DESMOND FitzGERALD. The 29th and last Knight of Glin, who has died at the age of 74, was a determined promoter of Irish heritage at home and abroad.
President of the Irish Georgian Society, he was a scholar, author of many books on landscape, gardens, painting, architecture, and the twice-married father of three daughters. As there is no male heir to succeed to the title his death breaks an ancient line of knights living at Glin for the past 700 years.
Desmond John Villiers FitzGerald played an important role in developing an awareness of Ireland’s architectural heritage and Irish decorative arts in the US, where he lectured and raised funds for restoration projects.
Latter day successes include the restored eating parlour at Headfort House, Co Meath, the only significant surviving interior in Ireland by Robert Adam, and the 18th century garden at 63 Merrion Square, Dublin, open to the public by appointment. He came from hospital to launch this project earlier this year.
He was the driving force in the planned restoration of the City Assembly House in South William Street in Dublin. The Irish Georgian Society aims to make this building its headquarters and a centre of promotion for culture and heritage in the heart of the capital. The plan is to begin refurbishment later this year and move in next spring.
The acuity of his eye was as legendary as his generosity with his extensive knowledge. As Christie’s agent in Ireland from the mid-1970s he was responsible for many “finds”. Undoubtedly, the most important of them was An Early View of Dublin by Joseph Tudor, which dates from the 1740s. From a house in Scotland it had been attributed to various Italian masters and valued at about £20,000. After he identified the scene and the artist it was sold at Christie’s for £400,000.
He was passionate about preserving Irish art and furniture for this country. When, in 2009, he was forced through ill-health and the economic climate to close the home at Glin Castle in Co Limerick which he and his wife Olda had transformed into a luxury hotel, he deeply regretted that more politicians did not see such places as an important part of our heritage. He wanted Glin Castle to stand as an example of what a big house in Ireland should be like, full of treasures and hospitality.
He was involved with the Development Association at Glin, a village where there are no ghost housing estates. The last project with which he was involved was the development of tourist walks in the castle grounds.
The 29th knight inherited the title, and the Georgian mansion built in 1795 on the Shannon estuary, aged 12 in 1949. The house lies about a mile to the west of the remaining tower of the old Glin Castle.
In 1949 it was fairly empty and producing no income. He was sent to school in England as an eight year old and later the splendid setting of Stowe School in Buckingham inspired him to study art history and architecture at university in Canada and at Harvard.
After graduation he worked for 11 years as a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London before returning to Ireland.
He loved family history, particularly a story about an earlier knight who, when threatened with the execution of a young son seized by besieging forces, responded: “I’m very virile, my wife is very fertile and there is plenty more where that one came from.”
The Knights of Glin were a branch of the FitzGeralds or Geraldines, Earls of Desmond, who were granted extensive lands in Co Limerick in the early 14th century. The Desmond family was descended from the Norman Maurice FitzGerald, a companion-in-arms to Strongbow.
Desmond FitzGerald was awarded a doctorate of letters by Trinity College, Dublin, served as a governor of the National Gallery of Ireland and was a member of the Royal Irish Academy.
He sat on the boards of the Irish Landmark Trust, the Castletown Foundation and the Irish Heritage Trust. He had a brief early marriage to Loulou de la Falaise, the fashion designer and retailer who was muse for 30 years to designer Yves St Laurent.
He married Olda Willes, who survives him, in 1970. Their three daughters are Catherine, Nesta and Honor.
Catherine married the English actor Dominic West at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glin last year where 300 guests enjoyed a lavish reception.
Desmond FitzGerald, Knight of Glin: born July 13th, 1937; died September 15th, 2011