James FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond

Who was James FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond?

James FitzGerald, an Irish nobleman, was the successor of Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond. He assumed the title of Earl of Desmond, which had been suppressed in 1582 after the Desmond Rebellions. He spent much of his life in captivity, and was temporarily, but unsuccessfully, restored to the earldom in 1600–01 by the English in an attempt to pacify Munster during the Nine Years War. He thus became the 1st Earl of Desmond, but soon returned to England, where he died in obscurity.