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The Last Knight: A Celebration of Desmond Fitzgerald
Robert O'Byrne
DEIRDRE CONROY – 10 NOVEMBER 2013 / http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books-arts/book-review-the-last-knight-a-celebration-of-desmond-fitzgerald-29739000.html
Irish Georgian Society, €25
Desmond FitzGerald liked to introduce himself as a boarding
house-keeper; under no illusion about title or inheritance, life was about
effort, purpose, inquiry and not a little fun along the way. This attitude made
an indelible mark within and beyond these shores.
Despite being a prolific collector and writer on Irish art,
architecture, furniture and decorative arts, his collaborator on Painters Of
Ireland, Professor Anne Cruickshank, confesses they knew little of the subject
before they began research on the seminal book.
In this tribute to the Knight of Glin, Robert O'Byrne
provides a rare insight into the early years and his developing taste and
interests. O'Byrne demonstrates a clear grasp of the influences which came to
bear on his passion for Irish heritage. Entitled The Last Knight, it celebrates
a unique man without whom Ireland's art historical publishing would be sadly
lacking and many architectural treasures would be a pile of rubble.
A photograph of a young Knight graces the cover, the epitome
of golden youth framed in a castellated manor, he cuts a handsome figure and
grasps a pike as if symbolising his defence of Irish heritage. A large key
dangles from his finger – custodian and host, he kept open house for all who shared
his interest and passion.
Tender insights are revealed in letters to his mother,
Veronica, written while he was only 12 at Stowe school. They convey the
loneliness of a boy away from home, his father dead and his mother in a distant
place; he collects rare coins, developing his keen sense of value and rarity.
It is not long, however, before Desmond is in Harvard, dating beautiful
debutantes, establishing lifelong links with America or back in London leading
the 1960s celebutantes. His first marriage to the beautiful and eccentric
LouLou de la Falaise was short lived, though they remained friends and her
death came but a few months after his.
While at the Victoria and Albert Museum he worked with great
names of art and architectural research, Mark Girouard, John Pope-Hennessy, and
developed a lasting friendship with the indomitable Maurice Craig. He married
the love of his life, Olda Willes, the relationship that endured and supported
all else. Photographs throughout the book provide a wonderful narrative, while
Olda's beauty shines through the ages.
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The Last Knight: A Celebration Of Desmond Fitzgerald
Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin can be acclaimed for
having achieved an astonishing amount prior to his death in September 2011. As
an architectural and art historian, he was among the first to recognise and
celebrate the work of Irish artists and craftsmen, bringing this to the
attention of an international audience. As an advocate of architectural
conservation and preservation, especially through his work as President of the
Irish Georgian Society, he worked tirelessly to ensure a future for the
country's architectural heritage. As a collector and tastemaker, he equally
helped to encourage greater appreciation at home and abroad of Ireland's
outstanding artists, architects and designers over many centuries. The Last
Knight, by Robert O’Byrne, will examine and celebrate all these aspects of
Desmond FitzGerald's life, and serve as a rallying call for the present
generation to emulate his work. Published by the Irish Georgian Society,
members attending dinner will be invited to share a pre dinner drink at a
private launch for this wonderful book with all proceeds from the book's sale
going to benefit the Irish Georgian Society. Full details will be sent with
dinner acknowledgement.
The Knight of Glin (dormant or extinct 14 September 2011), also known as the Black Knight, or Knight of the Valley was a hereditary title in the FitzGerald families of County Limerick, Ireland, since the early 14th century. The family was a branch of the FitzGerald dynasty, or Geraldines, related to the Earls of Desmond (extinct), who were questionably granted extensive lands in County Limerick by the Duke of Normandy by way of conquest. The title was named after the village of Glin, near the Knight's lands. The Knight of Glin was properly addressed as "Knight" (not, as one might expect, "Sir xxxx FitzGerald").
The family name "FitzGerald" comes from the
(Norman) French "Fils du Gerald", i.e. "Son of Gerald".
"The coat-of-arms of the Glin family is: Ermine a
saltier gules. Crest: a boar passant gules, bristled and armed or. Motto:
Sahnit a Boo. The arms of the various families in Ireland are similar. The
Knights of Glin bear as supporters two griffins collared and chained, and have
a second crest: a castle with two towers, issuant from the sinister tower a
knight in armor holding in the dexter hand a key proper. The Glin family seat
is at Glin, Glin Castle, county Limerick, Ireland."
Like the Knights of Kerry, the Knights of Glin descended
from one of the younger or illegitimate sons of The 1st Baron Desmond and
Honora (daughter of Hugh O'Connor, of Kerry) thus Kings of Connacht. Lord
Desmond was also known as Sir John Fitz-John or Seán Mór na Sursainge, and he
lived c. 1260. The last knight, Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin, died
on September 14, 2011.
This Desmond family are descended from Maurice FitzGerald,
Lord of Lanstephan, a companion-in-arms of Strongbow Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl
of Pembroke, the Norman conqueror of Ireland. Went to Ireland in 1168, being
sent with ten knights, twenty esquires, and one hundred archers, to assist
Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster. He died 1 September 1177, buried in the
friary of the Grey Friars of Wexford. Maurice was the second son of Gerald de
Windsor, Constable of Pembroke, Wales and his wife given to him by Plantagenet
Norman English King Henry II, the South Welsh Princess Nesta or Nest ferch Rhys
thus descended from Howell the Good, king of the Britons who codified Welsh
Law. Maurice FitzGerald's children were: Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, justice of
Ireland, who built the castle of Sligo and is ancestor of the Dukes of
Leinster. William, Baron of Naas, county Kildare, and ancestor of the Viscount
Gormanston. Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald married Elinor, daughter of Jordan de
Marisco, and sister to Herve de Monte Marisco, constable of Ireland, and of
Geoffrey de Marisco, Lord Justice of Ireland in the reign of King John. He died
1207.
John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond, of Shanid, County
Limerick, Lord of Connelloe and Decies, married (first) Margery, daughter and
heir of Sir Thomas Fitz-Anthony, Lord of Decies and Desmond. These domains were
confirmed to him by Prince Edward, the Black Prince in 1260. He married
(second) Honora, daughter of Hugh O'Connor, of Kerry. By his first wife he had
a son: 1. Maurice Fitz-John FitzGerald, who was Lord of Decies and Desmond, and
ancestor of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Desmond, who ranked among the most
powerful nobles of Ireland for more than two centuries. By his second wife he
had issue: 2. Gilbert Fitz-John, ancestor of the White Knight. 3. Sir John
Fitz-John, mentioned below. 4. Maurice Fitz-John, ancestor of the Knights of
Kerry. 5. Thomas Fitz-John, ancestor of the Fitzgerald of the Island of Kerry.
John Fitz-Thomas FitzGerald, by virtue of his royal
seigniory as a Count Palatine, created three of his sons by the second
marriage, knights; and their descendants have been so styled in acts of parliament,
patents under the great seal, and all legal proceedings, up to the present
(1910) time. He founded the monastery of Tralee, and was buried there in 1260.
(VII) Sir John Fitz-John, Knight, was the first Knight of
Glin, and had from his father the castles of Glincarbery and Beagh, county
Limerick, Ireland. Children: John Fitz-John, mentioned below. Gerald Fitz-John,
ancestor of the family of Clenlish and Castle Ishen, County Cork, Baronets.
VIII) Sir John Fitz-John del Glin was succeeded by his son.
"The earliest tradition I could find about Glin went
back to 1569, when the [15th] knight, Thomas FitzGerald[disambiguation needed],
was barbarously executed in Limerick. His mother, who was present at the
execution, seized his head when he was beheaded and drank his blood. She then
collected the parts of his dismembered body and put them in a linen sheet. When
she set out for home with her precious burden she was followed by an immense
concourse, including one hundred keening women.
Somewhere east of Foynes some soldiers tried to seize the
corpse and in the fight that followed many people were slain. The body was
interred in Lislaughtin Abbey in the tomb of his relative, the O'Connor
Kerry."
According to another legend, in the early 16th century under
Elizabeth I, England set about enforcing loyalty in the western parts of
Ireland. When one of her ships came up to the Knight of Glin's castle on the
Shannon Estuary, a fierce battle ensued. The ship's captain managed to capture
one of the Knight's sons and sent the Knight a message that he should surrender
or else the son would be put in one of the ship's cannons and fired against the
castle wall. He replied that as he was virile and his wife was strong, it would
be easy to produce another son.
The tradition about the siege of Glin castle differs in many
respects from the facts as given by Carew in Pacata Hibernia. We do know that
tradition can be a completely distorting mirror, but the popular memory of a
local event such as a battle, siege or massacre would be more vivid and more
lasting and in essence more trustworthy than Carew's narrative, who was
prejudiced and gives a complete travesty of the facts.
The garrison of the castle, according to tradition, was
divided into two sections, one of which was commanded by Donall na Searrach
Culhane and the other by Tadhg Dore. Before the siege began, Carew, who had the
knight's child as hostage, sent an order to the knight to surrender the castle
at once or else he would blow the child out of the mouth of the cannon. The
knight's answer was remembered but can only be rendered here by algebraic
symbols: Gread leat. Ta X go meidhreach fos agus Y go briomhar. Is fuiriste
leanbh eile do gheiniuint.
The assault on the castle then began under the command of
Capt. Flower but was beaten back with slaughter by the defenders. Three
brothers named Giltenan played a heroic part in repulsing the attack and slew
some of the best of Flower's men. Carew called up fresh reinforcements, which
he placed under the leadership of Turlough Roe MacMahon, who lived at
Colmanstown castle, County Clare, almost opposite Glin. Turlough was a man of
evil reputation who had already committed many dreadful crimes against his own
kith and kin and against the Irish people at large. He was the father of the
celebrated Maire Ruadh MacMahon. He is referred to in a poem of the time as
Traolach Ruadh an fhill agus an eithigh
do mhairbh a bhean agus a leanbh in eineacht.
The second assault also failed, but Turlough was determined
to carry it through , for he hated with a hatred which evil men are known to
feel towards those they have mortally injured. In the meantime the cannonading
had played havoc with the defences of the castle. In the third attempt MacMahon
was able to move in a large body of men who, after a gallant defence by the
garrison, succeeded in capturing the castle. The Giltenans, Tadhg Dore and his
brother, and Donall Culhane and two of his sons were slain in the final
defence. Some of the garrison tried to escape by jumping into the water surrounding
the castle, but only three men succeeded in getting away. These were Mahon
Dillane, Lewy O'Connor and Donall Beag Culhane (whose father was slain in the
last defence of the castle).
The "Old Castle" of Glin, the scene of the above
battle, is a ruin. The tower still stands with a historic plaque in place.
After the destruction of the old castle, the Knights built the "New
Castle", a beautiful Georgian mansion, on the banks of the Shannon Estuary
about a mile west of the old site. The last Knight lived there until his death
(as well as in Dublin and London).
The 17th Knight, Gerald FitzGerald, was a Member for
Limerick County in the Irish Patriot Parliament of 1689, called by James II
during the Williamite war.
Under the Penal Laws of the 18th century, the Knights
converted to the Church of Ireland to preserve their property. The surrounding
villagers remained Roman Catholics, a division indicated today by the two
churches in the village of Glin.
Following the war of independence and during the ensuing
Civil War, in the early 1920s, Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldiers, from
nearby North Kerry came to the 27th Knight Desmond FitzJohn Lloyd FitzGerald to
tell him that no one whose title to land came from the English Crown could keep
their land. The Knight immediately produced a document in Latin, supposedly
from Duke of Normandy, indicating that his title did not originate from the
English Crown at all. The baffled IRA men left the Knight with his properties,
which he holds to this day. Another version of the incident relates how the
then Knight, who was an invalid and used a wheelchair, refused to leave the
mansion when ordered to do so, as the IRA intended to set it alight. He
insisted on staying, they left, and the mansion still stands.
The 29th and last Knight (dormant or extinct) was Desmond
FitzGerald, son of Desmond Wyndham Otho FitzGerald, 28th Knight of Glin. He had
a MFA degree from Harvard University. He was married, firstly in 1966, to
Louise Vava Henriette Lucie Le Bailly de La Falaise, the daughter of Count
Alain de la Falaise and his wife, the former Maxime Birley. By his second, the
former Olda Ann Willes, whom he married in 1970, he had three daughters: Catherine
(previously married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, remarried in 2010 to
Dominic West, Nesta and Honor. He represented the art auctioneers Christies in
Ireland and was elected president of the Irish Georgian Society. Since he had
no male heir, the title Knight of Glin became apparently dormant or extinct. There
has been some speculation[by whom?] that there is an heir male of the body
needing to prove their claim to the title, surviving through the 24th Knight of
Glin, Lt. Col. John Fraunceis FitzGerald's second son Edmond Urmston McLeod
FitzGerald, who was born in 1817 at Glin Castle and who married Ellen Sullivan,
born in Ireland, 1822, died in Ogdensburg, New York, United States, in December
1895. Children, born in Ireland: Edmond Urmston, deceased. Richard, mentioned
below. John Fraunceis, living in Ogdensburgh, Margaret. Gerald, who died in
Ireland.
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