Fitzgerald

An Irish surname of Cork, Dublin, and Kerry. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 75,356 people, the 430th most common surname in the country.

Mac Gearailt, son of Gerald. This family stood in Co. Kildare.

Where the name comes from

Mac Gearailt is son of Gerald, and the Fitzgeralds rank with the Burkes and Butlers as one of the most illustrious of the Anglo-Norman families in Ireland. They descend from Gerald, Constable of Pembroke, whose wife was Nest, daughter of Rhys Ap Tewdwyr, King of South Wales, and who flourished in the early part of the 12th century.

His son Maurice Fitzgerald was one of the companions of Strongbow, and every family of the name here descends from him. He received large grants of land which stayed in his descendants' possession down to recent times, and members of the family frequently filled the highest offices under the English Crown. The head of the Leinster branch was for centuries Earl of Kildare and later Duke of Leinster; the head of the Munster Fitzgeralds was Earl of Desmond.

Rugged Atlantic coastline at Allihies, Cork, Ireland, with layered slate cliffs, fine art landscape photograph by Peter Cox
Allihies Coast, Cork

The Fitzgerald counties, photographed

Cork

Cork is the largest county in Ireland. Three peninsulas run west into the Atlantic: Beara, Sheep's Head and Mizen, with the population thinning the further out you go. My gallery is in Glengarriff at the head of Bantry Bay, so it's the ground I photograph most.

Sunset over Dun an Oir ruins and sea stacks on Cape Clear Island, Cork, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún an Óir, Cape Clear Island, Cork Co. Cork The Fastnet Lighthouse standing proud on a calm summer evening off West Cork in black and white panoramic viewThe Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork Aerial view of the Fastnet Lighthouse surrounded by angry seas off West Cork with Cape Clear Island on the horizonThe Fastnet from the Air Co. Cork Inside the rotating lantern of the Fastnet Lighthouse with Fresnel lenses, ladder, and a rainbow projected on a poleInside the Lantern, the Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork

Dublin

Dublin is a county as well as a city. The bay has Howth at the north end and Killiney Hill at the south, the Muglins are a pair of rocks off Dalkey, and the Dublin Mountains start about half an hour from the city centre.

Moonlight reflecting on the sea near the Muglins lighthouse off Dalkey Island, Dublin, with the Kish light on the horizonThe Muglins by Moonlight II Co. Dublin Long exposure panoramic view of the White Rock swimming platform at Killiney Bay, Dublin, floating in misty high-tide watersThe White Rock, Killiney Bay, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin Heron fishing at dawn on the Dublin coast — fine art wildlife photograph by Peter CoxHeron, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin

Kerry

Carrauntoohil in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks is the highest mountain in Ireland at 1,038 metres. The Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas run west from it, with the Skelligs eight miles off the Iveragh coast. I ran a gallery in Killarney for years.

Moody long exposure of Coumeenoole Beach with Blasket Islands, Dingle, Kerry, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxEvening, Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry Co. Kerry Long exposure evening light on moss-covered rocks at Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxEvening II, Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry Co. Kerry An Searrach sea stack at night near Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland, long exposure fine art photograph by Peter CoxAn Searrach, Dingle, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Ballaghbeama Gap mountain pass in black and white, Co. Kerry, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBallaghbeama Gap, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry

All Cork prints · All Dublin prints · All Kerry prints

Notable bearers

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), writer, screenwriter, and novelist.

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), film actor, singer, and musician.

Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948), writer, journalist, and novelist.

Barry Fitzgerald (1888-1961), actor.

Penelope Fitzgerald (1916-2000), writer, novelist, and poet.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Johnson · Collins · Murphy · Howard · Coleman · Hayes · Mason · Palmer · Warren · Ryan · Lane · Franklin

How common the name was

In 1890, 330 births were registered under Fitzgerald in Ireland, most of them in Cork, Dublin, Kerry, and Limerick.

Munster 257
Leinster 49
Connacht 17
Ulster 7
Ireland 330

Limerick is the one I haven't worked in.