Earl of Desmond wife Margery FitzAnthony. The title Earl of Desmond was first created for Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Baron Desmond in approximately 1329. Over time, according to English sources, the FitzGerald family became highly assimilated to the local Irish culture. The final Earl of Desmond of this creation was Gerald FitzGerald, the 15th (or, by some counts, the 16th) Earl. The FitzGeralds and Fitzmaurices to had resisted the Reformation of King Henry VIII and, after the failure of the first and second Desmond Rebellions, the 15th Earl was defeated and killed by forces loyal to Queen Elizabeth I on 11 November 1583. His
Earl of Clare the late eleventh and twelfth centuries, and the Clares were one of a handful referred to as earls in this period without a county mentioned. For example, Gerald of Wales recounts an incident relating to the Earl of Clare, possibly referring to William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester. Such references led some older historians to assume the Earls of Gloucester and Hertford also carried the title Earls of Clare. The title, for instance, is given in the original "Dictionary of National Biography". The confusion probably stems from misinterpretation of references, such as that of "Earl Gilbert de Clare", in