The Territory of Desmond continued as a semi- independent Irish kingdom. Desmond (Irish: Deasmhumhain, meaning 'South Munster') was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland, founded in 1118. It comprised all of what is now
County Cork and most of
County Kerry. The eastern half of Desmond was conquered by the Anglo-Normans and became the Earldom of Desmond, but the western half of Desmond lived on as a semi-independent Gaelic kingdom until 1596.
Barony of Desmond , from which the Desmond Geraldines derived their motto, The House of Desmond was a branch of the famous
FitzGerald Dynasty (Geraldines) in Ireland which had been founded by
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan in Wales ( c.1105 – c.1176). Maurice was of Anglo-Norman and Welsh descent. Though the House of Desmond branch was founded by the eldest of Maurice FitzGeralds's sons,
Thomas FitzMaurice, Lord OConnello, it became the cadet or junior branch of the family: the senior branch, the House of Kildare, was founded by Thomas's younger brother
Gerald, 1st Lord of Offally. Thomas, Lord OConello was a key supporter of
the Lord of Pembroke known as ("Strongbow") in his 1169
invasion of Ireland. Thomas's son,
John FitzThomas, became the first
Baron Desmond upon receiving, for his homage and service, a grant in 1259 of the lands of
Decies (today's
County Waterford) and Desmond from Prince
Edward of England. Before passing to Edward, these lands had been held by Thomas FitzAnthony, the father of
John's wife Margery FitzAnthony.
Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, married Eleanor
Butler. Through her,
John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond and all subsequent Geraldine earls of Desmond could trace descent through
Eleanor de Bohun to
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King
Edward I of England of the
House of Plantagenet by his queen,
Eleanor of Castile of the
House of Burgundy. Over time, according to English sources, the FitzGerald family became highly
assimilated to the local Irish culture. The final Earl of Desmond of this creation was
Gerald FitzGerald, the 14th Earl. The FitzGeralds and Fitzmaurices had resisted the
Protestant Reformation of
King Henry VIII and, after the failure of the first and second
Desmond Rebellions, the 14th Earl was defeated and killed by forces loyal to
Queen Elizabeth I on 11 November 1583. His title, along with the enormous estates of his family, were forfeit to the
English Crown.
Numbering of Earls of the first creation Authors have numbered the earls of the first creation from 1 to 14, 1 to 15, or 1 to 16, depending on whether Nicholas, an "idiot", is included as 3rd Earl, and whether
John, the de facto 12th Earl (died 1536) and
James FitzGerald, de jure 12th Earl of Desmond (died 1540), are both numbered 12 or are numbered 12 and 13. Wikipedia numbers the earls 1 to 14 omitting the "idiot" and numbering John
de facto and James
de jure both as 12, following
Cokayne (1916) and the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).
Burke (1866), Webb (1878) and the
Dictionary of national Biography (1889) admit 15, and
Bagwell (1885) 16 earls of the first creation.
Earl of Desmond: Second Creation The second creation was in 1600 for
James FitzGerald the "Tower Earl", son of the last (14th Earl) of the first creation. He spent much of his life in captivity in the
Tower of London, and was obliged to convert to Protestantism. He was temporarily, but unsuccessfully, restored to the earldom in 1600–01 by the English in an attempt to pacify Munster during the Nine Years War, and to combat rise of the
Súgán (pretender, see below) Earl but the people rejected the new Protestant Earl. James was not restored to the lands associated with the title, and was only given the right to the title of Earl of Desmond for life; he was also created
Baron Inchiquin with the right to pass that title to his successors, but he did not have heirs and died in obscurity in 1601.
Pretenders to the title James FitzThomas FitzGerald, the
Súgán (Irish:
straw, i.e. pretender) Earl, attempted, but failed, to regain the title during the
Nine Years War.James's claim was based on the fact he was the eldest grandson of the
13th Earl, but he was illegitimate by descent. The 13th Earl's first marriage had to been to his own great-niece: the marriage had been declared invalid due to
consanguinity and James's father, the child of the union, had been declared illegitimate (the 14th Earl was the child of a second, legitimate marriage). James had not joined the rebellion of the 14th Earl and following the 14th Earl's death, James lobbied the English - at first with some success - to be restored to the title. When that failed in 1598 he joined the rebellion and assumed the title of Earl of Desmond, leading eight thousand clansmen. He was captured in 1601 and is believed to have died in the Tower of London in 1608. James's younger brother John had joined him in rebellion but escaped to Spain. Following the
Súgán Earl's death John and his son Gerald continued the pretence to the title. John died in Barcelona and Gerald -
Conde de Desmond in Spanish - entered the service of the
Emperor Ferdinand, and was killed in 1632. The motto appearing beneath the Desmond arms was (Shanid to victory) a reference to the Desmond stronghold of
Shanid Castle. ==Earl of Desmond: third and fourth creation==