Laetitia Fitzgerald, 1st Baroness Offaly

Laetitia Fitzgerald was born around 1580 and was the only child and heiress of Gerald Fitzgerald, Lord Offaly (1558-1580), and Catherine Nollis (1559-1620), the youngest daughter of Catherine Carey (c. 1524-1569) and Sir Francis Nollis ( 1514 - 1596). The great-grandmother of Letizia was Mary Boleyn (1499-1543), the elder sister of Anna Boleyn , Queen of England and second wife of King Henry VIII of Tudor . Henry VIII was Maria Boleyn's lover before marrying Anna, and perhaps was the biological father of her daughter Catherine. Letizia's grandfather was Gerald Fitzgerald, 11th Earl of Kildare . One of her aunts was Letizia Nollis , the famous rival of Queen Elizabeth Tudor of England.

Her father passed away in June 1580 , when Letizia was born, she did not know her father. After his death, Letitia became the heiress of the Earls of Kildare. But in 1585, her uncle Henry Fitzgerald took over the county, castles, titles, lands and estates. Her mother married Sir Philip Butler for the second time, but it is not known whether they had children.

On April 19, 1598, at the age of 18, Letizia Fitzgerald married Sir Robert Digby (1574 - May 24, 1618), a landowner from Warwickshire . His brother was John Digby - 1st Earl of Bristol . The couple lived in Ireland, where Sir Robert was a member of the Irish Parliament from Ahie, County Kildare in 1613 . There were 10 children in this marriage:

• Mabel Digby , 1st husband Sir Gerald Fitzgerald, Lord Dromans, 2nd husband Donah O'Brien
• Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby (d. June 6, 1642), 1st wife of Lady Sarah Boyle, 2nd wife of Elizabeth Ansley
• Essex Digby (d. 12 May 1683), Bishop of Dromora, 1st wife Thomasine Gilbert, 2nd wife Letizia Brereton
• George Digby
• Gerald Digby
• John Digby
• Simon Digby , Member of the Parliament of Ireland, Philippine
• Philip Digby , married to Margaret Moore
• Laetitia Digby , husband - Sir Roger Langford
• Abigail Digby , died in childhood.

Laetitia and her husband Robert Digby persistently asserted their legal rights - they believed that they were unlawfully removed from the inheritance of the Earls of Kildare. In 1602, they collected a considerable amount of evidence that Letizia was the legitimate heiress of her grandfather, whose will was forged by her grandmother Mabel. Digby filed a lawsuit against Mabel and cousin Letizia - Gerald, 14th Earl of Kildare , claiming that Letizia was illegally stripped of her inheritance. Lord Kildare filed a counterclaim that the purpose of the conspiracy was to strip his property and titles. Mabel admitted that the will was forged, but blamed the lawyer Henry Barnell , who was found guilty of poor performance of his official duties and fined. The lawsuit became quite famous and dragged on for a long time - for decades. The lawsuit was heard in the courts of London and Dublin . Irish Lord Sir Arthur Chichester complained that other important cases were not being considered as a result of this endless process. Digby resolutely continued this trial: even after the death of Count Kildare in 1612, the case was continued against his widow and young son Gerald, the 15th Earl of Kildare. In the end, the parties were forced to settle the dispute through arbitration.

Letizia Fitzgerald was the heiress of the title of Barons of Offaly. In 1599, she was to receive the title of Baroness Offaly. But the recognition of this dragged on. Only on July 29, 1620, the King of England , Ireland and Scotland, Jacob I Stuart, granted her the title of 1st Baroness Offaly. This was confirmed by the Great Seal of England, the king granted her the castles of Killy and Gishill with the surrounding lands. Her husband passed away in May 1618 . Her eldest son, Robert Digby, became Baron Digby in 1620 .

In 1641, a rebellion broke out for the independence of Ireland . Letizia, a widow at that time, was also drawn into this rebellion. Letitia received an impudent letter from her cousin Henry O'Dempsy, in which he claimed that the king of England, Charles I Stuart, had given him the castle of Gischill and demanded that the castle be transferred to him immediately. The letter threatened to burn the castle and the city if its requirements were not met. Letizia for this time lived in Gieshill Castle with her sons. She refused to give up the castle and sent a letter to Henry O'Dempsy, also filled with contempt: “... I have always been faithful to my king. Thank you for the offer of the convoy during my departure from the castle, because nowadays there is so little security. Being free from any accusations from His Majesty, from any wrongdoings, I will live and die innocent, and I will do everything possible to protect myself and my property, and may God judge me. ”

In early 1642, Henry O'Dempsey attacked Gischill Castle, but his defenders survived. Laetitia Digby refused to leave her castle and stated that she would defend it. When the rebels captured one of her sons and brought him under the walls of the castle in chains, threatening to decapitate him if she surrenders her castle. Letizia brought out one of the prisoners - a Catholic priest and began to threaten to kill him on the spot. The rebels released her son.

Gieshill Castle had a lot of weapons, ammunition and food. The castle held the defense until October 1642 , when Letizia decided to leave it in the company of Sir Richard Grenville . She left Ireland, moved to the family estate of her late husband in Coleshill ( Warwickshire ), where she died in December 1658 . She was buried near Sir Richard Digby at Coleshill Parish Church.

Letitia was not able to transfer the title of Baron Offaly to her eldest grandson - Kildare Digby (c. 1627–1661), after her death the baronial title was to go to the head of the Earl of Kildare, who since 1658 was headed by George Fitzgerald, 16th Earl of Kildare (1612 -1660).

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