Fynes Moryson described her as " able to goe on foote four or five miles to the market towne, and used weekly soe to doe in her last years." It is thought that she died in 1604, aged about 100, The ordinary account of her life—of her being born in 1464; of her dancing with Richard III.; of her visiting James I., landing at Bristol and walking to London in her 139th year; of her losing her life by falling from a tree when gathering nuts; and other remarkable occurrences—is effectually disposed of by writers in Notes and Queries, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Series, and an article in the Dublin Review for February 1862. It is questionable whether any of her eleven reputed portraits are genuine—most being without doubt portraits of Rembrandt's mother, 101 101* 254
Desmond, James, 13th Earl, grandson of 12th Earl, called the "Court Page," having been hostage for his grandfather at the court of Windsor. On the earldom becoming vacant in 1 534, "the King loaded him with honours, and fitted out ships to accompany him to the Irish shores, and provided him with a number of men who were ready to stand by him against those who were inclined to dispute his title to the patrimonial honours and inheritance."147* His title to the earldom was disputed by his grand-uncle, Sir John, who being supported by a large faction, was de facto 13th Earl, This Sir John died about Christmas 1536. The "Court Page" did not long enjoy his honours, for he was murdered at Leacan Sgail in Kerry, by his cousin, Maurice an Totane, son of his late opponent, 19th March 1540. He married a daughter of his grand-uncle, Cormac Oge MacCarthy. 52 147 147* 216
Desmond, Sir James, 14th Earl, son of Sir John, de facto 13th Earl, succeeded on his cousin's murder in 1540. He is called by English writers the "Traitor Earl," In 1538 he had written to the Pope, declaring that an army of 30,000 Spaniards would ensure the conquest of Ireland, proposing that Ireland should be annexed to the Holy See, and offering to undertake the government as viceroy, paying a revenue to Paul of 100,000 ducats. "The expedition would be costly, but the expenses would fall neither on his Holiness nor on the Emperor. Desmond, with armed privateers, would seize and deliver into the hands of the Pope the persons of a sufficient number of the heretical English, whose ransoms would defray the necessary outlay."140 In July 1539 we find him in open arms against the English power, in conjunction with O'Neill, but he was soon overcome by Viscount Thurles, who seized upon his castle at Lough Gur. Having surrendered and obtained letters from the Lord-Deputy, he sailed from Howth in 1542, repaired to London, made submission to Henry VIII, was kindly received, reinstated in his ancient patrimony, and sent back with the titles of Treasurer of Ireland and President of Munster, He is afterwards said to have "lived in honour and prosperity," until he died at Askeaton, 14th October 1558, He was there buried in the Franciscan Friary, The 14th Earl was four times married—to daughters of Lord Fermoy, Lord Ely O'Carroll, 8th Earl of Ormond, and Donald MacCarthy Mor. [See also FitzMaurice, James.] 52 140 147 147* 216
Desmond, Gerald, 15th Earl, son of preceding by his second wife, succeeded on the death of his father in 1558. He is known to English writers as the "Rebel Earl," or "Ingens Rebellibus Exemplar." "Soon after his father's death," says O'Daly, "surrounded by a noble retinue of 100 youths, all of honourable birth, he proceeded to do homage to the Queen, by whom he was graciously received, and restored to all his ancestral honours by a new patent." Sir Thomas Desmond, his elder half-brother, by his father's first marriage, afterwards annulled as contracted within degrees of consanguinity, was for a short time recognized as Earl. Gerald was, however, chosen by the septs of Desmond, and his claim was eventually allowed by Government. (Thomas took no part with his brothers in the succeeding convulsions, and died at his castle of Connagh, near Youghal, 18th January 1595.) The Earl sat in a parliament held in Dublin in 1559. For many years he was engaged in bloody and aimless feuds with the Butlers and O'Briens. On 15th February 1564 Desmond proceeded to levy imposts on Sir Maurice FitzGerald of Decies, a relative of the Butlers. Sir Maurice applied to the latter for aid, and a battle was fought at Affane, on the Blackwater, two miles south of Cappoquin, where the Earl of Desmond was wounded and made prisoner. While being carried on a litter from the field, one of his captors is said to have tauntingly asked: "Where now is the proud Earl of Desmond?" to which he haughtily rejoined: "Where he ought to be—upon the necks of the Butlers." The Earl appears to have been liberated soon afterwards. Sir Henry Sidney, in his progress through Munster in January 1567, speaks of the Earl as "a man both devoid of judgment to govern, and will to be ruled," and describes his territories as in a wretched plight. "Like as I never
