James Fitz Maurice Fitz Gerald - Invasion of Ireland

Invasion of Ireland

At the papal court FitzMaurice fell in with Captain Thomas Stukley, and a plan for the invasion of Ireland was hatched, with the intention of offering the crown to the nephew of Pope Gregory XIII. Following the diversion of Stukley to Morocco, FitzMaurice set out with the nuncio, Nicholas Sanders, and Matthew de Oviedo from Ferrol in Galicia, Spain on the 17 June 1579 with a few troops on his vessel and three Spanish shallops; they captured two English vessels in the channel and arrived at Dingle on the 16 July 1579, thus launching the Second Desmond Rebellion. On the 18th they cast anchor in Smerwick, where they garrisoned at Dún an Óir (Fort of Gold), and were joined on the 25th by two galleys with 100 troops; four days later their ships were captured by the English fleet under the command of Sir William Winter. Having exhorted the Earl of Desmond and the Earl of Kildare, as Geraldine leaders, to fight the heretics, FitzMaurice left the fort to await the arrival of Stukley (who, unknown to him, had been killed at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in the previous year, during a misguided campaign by King Sebastian of Portugal).

FitzMaurice went to pay a vow at the monastery of the Holy Cross in Tipperary but became caught in a skirmish with the forces of his cousin, Theobald Burke. During the fight he was shot with a ball in the hollow of the chest, but cut his way through to Burke and his brother William, both of whom he killed with single strokes of his sword. The battle was won, but close to the scene his injuries overcame him; he made his will and ordered his friends to cut off his head after death in order that his enemies might not mutilate his body; he begged his attendants to make sure that he had not turned tail on the enemy. They assured him, and wished him to be quiet because hostile soldiers were closing in, but he insisted, "my wounds are clear, my wounds are clear". Upon his death, a kinsman ordered the decapitation and then wrapped the head in cloth; an attempt was made to conceal his trunk under an old tree, but it was discovered by a hunter and brought to the town of Kilmallock. For weeks, the trunk was nailed to the gallows, until it was shattered by musket fire and collapsed.