Background
Lord Edward Fitzgerald was born on October 15, 1763 at Carton House, near Dublin. He was the son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Lady Emily Lennox. His family was one of the wealthiest and most esteemed of the Irish aristocracy.
Lord Edward Fitzgerald was born on October 15, 1763 at Carton House, near Dublin. He was the son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Lady Emily Lennox. His family was one of the wealthiest and most esteemed of the Irish aristocracy.
He spent most of his childhood in Frescati House at Blackrock in Dublin where he was tutored by Ogilvie in a manner chiefly directed to the acquisition of knowledge that would fit him for a military career.
In the spring of 1786 he took the then unusual step for a young nobleman of entering the Military College.
FitzGerald joined the British Army in 1779 and in 1781 fought against the colonists in the American Revolutionary War. Fitzgerald was first elected to the Irish Parliament in 1783. His enthusiasm for the French Revolution led to dismissal from the army in 1792, and four years later he joined the Society of United Irishmen, a nationalist organization that aspired to free Ireland from English control. This group appointed him to head the military committee formed to plan an uprising and obtain aid from the French revolutionary regime. Although the French delayed in supplying arms and troops, Fitzgerald’s committee went ahead with its plans for a general rebellion. The insurrection was set for May 23, 1798. In March Fitzgerald’s coconspirators were seized by government agents. Fitzgerald was eventually arrested in Dublin on May 19, after a fierce struggle during which he was shot in the arm. He died of his wound in prison several weeks later.
Edward had a love-sick mood and romatic temperament.
Quotes from others about the person
Reinhard, who considered Arthur O'Connor " a far abler man, " accurately read the character of Lord Edward Fitzgerald as that of a young man " incapable of falsehood or perfidy, frank, energetic, and likely to be a useful and devoted instrument; but with no experience or extraordinary talent, and entirely unfit to be chief of a great party or leader in a difficult enterprise.
On December 27, 1792, FitzGerald and Pamela were married at Tournai.
They had a son.
