Catherine FitzGerald explained

Catherine Fitzgerald
Birth Name:Catherine Celinda Leopoldine FitzGerald
Birth Date:18 May 1971
Occupation:Landscape designer
Noble Family:FitzGerald
Spouse:
Father:Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin
Mother:Olda Ann Willes

Catherine Celinda Leopoldine FitzGerald, formerly Catherine Lambton, Viscountess Lambton, (born 18 May 1971) is an Irish landscape designer and gardener. She and her husband, Dominic West, also operate her ancestral home, Glin Castle, as a small hotel and event venue.

Early life and family

Catherine FitzGerald was born on 18 May 1971.[1] She is a member of the FitzGerald dynasty, an Anglo-Norman aristocratic dynasty that originated in the Welsh Marches, England and Normandy. Her father, Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin, was the last Knight of Glin, as the title could only descend in the male line. She has two sisters, Honor and Nesta.[2] Her godfather was Christopher Gibbs.[3]

FitzGerald grew up at her family's ancestral home, Glin Castle, in Glin, County Limerick. She attended St Mary's Calne and Trinity College Dublin.[4]

Career

FitzGerald works as a landscape designer and gardener in Ireland and the United Kingdom; she shares a studio with landscape architect Mark Lutyens in London.[2] [5] She has worked as a freelance writer on landscaping and gardening for House & Garden, The Garden, Interiors Magazine, and The Telegraph.[6]

FitzGerald has worked on the gardens at her family's home, Glin Castle, and has also worked on landscaping projects at Hillsborough Castle, Lansdowne Crescent, Clarendon Park, Holland Park Avenue, Glenarm Castle, and St Olav's Church.[7] [4] [8]

Personal life

FitzGerald married Edward Lambton, Viscount Lambton, the future 7th Earl of Durham, on 19 October 1995. They divorced in 2002. She married Dominic West, whom she had dated while at Trinity College,[9] [10] on 26 June 2010 in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Limerick. She and West have four children: Dora, Senan (who made his screen debut alongside his father in The Crown), Francis, and Christabel.[11] [12]

FitzGerald and West own a town house in Shepherd's Bush, London, a home in the Cotswolds, and share ownership of Glin Castle with her sister.[3] [13] [7]

Glin Castle

In 2011, FitzGerald’s father died. As her father had no male heirs, the hereditary knighthood of Glin became extinct. FitzGerald, along with her mother and sisters, decided to sell the estate through an auction at Christie’s.[4] [14] The castle, which had operated in the hospitality trade, did not sell, so FitzGerald and West, along with FitzGerald's sisters, bought it to keep it in the family.[15] [16] [17] They split their time between Glin Castle and their home in London.

FitzGerald and West first operated the castle as a bed and breakfast and now run it as a hotel and event venue.[18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Catherine Celinda Leopoldine FitzGerald. Lundy. Darryl. The Peerage. 28 February 2019.
  2. Web site: Catherine FitzGerald and Dominic West's home in Ireland . 17 March 2021 .
  3. Web site: Dominic West's Cozy and Colorful London Home. Cohane. Ondine. Lonny. 28 February 2019.
  4. Web site: Top stories of 2018: Catherine FitzGerald and her husband, actor Dominic West, have rescued her ancestral home in Ireland. Tobin. Emily. House & Garden. Condé Nast. 28 February 2019.
  5. Web site: IGS Country House Series: In conversation with Catherine Fitzgerald, Glin Castle . .
  6. Web site: Landscape Design. FitzGerald. Catherine. Catherine FitzGerald. 28 February 2019.
  7. Tatler . 14 October 2020 . Bickerstaff . Isaac . Who is Dominic West's aristocratic wife, Catherine FitzGerald?.
  8. Web site: Projects. FitzGerald. Catherine. Catherine FitzGerald. 28 February 2019.
  9. Web site: Dominic West's Wife, Catherine, Admits Their Marriage Faced "Ups and Downs" Since Lily James Drama .
  10. Web site: Dominic West: 'My wife hasn't watched The Affair yet and I don't really want her to'. Danaher. Patricia. 10 January 2016. The Independent. Independent News & Media. 28 February 2019.
  11. Web site: Wire actor West marries long-term Irish partner. 28 June 2010. Irish Examiner. Irish Times. 28 February 2019.
  12. Web site: Dominic West's Wife Catherine: We're 'Totally Devoted' After Lily James Drama . 17 May 2021 .
  13. Web site: A wild affair. Donald. Caroline. 2 October 2016. The Sunday Times. News UK. 28 February 2019.
  14. Web site: Dominic West and his wife forced to sell her ancestral castle. Ward. Victoria. 24 April 2015. The Daily Telegraph. 28 February 2019.
  15. Web site: Tour Dominic West and Catherine Fitzgerald's Historic Home. 17 January 2019. Yahoo! News. Oath Inc.. 28 February 2019.
  16. Web site: Dominic West and Catherine Fitzgerald's Irish Country Castle Is Straight Out of a Fairy Tale. Parker-Magyar. Katherine. 17 January 2019. Architectural Digest. Condé Nast. 28 February 2019.
  17. Web site: West: Move to our Irish castle is no brief affair. O'Brien. Jennifer. 6 September 2018. The Times. 28 February 2019.
  18. Web site: Inside Glin Castle – home to Dominic West and Catherine FitzGerald. Gray. Catriona. 30 January 2019. Town & Country. Hearst. 28 February 2019.