. His younger son Gerald, the third Earl, is remembered and revered as „Gearóid Iarla“: he wrote poetry in Irish, promoted culture and combined Norman ancestry with the Munster way of life.

In the 15th century, James FitzGerald, the seventh Earl, ruled from Askeaton Castle for a long time and in a relatively stable manner. He had a large hall built there, received allies and maintained relations with Irish families such as the O’Brien and Burke families. The Desmonds adopted Gaelic customs, entertained poets and historians, and were aptly called „more Irish than the Irish themselves“ in Ireland.

Thomas, the eighth Earl, continued this glorious court culture and, according to tradition, founded a university in Drogheda in 1464. In the 16th century, Gerald, the fifteenth Earl, came into the great tensions between regional independence and the Tudor administration. The Desmond rebellions subsequently fundamentally changed the family's ownership and political position.

However, the history of the Geraldines continued in numerous sub-lines, including the Knights of Kerry and the FitzGeralds of Decies. Castles such as Askeaton and Lough Gur, poems and Irish traditions preserve their multifaceted legacy: that of a family that for centuries intertwined Norman and Gaelic traditions.

Sources: Dictionary of Irish Biography, University College Cork, National Archives of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy

Family coat of arms Earl of Desmond

This Coat of arms corresponds to the historical tradition Coat of arms of the Geraldine Earls of Desmond from the House of FitzGerald. Blazonry In Hermelin a red cross.

The silver shield is regularly adorned with black ermine tassels. Above it is a wide red cross of St. Andrew, whose four arms reach to the edges of the shield. Above the shield stands a dark tournament helmet with red-silver covers.

The Earls of Desmond belonged to the southwestern Irish branch of the Anglo-Norman FitzGerald dynasty. The Hermelinfeld distinguishes them Coat of arms from the silver branch of the older Kildare line, while the common red cross shows their affiliation with the FitzGerald family.

Sources: The Complete Peerage, crests, mottoes and slogans of the Geraldines. John O’Hart, FitzGerald family of Desmond. Excerpts from History