Maurice FitzGerald in the Expugnatio Hibernica, written in 1189 by his nephew, Gerald of Wales
(Image by National Library of Ireland, MS 700, f77, right margin, taken from [1]) Details DMCA
Myths have been created by every culture world-wide for millennia. They are the stories of human encounters with the mystical handed down from one generation to the next. When myths are merged with the historical record the interaction aids in deciphering a more complex meaning of history. In our research into the Fitzgerald family's rise and fall from power""starting with the 12th century Norman invasion of Ireland and ending four hundred years later with the beheading of the last earl of Desmond by Elizabeth I""we were faced with the limits of the historical record. Fortunately the age of myth lived on in Ireland into the mid""20th century allowing us the ability to access a rich layer of meaning beyond history.
Starting with the Fitzgeralds' arrival in Ireland in 1169 an outpouring of prophecies believed to be connected to the family were already in existence. Over time these prophecies became entwined with the prophetic legacies of Merlin, the Grail legends from Wales, the Irish prophets Moling, Brechan, Patrick and Colmcille and the ancient Irish legends of Finn and the Dagda.
The myths about the Earls of Desmond began to form in the early 14th century. Maurice Fitzgerald's son Gerald, known as Gearoid Iarla in Gaelic, inspired the origin myth of the family. Born in 1338, Gearoid succeeded to the Earldom in 1358 making him the 3rd Earl of Desmond and the leader of the Munster branch of the Fitzgeralds""the most powerful Norman family in late medieval Ireland. Gearoid's castle at Lough Gur, Co. Limerick became the center of the earldom and a home for his love of Gaelic culture. As a highly respected composer of Gaelic love poetry, Gearoid became a leading example of the Norman lords' willingness to embrace their own Gaelicization. "More Irish than Irish themselves" was a phrase used by later historians to describe this phenomenon of total cultural assimilation.
The Fitzgeralds, as the new Norman overlords of Munster, adopted the mythic symbolism of the Gaelic tradition and embraced Aine as their goddess of Munster sovereignty. A poet in their employ in the 14th century referred to Gearoid's father, Maurice as "Aine's king" and Gearoid as "the son of Aine's knight." According to the folklore, Maurice was walking by the shore of Lough Gur when he saw Aine bathing, seized her cloak, which magically put her under his power, and then lay with her. Aine told Maurice that she would bear him a son Gearoid Iarla whom he was to bring up with the best of care. One caution she gave to Maurice; he was not to show surprise at anything however strange his son should do because if Gearoid's feats were recognized as magical he would have to go with his mother into the otherworld.
The boy grew into a handsome young man and one night there was a gathering at the castle with dancing. None of the ladies could compete with Gearoid but when one young woman rose and leaped over the guests, tables and dishes and then leaped back again the Old Earl grew concerned. "Can you do anything like that?" He said turning to his son. Gearoid then rose and leaped into a bottle and out again to the sound of great applause. But when the Old Earl looked with shock at his son's performance, the evening came to an abrupt end.
"Were you not warned, said the young Earl, "never to show surprise at anything I might do? You have forced me to leave you." And with those last words Gearoid left the castle, entered the water of the river, and swam away in the form of a goose. The Old Earl's display of surprise had forced his son to leave his father's world.
The folklore con cerning Gearoid continued to spread. During the 15th century, London grew nervous about the growing power of the Desmond earls and despite continued challenges the Fitzgeralds' prestige throughout Europe grew. The Gherardini, a powerful Florentine family claimed they were related. But tension reached a breaking point in the early16th century as rumors spread that the Fitzgeralds were plotting to invade London and seize the power of the throne.
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