employed by his father, dispensing gifts and protection
to his adherents in return for their service in peace and
war. However, from 1515 the “Kildare system”
encountered increasing levels of opposition within
the lordship, from both his estranged brother-in-law
Piers Ruad Butler, ably assisted by his wife Margaret
and from sources within the Pale, whose opposition
was based upon the negative effects upon the Pale of
the introduction of March customs such as coyne and
livery.
Kildare’s position was progressively undermined at
court until he was replaced in 1520 by the earl of
Surrey. The Fitzgeralds’ response of attempting to ren-
der the lordship ungovernable was temporarily suc-
cessful and the earl was reappointed in 1524. However,
under the strain of closer royal scrutiny and constant
complaints from Ireland, the system broke down. Fol-
lowing a series of replacements and reappointments,
the earl was summoned to England in 1534. There,
facing replacement again, the dying earl ordered his
son Thomas, lord of Offaly (d. 1537), to launch the
rebellion that finally destroyed the family’s dominance
in Ireland.
General Observations
When the Kildare Geraldines’ experiences are taken
together, some common familial characteristics may
be discerned. They expressed their religious piety con-
ventionally through the foundation of religious estab-
lishments such as the Dominican house at Sligo or the
Augustinian house at Adare. They showed a keen sense
of self-awareness, as exemplified by their continued
use of patronymics. In general, the Fitzgeralds did not
express great interest in learning and their literary
patronage does not compare with that of their Butler
or Desmond peers. For all of their familiarity with
native Irish customs and culture, they showed a clear
preference for marriage with individuals of English
descent or preferably of English birth. Overall, their
success can be explained in terms of their military
qualities, their cultivation of personal relations with
the king, their ability to operate readily in both Irish
and Anglo-Irish society, and, above all, their ruthless
opportunism.
CORMAC Ó CLÉIRIGH
References and Further Reading
Bryan, Donough. Gerald Fitzgerald the Great Earl of Kildare.
Dublin: The Talbot Press, 1933.
Ellis, Steven. Reform and Revival: English Government in Ireland,
1470 −1534. Woodbridge: 1986.
Mac Niocaill, Gearóid, ed. Crown Surveys of Lands 1540−41,
with the Kildare Rental. Dublin: 1992.
Ó Cléirigh, Cormac. “The Problems of Defence: A Regional
Case-study.” In Law and Disorder in Thirteenth-century
Ireland: The Dublin Parliament of 1297, edited by James
Lydon. Dublin: 1997.
Orpen, G. H. “The Fitzgeralds, Barons of Offaly.” Journal
of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 44 (1914):
99-113.
Otway-Ruthven, A. J. “The Medieval County of Kildare.” Irish
Historical Studies 11, no. 43 (1959): 181−199.
See also Anglo-Norman Invasion; Bermingham;
Burke; Desmond; Gaelic Revival; Lacy de;
Lancastrian-Yorkist Ireland; Lordship
of Ireland; March Areas; March Law;
Marshal; Ormond; Racial and Cultural
Conflict; Valence, deFITZGERALD, GERALD (c. 1456–1513)
Gerald Fitzgerald, the eighth earl of Kildare, chief
governor of Ireland (1478, 1479−1492, 1496−1513),
was the eldest of four sons and two daughters of
Thomas, the seventh earl, and his wife Joan, daughter
of James, the sixth earl of Desmond. He was, according
to Tudor commentators, unlearned: “rudely brought up
according to the usage of the country” but “a mightie
man of stature” (Carew) and “a warrior incomparable”
(Stanyhurst). In 1472, he had command of twenty-four
spearmen for defense of the English Pale, and in March
1478 was elected justiciar after his father’s death. The
young earl contested Edward IV’s decision to appoint
Henry Lord Grey as deputy lieutenant a few months
later, in a characteristic demonstration of Geraldine
power. Grey’s reluctance to serve without local support
prompted the king to summon the leading lords and
officials to court. In the resultant settlement Kildare
was given charge of a more broadly based administra-
tion, with detailed instructions about preserving good
rule and the king’s interests. The earl generally
observed the spirit of this settlement until Edward’s
death.
The eighth earl’s career marked the height of the
family fortunes during the Kildare Ascendancy (1470−
1534). Kildare was in many ways a typical early Tudor
ruling magnate whose chief recommendation to suc-
cessive English kings was his ability to rule the
marches and protect their basic interests at little cost
through the deployment of an extensive manraed.
Hitherto secondary figures, the earls owed their rise to
the crisis of lordship that followed the eclipse of lead-
ing magnates of the previous generationRichard,
duke of York; John Talbot, earl of Waterford; and
James Butler, fourth earl of Ormond. Kildare power
was deliberately built up by successive kings through
continued reliance on the earl as governor, grants of
land, and eventually marriage into the royal family, so
reflecting the earl’s enhanced status in Tudor circles.FITZGERALD, GERALD (c. 1456–1513)