James fitz John FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Desmond (died 1558), also counted as the 14th, ruled 22 years, the first 4 years as de facto earl until the death of James FitzGerald, de jure 12th Earl of Desmond, called Court Page, who was murdered by James fitz John's brother Maurice fitz John FitzGerald, called Totane. James fitz John FitzGerald maintained himself in power by skilful diplomacy, avoiding armed conflict and destruction. He was appointed Lord Treasurer of Ireland in 1547.
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Birth and origins
James was born about 1500, the second but eldest surviving son of John fitz Thomas FitzGerald and his wife More O'Brien. At that time his father was a younger brother of the reigning earl of Desmond, Thomas fitz Thomas, the 11th Earl, called the Bald. His father's family, the FitzGeralds of Desmond, were a noble cadet branch of the Old English Geraldines, of which the FitzGeralds of Kildare were the senior branch.
James's mother was a daughter of Donogh O'Brien of Carrigogunnell, County Limerick, Lord of Pobblebrien. His mother's family was a cadet branch of the O'Briens, kings of Thomond, a native Irish family.
Father's claim
In 1534 at the death of James's grandfather, James's father seized the earldom, claiming that James fitz Maurice FitzGerald, de jure 12th Earl of Desmond ("Court Page"), was illegitimate because of his parents' consanguinity. Indeed, Court Page's father, Maurice fitz Thomas had married his first cousin Joan, daughter of John fitz Mauric Fitzgibbon, the white knight. James's father was therefore known as the de facto 12th Earl of Desmond. James fitz John was his heir apparent.
Rule as de facto earl
On the death of his father in June 1536, James FitzGerald assumed the Desmond title and took possession of the Desmond lands that had been his father's as de facto earl. Both were disputed. James fitz Maurice FitzGerald, called Court Page, was earl de jure, but stayed, at least for the moment, away in London. The lands were disputed by James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond (c. 1496 – 1546), who had married the only daughter of the James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond. In order to support his position, the pretended earl Desmond, as he now was, sought the support of Connor O'Brien, King of Thomond, the head of the discontented party in Ireland. The government, which had just suppressed the rebellion of Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, resolved to attack him, and on 25 July 1536, Lord Leonard Grey, Lord Deputy of Ireland, marched against him. Breaching the border west of Cashel, Grey sought to separate FitzGerald from O'Brien. Grey took possession of the castle of Lough Gur, County Limerick, which Desmond abandoned without fight. Grey gave the captured castle to Ormond.
Desmond offered to deliver up his two sons as hostages and to submit his claims to the earldom to the decision of Lord Grey. This offer was renewed in December of the same year. "And as far as ever I could perceive," wrote Grey to Thomas Cromwell in February 1537, "the stay that keepeth him from inclining to the king's grace's pleasure is the fear and doubt which he and all the Geraldines in Munster have in the Lord James Butler, both for the old malice that hath been betwixt their bloods, and principally for that he claimeth title by his wife to the earldom of Desmond."
Grey argued in favour of James fitz John's claims. In August 1538, Anthony St Leger, who was at the time serving on the commission "for the order and establishment to be taken and made touching the whole state of Ireland," was advised by Cromwell "to handle the said James in a gentle sort." Accordingly, on 15 September, FitzGerald was invited to submit his claims to the commissioners at Dublin. Suspecting their intention, he declined to place himself in their power, though signing articles of submission and promising to deliver up his eldest son as a hostage for his good faith. The negotiations continued to be delayed. In March 1538, the commissioners wrote that FitzGerald "hathe not only delivered his son, according to his first promise, to the hands of Mr. William Wyse of Waterford to be delivered unto us, but also hath affirmed by his secretary and writing all that he afore promised."
Court Page's murder
In 1540 Court Page came to Ireland and established himself in Barony Kerrycurrihy in southern County Cork, which together with the barony of Imokilly, had been taken from Desmond in 1539 by Grey, helped by Ormond.
On 19 March 1540 Court Page was killed by his cousin, Maurice fitz John FitzGerald, called Totane, Desmond's brother. Court Page is reported to have died at a place called Leacan Sgail in County Kerry that does not seem to have been identified.
In April 1540 the council informed King Henry VIII that "your grace's servant James Fitzmaurice, who claimed to be Earl of Desmond, was cruelly slain the Friday before Palm Sunday, of unfortunate chance, by Maurice FitzJohn FitzGerald, brother to James FitzJohn FitzGerald, then usurper of the earldom of Desmond. After which murder done, the said James Fitzjohn immediately resorted to your town of Youghal, where he was well received and entertained, and ere he departed entered into all such piles and garrisons in the county of Cork as your majesty's deputy, with the assistance of your army and me, the Earl of Ormonde, obtained before Christmas last."
Ormonde was sent to parley with FitzGerald, but he refused to trust him. On the arrival of St Leger as deputy, however, FitzGerald again renewed his offer of submission, and promised, upon pledges being given for his safety, to meet him at Cashel. This he did, and renounced the supremacy of the Pope. "And then," wrote St Leger, "considering the great variance between the Earl of Ormond and him, concerning the title of the earldom of Desmond ... I and my fellows thought it not good to leave that cancer remain, but so laboured the matter on both sides, that we have brought them to a final end of the said title."
St Leger assured King Henry "that sith my repair into this your land I have not heard better counsel of no man for the reformation of the same than of the said Earl of Desmond, who undoubted is a very wise and discreet gentleman", for which reason, he said, he had sworn him of the council and given him "gown, jacket, doublet, hose, shirts, caps, and a riding coat of velvet, which he took very thankfully, and ware the same in Limerick and in all places where he went with me". By such conciliatory conduct St Leger, in the opinion of Justice Cusack, won over to obedience the whole province of Munster.
Marriages and children
FitzGerald married four times:
First marriage
FitzGerald's first marriage was to his great-niece Joan Roche, daughter of Maurice Roche, 6th Viscount Fermoy, and his wife Eleanor, the daughter of FitzGerald's younger brother Maurice. The marriage was annulled and their son Thomas Ruadh FitzGerald of Conna, who otherwise would have been heir apparent, was disinherited. FitzGerald's grandson by Thomas, James (Séamus) Fitzgerald, called "the Sugán Earl", would claim the earldom and lead a revolt.
Second marriage and children
Secondly he married More O'Carroll, daughter of Sir Maolrony McShane O'Carroll, Lord of Ely.
James and More had three sons:
Gerald (c. 1533 – 1583) succeeded as the 14th Earl
John (died 1581), was killed near Castlelyon during the Second Desmond Rebellion
Maurice, predeceased his father and died childless
—and five daughters:
Honora, married Donald McCarthy, 1st Earl of Clancare
Margaret, married Thomas Fitzmaurice, 16th Baron Kerry
Eleanor (Ellis), married John, "More", Lord Poer of Curraghmore
Joan, married first John, Lord Barry, secondly Sir Donal O'Brien, and thirdly Sir Piers Butler of Cahir.
Ellis, married James, Viscount Buttevant.
More died in 1548.
Third and fourth marriages
Thirdly Desmond married Catherine Butler, second daughter of Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, and widow of Richard Power, 4th Baron Power, of Curraghmore. She died at Askeaton on 17 March 1553.
Fourthly and last Desmond married Evelyn MacCarthy Mor, daughter of Donal MacCormac MacCarthy Mor, by whom he had a son, Sir James-Sussex FitzGerald who died in 1580, and a daughter, Elinor who married Sir Brian O'Rourke.
Death and timeline
In the summer of 1558 Desmond became sick and died at Askeaton on Thursday, 14 October. He was buried in the nearby Franciscan Friary on 1 November. Half a century after Desmond's death, the chroniclers of the Annals of Four Masters observed:
"The loss of this good man was woful to his country; for there was no need to watch cattle or close doors from Dun-caoin, in Kerry, to the green-bordered meeting of the three waters, on the confines of the province of Eochaidh, the son of Lachta and Leinster."