Duke of Leinster (; ) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland since 1691. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produce any revenue for the title-holder.
Currently Duke of Leinster is the premier dukedom in the Peerage of Ireland. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are Marquess of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham (1747), Baron of Offaly (c. 1193), Baron Offaly (1620) and Baron Kildare, of Kildare in the County of Kildare (1870). The viscounty of Leinster is in the Peerage of Great Britain, the barony of Kildare in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and all other titles in the Peerage of Ireland. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir of the Duke of Leinster is Marquess of Kildare. The Duke of Leinster is the head of the House of Kildare.
Duke of Leinster, first creation (1691) The title was first conferred on General Meinhardt Schomberg, later the 3rd Duke of Schomberg, K.G. (1641–1719) in 1691. Schomberg was created Duke of Leinster for his part in the Battle on 30 June 1690Noble, p.180 and, after taking part in the abortive Siege of Limerick in August 1690, he became a British subject through naturalization by Act of Parliament on 25 April 1691.Cruickshank, p.498 However, that creation became extinct upon Schomberg's death in July 1719.
See Duke of Schomberg
Dukes of Leinster, second creation (1766) For the second creation, it was granted to Major-General James FitzGerald, 1st Marquess of Kildare, Master-General of the Irish Ordnance, in 1766. FitzGerald married to Lady Emily Lennox, the great-granddaughter of King Charles II of the Royal House of Stuart.
Earls of Kildare from 1316 This branch of the Cambro Norman FitzGerald/FitzMaurice dynasty, which came to Ireland in 1169, were initially created Earls of Kildare. The earldom was created in 1316 for John FitzGerald. Two senior FitzGeralds, Garret Mór FitzGerald and his son, Garret Óg FitzGerald served as Lords Deputy of Ireland, the representative of the Lord of Ireland (the King of England) in Ireland. The tenth earl, Thomas FitzGerald, known as Silken Thomas, was attainted and his honours were forfeit in 1537. In 1554, Thomas's half-brother and only male heir, Gerald FitzGerald, was created Earl of Kildare in the Peerage of Ireland. He was subsequently restored to the original letters patent in 1569, as 11th earl. The second (1554-created) earldom became extinct in 1599, although the original earldom survived.
Estates and residences
Country seats The family was originally based in Maynooth Castle in Maynooth in County Kildare. In later centuries the family owned estates in County Waterford with their country residence being a Georgian house called Carton House which had replaced the castle in County Kildare.
The Dukes of Leinster had by the early 20th century lost all their property and wealth. Their Carton House seat was sold (though one of Ireland's most historic buildings with perfectly preserved 18th century grounds, it was controversially turned into a hotel and golf course in the late 1990s by the current owner in an act condemned by environmentalists), as later on was their other residence in Waterford. The family now live in a smaller property in Ramsden, Oxfordshire.
Estates In the 1883 edition of John Bateman's The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland, Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster's estates were recorded as spanning 73,100 acres across Ireland, including 71,977 acres in County Kildare and 1,123 acres in County Meath, which produced a combined annual income of £55,877.
Dublin residences In Dublin, the Earl built a large townhouse residence on the southside of Dublin called Kildare House. When the Earl was awarded a dukedom and became Duke of Leinster, the house was renamed Leinster House. One of its occupants was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who became an icon for Irish nationalism through his involvement with the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which ultimately cost him his life.
Leinster House was sold by the Leinsters in 1815. After nearly a century as the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society, which held its famed Spring Show and Horse Show in its grounds, Oireachtas Éireann, the two chamber parliament of the new Irish Free State, rented Leinster House in 1922 to be its temporary parliament house. In 1924 it bought the building for parliamentary use. It has remained the parliament house of the Irish state.
London residences Following the demolition of Carlton House in 1826, Augustus FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster was one of the original lessees who occupied one of the large terraced mansions at Carlton House Terrace which was built on the site during the late 1820s. The 3rd Duke took a lease of No. 6 Carlton House Terrace on 25 December 1829, and had taken up residence in the house by April 1832.
No. 6 Carlton House Terrace house remainded as the London home of the Dukes of Leinster until 1889. An auction of the house's contents was held in August 1889, and by July 1890 the house was occupied by the artist and explorer Herbert Ward. Following the death of Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster in December 1893, his obituary in The Daily Telegraph listed No. 6 Carlton House Terrace as one of his residences, although by the date of the Duke's death the house had been leased by Marie Mackay, the widow of American millionaire John William Mackay.
Title dispute A controversial claim by claimants who say they are descended from Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster, which is reported to have been largely debunked by Michael Estorick in 1981, was made in 2006 and subsequently failed.Peterkin, Tom. Battle over Irish dukedom settled, Daily Telegraph, 21 April 2007. Accessed 12 June 2008.
In 2005, a claim was filed with the Department of Constitutional Affairs by Theresa Pamella Caudill, daughter of Eleanor and Maurice F. "Desmond" FitzGerald, on behalf of her nephew, a California builder, Paul FitzGerald, as claimant to be the rightful Duke of Leinster. FitzGerald was claimed to be the grandson of Major Lord Desmond FitzGerald (1888–1916), the second son of the 5th Duke of Leinster, who was recorded as having been killed in action during the First World War, while serving with the Irish Guards. When Maurice, 6th Duke of Leinster, died childless, in February 1922, the Leinster dukedom and its considerable wealth and estates devolved upon his youngest brother, Lord Edward FitzGerald, who succeeded as the 7th Duke. However, Paul FitzGerald's supporters claimed that Lord Desmond had faked his death and emigrated to California, by way of Winnipeg, Canada, where he lived until his death in 1967. It was further claimed by Mrs Caudill that a package of documents, witnessed by Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), Sir Edgar Vincent, and Lord Feversham, had been lodged by her father with the Crown Office of the House of Lords in 1929, and the family had been denied access to them. Mrs Caudill believed the documents included evidence that her father had agreed to relinquish the title for his own generation but had insisted that it was to be passed down to his son, her brother Leonard FitzGerald. Instead, it had remained in the family of the 7th Duke. She claimed that an archivist had acknowledged the package existed, but said the official line was that it was now lost.
In February 2006, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Lord Chancellor (2003–2007), and Harriet Harman, Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, considered this claimTom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent, Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles, “A Californian claimant, an 'escape' from the trenches and the fight for a dukedom”, The Daily Telegraph, 27 February 2006 after a 30-year campaign by Paul FitzGerald's family reported to have cost £1.3 million, and dismissed it. They adjudicated that the title was to remain with the existing holder, Maurice FitzGerald. Paul FitzGerald had a right of appeal against the Lord Chancellor's verdict only by petitioning the monarch.American loses battle over Leinster dukedom claim . IrishAbroad
In 2010, DNA evidence was presented that indicated that Paul FitzGerald was related to the wife of the 5th Duke, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe.“DNA test the latest twist in aristocratic tale of a cowboy, a gambler and a web of deceit”, The Scotsman, 4 November 2010. (Retrieved 6 June 2021.) As reported in The Scotsman, With the help of Dunfermline-based genealogist Lloyd Pitcairn, Mrs FitzGerald Caudill [Paul FitzGerald's aunt] traced Maud Crawford, the grand-daughter of Lady Hermione's younger sister Urica Duncombe.
The results of the tests found that it was "41 times more probable" that Ms Crawford and Paul FitzGerald were extremely closely related than that they were from different families. The proof that Paul FitzGerald is related to the ducal family is the first DNA evidence produced in the case, and it supports Mrs Fitz-Gerald Caudhill's claim that her mysterious father was the son of Lady Hermione, the wife of the fifth Duke of Leinster.
Theresa Pamella Caudill died on July 25, 2015.
It had also previously been alleged that Edward FitzGerald, who succeeded as 7th Duke, was the biological son of the 11th Earl of Wemyss (1857–1937).Angela Lambert, Unquiet Souls (Harper & Row, 1984), p. 64 Were this to be established, then neither the present Duke nor any other descendant of his grandfather, the 7th Duke, would be a legitimate heir of the 1st Duke of Leinster.
List of titleholders Earls of Kildare (1316)
Other titles: Baron of Offaly (c. 1193) John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare (1250–1316), already 4th Baron of Offaly, was rewarded for serving Edward I of England in Scotland Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare (died 1328), younger (only surviving) son of the 1st Earl John FitzGerald (1314–1323), eldest son of the 2nd Earl, died in childhood Richard FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Kildare (1317–1329), second son of the 2nd Earl, died unmarried Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare (1318–1390), third and youngest son of the 2nd Earl Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare (died 1432), a son of the 4th Earl The 5th Earl had at least one son Thomas, who predeceased him John FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Kildare (de jure; d.c.1434), a younger son of the 4th Earl; he was forced to dispute his right to the title with a son-in-law of the 5th Earl Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare (died 1478), son of the 6th Earl Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare (c. 1456–1513), eldest son of the 7th Earl (Gearóid Mór FitzGerald) Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (1487–1534), eldest son of the 8th Earl (Gearóid Óg Fitzgerald) Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (died 1537), "Silken Thomas", eldest son of the 9th Earl, led an insurrection in Ireland and his honours were forfeit, and he died unmarried Other titles (11th–13th Earls): Earl of Kildare and Baron of Offaly (1554) Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare (1525–1585), second son of the 9th Earl, was given a new creation in 1554 then restored to his brother's honours in 1569 Gerald (Garrett) FitzGerald, Lord Offaly (1559–1580), eldest son of the 11th Earl, predeceased his father without male issue Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare (1562–1597), second son of the 11th Earl, died without male issue William FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Kildare (died 1599), third and youngest son of the 11th Earl, died unmarried Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Kildare (died 1612), elder son of Edward, himself third and youngest son of the 9th Earl Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Kildare (1611–1620), only son of the 14th Earl, died in childhood George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare (1612–1660), also 2nd Baron Offaly from 1658, a son of Thomas, himself younger brother of the 14th Earl, and the 1st Baroness Offaly