Son of Gerald: v. Gerald.

Mac Gearailt One of the two greatest families which came to Ireland as a result of the Anglo-Norman invasion. It had two main divisions, Desmond and Kildare. Now very numerous in many parts of Ireland. Bibl; IF 142; etc; Map Cork, Kerry, Kild and Limerick; Plate XI

“Son of Gerald” in Erse.

(English, French, Irish) The son of Gerald (firm, spear).

The Geraldines, as this great family are sometimes called, claim to be descended from the same stock as the Gherardini, a noble Florentine family, whose progenitor, Rainerio, flourished A.D. 910; but it is doubtful whether this is not a fiction of the XV. cent., invented as a compliment from the Italian family. (Gent, Mag, Aug, 1858). It is however sufficient for the antiquity of this distinguished race to state, that their pedigree is perfect up to Otho, Other, or more properly Ohtere, who passed into England before the Conquest. The name itself is probaby derived from that chieftain's descendant, Maurice, the son of Gerald, (filius Geroldi) great-grandson of Otho, companion of William I. at the Conquest, who married Nesta the famous Welsh princess, temp. Henry I. Maurice Fitz-Gerald accompanied Strongbow in his invasion of Ireland, temp. Henry II., and thus built up in that country the fortunes of the family, which under the title of Leinster has yielded Ireland her only duke. The original Other, castellan of Windsor under the Confessor, is said to have sprung from a Norse vi-king Ohtere, whose descendants settled in Normandy, and to have been the common ancestor of the Windsor, Carew, Fitz-Maurice, Gerard, Otter, and many other families, as well as of that amusing and credulous historian, Giraldus Cambrensis.

(Northen French) The son of Gerald, Fite, a son, Gerald (Teutonic), all—surpassing, excellent. This ancient and honorable family is traced from Otho or Other, a Baron in Italy, descended from the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Walter, son of Otho, came into England with William the Conqueror, and afterward settled in Ireland. Maurice Fitz Gerald assisted Richard Strongbow in the conquest of that kingdom.

Or De Mortaine. About a.d. 660 Aother or Other, a great noble of Aquitaine and probably of Gothic descent. was deprived of estates in Aquitaine by Clotaire III. (Bouquet, x. 342). Sacerge, one of these estates, was afterwards in possession of the family, and was granted by another Other, c. 987, to the Abbey of Fleury near Orleans (Ibid.). Other or Autier, his son (whose name was Latinised Austerius), was Lord of the Castle of Mortaine, Aquitaine, c. 1030, and had issue Gilbert, Lord of Mortaine (Gallia Christ. ii. 48, Instr.), and Walter Fitz-Other, who accompanied the Conqueror to England, and received from him a barony and the office of Castellan of Windsor, whence his descendants bore the name of De Windsor. From a younger son descended the house of Fitzgerald. The Earls of Kildare, Dukes of Leinster, the Earls of Desmond, the Marquises of Lansdowne, the Barons and Viscounts Windsor, Barons of Decies, Earls of Totness, Barons Carew, and other great families, descended from the same house. The name of Fitzgerald, being a clan name in Ireland, was adopted there by numbers of persons of Hiberno-Celtic descent in no way related to this house.

(Anglo-Norman), Son of Gerald. Fitz-James, Son of James.