John FitzGerald (abt. 1560 - abt. 1620)

Born about 1560 in Dromana, County Waterford, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 24 May 1620 at about age 60 in Ireland

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Biography

Sir John FitzGerald was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

John FitzGerald is Notable.

John FitzGerald was born in 1560 in Dromana, County Waterford, Ireland. His parents were Gerald FitzGerald and Eleanor Butler.

Sir John became 7th Lord Decies after the death of his cousin Gerald, 6th Lord (son of Sir James FitzGerald, 5th Lord Decies) in 1598.^[1]

Sir John FitzGerald, of Dromana, County Waterford, Lord of Decies married Eleanor , daughter of Maurice FitzGibbon who was son and heir apparent of John "Oge" FitzGibbon, the White Knight. Ellen's mother was Ellen Butler of the Cahir branch, and her ancestors included James, 3rd Earl of Ormond, and Sir Pierce Power.^[2][3] Sir John and Eleanor had at least 5 children:

1. Mary FitzGerald
2. John FitzGerald
3. Eleanor Fitzgerald
4. Catherine Fitzgerald
5. Ellice FitzGerald

He died in 1620 in Ireland ^[4]Cracroft's Peerage puts forward that John, 7th Lord Decies, died before 1608, whereas most other sources give his death year as 1620.Paraphrased from the ^[5]

Notes

• Eleanor FitzMaurice survived her husband, Sir John. He died at Dromana on 24 May 1620 and was buried in Youghal Church. Eleanor the relict of Sir John then removed to Templemichael Castle, where she continued to the time of her death, and in the absence of her grandchild Garrett FitzGerald, then in England, these riches being in the Castle with her, were all embezzled and conveyed away. This makes little difference in family events, with the notable exception that the petitions of Sir John FitzGerald to King James I in the 1610s would have been made either by this Sir John or his son Sir John.

• "Sir John FitzGerald had a grant of a Fair at Dromana on St. Bartholomew’s Day, and on the Vigil of St. James at the Rock, near Whitemount, on the 1st Dec 1607."^[6]

Historical accounts credit Ellen FitzGibbon, a good businesswoman, with helping the Decies estate to regain its financial footing during her marriage to Sir John FitzGerald.^[7]

Physical description: "In Russell's Relation, Sir John is described "by persons yet liveing who have seen him," as "a little brown man with one eye only," and Dame Ellen his wife as "a fatt big woeman, goeing in a hatt and gold hat-band, a silke gowne and mantle with a fringe, her hayre bound up in a golden cewle."^[8]

Cracroft's Peerage records 7 children from this marriage:

• Sir John FitzGerald, of Dromana, co. Waterford, Lord of Decies (d. 1 Mar 1626), married Eleanor Butler (daughter of James Butler, 2nd/12th Baron Dunboyne) and had issue

• Catharine FitzGerald, married James Prendergast,^[9] of Newcastle, co. Tipperary (he was murdered, without male issue, 12 Dec 1627)

• Eleanor FitzGerald, married James Butler of Nodstown^[10]

• Anne FitzGerald, married Tibbot [Theobald] Butler

• Mary FitzGerald (d. before 29 Sep 1678), married Patrick de Courcy, 15th Baron Kingsale (died 1663), and had issue

• Helen FitzGerald, married (1) Gerald de Courcy, 14th Baron Kingsale (dspm ca. 1642) and (2) Randal Hurley, of Beallana Carigy, co. Cork, and had issue by her first husband

• Ellice FitzGerald (d. 16 Jan 1644/5; buried at Ardcavan, co. Wexford), married (1) as his 2nd wife Thomas Butler, 2nd Baron Cahir,^[11][12] and before 19 Mar 1629 married (2) Sir Thomas Esmonde, 1st Baronet,^[13] and had issue by both husbands. The son of Thomas Esmonde and Ellice FitzGerald was Laurence Esmond, 2nd Baronet (1634-1688).

Excerpts from the book Dromana: The Memoirs of an Irish Family:^[14]

• In 1613, Sir John FitzGerald (either this John or his son John) presented a petition to King James to "confer the said title of honour on him" [Lord of Decies]; but his said Majesty was pleased to defer the consideration of said claim to said title to a future period. However, Sir John passed a patent of said estates according to the Commission for Defective Titles, 7th October, 1614.

• Dromana was owned by Sir John Fitz Gerald, who presented a petition to James I for the restitution of the family title of Viscount Decies and Baron of Affane, but he was unsuccessful in the matter. Nevertheless, considering the disturbed times in which he lived, he did well in securing for himself and for his heirs, the undisputed ownership of Dromana and all the Decies property.

• There are several entries in the Earl of Cork's diary concerning business transactions that took place between the Earl of Cork [Richard Boyle] and Sir John.

History of the Dromana Fitzgeralds

This overview of the Lords of Decies (Dromana Fitzgeralds) is condensed from "History of Kinsalebeg: Landlords and Land Ownership", Cracroft's Peerage, and various issues of the Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society:^[15]

• The FitzGerald Dromana ancestry begins with the Earls of Desmond who owned large parts of Munster until their defeat in the Desmond rebellions ca.1583. After the rebellion, most of the Desmond land was confiscated but the Dromana estate was left largely untouched.

• The Dromana branch started in the 15th century when James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond (d.1463) left extensive lands in West Waterford to his youngest son Gerald FitzGerald (d.1488), considered to be the 1st Lord Decies. Gerald made his base in Dromana, and Dromana Castle became a cliff-top home for generations of FitzGeralds and subsequently Villiers and Villiers-Stuarts.

• The title then passed in the typical fashion, to Gerald's son John, 2nd Lord (d.1524) and then to John's son Gerald, 3rd Lord (d.1554).

• In turn Gerald's 2 sons Maurice (d.1572) and James (d.1580) served respectively as 1st Viscount Decies (a provisional title which Maurice had to petition the Crown for, given the turbulence of the times) and 5th Lord Decies.

• After James died, the title went to his son Gerald, 6th Lord, who died with no heir in 1598. The title thus reverted to a first cousin John, 7th Lord (d.1608), who was the son of another Gerald (1530-1599) who had never held the title himself.

• From John, 7th Lord, the title passed to his son John Oge (d.1626) and in turn to John Oge's son Gerald (d.1643), who married Mabel Digby, daughter of Sir Robert Digby MP.

• According to the Civil Survey of 1654-1656, this same Gerrott fzt Gerrald of Dromanny Esq [Gerald FitzGerald of Dromana], who was described as an “Irish Protestant deceased” [since 1643], held about 21,500 acres of land in West Waterford at that time.^[16]

Family Connections

Ancestor of well-known heiress Katherine FitzGerald, Viscountess Grandison^[17] (1660-1725) who died insane and was buried in Westminster Abbey, London.

Sources

1. ↑ Hervey de Montmorency-Morres, Genealogical Memoir of the Family of Montmorency, 592 pages, published 1817, ISBN 134133841X, searchable online here: [1]
2. ↑ [http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/desmond1329.htm#DESMOND_1329_6 Cracroft's Peerage: James, 6th Earl of Desmond
3. ↑ Ellen FitzGibbon and John FitzGerald had a number of common ancestors, including Sir John FitzGibbon (ca.1468-1545), 9th White Knight.
4. ↑ Discrepancy over death year: [2]:
5. ↑ "Unpublished Geraldine Documents", as published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume V, Fourth Series (1882), Dublin: Ponsonby and Weldrick, p.647:
6. ↑ Journal of the Waterford & South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, Vol.1, 1894-5, pedigree appearing between pp.122 and 123: [3]
7. ↑ Notes on the family, from the Journal of the Waterford & South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, Vol.1, 1894-5, pp.263-264: [4]
   • Gerald Fitzjames, 6th Lord of the Decies: It was this Lord who entertained Sir Walter Raleigh so hospitably at Dromana, and presented him with “ New Affane” for a breakfast. He died at Templemichael without issue in October 1598, and was buried at the Abbey of St. Francis, Youghal. His first cousin, Sir John [7th Lord Decies], succeeded, of whom the following records are interesting:
     • “Sir John Fitzgerald, Knight, son to Garrett [Gerald] (3rd son of Sir Gerald Fitz-John Fitz-Garrett of Desmond) by Elleanor, daughter of John Butler, of Deriliskane [Derryloskan], in the Co. Kilkenny, Esq., who was his married wife, after the death of his [first] cousin, Garrett Fitz-James, of Cappagh, and as next heir to him, entered into the estate of Decies, then hardly worth the name of an estate; not then yielding (as it is generally reported) 60 pounds per annum, by reason of the destruction made thereof voluntarily or carelessly by his said cousin, Garrett, son of James of Cappagh. Sir John's father Garrett [Gerald] died before he came to be possessed of the said estate of the Decies, who left issue only this Sir John and one daughter named Margaret, wife to Thomas Fitzgerald, of Knockmoane, in the County of Waterford. The said Sir John before he came to the estate married Ellen, daughter to Maurice Fitz-John, the White Knight, who being a careful industrious woman, treasured up much riches, by which the said estate was again recovered, and in their days brought to about 1.500 ld. yearly rent.
     • The ‘"Communia Roll" for 1618 contains curious particulars regarding the ancestry of Sir John Fitzgerald. Having been sued by the Crown for arrears of rent in certain lands in the County of Waterford, answers that Sir Gerald Fitzgerald, of Dromany (2nd son of James [6th] Earl of Desmond) died seized of the lands in question on August 16th, 1488; after whose death the possessions descended to his son and heir, John Fitzgerald, who died at Dromany on December 18th, 1524, when his son and heir, Gerald, entered into possession of the premises. This Gerald died at Templemichael February 25th, 1553, and was succeeded by his son and heir Maurice (1st) Viscount Decies. Maurice died at Dromana, without lawful issue, 3Ist December, 1571, and was succeeded in the ownership of the lands by his brother and heir, Sir James Fitzgerald of Cappagh. Sir James died at Dungarvan December 25th, 1580, and was succeeded by his son and heir, Garrett, who died at Templemichael in October, 1598, without issue, when the possessions reverted to his cousin and heir, Sir John Fitzgerald, the son of his uncle Garrett/Gerald.
     • Gerald Fitz-James must have squandered his patrimony at a great rate, for it is mentioned that his successor and cousin, John Fitzgerald Fitzgerald, was for many years after succeeding to the estates in very straightened circumstances, and it was only by the strictest economy, in the exercise of which he was ably assisted by his wife, Ellen FitzGibbon, daughter of the White Knight, that he retrieved his broken fortunes.
8. ↑ As recorded in Cokayne's Peerage, and citing Unpublished Geraldine Documents, from a report by R.G. FitzGerald-Uniacke.
   • Cokayne, George Edward and Vicary Gibbs ed., Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol.4, 2nd edition (London, 1916), p.111:
   [5]
9. ↑ James Prendergast was murdered by Edmund Butler, 3rd/13th Lord Dunboyne, (grandson of the 2nd/12th Lord Dunboyne) in a quarrel over a disputed inheritance. The murder took place in Cahir Castle, which belonged to Edmund Butler's father-in-law, Thomas Butler, 2nd Baron of Cahir, who had died the previous year. James Prenderfast was the son of Thomas Prendergast and Eleanor Butler, who was the sister of Walter, 11th Earl of Ormond. For this crime Edmund Butler was tried by his peers for manslaughter, but was acquitted:
   • Wikipedia: Edmond Butler, 3rd/13th Baron Dunboyne
10. ↑ James Butler's paternal grandfather Walter was son of the 9th Earl of Ormond and brother to the 10th. His maternal grandfather Sir Thomas Purcell was Baron of Loughmoe.
11. ↑ Ellice FitzGerald and Thomas Butler, 2nd Baron Cahir were related via Ellice's grandmother Ellen Butler of the Cahir branch.
12. ↑ Ellice FitzGerald & Thomas Butler had a daughter, Margaret, who married Edmund Butler, 3rd/13th Lord Dunboyne
13. ↑ Sir Thomas Esmonde's profile from the Dictionary of Irish Biography:
    • https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a2949
14. ↑ Dromana: The Memoirs of an Irish Family, by Therese Muir MacKenzie (Therese Villiers Stuart), published 1907 (Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker), pp.75-76:
    • https://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/thrse-mackenzie/dromana--the-memoirs-of-an-irish-family-ala.shtml
15. ↑ Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society
16. ↑ The land was spread over 17 parishes including Lisgenan (4060 acres), Kinsalebeg (203), Dungarvan (1050), Abbeyside (34), Colligan (660), Affane (800), Rynegonagh (950), Whitechurch (629), Seskinane (1600), Kilmolash (330), Ardmore (1650), Modeligo (820), Aglish (2557), Kilgobinet (700), Clashmore (3070), Stradbally (140) and Fewes (2000). There were other land owners in these parishes so they were not exclusively in the ownership of the FitzGeralds. The FitzGeralds however owned the greater part of the land in the parishes of Aglish, Clashmore, Lisgenan (Grange), Rynegonagh (Ring), Seskinane and Fewes. Land belonging to the FitzGeralds of Dromana in the proximity of Kinsalebeg included some in Ballyheeny, Knocknageragh (Summerhill), Grange, Ardsallagh, Tinnabinna, Ticknock, Shanacoole, Ballycrompane and Coolbagh. Gerald FitzGerald of Dromana is recorded as having 1030 acres in the townlands of Ardsallagh, Tinnabinna, Ticknock, Shanacoole and Ballycrompane. He also had 203 acres in the townland of Ballyheeny and 4060 acres in the parish of Lisgenan [Grange] which included 230 acres in Knocknageragh [Summerhill] bordering Pilltown.
17. ↑ Wikipedia: Katherine FitzGerald, Viscountess Grandison

See Also:

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p27326.htm#i273256
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p29956.htm#i299553