Thomas FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Desmond

Thomas FitzGerald
Born	c. 1386
Died	10 August 1420 Rouen
Resting place	Paris
Title	Earl of Desmond
Tenure	1399-1418
Nationality	Hiberno-Norman
Predecessor	John FitzGerald
Successor	James FitzGerald
Spouse(s)	Catherine MacCormac
Issue	Maurice FitzGerald John Claragh
Parents	John FitzGerald Mary Bourke or Joan of Fermoy

Norman Ireland, showing the Earldom of Desmond in the southwest

Thomas FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Desmond (c. 1386–1420), was the only son of John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond. Upon John's death in 1399, Thomas succeeded to the earldom of Desmond, which lay in Munster, in the southwest of Ireland.

In 1418, Thomas was dispossessed of his lands and deprived of his earldom by his paternal uncle, James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond, after Thomas had concluded a marriage far below his station to Catherine MacCormac of Abbeyfeale;^[1] Catherine was the daughter one of Thomas's dependants, William MacCormac, known as "the Monk of Feale."^[2] A marriage between a man of Norman blood and a woman of Gaelic ancestry was in violation of the Statutes of Kilkenny.^[3]

This ill-fated romance was the subject^[1] of the air "Desmond's Song"^[4] by the Irish poet Thomas Moore.

After the loss of his earldom, Thomas withdrew to France, where he "died at Rouen, 10th August 1420, and was buried at Paris 'with great and mighty show, where the two kings of England and France were present.'"^[1]

Marriage and issue

Thomas FitzGerald and Catherine MacCormac (a.k.a. Katherine McCormick)^[2] of Abbyfeale had two sons:^[5]

1. Maurice, ancestor of the FitzGeralds of Adare and Broghill, and
2. John Claragh, who died in 1452.

Ancestors of Thomas FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Desmond

Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Baron Desmond               Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond                       Margaret de Barry               Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond                             Nicholas FitzMaurice, 2nd Baron of Kerry and Lixnaw               Aveline fitz Nicholas                       Slany O'Brien               John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond                                   James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond               James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond                       Eleanor de Bohun               Eleanor Butler                             John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Knayth, Justiciar of Ireland               Elizabeth Darcy                       Joan de Burgh               Thomas FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Desmond                                         Joan of Fermoy

Notes

1. Webb, Alfred. A Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: 1878.
2. Cokayne, George Edward, Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Volume III. London: George Bell & Sons. 1890. p. 85
3. "Parish History", Abbeyfeale Parish, Diocese of Limerick
4. Moore, Thomas, The poetical works of Thomas Moore, including melodies, ballads, etc. Philadelphia: 1835. p. 349
5. Burke, Bernard, A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire. London: Harrison. 1866. p. 204