Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 4.djvu/273

DESMOND 255 7, and was bur. before 11 Nov. i6oi,(^) when all the honours conferred hy the patent of 1600 became extinct.(^) Notwithstanding the attainder of 1582, and the doubtful legitimacy of the children of the ist wife of the 13th Earl, the title was assumed after his death in 1558, as under: XIF. 1558. 14. Sir Thomas FitzJames FitzGerald, called Ruadh {i.e. "the Red"), s. and h. of the 13th Earl, by his 1st wife, but bastardized and disinherited by his father, from whom, however, he inherited the lands of Killnataloon and Castlemore. He apparently was never recognized as Earl by his kinsmen, though sum. as an Earl to the Pari, of 3 Ph. and Mary. He was knighted 2 Sep. 1569, at Limerick, by the Lord Deputy Sidney [I.], as "Thomas FitzGerald, alias O'Desmond." He received a pardon, as " Thomas of Desmondie, of Conohe, co. Cork, knt.," 16 July 1570, and again 6 July 1584, but appears to have taken no active part in the various "risings-out." He is said to have m. a da. of David (Roche), Viscount Fermoy [.].{^) He d. 18 Jan. 1595, at his Castle of Connaghe.C^) and was bur. at Youghal. repair into England ... I cannot sufficiently commend unto you his noble carriage in this country, which gets him little love . . . My Lord of Desmond doth merit exceeding extraordinarily well of the Queen and the State." V.G. (') Some Irish writers have suggested that the Earl was poisoned, but there seems to be no evidence of this. He must liave died very suddenly, however, as there is a letter from him to Sir Robert Cecil, dat. at Greenwich, 31 Oct. 1601 (only a week before his death), in which he writes: "There is no hope to borrow the use of a four footed beast from one end of the tilt yard to another ... As I am wholly your knight in this triumph, I beseech you that one of your horses may be brought hither that I may exercise daily upon him." V.G. C") His heirs appear to have been his six sisters, of whom Jane and Ellen were in "intolerable want" in 1602, and then appealing to Sir Robert Cecil for "some competent living yearly" from the Queen. Pensions of ^50 each were granted, 4 Sep. 1603, "to the Lady Jane FitzGeralde and to Ellen and Elizabeth her sisters, all sisters to the late Earl of Desmonde." [Cal. Patent Rolls, James I). He is said to have had three other sisters, Margaret, Catherine, and Ellice. V.G. (') There is much uncertainty as to the wife, or wives, of Sir Thomas Ruadh FitzGerald. According to Lodge, he m. "Ellice, da. of Richard, Lord Pocr;" but this lady is also stated by Lodge to have been m. to Thomas, s. and h. ap. of Sir John of Desmond (which Thomas d. s.p.m. before 1535, when his nephew and namesake was a mere child). He is also said to have m. "the da. of Theobald (Butler), 3rd Baron Caher;" but as his s. and h., James FitzThomas (the Sugan Earl) is stated by Sir George Carew to have m. the "j/</'fr to Thiballt Butler, Lord of Caer," this alliance must be regarded as doubtful, as it would imply that the Sugdn Earl m. his great- aunt! V.G. C) The " Manor of Conechie, co. Cork, with the land belonging to same, possessions of James FitzThomas Gerrald, late of Conneghie, co. Corke, attainted," were leased to Sir John FitzEdmond FitzGerald, of Cloyne, 18 Oct. 1602. V.G.