George Robert FitzGerald
George Robert Fitzgerald, aka Fighting Fitzgerald, Irish eccentric, died 1786.
FitzGerald came from Turlough, near Castlebar. He was of an upper-class family, nephew of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, and was educated at Eton. highly eccentric character, he is said to have become so after a blow to the head sometime in his 20's. Most of his life was spent on his paternal estate in Mayo. There he hunted by torchlight, terrified his friends by keeping bears and other ferocious animals as pets, erected a fort and set the law at defiance. He even held his father to ransom for a sum of £3,000. In 1770 he married Jane, daughter of William James Conolly, but the marriage effectively ended as soon as he had spent her dowry.[1]
He fought many duels, including one with Richard Martin in the barrack's yard of Castlebar, in which both were wounded. Another, with a Mr. French, occurred in Castlebar. French was accused of rustling cattle from Fitzgerald's father; the duel "is said to have started near the bridge at the bottom of Main Street and proceeded with the contestants jumping from one side of the street to the other, smashing traders' stalls in the process. The duel ended on Ellison Street and there appears to have been no serious injury to the pair."
FitzGerald was hanged for murder in 1786 along with his law agent, Timothy Brecknock.[2]
References
- The King of Connemara, Shevaun Lynham, Dublin, 1975.