his expedition, he fought a bloody battle with the viceroy, in which there was fearful slaughter on both sides, till night coming left the question of victory dubious. On the following day peace was made between Thomas and the Viceroy, who stipulated forgiveness of the past, and the restoration of the family to all their former possessions. But Thomas and his five uncles were soon afterwards arrested, contrary to all honour, and put on board the same ship. Some of them were arrested in Dublin, others in the country; they were carried off to London, and beheaded-their property was confiscated to the crown; and by this untoward event, (the father had already died in, prison), the whole family of Kildare was well nigh destroyed. The younger brother of Thomas, that is Garret, survived, and he was subsequently restored by Queen Mary to the paternal honours, and a portion of his ancestral estates. Hitherto

we have been digressing, in order to show that the Munster Geraldines brought not final ruin upon the house of Kildare (and, verily, it is amongst the first of our country, whether we regard its wealth, magnificence, or nobility); but let us return to what concerns us most.

A

CHAPTER XII.

JAMES FITZMAURICE DIES-THOMAS THE BALD IS MADE EARL-HIS ATROCITIES-THE PREMATURE DEATH OF HIS SON, MAURICE FITZ-THOMAS, AND HIS NEPHEW, JAMES FITZMAURICE-THE SUBTLE STRATAGEM OF ANOTHER MAURICE, WHO OBTAINS THE LORDSHIP OF KERRY, THROUGH THE INTERFERENCE OF HIS BROTHER THOMAS.

JAMES Fitzmaurice, having been earl for eleven years, breathed his last A.D. 1536. Thomas the Bald, uncle of Maurice, and third son of him who was put to death at Drogheda, was inaugurated Earl of Desmond, after his nephew. Far-famed was he in feats of arms; in nine battles did he win the palm of victory; he commanded the horse in a memorable action between the Earl of Kildare, then Viceroy, and the great O'Brien ; sharp and bloody was that contest, and the victory was, subsequently, a matter of question between the combatants. Another subject for gratulation had this earl: the two Lords of Muskerry (one of whom was his wife's father), fell beneath his sword. He had a son born to him of the daughter of the aforesaid Lord of Muskerry; his name was Maurice Fitz-Thomas. He, dying during his father's lifetime, left an only son, James Fitzmaurice, who at the time of his father's and grandfather's decease, was in the court of Henry VIII. Thomas died aged eighty, leaving the title to his successor and nephew, James Fitzmaurice, who, when he heard of his father's and

THE GERALDINES.

51

grandfather's demise, sought leave from the king to return to Ireland. The king loaded him with honours, and fitted out ships to accompany him to the Irish shores, and provided him with a number of men who were ready to stand by him against those who were inclined to dispute his title to the patrimonial honours and inheritance. Thus did he pass the seas and land on the southern coast, journeying thence towards Cork, and passing through the territories of Lord Viscount Roche, he fell into the toils laid for him by his kinsman, Maurice Geraldine, and was unfortunately slain, A.D. 1542.

Alas! this horrid act was the first step to the ruin of the glorious family of the Geraldines. Divine justice took terrible revenge, and soon after extirpated the whole race of John of Desmond; for this Maurice, who shed the blood of his kinsman, was the second son of John of Desmond, who was brother to Thomas the Bald, and son of the Earl who was beheaded at Drogheda. But let us speak of this Maurice: he was a man famed in war and princely in his castles, but nature stamped him with a fiendish character-humanity abandoned him-no generous trait distinguished him-impetuous and dishonourable, he was hated by every one. Wherefore, fearing that his eldest brother might seize his possessions, he deemed it safer to have him far removed from him, and, for this reason, conferred on him a tract of country called Kerricurihy, of which he

*

Kerricurihy (called in the jargon of Elizabeth's time Kerrywherry) was given by James, fifteenth Earl of Desmond, to his brother Sir Maurice of Desmond. It

made him lord, in the hope that he might fall 'neath the sword of those who were the implacable enemies of the Geraldines; or, at least, if this did not take place, that he might be out of the way of inflicting injury on himself; but Maurice, having attained his eightieth year, still bore the brunt of many an assault, repelling and crushing his enemies. Now, when an octogenarian, he made an incursion into the lands of Muskerry, and was met in battle by Diarmid Mac Teig, his father-in-law, and made prisoner. Diarmid committed him to the custody of four horsemen, while he himself hastened to pursue the flying bands of Desmond; but in his absence, the guard fell upon the latter, and barbarously slew him. Yet we retract the word; for they only meted out to him the same treatment which he gave to all those whom the fortune of war made his prisoners. He had two sons and three daughters, the first of whom married M'Carthy Riagh, the second the Viscount Roche, and the third Diarmid Mac Teig, Lord of Muskerry; his eldest son, Thomas, did not long survive his fa ther; but he left a son, Thomas. the younger, who subsequently perished in the wars of the Desmonds; the second son, James. Fitz-Thomas, remained to represent and propagate the John Desmond, fourth son of the Earl who was beheaded, enjoyed the Earldom after (as we have seen) the legitimate heir had been cut

race.

was anciently called Muskerry-millane, and was owned by, the MacCarthys, and, after the Conquest, was granted to Richard De Cogan, and from him called " Longa-gowganig,” i. e., Cogan's Ship.

off by the treachery of Maurice; but he held it only for one year, for, like Achab in Holy Writ, the acquired it by the shedding of blood, and in bloodshed lost it. He left many sons, the eldest of whom was James, the second Maurice, well known for his cruelty, the third John Og, all of whom, together with their children, perished in `the last war of Earl Garret, with the single exception of Maurice Fitz-John, who died in Spain.

CHAPTER XIII.

JAMES FITZ-JOHN AND HIS SONS, PARTICULARLY GARRET FITZ-JOHN, ARE INTRODUCED ON THE STAGE; THE PARTS THEY PLAYED IN THIS TRAGEDY.

JAMES Fitz-John succeeded his father, and, with a splendid retinue, hastened into England, and made submission to Henry VIII., acknowledging, at the same time, that all the property of the Desmonds was forfeited to the Crown by reason of the murder of the legitimate heir; but he boldly asserted that this act was committed, not by his hand, but that of his brother Maurice. The king, who was at this period engaged in the French war, and desirous to see commotion entirely calmed in Ireland, received him with the greatest kindness. He then confirmed to James his ancient patrimony, reinstated his brother, and 'sent him back to Ireland with the title of treasurer to the kingdom and president of Munster. Fourteen years did he fill those high and honorable offices, and dying, left three sons, Garret, John,