A 100-YEAR-OLD horse-drawn farmer’s cart carried the last Knight of Glin to his final resting place in Co Limerick yesterday.
Hundreds of people joined the family of the late Desmond John Villiers FitzGerald for a funeral service and celebration of his life at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glin.
The 74-year-old died on September 15th. He was the 29th Knight of Glin and he is survived by his wife, Olda, and daughters Catherine, Nesta and Honor.
His death marks the end of an era for the knights of Glin as, with no son to inherit the 700-year-old title, the unbroken line of knights who lived at Glin Castle has ended.
Among the chief mourners at yesterday’s funeral service was Mr FitzGerald’s son-in-law, actor Dominic West, who helped carry the coffin into the church.
Staff from the castle including gardeners Tom Wall and Bill Noonan also acted as pallbearers along with farmer Patsy Connolly, maintenance worker Leo Healy and publican Tom O’Shaughnessy.
Among the mourners were the Countess of Dunraven and her daughter Lady Ana, the Hon Garech Browne, Desmond and Penny Guinness, Sir Jack Leslie, the Earl and Countess of Rosse, Lord and Lady Waterford and Prof Anne Crookshank of Trinity College Dublin. The President’s aide-de-camp Col Mick McMahon and Capt Ian O’Brien representing the Taoiseach were present, along with Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan.
In his homily, the Venerable Robert Warren, achdeacon of Limerick, Ardfert and Agahdoe, described the knight as an integral part of the local community and his death as the end of an era.
“I know that for many titles can well be anachronistic in our modern-day life, but for those who have been privileged to share in those titles and in those lives, there is a sense of continuity and when a line such as the Knight of Glin comes to an end because of our rules of inheritance, there is of course sadness,” he said.
“This was the second end of a line and an era in west Limerick this year and we also lost the title of Earl of Dunraven earlier this year. These family titles or lines gave a focal point and a centre of unity in their communities and I think we need to acknowledge that and for that give thanks.”
Trinity art history Prof Dr Edward McParland recalled how his late friend’s work, particularly with the Irish Georgian Society, had an influence throughout Ireland. He described the knight as a true patriot and a scholar.
“Everything in his life centred on Glin and on his life here. It was from Glin that radiated out those passionate commitments which embraced the whole of Ireland. For this most cosmopolitan man, Ireland was the centre of the world and Glin was the centre of Ireland,” he told mourners.
Members of the Glin Development Association provided a guard of honour as the Knight of Glin was taken for a private burial in a family plot on the grounds of St Paul’s Church.