The Irish standard., 1908-02-15
COMING THIS WAY
The Young Duke of Leinster to
Visit America.
Has a Pedigree Of One Thous.
and Years,

little duke" because of his long mi
nority, succeeded to the title fourteen
years ago, and the 1st day of this
March will see him of age, summoned
to take his seat in the House of Lords.
launched on the gay world Of society.
and beginning to look around for a
wife. says the writer, Charles Byng-
Hall.
Besides his great position as duke.
he has also the enviable post as master
Of the horse to the lord lieutenant of
Ireland. the Earl of Aberdeen. to which
he was appointed last month.
This position is a premier one as far
as precedence goes in the royal and
vice regal households. The dukes ac-
ceptance Of it is an indication that he
is a Liberal and Home Ruler in poll
tics, and also shows that he is train
ing to fill the vice regal throne of Ire
land, which so many of his ancestors
have held.
Should any American girl become his
wife, she would take precedence of ev.
cry American woman Of title at the
court of st. James, not because of be-
ing q duchess, but because of her hus-
bands mastership of the horse. The
duke has had glimpse at the Ameri-
can girl already, for he travelled in the
United States for several months.
There arc in England at present
three American reigning duchesses and
several dowagers. But these brought
a goodly array Of dollars to revive the
dropping strawberry leaves. "The lit
tie duke" needs no dollars. He has
them a-plenty. He has, moreover, hon
ors galore. First and foremost, his
family has been for nearly a thousand
years to the fore among the powerful
mobiles of Britain. "The little duke" is
head of the Geraldines, the premier
duke, the premier marquis and tho pre-
mier carl of all Ireland. When the
King of England sends summons to
Parliament addressed to Our right
trusty and entirely be1oved cousin, the
most high, noble and potent prince,
Maurice Fitzgerald" he will be using
a name known in the four quarters Of
the world. There are thousands of
Fitzgeralds. yes, of Maurice Fitzger-
alds-in Ireland, in England, in the
United States and elsewhere-and they
all doff their hats to the chief of their
great family, "thc little duke of Lein-
ster.
His Honor Judge Fitzgerald, who
presided over the first Thaw trial, is
a Geraldine, and one Of the distin-
guished American members of their
powerful Irish clan.
THE little duke" is the sixth of that
title. the sixth marquis and the sixth
viscount, the third Baron Kildare, the
twenty fifth earl of Kildare and the
thirty-first baron of Offaly by tenure.
He has two brothers, Lord Desmond
Fitzgerald. now 90, and Lord Edward,
16 years old; a sister, the first-born Of
the family, died in infancy.
Like all his ancestors, the duke is Of
delicate physique. The Fitzgeralds, at
least the heads of the family, nearly
all died young. His mother, Lady
Hermione- Wllhelmina Duncombe, the
daughter of the Earl of Feversham,
died when he was Q years old, when ho
had been duke but two years. His
father died when only AZ. And so the
history of the family runs-a brilliant
but a short life. Tho infusion of virile
American blood would be godsend to
the Geraldines. There is neither a drop
Of royal nor American blood in the
long annals of the family. The only
American connections are by marriage.
A cousin by marriage of the dukes,
through the Grahams Of Netherby, was
Miss Jessie Lowe, Of Savannah, Ca,
and one of the '1ittle dukes" maternal
ancestors, the famous Pamela, wife of
the equally famous Irish patriot, Lord
Edward Fitzgerald, married as a Sec
ond husband United States Consul Pit
cairn. of Hamburg, Germany.
The Fitzgeralds are not only 1000
years old in British history. but per-
haps 500 years older in Roman his
tory, for the family is descended from
Dominus Otho, powerful noble of the
famous Gherardini family of Florence.
This Florentine noble. attracted by the
clash of swords, went to Normandy,
and thence came to England, some
where about the year 1000. He became
SO great a favorite with Edward the
Confessor that he excited the jealousy
of the Saxon Thames. There were some
bitter fights, but Lord Otho Geraldini,
as he was called, was always victor,
and backed by the king, seized his en-
emies' estates.
It was in the thirteenth century that