distinguished family of Desmond, and of the White Knight, the Knight of Glynn, and the Knight of Kerry. (See Desmond.) He died in 1213.—Maurice, second baron of Offaly and son of the first baron, is said by Matthew Paris to have been a "valiant knight, a very pleasant man, inferior to none in the kingdom." He introduced the Franciscans and Dominicans into Ireland, and built an abbey at Youghal for the former order, and founded one for the latter at Sligo. Finally he retired into the former of these monasteries in 1257, and took the habit of the order. He died the same year, and was succeeded by his son Maurice, third baron, a man of a warlike disposition, who was engaged in feuds with many of the great chiefs of Ireland, in one of which he invaded the territory of O'Brien, prince of Thomond, whom he took prisoner and beheaded. He died at Ross in 1277.—John Fitz Thomas Fitzgerald, the fifth baron, was created first earl of Kildare.—See Kildare.—J. F. W.
FITZGERALD, Thomas, Lord, tenth earl of Kildare, better known by the name of "the Silken Earl," from the silken fringes on the helmets of his retainers, was born in 1513. When his father Gerald, earl of Kildare and lord-deputy of Ireland, went in the spring of 1534 to England, to answer charges preferred against him, he left Thomas, then scarcely of age, to govern as vice-deputy. The young man is said, we believe truly, to have been brave, generous, and open, though "wilful, and mostly at this time ordered by light counsel." At all events he was surrounded by watchful enemies who thwarted and annoyed him; and many anecdotes are told of insults offered him by members of his council, which the proud spirit of a Geraldine would not quietly brook. A report was spread that his father had been beheaded, and that the same fate awaited his uncles. Believing this, he collected a large band of armed retainers, on the 11th June, 1534, and riding through Dublin proceeded to Mary's abbey, where the council were sitting; and taking his seat at their head he resigned his office, and renounced his allegiance to the king, against whom he declared war. "I am none of Henry's deputie," he cried; "I am his foe. I have more mind to conquer than to govern—to meet him in the field than to serve him in office." Cromer, the chancellor, with tears entreated and warned him, but to no purpose; he flung the sword of office on the table and retired with his followers. Now commenced "the rebellion of Silken Thomas." The mayor was ordered to seize the rebel, but dared not execute the order, and ere long Lord Thomas had raised the surrounding country, and taking possession of the city weakened by the plague, he laid siege to the castle. He sent ambassadors to the pope and to the king of Spain, to obtain their co-operation, and sought to enlist Lord Ossory in his enterprise, proposing that they should conquer and share Ireland. But Ossory was loyal to his king, and wrote Lord Thomas a sharp rebuke, whereupon the latter sent part of his forces to ravage Kilkenny. Allen, the archbishop of Dublin, fled from the castle, and embarked for England, but his vessel was stranded, and himself murdered in the presence of Lord Thomas.—(See Allen, John.) The murderers were excommunicated. The courage of the citizens at length rallied; they closed the gates. The siege, however, continued, and after much destruction by fire and sword, the assailants were finally repulsed, and terms being agreed upon. Lord Thomas raised the siege. "The traitor," as he was commonly called, now harassed the pale, and was successful in a sharp encounter with the king's forces, though himself severely wounded. Meantime reinforcements were sent from England, and in March, 1535, Skeffington and Brereton laid siege to Maynooth, which was betrayed to them by the foster-brother of Lord Thomas, before the latter could come to its assistance. Twenty-five of the rebels were hanged, and the followers of Lord Thomas were so dispirited that great numbers of them abandoned him. With various fortunes he continued his resistance; but the chiefs who had joined him retired one by one; and finding that he should either yield or be hunted and starved, he proposed a parley in a letter to Lord Leonard Gray, intreating him to intercede with the king to obtain "his pardon, his life, and his lands." The parley was granted, and Lord Thomas surrendered. The council recommended him to the king's mercy. In August, 1536, he was sent to England, and, notwithstanding the hopes of pardon held out to him, he was executed at Tyburn on the 3d of February, 1537, with his five uncles, who had shortly before surrendered themselves. His father having died in December, 1534, and the attainder against the family not having passed for a year and a half afterwards, Lord Thomas must be considered as earl of Kildare during that interval, though not popularly known as such.—J. F. W.
FITZGERALD, Robert, third son of George, sixteenth earl of Kildare, was born in 1637. His claims to historical notice rest on the energy with which he assisted to promote the Restoration, and on the singular zeal and efficiency manifested by him in furthering the Williamite cause and revolution in Ireland. In 1674 he received the command of a troop, and subsequently was made governor and custos rotulorum of the county Kildare. Here he continued to reside until the accession of James II., who, by acting under the advice of Tyrconnel, summarily cancelled all his appointments, to the amount of three thousand three hundred pounds per annum. This act did not diminish Fitzgerald's deeply-rooted prejudices against the jacobite regime. He frankly avowed his hostility, and was sentenced to undergo imprisonment in Newgate for twenty-one weeks; but, his health having become impaired, he was permitted to remain a prisoner at his own house. On the landing of William, however, Fitzgerald was placed in more secure detention; but, notwithstanding the surveillance of his keepers, having heard a rumour of James' defeat at the Boyne, he contrived to elude their vigilance. Reports of the intention of some jacobins to fire Dublin were soon rife; Fitzgerald, attended by only a few followers, pushed into the city, disarmed several jacobite sentinels, and took possession of the castle. Fitzgerald was now joined by a very considerable party, the jacobites surrendered, and their arms were at once handed over to the Williamite partisans. The vigour, zeal, and efficiency of Robert Fitzgerald knew no rest. He prevented the protestants from seizing the goods of the Roman catholics. Then attended by a guard of thirty chosen men he repaired to Kevin Street, where he made prisoners of some persons who were about to fire the thatched houses of that locality. Fitzgerald had passed a busy day, and he longed for repose; but we find him, nevertheless, inditing a letter to William, giving a full report of all that had been achieved in the name of that sovereign. Ere morning Fitzgerald's services were again called into play. He found the mob rushing through the city plundering the goods of the Roman catholics. Having partially restored order, Fitzgerald assembled a council, with a view to make arrangements for the management of affairs until the arrival of William; a report arrived that a detachment of James' force, who were within six miles, would return and rifle the city, and Fitzgerald accordingly sent a despatch to William entreating him to send some soldiery to relieve, with all expedition, the little garrison at Dublin. Prompt succour under Lord Anverquerque and General Sgravenmore, with the duke of Ormonde, who served as a volunteer, arrived in an hour after. Next day William's blue Dutch guards followed, to whom Fitzgerald (who was now appointed governor) gave the castle and town-guard. On Sunday, July 6th, 1690, Fitzgerald presented the keys of the city and castle to the king, who returned them, saying—"Sir, they are in very good hands; you deserve them well, and may keep them." On July 9th he was appointed a commissioner to inquire into and seize the lands of the jacobites. Fitzgerald was appointed a member of the privy council, and died January, 1698.—W. J. F.
FITZGERALD, Lord Edward, born October 15, 1763; eleventh child of James, twentieth earl of Kildare (created duke of Leinster in 1766), by Lady Emilia Mary, daughter of Charles, second duke of Richmond. Lord Edward's father died November 19, 1773, and his duchess married secondly, in 1774, William Ogilvie, Esq, a gentleman of an ancient Scotch family. After this marriage, Lord Edward accompanied his family to Aubigny in France, where the duke of Richmond had lent them his country seat. They continued to reside there for some years, during which time Mr. Ogilvie zealously and successfully superintended the military studies of his stepson. In 1779 the family returned to England, and Lord Edward joined the duke of Richmond's regiment, the Sussex militia, previously to his obtaining a lieutenancy in the 96th. Having exchanged into the 19th, he embarked in May, 1781, with that corps for America, and after distinguishing himself in several engagements, was placed upon Lord Rawdon's staff. Wounded in the thigh at Eutaw Springs, and left insensible on the ground, he was found by a negro, Tony, who continued to serve him faithfully ever afterwards. On the termination of the American war, he was placed on General O'Hara's staff at St. Lucien, and after remaining there some time, returned to Ireland, and entered
