John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond

John FitzGerald
Died	4 March 1399 Ardfinnan
Cause of death	drowning
Resting place	Youghal
Title	Earl of Desmond
Tenure	1398-1399
Nationality	Hiberno-Norman
Predecessor	Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald
Successor	Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald
Spouse(s)	Mary Bourke or Joan of Fermoy
Issue	Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald Aveline (or Eleanor)
Parents	Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald Eleanor Butler

Norman Ireland, showing the earldoms of Desmond and Ormond

John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond (died 1398) was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond.^[1][2] He married and had one son, Thomas, who succeeded him as Earl of Desmond.^[1][2]

Alfred Webb states of the 4th Earl of Desmond: "In 1398 he disappeared, and is fabled to live beneath the waters of Lough Gur, near Kilmallock, on whose banks he appears once every seven years."^[3]

Ancestors of John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond

Maurice FitzJohn FitzGerald, son of John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond               Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Baron Desmond                       Joan de Cogan of Carrigaline               Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond                             Margaret de Barry                       Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond                                   Nicholas FitzMaurice, 2nd Baron of Kerry and Lixnaw                       Aveline fitz Nicholas                             Slany O'Brien                       John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond                                         Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick               James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond                       Joan FitzGerald, Countess of Carrick               James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond                             Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford               Eleanor de Bohun                       Joan de Bohun, Countess of Hereford               Eleanor Butler                                   Roger Darcy               John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Knayth, Justiciar of Ireland                       Isabel d'Aton               Elizabeth Darcy                             Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster               Joan de Burgh                       Margaret de Burgh

1. Burke, Bernard, A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire. London: Harrison. 1866. p. 204
2. Cokayne, George Edward, Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Volume III. London: George Bell & Sons. 1890. p. 83
3. Webb, Alfred. A Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: 1878.