Kildare, Thomas FitzGerald, 7th earl of

Kildare, Thomas FitzGerald, 7th earl of (d. 1478). Kildare laid the foundations for the later Kildare ascendancy. He was recognized as 7th earl probably in 1454 and, through his association with the Yorkists (see wars of the roses), gradually recovered all the ancestral FitzGerald estates, both those acquired by the Butlers (see Ormond (butler) ) and also marchlands in the Kildare–Carlow region reoccupied by Gaelic clans during the earldom's abeyance from 1432. Altogether, he served as governor of Ireland for over eleven years (1454–9, 1460–2, 1464, 1470–5, 1478), and as lord chancellor for three more (1464–7). With his wife Joan, the earl of Desmond's daughter, he founded the Franciscan friary at Adare, Co. Limerick. Attainted of treason by Worcester's parliament in 1468, he was soon restored to favour and was instrumental in the establishment in 1474 of the English Pale's standing defence force, the Brotherhood of St George. He was buried in All Hallows' monastery, Dublin, and was succeeded by his son Gerald, the 8th earl.

Steven Ellis