FITZGERALD, Lord Edward (1763-1798), one of the leaders of the Society of United Irishmen, was a younger son of the first duke of Leinster, and was born at Carton Castle, near Dublin, October 15, 1763. At ten years of age he lost his father, and, his mother marrying again, the family soon after settled in France. Lord Edward was carefully educated by his stepfather, Mr Ogilvie, chiefly with a view to the profession of a soldier. Returning to England in 1779 he entered the English army, and in 1781 he sailed with his regiment for America, where he soon obtained the appointment of aide-de-camp on the staff of Lord Rawdon. He served in the war with no little reputation for personal courage, readiness of resource, and humane feeling. He was severely wounded at the battle of Eutaw Springs. After the surrender of York Town he joined the staff of General O’Hara at St Lucia, and the same year (1783) returned to Ireland. He was soon returned as member for Athy to the Irish parliament; but the high hopes which he had cherished of serving his country faded away at the spectacle of political corruption and suppression of all genuine representation by the penal laws against Roman Catholics. In 1787 he set out for a visit to the south of Europe, went afterwards to America, and in 1790 returned to England, and soon resumed his seat in the Irish parliament. The French Revolution had broken out, aud Lord Edward was one of those ardent spirits that welcomed with enthusiasm the promise of its first days. In 1792 he was attracted to Paris, and made the acquaintance of the most famous leaders of the Revolution. Having publicly renounced his title of nobility and avowed his sympathy with the republicans, he was dismissed, with other officers, from the English army. It was during this visit ...to Paris that he was introduced to the lady then known as “Pamela,” the daughter of Madame de Genlis, by the duke of Orleans ( “Égalité ”). In December 1792 they were married at Tournay, and returned to Ireland in January 1793. After a period of singular happiness spent in a country home, his sympathies with the struggles of his countrymen led him out to the troubled arena of politics. He joined in 1796 the society of United Irishmen, was sent to France to negotiate a treaty with the Directory for a French invasion of Ireland, and urged on with the utmost zeal the preparations for an Irish insurrection. But the scheme was betrayed, several of the leaders were arrested, and Fitzgerald concealed himself in a house at Dublin, still continuing to direct the movement. A price was set on his head, the place of his retreat was discovered, and after a severe struggle he was captured by police officers (May 19, 1798) and committed to prison. There he died on the 4th of June, of the wounds which he had received; a bill of attainder was immediately passed against him, and his estates were confiscated; but the attainder was at a later time reversed. His widow married Mr Pitcairn, American consul at Hamburg; but the union was an unhappy one, and ended in a separation by mutual consent. Lady Fitzgerald henceforward lived in retirement at Montauban till 1830, when she removed to Paris, Louis Philippe, the associate of her childhood, having become king of the French. He, however, refused to see her, and she died poor in 1831. An interesting narrative of The Life and Death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, by Thomas Moore, was published in 1831, in 2 vols. 8vo. A cheap reprint in 1 vol. was issued in 1875.
FITZGERALD, Lord Thomas (d. 1536), was vicedeputy of Ireland for his father, Gerald, ninth earl of Kildare, in ∙ the reign of Henry VIII. He appears to have accompanied his father to London early in 1534, on occasion of the third summons of the earl to answer grave charges of maladministration as lord deputy. But after the earl’s committal to the Tower he was sent back to Ireland to take the place of vice-deputy in his father’s absence, with secret instructions to raise a rebellion against the English Government. He was at this time hardly of age, and his amiable manners and accomplishments had procured for him the appellation of “Silken Thomas.” He was, however, of a high spirit and fiery temper, and fiercely resented the English rule. As soon as he arrived in Ireland, he cleared the way by formally surrendering his office and the sword of state, and then openly proclaimed a rebellion. He obtained possession of Dublin city before the end of July, and formed the siege of the castle, into which the English governor had withdrawn. Archbishop Alleu, the primate who had been appointed by Henry VIII. to keep watch over Kildare and to report his proceedings, sought safety in flight and sailed for England. But the ship was run aground, and the archbishop was seized by the young Lord Thomas and massacred in his presence with his English chaplains and attendants. This murder was reported by a special messenger from Fitzgerald to the pope and the emperor, the former being asked for absolution if necessary, and the latter for assistance. Sentence of excommunication was pronounced on Fitzgerald for this murder of the archbishop. In August Fitzgerald was forced to relinquish the siege of Dublin Castle, and hasten to defend or recover his own domains which the earl of Ormond had invaded. He tried in vain to seduce Ormond from his allegiance, but obtained a truce, of which he took treacherous advantage to attack him. He then again besieged Dublin, which had closed its gates against him. On October 14, in consequence of Ormond’s renewed invasion of Kildare, he was compelled to raise the siege. Three days later the English army landed at Dublin, and was enthusiastically welcomed. Fitzgerald withdrew into the country; but taking advantage of the inactivity of Skeffington, the new deputy, he approached Dublin again and burnt two villages near the city (November). The old earl had been attainted, and he died in the Tower soon after hearing of his son’s rebellion and excommunication. The deathblow to the rebellion was at length given by Skeffington, who in March 1535 stormed the castle of Maynooth, the chief stronghold of the “Geraldines.” Lord Thomas, who had now succeeded his father, but did not assume the title, retreated into Thomond, intending to sail for Spain and plead with the emperor. This scheme he relinquished, and after leading a wandering life for some months, with a price set upon his head, he surrendered without definite conditions to Lord Leonard Grey (August), and was at once conducted by him to England. He was committed to the Tower with his five uncles; and the six Geraldines w ere hung at Tyburn as traitors (February 3, 1536). An act of attainder was passed against the earl of Kildare, Lord Thomas, and others, in 1537; but the family estates were restored by Edward VI., and tho attainder was repealed by Queen Elizabeth. Moore has pointed out, in his Life and Death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, some remarkable points of resemblance between his story and that of his ancestor, Lord Thomas.
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