THE 29TH Knight of Glin, Desmond FitzGerald, the last heir to one of Ireland’s oldest hereditary titles, has died aged 74.
Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan led tributes, saying the Irish Georgian Society and Ireland “has lost one of its titans and greatest champions of the arts and heritage”.
Describing the knight as a friend, Mr Deenihan recalled “having wonderful informed conversations with him at his home” – Glin Castle, Co Limerick. “He was always generous with his advice and kind in his remarks.”
The Minister expressed his deepest sympathy to the knight’s wife, Olda, and their three daughters, Catherine, Nesta and Honor, who were all by his bedside at a hospice in Limerick when he passed away after being ill with cancer for the past two years.
Catherine FitzGerald is married to the English actor Dominic West. Their wedding took place last year at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glin and 300 guests enjoyed a lavish reception in the grounds of Glin Castle afterwards.
With no male heir, Desmond FitzGerald was the last knight of Glin, a title dating to the 14th century. He had been president of the Irish Georgian Society since 1991 and a prominent member since its foundation, as well as being Christie’s representative in Ireland.
“We in the Irish Georgian Society will sorely miss him and will find it hard to come to terms with his absence as he has been involved with the society since its early days and has been president for the last 20 years”, said its executive director, Donough Cahill.
“A passionate man, the knight tirelessly worked for the future of Irish country houses, their contents, parks and gardens, showing the way with the restoration of Glin Castle, and making it home to his collection of Irish paintings, furniture and the decorative arts.
“He was always a convivial and amusing companion, never shy of expressing his opinion and, even in the midst of the odd tirade, the glimmer of mischief was there, as his humour and love of words removed any possible sting,” Mr Cahill said.
In 2009, after being forced by the recession to auction some of his family treasures, the knight said: “I wish our politicians weren’t blindfolded and aesthetically ignorant, and would perk up and see that some of these places are very much part of our heritage.”
Desmond FitzGerald studied in Canada and Harvard, where he was awarded a master’s degree in fine arts. After his graduation, he worked for 11 years as a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London before returning to Ireland. He was the author of many books and articles on landscape, gardens, painting, architecture and furniture.
Together with Prof Anne Crookshank, he wrote the seminal study The Painters of Ireland (1978), which was later recast as Ireland’s Painters (2002).
Along with James Peill, he was the author of Irish Furniture and The Irish Country House, and in 2009 he oversaw the publication of The Knights of Glin, Seven Centuries of Change in a collaborative effort with a number of distinguished Irish scholars. He was awarded a doctorate of letters by Trinity College in 2002 and was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He also served on the boards the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Landmark Trust, the Castletown Foundation and the Irish Heritage Trust.
