Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan

thumb| Maurice FitzGerald (c. 1105 – c. September 1176) was Lord of Maynooth, Naas and Llanstephan. He was a medieval Anglo-Norman baron and a major figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland. Quotes You most valiant men, we came not into this land, neither were we procured hither to be idle, or to live deliciously, but to try fortune, and to seek adventures; we stood sometime upon the top of the wheel, and the game went of our side, now methinks fortune wheels about, let us not be dismayed, for that which is low now, will be up again. O traiterous Donald of Limerick, O treacherous and half-hearted people of Kinsale and Wexford! peace is war, trust is treachery, and truth is falsehood among them: why then do we tarry, why do we linger? is there any hope of relief from our native soil? no, . . . for as our nation at this present is odious and hateful unto the Irishmen, so are we also misled with some disgrace in our country: wherefore insomuch as fortune favoureth the forward and courageous, and discourageth the dastard and faint-hearted, while our wits are fresh, while our bodies are able, while we are all on heart, let us give the onset; though we are not so many, in number as they are, our courage and valour is known to exceed theirs, they are but naked wretches, and unarmed people. Speech to Earl Richard "Strongbow" and his men-at-arms. Reported in Meredith Hanmer, The Chronicle of Ireland. Text: Two Histories of Ireland (Dublin and London, 1633), p. 128, anno 1171 External links Category:1100s births Category:1170s deaths Category:Military leaders from England Category:People from Normandy Category:History of Ireland