Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster

Family arms of FitzGerald

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster (born 7 April 1948), styled Earl of Offaly before 1976 and Marquess of Kildare between 1976 and 2004, is an Irish nobleman and landscape designer.

The Duke is the highest-ranking member of the peerage of Ireland.

Family and education

The elder son of the Gerald, 8th Duke of Leinster, and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Lt-Col Philip Smith, MC, TD, he was educated at Millfield School at Street, Somerset, in the south west of England. Upon his father's death in 2004 he succeeded to the dukedom as the 9th Duke.

Marriage and children

Maurice FitzGerald, then styled Earl of Offaly, married Fiona Mary Francesca Hollick on 19 February 1972. The Duke and Duchess have three children:

• Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (1974–1997), killed in an automobile accident.
• Lady Francesca Emily Purcell FitzGerald (born 6 July 1976), has two daughters, Amelia Grace Francesca and Daisy Emily Matilda by Stephen Thompstone; they are now separated and a son Rufus James Thomas by Mark Hobbs
• Lady Pollyanna Louisa Clementine FitzGerald (born at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, 9 May 1982), unmarried.

Heir

As the present Duke's only son died childless in 1997, thus his brother, Captain Lord John FitzGerald (1952–2015), became heir presumptive to the family titles; educated at Millfield and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he served as a Captain in the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and later was a horse trainer by profession.

Lord John married Barbara Zindel, daughter of Andreas and Daniela Zindel, of Lausanne and St. Moritz, Switzerland at St. Nicholas Church, Chadlington, Oxford, on 11 December 1982; they divorced in 2013 and Lord John died on 3 August 2015. Lord and Lady John FitzGerald had two children:

• Hermione FitzGerald (b. Newmarket, Suffolk, October 1985)
• Edward FitzGerald (b. Newmarket, Suffolk, October 1988);

Edward FitzGerald is the current heir presumptive to the dukedom and other family titles.

Title dispute

Main article: Duke of Leinster § Title dispute

A controversial claim by the supposed descendants of the 5th Duke (largely debunked by Michael Estorick in 1981) was made in 2006 and rejected in 2007 by the Lord Chancellor, who accepted the claim made by the 9th Duke of Leinster.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster

16. Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster               8. Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster                       17. Lady Caroline Leveson-Gower               4. Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster                             18. William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham               9. Lady Hermione Duncombe                       19. Mabel Graham               2. Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Duke of Leinster                                   20. George Etheridge               10. Jesse Edward Etheridge                       5. May Juanita Etheridge                             11. Theresa Grace Harriett Ann Summerell                       1. Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster                                         24. Thomas Eustace Smith               12. Philip Eustace Smith of Rothley Crag                       25. Martha Mary Dalrymple               6. Philip Smith                             13. Ellen Hawkes                       3. Anne Smith                                   14. John Clayton                       7. Eleanor Clayton                             30. Cadogan Hodgson-Cadogan               15. Florence Cadogan                       31. Isabella Smith

External links

• Peterkin, Tom; Elsworth, Catherine (28 February 2006). "A Californian claimant, an 'escape' from the trenches and the fight for a dukedom". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2008. 
• Ducal House of Leinster
• Leinster Leader, Moving Maynooth visit by FitzGerald
• Hermione FitzGerald professional golf
• Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Gerald FitzGerald	Duke of Leinster 2004–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by His Grace The Duke of Northumberland	Gentlemen His Grace The Duke of Leinster	Succeeded by His Grace The Duke of Wellington