Our common ancestors - Fitzgerald - Contents

Knight of Kerry papers

In the 19th century, Sir Peter Fitzgerald, 1st Baronet, 19th Knight of Kerry, made a collection of then-recent Knight of Kerry papers.
Mainly letters of his father the 18th Knight of Kerry. and grandfather the 17th Knight of Kerry.
Dates c.1740 to 1853.

There are 18 volumes. Vols 1 to 17 are in [UCC library].
Vol.18 is a collection of letters dated 1796 to 1884, which Sir Peter "abstracted from the general series because of the celebrity of the correspondents". This is in [NLI].
Unfortunately it is believed Sir Peter dumped letters about family and social material, in favour of letters about politics.

Publication

The entire 18 volumes have been published by Sir Adrian FitzGerald, 24th Knight of Kerry in the following:

A Man of his Times - The Papers of Robert Fitzgerald the 17th Knight of Kerry, 2021.
- Letters and papers c.1740 to 1782.
The Papers of Maurice Fitzgerald, 18th Knight of Kerry, 2025.
- Vol I: Disillusioned Unionist.
- Vol II: Rejected Emancipationist.
- Letters and papers c.1783 to 1853.

PRO.NI has transcripts online

[PRO.NI] has transcripts online:

Knight of Kerry papers
Catalogue
Vols 1 to 17 on microfilm. MIC/639 (MIC639/1 to MIC639/9).
Vol.18. Photocopy in T/3075.
The PRO.NI website has an index, and summaries of the letters, and many complete transcripts.
It is impossible to link to the PRO.NI summaries and transcripts.
To see them, go to Search and then:
- PRONI Ref: MIC639* - More
- PRONI Ref: T3075 - More

NLI

[NLI] has:

Vols 1 to 17 on microfilm. POS 9074-9082
POS 9082 has Vol 17 plus index of correspondents.
NLI is meant to have Vol 18 original but can't find ref.

Dates	PRO.NI online text	NLI microfilm images
1783-1799	MIC/639/3	POS 9076
1799-1803	MIC/639/4	POS 9077
1803-1816	MIC/639/5	POS 9078
1816-1828	MIC/639/6	POS 9079
1828-1834	MIC/639/7	POS 9080
1835-1847	MIC/639/8	POS 9081

Denny papers transcripts

Transcripts of Knight of Kerry letters.
Now in the Denny papers.
Letters dated 1744 to 1825.
Transcribed around 1825 by a daughter of the 18th Knight of Kerry. (NOT transcribed by a Denny.)
Almost all of these are in the 18 volumes (and hence published). But it is possible there are a few extra ones in the Denny collection.

Selected letters

Letter of 1 Nov 1787 to Judge Robert Day from his aunt Eliza Fitzgerald. See p.1.
Letter of 11 Mar 1805 from Judge Robert Day to his former ward, Maurice FitzGerald, 18th Knight of Kerry. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3 and p.4.
Letter of 24 Oct 1806 from Col. Arthur Blennerhassett of Crescent, Bath, to 18th Knight. See p.1.
From Judge Robert Day to 18th Knight:
- Letter of 25 May 1807. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3 and p.4.
- Letter of 15 Apr 1811. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3 and p.4 and p.5.
- Letter of 26 Aug 1811. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3. Day refers to Sir Rowland Blennerhassett as "this mushroom Baronet".
- Letter of 25 June 1814. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 27 Jan 1816. See p.1. This is clearly about the Rowan Cashel trial.
- Letter of 25 Feb 1816. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 27 Feb 1816. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 1 June 1816. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3.
- Letter of 11 June 1816. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 17 June 1816. See p.1.
- Letter of 22 Sept 1816. See p.1 and p.2.
From 18th Knight to Judge Robert Day:
- Letter of 20 July 1817. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 18 Aug 1817. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 21 Aug 1817. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 21 Oct 1817. See p.1 and p.2.
From Judge Robert Day to 18th Knight:
- Letter of 9 Jan 1818. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3.
- Letter of 2 Feb 1818. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3.
- Letter of 25 Feb 1818. See p.1.
- Letter of 2 Feb 1824. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3 and p.4. Day discusses his plan to marry his long-term mistress after his wife died in 1823.
- Letter of 15 Feb 1824. See p.1 and p.2.
- Letter of 13 July 1824. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3. He attacks his son-in-law Sir Edward Denny, 3rd Baronet.
- Letter of 9 Apr 1825. See p.1 and p.2 and p.3 and p.4 and p.5.