GF
Gerald FitzGerald 3rd Earl of Desmond
d. 1398
Vitals
Died
1398
Family
Spouse
About
Gerald the Poet, third Earl of Desmond, Justiciar of Ireland, wrote verse in Irish that survives to this day, and legend has him sleeping beneath Lough Gur; he was that rare thing, a colonial magnate remembered fondly in the language of the colonised.
Research notes
✓ GERALD 'the POET' FITZGERALD, 3rd EARL OF DESMOND (c.1335-1398), Justiciar of Ireland 1367, Gaelic poet ('Gearoid Iarla'); m. Eleanor Butler (da. of the 2nd Earl of Ormond, note-only - a further Ormond knot); father of James 6th Earl (our line). Source: CP 'Fermoy' pp.327 + the standard Desmond succession (numbering follows identity; the earls' ordinals vary between authorities because of the 1462 usurpation); contested rungs note-only.