He was the eldest son of Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald (died 1271) and Rohesia de St.Michel, he is noticed in 1291 in serious dispute with William Vescy, Lord of Kildare, Lord Justice of Ireland, about whom there were many complaints of oppression and neglect of the country's defences.
King Edward II created Fitzgerald Earl of Kildare by Letters Patent dated May 14, 1316,[REF] the year in which he founded the friary at Adare, county Limerick.