Desmond John Villiers Fitzgerald, 29th Knight of Glin, was an Irish hereditary knight and president of the Irish Georgian Society.
Background
The son of Desmond Fitzgerald, 28th Knight of Glin (1901–1949), and Veronica Villiers (daughter of Ernest Villiers, Member of Parliament), Fitzgerald was born in Paddington, London, England into an old Anglo-Irish aristocratic family in County Limerick and was educated at the University of British Columbia and Harvard University.
Education
University of British Columbia. Harvard University.
Career
He worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, in the furniture department. He later returned to Ireland, and became active in conservation issues, becoming involved with the Irish Georgian Society. He was appointed its president in 1991.
He has also represented the Christie"s art auctioneers in Ireland.
He died in Dublin in 2011. He was originally married to Loulou de la Falaise for a brief period.
At the time of his death he had four grandchildren – Dora, Senan, Francis, and Rose, as well as step-granddaughter Martha. Fitzgerald was the last Black Knight.
As he had no sons and the title cannot be passed to a daughter, the title was extinguished with his death.
Fitzgerald divided his time between, Glin, County Limerick (which he inherited as a child), and his Dublin townhouse. The Knight devoted his life to restoring the belongings of the castle, which had been sold due to previous financial difficulties, and rebuilding and finishing the remaining parts of the estate including the Georgian house that had remained incomplete for centuries.