DESMOND 245 IV. 1398. 4. John (fitz Gerald), Earl of Desmond, s. and h. He was knighted before Apr. I395.(*) He is said to have m. Mary, da. of the MacWilliam Burk.C") He d. 4 Mar. 1399/1400,0 being drowned in the Suir, at the ford called Bel-atha-an-droiched, near Ard- finnan, co. Tipperary,() and was bur. in the Franciscan (or South) Friary at Youghal. V. 1400. 5. Thomas (fitz John), Earl of Desmond, s. and h., aged about 14 at his father's death. On 29 May 1400 the King committed to Thomas, s. of John fitz Gerald late Earl of Desmond, and to Morice fitz Gerald uncle of Thomas, the custody of the late Earl's castles and manors in cos. Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford, to hold during the King's pleasure. (") On 13 Mar. 1405/6 the King committed to the same Thomas the custody of all the castles, lordships, liberties, &q., then in the King's hand, ot which Gerald fitz Morice, late Earl of Desmond, his grandfather, had died seized in his demesne as of fee, to hold until the said Thomas reached his age-O He was appointed a justice in cos. Cork, Limerick, and Kerry, and the crosses thereof, 8 Sep. 1407, being then styled Earl of Desmond. On 21 Aug. 141 3 he was in England, about to go on the King's service to Ireland for the safe keeping of that land, with 60 men-at-arms and 300 archers. («) (*) Close Rolll.'], 18 Ric. II, no. 59. Lodge states that he was made Sheriff of Kerry, 12 Apr. 1386, but the person then appointed Sheriff of the cross of Kerry was John fitz Morice {Patent Roll, [I.], 9 Ric. II, no. 1 14). C") Thomas Burk (s. and successor of Edmund Albanach MacWilham lochtar {i.e., of Lower Connaught) from 1375 to 1401 [Annals of Loch C^, vol. ii, pp. 50, 92), may be the person indicated: but it is somewhat suspicious that this Earl and his br. James should each be described as having m. a Mary, da. of a MacVViUiam Burk. According to Lodge, the Earl m. Joan, da. of Lord Fermoy. {') "Johannes nuper Comes Dessemon'." Writ of /Hem cl. ext. dated at Clonmel 30 May. {Close Roll [I.], I Hen. IV, no. 8). C) " J399> dum agros Ormonie comitis popularetur submersus est in conspectu copiarum a mbel atha an droiched for Siuir." (Note by O'Flaherty to the Annals of tlu Four Masters [vol. iv, p. 761], citing MacFirbis). Bel atha means "the mouth of the ford." (') Patent Roll [I.], I Hen. IV, no. 92. This probably accounts for the state- ment in the Book of Howth that Morice fitz Gerald was 5th Earl of Desmond, till his death in 1410. (') Patent Rolls [I.], 7 Hen. IV, p. 2, no. 67; 8 Hen. IV, d, no. 92. (e) Patent Roll, I Hen. V, p. 3, m. 18 d; cf. p. 4, m. 4, p. 5, m. 30. On 12 Sep. 1413 he had licence to grant away the advowson of Dungarvan. {Idem, p. 5, 'w. 9: Patent Roll [I.], 2 Hen. V, no. 37). This appears to have been for an attempt — countenanced by Henry V — to regain his inheritance, the advowson being sold, to raise money for his expenses, to the Abbey of Keynsham, the Abbot of which accompanied him, as did the Earl of Ormond (with 40 men-at-arms and 160 archers). In the /I nna Is of Ulster, vol. iii, p. 66, and the Annals of the Four Masters, vol. iv, p. 816, under the year 1414, it is said that the Earl of Desmond came into Ireland this year with a force of Saxons to devastate Munster. A modern writer observes that James
