Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster

Duke of Leinster, first creation (1691)

The title was first conferred on General Meinhardt Schomberg, later the 3rd Duke of Schomberg, K.G. (1641–1719) in 1691. Schomberg was created Duke of Leinster for his part in the Battle on 30 June 1690 and, after taking part in the abortive Siege of Limerick in August 1690, he became a British subject through naturalization by Act of Parliament on 25 April 1691. However, that creation became extinct upon Schomberg's death in July 1719.

See Duke of Schomberg

Dukes of Leinster, second creation (1766)

For the second creation, it was granted to Major-General James FitzGerald, 1st Marquess of Kildare, Master-General of the Irish Ordnance, in 1766. FitzGerald married to Lady Emily Lennox, the great-granddaughter of King Charles II of the Royal House of Stuart.

Earls of Kildare from 1316

This branch of the Cambro Norman FitzGerald/FitzMaurice dynasty, which came to Ireland in 1169, were initially created Earls of Kildare. The earldom was created in 1316 for John FitzGerald. Two senior FitzGeralds, Garret Mór FitzGerald and his son, Garret Óg FitzGerald served as Lords Deputy of Ireland, the representative of the Lord of Ireland (the King of England) in Ireland. The tenth earl, Thomas FitzGerald, known as Silken Thomas, was attainted and his honours were forfeit in 1537. In 1554, Thomas's half-brother and only male heir, Gerald FitzGerald, was created Earl of Kildare in the Peerage of Ireland. He was subsequently restored to the original letters patent in 1569, as 11th earl. The second (1554-created) earldom became extinct in 1599, although the original earldom survived.

Estates and residences

Country seats

The family was originally based in Maynooth Castle in Maynooth in County Kildare. In later centuries the family owned estates in County Waterford with their country residence being a Georgian house called Carton House which had replaced the castle in County Kildare.

The Dukes of Leinster had by the early 20th century lost all their property and wealth. Their Carton House seat was sold (though one of Ireland's most historic buildings with perfectly preserved 18th century grounds, it was controversially turned into a hotel and golf course in the late 1990s by the current owner in an act condemned by environmentalists), as later on was their other residence in Waterford. The family now live in a smaller property in Ramsden, Oxfordshire.

Estates

In the 1883 edition of John Bateman's The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland, Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster's estates were recorded as spanning 73,100 acres across Ireland, including 71,977 acres in County Kildare and 1,123 acres in County Meath, which produced a combined annual income of £55,877.

Dublin residences

In Dublin, the Earl built a large townhouse residence on the southside of Dublin called Kildare House. When the Earl was awarded a dukedom and became Duke of Leinster, the house was renamed Leinster House. One of its occupants was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who became an icon for Irish nationalism through his involvement with the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which ultimately cost him his life.

Leinster House was sold by the Leinsters in 1815. After nearly a century as the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society, which held its famed Spring Show and Horse Show in its grounds, Oireachtas Éireann, the two chamber parliament of the new Irish Free State, rented Leinster House in 1922 to be its temporary parliament house. In 1924 it bought the building for parliamentary use. It has remained the parliament house of the Irish state.

London residences

Following the demolition of Carlton House in 1826, Augustus FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster was one of the original lessees who occupied one of the large terraced mansions at Carlton House Terrace which was built on the site during the late 1820s. The 3rd Duke took a lease of No. 6 Carlton House Terrace on 25 December 1829, and had taken up residence in the house by April 1832.

No. 6 Carlton House Terrace house remainded as the London home of the Dukes of Leinster until 1889. An auction of the house's contents was held in August 1889, and by July 1890 the house was occupied by the artist and explorer Herbert Ward. Following the death of Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster in December 1893, his obituary in The Daily Telegraph listed No. 6 Carlton House Terrace as one of his residences, although by the date of the Duke's death the house had been leased by Marie Mackay, the widow of American millionaire John William Mackay.

Title dispute

A controversial claim by claimants who say they are descended from Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster, which is reported to have been largely debunked by Michael Estorick in 1981, was made in 2006 and subsequently failed.

In 2005, a claim was filed with the Department of Constitutional Affairs by Theresa Pamella Caudill, daughter of Eleanor and Maurice F. "Desmond" FitzGerald, on behalf of her nephew, a California builder, Paul FitzGerald, as claimant to be the rightful Duke of Leinster. FitzGerald was claimed to be the grandson of Major Lord Desmond FitzGerald (1888–1916), the second son of the 5th Duke of Leinster, who was recorded as having been killed in action during the First World War, while serving with the Irish Guards. When Maurice, 6th Duke of Leinster, died childless, in February 1922, the Leinster dukedom and its considerable wealth and estates devolved upon his youngest brother, Lord Edward FitzGerald, who succeeded as the 7th Duke. However, Paul FitzGerald's supporters claimed that Lord Desmond had faked his death and emigrated to California, by way of Winnipeg, Canada, where he lived until his death in 1967. It was further claimed by Mrs Caudill that a package of documents, witnessed by Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), Sir Edgar Vincent, and Lord Feversham, had been lodged by her father with the Crown Office of the House of Lords in 1929, and the family had been denied access to them. Mrs Caudill believed the documents included evidence that her father had agreed to relinquish the title for his own generation but had insisted that it was to be passed down to his son, her brother Leonard FitzGerald. Instead, it had remained in the family of the 7th Duke. She claimed that an archivist had acknowledged the package existed, but said the official line was that it was now lost.

In February 2006, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Lord Chancellor (2003–2007), and Harriet Harman, Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, considered this claim after a 30-year campaign by Paul FitzGerald's family reported to have cost £1.3 million, and dismissed it. They adjudicated that the title was to remain with the existing holder, Maurice FitzGerald. Paul FitzGerald had a right of appeal against the Lord Chancellor's verdict only by petitioning the monarch.

In 2010, DNA evidence was presented that indicated that Paul FitzGerald was related to the wife of the 5th Duke, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe. As reported in The Scotsman,

List of titleholders

Earls of Kildare (1316)

Other titles: Baron of Offaly (c. 1193)

John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare (1250–1316), already 4th Baron of Offaly, was rewarded for serving Edward I of England in Scotland

Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare (died 1328), younger (only surviving) son of the 1st Earl

John FitzGerald (1314–1323), eldest son of the 2nd Earl, died in childhood

Richard FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Kildare (1317–1329), second son of the 2nd Earl, died unmarried

Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare (1318–1390), third and youngest son of the 2nd Earl

Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare (died 1432), a son of the 4th Earl

The 5th Earl had at least one son Thomas, who predeceased him

John FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Kildare (de jure; d.c.1434), a younger son of the 4th Earl; he was forced to dispute his right to the title with a son-in-law of the 5th Earl

Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare (died 1478), son of the 6th Earl

Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare (c. 1456–1513), eldest son of the 7th Earl (Gearóid Mór FitzGerald)

Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (1487–1534), eldest son of the 8th Earl (Gearóid Óg Fitzgerald)

Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (died 1537), "Silken Thomas", eldest son of the 9th Earl, led an insurrection in Ireland and his honours were forfeit, and he died unmarried

Marquesses of Kildare (1761)

Other titles: Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (GB 1747) and Baron of Offaly (c. 1193)

James FitzGerald, 1st Marquess of Kildare (1722–1773) was created Duke of Leinster in 1766

George FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (1748–1765), eldest son of the 1st Marquess

Dukes of Leinster, second creation (1766)

Other titles: Marquesse of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (GB 1747), Baron Offaly (1620) and Baron of Offaly (c. 1193)

James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster (1722–1773), elder son of the 19th Earl

William Robert FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster (1749–1804), second son of the 1st Duke

George FitzGerald, Marquess of Kildare (1783–1784), eldest son of the 2nd Duke, died in infancy

Augustus Frederick FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster (1791–1874), second son of the 2nd Duke

Other titles (4th Duke onwards): Baron Kildare, of Kildare in the County of Kildare (UK 1870)

Charles William FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster (1819–1887), eldest son of the 3rd Duke

Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster (1851–1893), eldest son of the 4th Duke

Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster (1887–1922), eldest son of the 5th Duke, died unmarried

Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster (1892–1976), third and youngest son of the 5th Duke

Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Duke of Leinster (1914–2004), only legitimate son of the 7th Duke

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster (born 1948), elder son of the 8th Duke

Present duke

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke and Marquess of Leinster (born 7 April 1948) is the elder son of the 8th Duke and of his second wife, Anne, and was previously styled as Earl of Offaly.

A landscape gardener by profession, he was educated at Millfield and succeeded to his father's peerages on his death in 2004. On 19 February 1972, as Earl of Offaly, he married Fiona Mary Francesca Hollick. They had three children:

Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (1974–1997); killed in a motor accident;

Lady Francesca Emily Purcell FitzGerald-Hobbs (born 1976);

Lady Pollyanna Louisa Clementine FitzGerald (born 1982).

In 2004, he succeeded as Duke of Leinster, Marquess and Earl of Kildare, Earl of Offaly, Viscount Leinster of Taplow, Baron Offaly, Baron Kildare, and as the Premier Duke, Marquess, and Earl in the Peerage of Ireland. The family seat is now Oakley Park, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

As Leinster's only son died childless in 1997, his brother, Lord John FitzGerald (1952–2015), became the heir presumptive to the peerages, but died in 2015. Lord John FitzGerald had two children:

Hermione FitzGerald (born 1985);

Edward FitzGerald (born 1988), heir presumptive to the dukedom and other peerages.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the Dukes of Leinster derives from the legend that John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare, as a baby in Woodstock Castle, was trapped in a fire when a pet monkey rescued him. The FitzGeralds then adopted a monkey as their crest (and later supporters) and occasionally use the additional motto Non immemor beneficii (Not forgetful of a helping hand). The motto "Crom A Boo" comes from the medieval Croom Castle and "Abu", meaning "up" in Irish; Crom Abu was the FitzGeralds' medieval warcry. Crom (Croom) and Shanet (Shanid) were two castles about 16 miles apart in County Limerick, one being the seat of the Geraldines of Kildare, and the other that of the Geraldines of Desmond, whose distinctive war cries were accordingly "Crom-a-boo" and "Shanet-a-boo". In 1495 an act of Parliament was passed (10 Hen. 7. c. 20 (Ir)) "to abolish the words Crom-a-boo and Butler-a-boo." The word "Abu" or "Aboo", an exclamation of defiance, was the usual termination of the war cries in Ireland, as in a' buaidh, "to victory!" Saint Patrick's Saltire, a red saltire on a white field, may have been adapted from the duke's arms on the 1783 creation of the Order of Saint Patrick, of which the 2nd Duke of Leinster was the senior founder knight.

Escutcheon: Argent a saltire gules.

Crest: A monkey statant proper environed about the middle with a plain collar and chained or.

Supporters: Two monkeys, environed and chained as in the crest.

Motto: Crom a boo (Now it would be spelt "Crom Abu"). In English, "Up Croom", or "Croom to victory".