Lord Edward FitzGerald | |
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Born | Carton House, County Kildare, Kingdom of Ireland | 15 October 1763
Died | 4 June 1798 Newgate Prison, Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland | (aged 34)
Buried | |
Allegiance | Kingdom of Great Britain United Irishmen |
Service | British Army |
Years of service | 1779–1790 |
Rank | Major |
Battles / wars | Battle of Eutaw Springs |
Spouse(s) | Stéphanie Caroline Anne Syms |
Children |
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Relations |
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Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat and nationalist. He abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the cause of an independent Irish republic. Unable to reconcile with Ireland's Protestant Ascendancy or with the Kingdom's English-appointed administration, he sought inspiration in revolutionary France where, in 1792, he met and befriended Thomas Paine. From 1796 he became a leading proponent within the Society of United Irishmen of a French-assisted insurrection. On the eve of the intended uprising in May 1798, he was fatally wounded in the course of arrest.