I'm suppose to have descended from King Edward Fitzgerald in Ireland. Does anyone know about his history?

Question

The family line also crosses with the Kennedy's. There are ship records that show the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families came to the U.S. together on the same ship.

Answer 1

Edward Fitzgerald was never a king....nor has there ever been a Fitzgerald king of Ireland.   The Fitzgeralds have lived in Ireland for centuries, but they are actually of Anglo-Norman extraction, having come to Ireland after the conquest by King Henry II of England.  However, the kings of Ireland were already waning when the Fitzgeralds came to Ireland, and furthermore, as the Fitzgeralds were not ethnically Irish much less of Irish royal blood, they would have been ineligible to even be considered.  

The rules governing kingship in Ireland were very complex, but the short version is that a High King (Ard Ri) would be selected by a Brehon court from the eligible (usually only the Uí Neill family from Ulster and Meath were considered potential candidates for the High Kingship).  This changed in 1002 when Brian Boru (Briain ‘Boruma’ mac Cennédig) peaceably took the throne from Mael Sechnaill II, High King and Uí Neill King of Meath.  The last Irish king was Edward Bruce, brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland.  

There are not legitimate pretenders to the Irish throne as there was never a standardized hereditary succession; however, if a monarchy were to be restored (highly highly highly unlikely), a legitimate claimant would most likely be from one of the traditional royal families: the Ó Neills, the Ó Connors, and the Ó Briens.  

As for Edward Fitzgerald, I think you mean Lord Edward, son of the Duke of Leinster.  As someone else has already said, Lord Edward rebelled against the English and taken to Newgate Prison, where he died of his wounds.  He married Pamela, possibly the illegitimate daughter of Louis Philippe II, Duke d'Orléans, and had a son, Edward, and 2 daughters, Pamela and Louisa.  His marriage did not earn his family's approval, and after his death, his widow Lady Edward Fitzgerald was banned from the family estate.

Answer 2

Well just shows us how stupid you really are! If you have been looking up your so called family tree you know there has never been a King called "Edward Fitzgerald" here in Ireland. Plus Fitzgerald is a common name here in Ireland.

The only Irish Kings they were knowing as High Kings i.e King of Munster, King of Ulster etc.

Answer 3

According to many respected sources 'Fitz' was used to denote cases of illegitimacy. Thus somewhere in the family line Fitzgerald would have been an illegitimate son of Gerald. While 'Fitzes' often had noble titles bestowed upon them, I doubt whether they would have attained the status of Royalty.

Answer 4

I'm assuming you mean LORD Edward Fitzgerald, who was the younger son of the 1st Duke of Leinster, because there was no such person as KING Edward Fitzgerald.  Assuming this is who you mean, he was an Irish revolutionary who conspired against the English aristocracy in Ireland in the late 1700s.  He was eventually caught and imprisoned.

Answer 5

There were many Edward Fitzgerald's.one was the 7th duke of Leister?he married 4 times,the 2nd wife was Raffaella Kennedy(don't know if she was related to the K?)maybe research that.

the other one was one of 8 kids,his parents,don't know who they were but maybe check them out..owned alot of land in England and Ireland-he was educated at Trinity college-Cambridge..he was a poet,I believe.