Maynooth Through The Ages 2024: Prof Marian Lyons

'Garret Oge FitzGerald, ninth earl of Kildare (1487-1534) and the cult of Kildare nobility,' by Prof Marian Lyons.
By the early 1500s, the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, enjoyed the status of Ireland's leading aristocratic family on the basis of their exceptional political, military, social and economic dominance. In addition to exercising authority from their seat at Maynooth, successive earls invested considerable energy and resources in projecting an image of their dynasty and supporters as powerful modern magnates. In doing so, they subscribed to the trend in Renaissance statecraft which prized the cult of the ruler. Gerald/Garret Oge, ninth Earl of Kildare, played a particularly important role in the process. This paper explores the ways in which he contributed to the curation of the 'cult of Kildare nobility'.
[Recorded in Maynooth University Library, 19th February 2024]