Geraldine League
In 1537 Lord Thomas Fitzgerald and his five uncles were executed for rebellion in Leinster, and the English government made every effort to capture Gerald FitzGerald, the heir to the earldom of Kildare, a boy of twelve who was in the secret custody of his aunt Lady Eleanor McCarthy. This lady, in order to secure a powerful protector for the boy, accepted an offer of marriage from Manus O'Donnell, who on the death of Hugh Dubh in July 1537 was inaugurated as "The O'Donnell". Conn O'Neill was a relative of Gerald Fitzgerald, and this event accordingly led to the formation of the short-lived Geraldine League, a federation including the O'Neills, the O'Donnells, the O'Briens of Thomond, and other powerful clans; the primary object of which was to restore Gerald to the earldom of Kildare, but which afterwards aimed at the complete overthrow of English rule in Ireland.
Read more about this topic: Manus O'Donnell
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