84 DESMOND. IV. 1308 ? 1. Maurice- Fitz- Thomas (Fitz-Gerald), Lord op ■e i a iTi Decies and Desmond [I]., known as " Maurice the great," br. and h. .earldom Ho WM of fu]1 ag0 before 12 Aug _ , ai8i nU(tj Il!U , iug hai1 livery o{ L 1329. Decies and Desmond in 1312, had livery of Kerry in 1315. His powerful influence second to none (save perhaps the Earls of Ulster) caused him to be cr. 22 Aug. 1329, EARL OF DESMOND [I]. He was engaged frequently against the rebel Irish, taking, in 1339, the Lord of Kerry a prisoner. He took a prominent part in the remonstrance of the Irish against Sir John Morris, Chief Governor (1311-44) and the exclusion of the Anglo-Irish from authority. In 1344 he assisted in the French war. On 9 Aug. 1353 (but a few months before bis death) he was made Ch. Gov. of Ireland as Lord Justice for life. He Ml. firstly 13 Aug. 1312, at Greencastle, Margaret, 5th da. of Richard (de Bunmi), Earl of Ulster [I]., called the Red Sari, by Margaret, cla. of John DE FiuuuH. She d. at Dublin 1331. He IB. secondly Margaret, da. of Connor O'Brien, of Thomond. She d. s.p.ra. He m. thirdly, Aveline or Elcnor, da. of Nicholas (Fitz-Mafrice), 3d Loud of Kerry [I], above named, by Slauy, da. of Connor O'Brien, of Thomond. Hud. in Dublin Castle 25 Jany. 1355/6, and was bur. at Tralee, having some years previously settled his vast estates in tail male by a deed wherein he styles himself " Comes Desmonia?, Donunna Deyse [i.e., Decies] et de Ogonyll ac dominus Libertatis Kerrygye." (») His widow was living 1356. II. 135G. 2. Maurice-Fitz-Maurice (Fitz-Gerald), Earl op Desmond [I]., known as " Oyc," 1st s. ami h., by 1st wife, was of full age and had livery of his lauds 4 March 1358. He m. (with a portion of .£1,000) Beatrix, da. of Ralph (Stafford), Earl of Stafford, by Margaret, da. and h. of Hugh (Acdley), Earl of Gloucester. He d. s.p.m. 1358. His widow m. in 1388 Thomas (de Hoos), 5th Lord Boos, who d. 8 June 13S3. She m. thirdly Sir Richard Bdrlev, KG., who d, s.p. 23 May 1387. She d. 11 April 1415. Will dat. 25 June 1414, (directing her burial to be at Wartre,) pr. 10 May 1415. III. 1358. 3. NicnoLAS-FiTz-MAUiticE (Fitz-Gerald), Earl of Desmond [I.] by descent, next br. and h. (son of the 1st Earl by his 1st or 3d wife) being an idiot, was (practically) passed over, his estates being granted 33 Ed. Ill (1359) to his yr. br., Gerald. He d. unm. 1367. IV. 1367. J t . Gerald-Fitz-Maurice (Fitz-Gerald), Earl of Desmond [I.], known as " The Poet," next br. and h., being s. to the 1st Earl( h ) by his 3d wife. In 135!) he had livery of his brother's lands as above stated, to whose Earldom he site, some seven years later. He was Chief Gov. op Ireland, as Lord Justice, 1367 to 1369, upholding his father's policy of amalgamation with the Native Irish. In 1386 he was Deputy Justiciar in Munster. Besides being a poet ,he was a mathematician, and often looked upon as a magician. He m, in 1359 Eleanor, da. of James (Butler), 2d Earl of Ormonde [I.], by Elizabeth, da. of Sir Johu Darcy. With her he had the Barony of Inchiquin, in Imokilly. She rf. 1392. He disappeared in 1398, being probably slaiu, by O'Brien of Thomond, near the island of Kerry, but believed by the peasantry " to live beneath the waters of Lough Gur."(<0 V. 1398. 5. John-Fitz Gerald (Fitz-Gerald), Earl of Des- mond [I.], s. and h. He was, 12 April 1386, Sheriff of co. Kerry and was knighted after an expedition against Scotland. He m. Mary, da. of Mae William Bourke, or (according to Lodge) Joan, " da. of the Lord Feumoy" [I.] He d. i March 1399, being drowned in the river Suir, near Ai-dfiuuan, and was bur. at Youghal. Inq. post mortem 30 May 1400, at Clonmell (») See " Lynch/ 7 p. 243. m The first Earl had in all " four sons, viz., Maurice, Nicholas, Gerald, and John, which latter son does not appear to have sue. to the dignity as has been by some writers [co., " Lodge," who makes him 3d Earl from 1358 to 1369] stated." See Lynch," p. 243. The " Book of Bowth " (p. 118) calls Gerald the 3d Earl (ignoring m idiot br. Nicholas) and so practically (and possibly actually) he was. ( c ) Hayman s " Unpublished Geraldine documents."
