James FitzMaurice FitzGerald

James fitz Maurice FitzGerald (died 1579), called "fitz Maurice", was a Gaelicised Hiberno-Norman nobleman and the captain-general of Desmond while Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond, was detained in England by Queen Elizabeth after the Battle of Affane in 1565.

Outraged by the religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Fitzmaurice led the first Desmond Rebellion, intending to replace Queen Elizabeth with Don John of Austria of the House of Habsburg as the new High King of Ireland, in 1569 and was accordingly called the "Archtraitor" by the English. He surrendered in 1573, prostrating himself in Kilmallock church before John Perrot, president of Munster.

In 1575, when the Earl returned to Ireland, FitzMaurice went into exile on the continent. In July 1579, Fitzmaurice returned to Ireland with a small force, landing at Dingle and then sailing around the tip of the Dingle Peninsula into Ard na Caithne and occupying Dún an Óir (Fort of Gold). Fitzmaurice died while on a secret pilgrimage to Holy Cross Abbey in Thurles, after being wounded in a skirmish against his cousin Theobald Burke on 18 August.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).