The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-08-25
IRISH GRAVES IN ENGLAND,
BY MICHAEL MAoDONAGH.
THE FAIR GERALDINE .

Back TO the past ere yet the days OF
chivalry were gone, our thoughts fly at
the mention of the Fair Geraldine.
What glorious times these were, to be
sure, and how We delight in the ravish-
ing glimpses we get Of them now and
then through the dim twilight OF ro-
nance and poetry which surrounds them
like halo. These were the days when
women, III the eyes Of men, were endowed
with supernatural grace and purity,
with all the attributes~-and even more
Of the angels, and were offered BETTING
reverence and alteration; when every
lover was expected to compose sonnet
TO his mistress's eyebrows, and at the
point of his lance defy the whole world
to produce maiden fairer than she.
Flow the poets sigh in poetry for these
days whic': are gone~--alas' never to re-
turn-and privately chuckled in the
most unromantic prose that their lot is
cast in the nineteenth century. But,
however that may be, the story Of The
Far Geraldine is SO filled with love and
poetry aud romance that there is at least
enough of feeling left in us still to enjoy
it,
Lady Elizabeth Fit2gerald-"The
Fair Geraldine was born il Ireland at
Carton, Maynooth, in the year 1928.
She was the fouytl. child and second
daughter Of Gerald Fitzgerald, the ninth
Earl Of Kildare, by Lady Elizabeth
Grey, cousin to Henry VIII. Her
grandfather was the great Earl OF Kildare
who ruled ireland SO we'll and long as
Lord Deputy. He was brought to Eng
land in 1496, e. prisoner for Unreasonable
practices" against the Grown, and after
two years incarceration in The Tower OF
london was before Henry VII. The
Earl was accused by the Archbishop OF
Uashe] with having burned down his
cathedral. The reply of the Geraldine
is unexampled for it's splendid audacity,
tt[ wonld not have done it, he said. iii
I had not been told my Lord rchbishop
was inside" call Iraland cannot govern
this Earl" said one OF the eourtiers
present at the trial, Chen" said the
King, "]et this Earl govern all Ireland
and the Geraldine returned to his native
land as Lord Deputy. He it was who
first introduced artillery into Ireland
His tomb may be seen in Christchurch
Dublin. Gerald Fitzgerald,
the ninth Earl and father of the fa1r
had the reputation of being !
tha hanilsomest man in Ireland in his |
day. lie vas appointed Lord Deputy in
succession to his father, but his term Of
Office was not so successful, and his end
was tragic. When he was but sixteen
years Of age he married Elizabeth,
daughter OF Sir John zouche, OF Codner,
md the first child Of this union was the i
famous "Silken Thomas.' He subse-
auentlv married Lady Elizabeth Gray.
Like Lis father, he too WAS arrested for
"treascnable practices,' and was cast
into the Tower Of London, where he died |
in 1884, Of grief, it is said. OH hearing of
the rebellion of his son, s*Silken
Thomas" against Henry VIII, OF rather
against English domination IN ireland.
He was buried in St Peters Church. in
the Tower. 'sSilken Thomas" who by
she way, was boEn in England in 1913,
wae therefore a step-brother to The Fair
Geraldine. BE was very neatly effecting
his purpose Of hunting tine Saxons, bag
and baggage, out OF Ireland by his re-
bellion, which lasted fourteen months.
On his surrender he was imprisoned for
sixteen months in the Tower, and then
WAS executed, with his five nncles, at
Tyburn, by order Of Henry VIII. He
was succeeded in the earldom Of Kildare
by Gerald Fitzgerald, the eldest brother
Of 1.-THE Fair Geraldine" From the
foregoing it will be seen that the subject
of this paper was Of high Irish lineage,
and indeed OF high English birth, too,
and that her ancestors and relatives acted
very prominent parts in the history of
Ireland.
The Fair Geraldine was removed at an
early age to England by her mother,
who appears to have been an excellent
woman; fox Holinshed, the historian,
tells us very quantity that ever after her
husbands death, nightly before going to !
bed ''she would resort to his picture,
and there with solemn congee, she
would bid her lorde good night. Whereby |
may be gathered with howe great love
shee affected his person that had in such
price his bare picture Lady Elizabeth
was educated at Hunsdon, which was
built by Henry VIII for educational
purposes for his children. Here it was
said she first met Henry Howard, the
young and brilliant Earl Of Surrey-poet,
soldier. courtier, and politician-who