Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare


Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare was an Irish peer and soldier.

Background

Kildare was the second son of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and Mabel Browne. His eldest brother died in 1580, and Henry inherited the earldom in 1585.

Military career

Nicknamed Henry "na Tuagh", or Henry "of the Battleaxes", he fought against the Spanish invaders in Ireland in 1588. In 1597 he helped quell the Earl of Tyrone's uprising in Ulster, where he was mortally wounded. Wounded in a skirmish on the Blackwater in July 1597, he was brought to Drogheda where he died of his wounds 30 September 1597.

Family

Kildare married Frances, daughter of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham and Katherine Carey, in 1589. They had no sons and Kildare was succeeded by his brother William FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Kildare. He had at least two surviving daughters: