Simplify the following text for a Grade 11 native English-speaking person.
Original: He is the son of Desmond FitzGerald , the first Minister for External Affairs of the nascent Irish state following independence from the United Kingdom in 1922 .
Simplified: He was the son of Desmond FitzGerald , the first Minister for External Affairs of the Irish Free State following independence from the United Kingdom in 1922 .