New book sheds fresh light on Mayo's notorious Fighting Fitzgerald
There have been few characters in Mayo history as infamous as George Robert Fitzgerald of Turlough House, more commonly known as ‘Fighting Fitzgerald’.
Fighting Fitzgerald – The turbulent life and terrible death of a Mayo legend, George Robert Fitzgerald is Patrick Butler’s brilliant new book which seeks to cast a fresh light on a most fascinating and troublesome character.
It can be argued that there is no one better placed than Butler to write it.
Butler lived in Turlough Park for 40 years from 1952 to 1991 and maintained the house and grounds for much of that time. He could feel the history of the place and has a keen appreciation of those who were there before him. None more so than George Robert Fitzgerald.
"As I would explore the grounds and the old Turlough House over the years, I would ask myself more and more questions about what had happened there," said Butler.
"Because of my connections with the house, I felt I had a responsibility with the information I had and managed to collect. I was at it for 24 years and the more information I got, the more of an appetite I got," he added.
‘Fighting Fitzgerald’ of Turlough House – a building in ruins at the entrance to what is now the National Museum of Country Life – was one of the most colourful and dangerous personalities of the mid-1700s. A small man but a larger than life character, he was considered part genius, part madman. Ultimately, he was wholly tragic.
Here was a man born with all the privileges of high social status, great wealth, intelligence, and good looks, whose career ended on the gallows.
He strode across the stage of Mayo, Dublin, Paris, Florence, Brussels, Rome and London, dominating attention.
He became involved in a bitter feud with his father and brother over the control of the vast Fitzgerald estate in Mayo, during which he took his father prisoner, tied him to a bear, kept him in a cave, fortified his own house with cannon from a shipwreck and defended it with his own militia. He was sent to prison, but with his connections, not for long.
The final chapter in his mercurial, erratic, tempestuous life was typically explosive. Fitzgerald was found guilty of involvement in the murder of Patrick Randal McDonnell, a neighbouring small landowner and attorney, and long-time adversary and was sentenced to death – an end that was not without drama either.
Published by Mayo Books Press, Patrick Butler’s book is based on extensive research and contains new, previously unpublished material. It seeks to clarify the narrative that lies behind the legends that have grown up and flourished around an extraordinary man.
He spent 24 years researching and written this book and has also spent decades researching various aspects of Mayo history, historical houses, buildings and churches.
"I want people to read this book and make up their own minds on ‘Fighting Fitzgerald’. All I will say is he was a very unusual and mercurial character.
"Women loved him but watch out men – if you so much as looked at him cross-eyed, trouble was coming your way," he said.
LAUNCH
'Fighting Fitzgerald – The turbulent life and terrible death of a Mayo legend, George Robert Fitzgerald', will launch at the Wild Atlantic Words Literary Festival in Castlebar on Tuesday, October 8, at 7 p.m.
The book is available in all good bookshops and online on mayobooks.ie.