The Fitzgerald coat of arms accompanied the "Sons of Gerald" ("Fils Gérald") out of Norman France and into assimilation among the Irish.

Fitzgerald Family Roots

In the early 12th Century, a fellow named Diarmait Mac Murchada of Leinster found himself exiled when his pal the High King of Ireland died. He petitioned British King Henry II to allow him to recruit a possy of Norman knights to regain his land. Among the invading force were FitzHenrys and FitzStephens and fitz Godbert de Roche, the first Norman knight to set foot in Ireland. Why all these Fitzies?

Try mangling the word "fils" in one of those Anglo-French accents from out of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and you've basically got it. It meant 'Son of' in Norman, and quite often 'bastard son of.'

I had my Y-Chromsome DNA mapped some time ago and had a look at the geographic matches to my genetic markers. I was suprised, given the Norman roots of the Fitzgerald name, that I didn't see any concentration of similar genetic markers in Normandy. I would have expected a high concentration of folks there to share a large part of my genetic makeup, if that's where the roots of my paternal name and genetics lie. But aside from Ireland, the Basque region and the Viking lands of Norway, Finland, and Denmark (all of which left genetic marks on the oft-invaded Irish) were genetically closer to me than anything in France.

But then I learned that surnames were not commonly inherited in Ireland until the 1700s. A Fitzgerald in one generation could be a Fitzanything in the next: the son of William Fitzgerald would be a Fitzwilliam, not a Fitzgerald. So back beyond 1700, you can't expect the paternal genetics and the paternal name to follow the same course. Which makes my quest, to find my Great Grandfather's ancestry, all the more tricky.

If you're looking for your own "Fitzgerald" roots, I hope that some of the sources I used for my genealogy investigations might be useful to you: they're linked within the text and in the column left.

Finding my grandfather:
Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald

April 2, 1882 –May 14,1956

My name is Brian Thomas Fitzgerald and this is what I have learned so far about my grandfather and his ancestors -- something my dad, Thomas Emmett Fitzgerald, rarely talked about. In the process of researching the origins of my family name and tracing my genealogical roots, I've explored other methods, including doing an obituaries search or looking for marriage records and birth records to discover more details. In the course of poking around the web I've found evidence of my grandfather's emigration to the US and (possibly) his house location in Ireland. If you have any tips, further information, or pictures, drop me a line at brianfit58[[at]]gmail.com

Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald, my grandfather, was born in Cappagh, Ireland, just outside Castlegregory on 2nd April 1882 to William Gerald and Mary -- or Maria -- (nee Sullivan) Fitzgerald, who listed their occupation as Farmers. Note: Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald's Death certificate lists “Hannah Sullivan’ as his mother's maiden name. This is at odds with his birth certificate, which lists “Mary Sullivan’ as his mother; two of his children (my father, Thomas Emmett Fitzgerald, and aunt, Sister Anne Fidelis Fitzgerald), remembered the grandmother's name to be Hannah as well, though they never met her.

Update Feb 2010: Kerry Parish records are now online (thanks to Brendan O'Donaghue for alerting me to this), and I now have my Great Grandfather's Marriage record as well: 15 Febuary 1852, with a new piece of information, his residence in "TAEAVAKNUCK" which appears elsewhere as Teaveacnuck.

According to my paternal aunt, Sister Anne Fidelis Fitzgerald, the daughter of Thomas, her father was the youngest of 14 children. According to records in Cappagh unearthed by Graeme FitzGerald of New Zealand, he was actually the 14th of 15 children, but I've come to doubt the 15th record, "Molly Fitzgerald" -- her mother Mary would have been at minimum well into her 50s, with an 11 year gap since her previous child. The Kerry online records don't list this birth, so I'm putting a question mark on this one.

Cappagh

According to the 1901 census, there were 14 houses in Cappagh. One of these (#2) was unoccupied in 1901. Five of the 14 houses in Cappagh that year list Fitzgeralds, but none have a head of household with my great-grandparents' names, William or Mary, nor any matching records for great aunts and uncles.

This along with other evidence SUGGESTS that the family moved to Tralee sometime before 1901. It would account for both the absence of a census entry for the family in Cappagh and the listing of Tralee as the last residence of my grandfather when he set sail for the States in 1905.

   1. Edmond Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 7 Mar 1853 in Cappagh
   2. Jacob Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 14 Jan 1855 in Cappagh
   3. Maria Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 4 Dec 1856 in Cappagh
   4. Timothy Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 30 Oct 1858 in Cappagh
   5. Honora Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 27 Nov 1859 in Cappagh
   6. Michael Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 25 Dec 1861 in Cappagh
   7. William Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 10 May 1864 in Cappagh
   8. Debora Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 25 Nov 1866 in Cappagh
   9. Janet Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 21 Feb 1869 in Cappagh
  10. Joanna Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 13 Apr 1871 in Cappagh
  11. Maurice Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 11 Mar 1872 in Cappagh
  12. Brigid Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 3 Aug 1876 in Cappagh
  13. Francis Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 29 Aug 1877 in Cappagh
  14. Thomas Fitzgerald b: in Cappagh c: 2 Apr 1882 in Cappagh
  15? Molly Fitzgerald b: in Castlegregory c: 1 Feb 1891 in Castlegregory

On only the evidence of name, age, and general vicinity, Brigid may have been a servant to John Dowd in 1901 in the nearby Ballinalacken Townland of Cloghane.

According to Griffiths Valuation, sometime between 1842 and 1864 a William Fitzgerald was a lessor of House, Office, and Land property on lot 1B (of the Griffiths map) from Lord Ventry.

Lord Ventry (Mullen was the family name) controlled much of the land on the Dingle Penninsual from the mid 17th century until the 1920s. He had his family residence at Baile Goilán, later renamed as Burnham Estate.

If we can find the Giffiths Map of Cloghane parish and identify lot 1B, there's a strong chance that'd be the place where Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald was born. Was his father the same William Fitzgerald who also leased houses to Ned Lake and James Moriarity? Could Irish Leaser sub-let houses on their property? The Notation of (Jim) could, according to notes on the Griffith valuations, refer to a nickname, or a father's name in order to distinguish from other like-named individuals. (Beag is irish for “small, ’ to distinguish John Moriarity junior from his father, or a small John Moriarity from a largish one.)

(Sources: http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlker/griffclog1.html
http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlker/censdedclog.html)

Emigration

The Most likely recorded Ellis Island arrival which might correspond to Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald's arrival in New York is here. While there is no middle name listed on the manifest, and this could be any Thomas Fitzgerald of Trallee (of which there were many), the age is correct (23 in 1905), and the time or arrival would make the statement on his death certificate that he had been “50 years’ in New York in 1956 correct to within a year.

According to the ship's manifest, Thomas Fitzgerald of Trallee arrived 25th of May 1905 in the port of New York aboard the SS Teutonic (White Star Line – the same line which owned the Titanic) with $6 in his pocket. He had paid his own passage.

A further line of research might be the destination he listed in the ship's manifest:

I make that out as E. 75th street, New York 402 or 482, where he has a Cousin. But the name Charles? Charlotte? Kennedy is crossed out and replaced with an illegible name (last name could be Hanson? Taylor?). The next entry in the manifest is “Charlotte Kennedy’ so the name on my grandfather's destination line could have been a transcription error.

(view the full manifest here.)

In 1905, the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and East 75th street, appears to have been a neighbourhood of millionaire's mansions, some of which would have as many as a dozen or more servants. (#1 75th St still stands, and a description of how it stood as part of “"Millionaires Row" can be found here) My guess is that whoever this cousin might have been, he or she would have been a servant on East 75th street. A peek at the 1910 US or NYC census for this address would be helpful.

Marriage

Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald married Anna E. O'Flaherty, daughter of Morris O'Flaherty and Julia Barrett. Anna was born September 12, 1880 at St. Columbas hospital in New York.

They had four children, Jerry, Anne, Thomas Emmett, and Edward.

Thomas Emmett Fitzgerald was born April 28, 1919. At that time, the family was living at 512 West 136th street. The father's listed occupation was Bookkeeper with Con Edison.

Death

Shortly before he died, my grandfather left a handwritten note to his son Jerry which reads:

Jerry

1. When the grave opens to receive me and I sink into its bosom contact Social Security 215 East 149 St and thell them to increase your mothers checks she is getting half now when I go she will be entitled to three quarters. Three quarters will amount to $65.32 per month. Also ask them for the funeral expenses they will give you that in a lump sum. So much for that.
2. I want no obituary no flowers just a cheap coffin and no epitaph but if you want to get a 2 x 4 and put it at the head of my grave have Edward make you a sign to read (Here lies a fool) tack it on the sign that will be appropriate.
3. All my papers and policies are in the envelope one Edison one Travelers one New York Life and one News. The Savings account at the Immigrant's 5 East 42nd street she won't have any trouble with that is in her name joint account she can draw any time but the small checking account in the National City Bank News Building 220 East 42nd street she will have to use the will to get that. Tell her not to leave it there because there is a service charge of 25 cents per month.

Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald died May 14, 1956 at 9:20 AM after being admitted 12 days previously to Parkchester Hostpital, Bronx. He was residing at the time at 2142 Houghton Street in the Bronx. He was 74 years old. His social security number was 123-01-2343. He was buried in St. Raymond's Cemetery on 18th May 1956.

Research further up the family tree uncovered this story, of Garret Fitzgerald Earl of Desmond. And here, a ghost story to go with it:

The Lough Gur legend is about Garret Fitzgerald, the Earl of Desmond, who rebelled against Queen Elizabeth. Modern folk-tradition regards him as the guardian deity of the Lough, and as dwelling in an enchanted palace situated beneath its waters. As Count John de Sails, whose ancestral home is the Lough Gur estate, assures me, the peasants of the region declare themselves convinced that the earl once in seven years appears riding across the lake surface on a phantom white horse shod with shoes of silver; and they believe that when the horse's silver shoes are worn out the enchantment will end. Then, like Arthur when his stay in Avalon ends, Garret Fitzgerald will return to the world of human life again to lead the Irish hosts to victory.