| Dukedom of Leinster | |
| Creation Date: | 26 November 1766[1] |
| Present Holder: | Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke |
| Heir Presumptive: | Edward FitzGerald (nephew of the present holder) |
| Remainder To: | the 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten |
| Subsidiary Titles: | Marquess of Kildare Earl of Kildare Earl of Offaly Viscount Leinster Baron of Offaly Baron Offaly Baron Kildare |
Duke of Leinster (;[2] [3] [4]) is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are: Marquess of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (1747), Baron of Offaly (c. 1193), Baron Offaly (1620) and Baron Kildare, of Kildare in the County of Kildare (1870). The viscounty of Leinster is in the Peerage of Great Britain, the barony of Kildare in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and all other titles in the Peerage of Ireland. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir of the Duke of Leinster is Marquess of Kildare. The Duke of Leinster is the head of the House of Kildare.
The 3rd Duke of Schomberg, General and K.G. (1641–1719), was created The 1st Duke of Leinster in 1691. However, that creation became extinct upon Schomberg's death in July 1719. For the second creation, it was granted to James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, who married to Lady Emily Lennox, the great-granddaughter of King Charles II of the Royal House of Stuart.
The family seat of the current Duke of Leinster is now Oakley Park, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.[5] He succeeded as 9th Duke of Leinster, 9th Marquess of Kildare, 28th Earl of Kildare, 9th Earl of Offaly, 9th Viscount Leinster of Taplow, 14th Baron Offaly, 6th Baron Kildare, and as the Premier Duke, Marquess and Earl in the Peerage of Ireland.
This branch of the Cambro Norman FitzGerald/FitzMaurice dynasty, which came to Ireland in 1169, were initially created Earls of Kildare. The earldom was created in 1316 for John FitzGerald. Two senior FitzGeralds, Garret Mór FitzGerald and his son, Garret Óg FitzGerald served as Lords Deputy of Ireland, the representative of the Lord of Ireland (the King of England) in Ireland. The tenth earl, Thomas FitzGerald, known as Silken Thomas, was attainted and his honours were forfeit in 1537. In 1554, Thomas's half-brother and only male heir, Gerald FitzGerald, was created Earl of Kildare in the Peerage of Ireland. He was subsequently restored to the original letters patent in 1569, as 11th earl. The second (1554-created) earldom became extinct in 1599, although the original earldom survived.
The family was originally based in Maynooth Castle in Maynooth in County Kildare. In later centuries the family owned estates in Waterford with their country residence being a Georgian house called Carton House which had replaced the castle in County Kildare. In Dublin, the Earl built a large townhouse residence on the southside of Dublin called Kildare House. When the Earl was awarded a dukedom and became Duke of Leinster, the house was renamed Leinster House. One of its occupants was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who became an icon for Irish nationalism through his involvement with the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which ultimately cost him his life.
Leinster House was sold by the Leinsters in 1815. After nearly a century as the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society, which held its famed Spring Show and Horse Show in its grounds, Oireachtas Éireann, the two chamber parliament of the new Irish Free State, rented Leinster House in 1922 to be its temporary parliament house. In 1924 it bought the building for parliamentary use. It has remained the parliament house of the Irish state.
The Dukes of Leinster had by the early 20th century lost all their property and wealth. Their Carton House seat was sold (though one of Ireland's most historic buildings with perfectly preserved 18th century grounds, it was controversially turned into a hotel and golf course in the late 1990s by the current owner in an act condemned by environmentalists), as later on was their other residence in Waterford. The family now live in a smaller property in Ramsden, Oxfordshire.
A controversial claim by claimants who say they are descended from the 5th Duke, which is reported to have been largely debunked by Michael Estorick in 1981, was made in 2006 and subsequently failed.[6]
In 2005, a claim was filed with the Department of Constitutional Affairs by Theresa Pamella Caudill,[7] daughter of Eleanor and Maurice F. “Desmond” FitzGerald, on behalf of her nephew, a California builder, Paul FitzGerald, as claimant to be the rightful Duke of Leinster.[8] FitzGerald was claimed to be the grandson of Major Lord Desmond FitzGerald (1888–1916), the second son of The 5th Duke of Leinster, who was recorded as having been killed in action during the First World War, while serving with the Irish Guards. When Maurice, 6th Duke of Leinster, died, mad and childless, in February 1922, the Leinster dukedom and its considerable wealth and estates devolved upon his youngest brother, Lord Edward FitzGerald, who succeeded as 7th Duke. However, Paul FitzGerald's supporters claim that Lord Desmond faked his death and emigrated to California, by way of Winnipeg, Canada, where he lived until his death in 1967. It was further claimed by Mrs Caudill that a package of documents, witnessed by Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), Sir Edgar Vincent, and Lord Feversham, had been lodged by her father with the Crown Office of the House of Lords in 1929, and the family had been denied access to them. Mrs Caudill believed the documents included evidence that her father agreed to relinquish the title for one generation but made it clear it was to be passed down to his son, her brother Leonard FitzGerald. Instead, it was passed down through her father's brother's family. It was alleged that an archivist had acknowledged the package had once existed, but the official line was that it was now lost.[8]
In February 2006, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Lord Chancellor (2003–2007), and Harriet Harman, Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, considered this claim.[9] The claim was dismissed by Lord Falconer of Thoroton, despite a 30-year campaign by Paul FitzGerald's family reputedly costing £1.3 million. The Lord Chancellor adjudicated that the title was to remain with the existing holder, Maurice FitzGerald. Paul FitzGerald has a right of appeal against the Lord Chancellor's verdict by petitioning the monarch.[10]
In 2010, however, DNA evidence was presented that indicates that Paul FitzGerald is related to the wife of the 5th Duke, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe.[11] As reported in The Scotsman,
With the help of Dunfermline-based genealogist Lloyd Pitcairn, Mrs FitzGerald Caudill [Paul FitzGerald's aunt] traced Maud Crawford, the grand-daughter of Lady Hermione's younger sister Urica Duncombe.The results of the tests found that it was "41 times more probable" that Ms Crawford and Paul FitzGerald were extremely closely related than were from different families. The proof that Paul FitzGerald is related to the titled family is the first DNA evidence ever produced in the case, and it strongly supports Mrs Fitz-Gerald Caudhill's long-held claim suggesting that her mysterious father was the son of Lady Hermione, the wife of the fifth Duke of Leinster.[11]
Theresa Pamella Caudill died on July 25, 2015.[7]
It had also previously been alleged that Edward FitzGerald, who succeeded as 7th Duke, was the biological son of the 11th Earl of Wemyss (1857–1937).[12] Were this to be established, then neither the present Duke nor any other descendant of his grandfather, the 7th Duke, would be a legitimate heir of the 1st Duke of Leinster.
Other titles: Baron of Offaly (c. 1193)
Other titles (11th–13th Earls): Earl of Kildare and Baron of Offaly (1554)
Other titles (20th Earl): Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (GB 1747)
Other titles: Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (GB 1747) and Baron of Offaly (c. 1193)
Other titles: Marquesse of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (GB 1747), Baron Offaly (1620) and Baron of Offaly (c. 1193)
Other titles (4th Duke onwards): Baron Kildare, of Kildare in the County of Kildare (UK 1870)
As of 2024, the 9th Duke and Marquess of Leinster and 29th Earl of Kildare is Maurice FitzGerald (born 7 April 1948). A landscape gardener by profession,[13] [14] he is the elder son of the 8th Duke and his second wife, Anne.[13] He was educated at Millfield and succeeded to his father's peerages on his death in 2004.[15] On 19 February 1972, as Earl of Offaly, he married Fiona Mary Francesca Hollick. They had three children:[13]
As Maurice FitzGerald's only son died childless in 1997, his brother, Lord John FitzGerald (1952–2015), became heir presumptive to the peerages.[17] He died in 2015.[18] Lord John FitzGerald had two children:
The coat of arms of the Dukes of Leinster derives from the legend that John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare, as a baby in Woodstock Castle, was trapped in a fire when a pet monkey rescued him. The FitzGeralds then adopted a monkey as their crest (and later supporters) and occasionally use the additional motto Non immemor beneficii (Not forgetful of a helping hand).[21] The motto "Crom A Boo" comes from the medieval Croom Castle and "Abu", meaning "up" in Irish; Crom Abu was the FitzGeralds' medieval warcry. Crom (Croom) and Shanet (Shanid) were two castles about 16 miles apart in County Limerick, one being the seat of the Geraldines of Kildare, and the other that of the Geraldines of Desmond, whose distinctive war cries were accordingly “Crom-a-boo” and “Shanet-a-boo.” In 1495 an act of Parliament was passed (10 Hen. 7. c. 20 (Ir)) “to abolish the words Crom-a-boo and Butler-a-boo.” The word “Abu” or “Aboo,” an exclamation of defiance, was the usual termination of the war cries in Ireland, as in a' buaidh, "to victory!"[22] Saint Patrick's Saltire, a red saltire on a white field, may have been adapted from the duke's arms on the 1783 creation of the Order of Saint Patrick, of which the 2nd Duke of Leinster was the senior founder knight.