Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare

Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare (c. 1421 – 25 March 1477),[1] was an Irish peer and statesman of the fifteenth century who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

John strengthened and enlarged Maynooth Castle, the principal residence of the Earls of Kildare.

By a decree of Edward IV of England, he was allowed, as a mark of royal favour, to hold the title of Lord Chancellor for life and continued to receive the salary of the position and exercise some of its functions until his death in 1478.

[5] FitzGerald was deeply concerned for the defence of the Pale, the only part of Ireland securely under English rule.

He was largely responsible for the foundation of the Brotherhood of Saint George, a military guild dedicated to the defence of the Pale, in 1474, and was its first captain.

[9] "Others allege that Thomas the 7th Earl of Kildare before he came to the Earldom was first married to Dorothy, daughter of Owny or Anthony O'More, Lord of Leix, by whom he had one son called John, but after he attained the Earldom, he turned off and repudiated the said Dorothy and sent her home to her father, which was so highly resented by him that he resolved a severe revenge; and to that end having got together a strong party of his relatives and followers he burnt and destroyed the Earls houses and preyed on all his tenants in the county of Kildare, which although upon a private quarrel, the Earl declared traitors and as such prosecuted till they were all cut off and their estates forfeited.