Nationality Cambro-Norman Name Maurice Lord | Siblings Robert FitzStephen | |
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Title Lord of Maynooth, Naas, and Lanstephan Wars and battles Battle of Crug Mawr
Norman invasion of Ireland
Siege of Wexford (1169) Issue Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald
Alexander FitzMaurice FitzGerald
William FitzMaurice FitzGerald
Maurice FitzMaurice FitzGerald
Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald
Robert FitzMaurice FitzGerald
Nest FitzGerald Died September 1, 1176, Wexford, Republic of Ireland Children Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly, Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald Parents Nest ferch Rhys, Gerald de Windsor Grandchildren Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly, John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond Similar People Nest ferch Rhys, Rhys ap Gruffydd, Owain Gwynedd |
Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Maynooth, Naas, and Llanstephan (c. 1105 – September 1176) was a medieval Cambro-Norman baron and a major figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland.
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Wars in Wales and Ireland
A Welsh Marcher Lord, Lanstephan fought under Robert FitzMartin at the Battle of Crug Mawr in Wales 1136.
Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough), the deposed King of Leinster who had been exiled by the High King of Ireland, sought Cambro-Norman assistance to regain his throne. Lanstephan participated in the resulting 1169 Norman invasion of Ireland. He assisted his younger half-brother Robert Fitz-Stephen in the Siege of Wexford (1169). His nephew Raymond was Strongbow's second-in-command and had the chief share both in the capture of Waterford and in the successful assault on Dublin in 1171. Lanstephan and his son also fought in this battle.
Marriage and issue
FitzGerald is sometimes said to have married Alice, a supposed daughter of Arnulf de Montgomery. There is no evidence that Arnulf left any descendants, however, and the claim that a daughter of his married FitzGerald dates no earlier than the 19th century. FitzGerald's children were:
Through his oldest son, Sir Gerald, FitzGerald was the ancestor of the FitzGerald Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster.
The original Earldom of Desmond in the province of Munster was based on landholdings belonging to the descendants of Maurice's son Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald, Lord of O'Connelloe. Thomas's son John FitzGerald, who was killed in the Battle of Callann, became the first Baron Desmond. Others from this line include the Knights of Glin and Knights of Kerry.
Ancestry
FitzGerald was the second son of Gerald de Windsor, Constable of Pembroke Castle by his wife, Nest ferch Rhys, Princess of Deheubarth and a member of the Welsh royal House of Dinefwr.