Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare

Gerald Fitzgerald was the son of Thomas Fitzgerald , and his wife Jane Fitzgerald, daughter of James Fitzgerald, 6th Earl of Desmond. In 1478, he succeeded his father and became Earl of Kildare. In 1481, he was appointed King Edward IV Lord Protector of Ireland. An attempt was later made to replace Kildare on this post with the Englishman Lord Gray, but this led to the dissolution of the parliament in Dublin, and the king was forced to return the title of Lord Protector Fitzgerald, who retained it under King Richard III , and after the overthrow of the York dynasty - under the king Henry VII .

He participated in the secret support of the anti-English movement of the local aristocracy, and was betrayed by the English authorities as a traitor. In 1494, the king was deprived of the title of Lord Protector, in 1496 he was convicted at the trial before the Irish Parliament in Drode and sent to prison in the Tower . Soon after, Gerald Fitzgerald's wife, Eleanor, passed away. Two years later, Fitzgerald was pardoned by Henry VII, and he was returned the title of Lord Protector. Before returning to his homeland, he married Elizabeth St. John, the daughter of Oliver St. John, a relative of King Henry VII. In Ireland, he was known as a severe ruler. In 1500, Fitzgerald put down an uprising in Cork, and at the same time hung his mayor. In 1504 he made a campaign against the western region of Connaught , which rebelled against the British; in 1505, he fought against the rebellious clans of the south of the country in Galway - where he was wounded. In 1515, he fought the O'Neill clan, capturing their Belfast castle and devastating County Antrim in northern Ireland. In 1513, during an expedition against tribal leaders in central Ireland, he was mortally wounded in the town of Kilkey during a watering hole. From there he was taken to Kildare, where he died.

According to the testimonies of contemporaries, he had a strong character, capable of winning sympathy. He was open and straightforward, avoided diplomacy. In his youthful temper and unpredictable, later became more balanced.

In his first marriage he was married to Lady Alison, the daughter of Rowland Fitzestas, Baron Portlester. Gerald and Alison had five children:

• Gerald Fitzgerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (1487-1534)
• Eleanor, married to Donald McCarthy, 9th Duke of Carbury
• Alice, married to Connor O'Neill Ulster
• Margaret (d. 1542), from 1485 married to Pierce Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond
• Allison, married to Christopher Fleming, 8th Baron Slane.

After death, Alison Gerald married a second time - to Elizabeth, the daughter of Oliver St. John, a relative of the king. Gerald and Elizabeth had a daughter, Isabella (married Richard de Barry) and five sons: James, Richard, Oliver, John and Walter. All five were hanged on February 3, 1537 in Tyburn for participating in a rebellion led by their nephew Thomas , 10th Earl of Kildare.

The personality of the Great Earl was fanned in Ireland by legends and traditions. So, according to one of them, Gerald Fitzgerald possessed forbidden knowledge of black magic . In particular, he could change his appearance. His wife asked him many times to show her his art, but Gerald did not agree. But once he lost to her, and turned into a carduelis in the palace hall. Suddenly a quail hawk flew out the window, grabbed the carduelis and flew away with it. No one else has ever seen a count.

According to another legend, the Great Earl and his army sleep in one of the caves near the town of Kurrach in the county of Kildare. They are waiting in the wings when their strength is needed to free Ireland. Once every seven years, the count wakes up, saddles a horse and goes around the neighborhood. When the hooves of his war horse are shrunk to the thickness of a cat's ear, the time will come - the army of the Fitzgerald knights will wake up from a long sleep and drive out the British. The great earl will become king of Ireland and will wisely rule her for 40 years.

• Mary Ann Lyons . Church and Society in County Kildare. C. 1470-1547. - Maynooth History Studies Series, 1999. - ISBN 978-1-85182-459-5 .