PREMIER DUKE IS DEAD

Leinster Leader, March 13, 1976

PREMIER DUKE IS DEAD

Ireland’s premier peer, Edward Fitzgerald, the 83-year-old Duke of Leinster, died in London on Monday. His ancestral home was Kilkea Castle, Castledermot, and he once owned Carton House in Maynooth.
The Duke, whose chequered career brought him through four marriages and as many bankruptcies, was dead on arrival in hospital. Police are investigating the circumstances of his death.
He recently came back into the limelight when he took his seat in the House of Lords last July – 53 years after succeeding to the dukedom. He had been disqualified in 1922 because he was a bankrupt. He was finally discharged in 1964 from his last bankruptcy, but did not qualify for a seat in the Lords until 1970 because he had to wait six years. However, he declined to take his seat then, and only did so last year on being persuaded by close friends.
The family was raised to the peerage of Ireland in 1316 and the title Duke of Leinster was conferred in 1766.
He sold Carton House (which is again up for sale) in 1949 and bought a chateau in Cannes. His son, Gerald (62), the Marquess of Kildare, succeeds him as Duke.

An article from the Leinster Leader, March 13, 1976 on the death of the Duke of Leinster and his colourful life.