FitzWalter Family History & Genealogy

Gerald de Windsor (1070 -1136), also known as Gerald FitzWalter, Constable of Pembroke Castle from 1102, was the nobleman in charge of the Norman forces in Wales in the late 11th century. Notably, he was the progenitor of the FitzGerald and de Barry dynasties of Ireland. These celebrated Hiberno-Norman or Cambro-Norman families, have been Peers of Ireland since the 14th Century at least.
Odo’s grandson, Gerald of Wales, a 12th century scholar, gives the origin of his family's name, de Barry, in his Itinerarium Cambriae (1191): "Not far from Caerdyf is a small island situated near the shore of the Severn, called Barri, from St. Baroc … . From hence a noble family, of the maritime parts of South Wales, who owned this island and the adjoining estates, received the name of de Barri."
Many family members later assisted in the Norman invasion of Ireland. For the family's services, King John of England awarded Philip's son, William de Barry, extensive baronies in the Kingdom of South Munster, specifically the defunct Uí Liatháin kingdom (O'Lethan and Imokilly) with its late seat at Castlelyons.
Probably the first emigrant Gherardini was Otterus, or Othoer, son of Mathias, a son of Cosmus, the great Duke of Florence. They were also of the Ferrara-Modena branch of the House D'Este, the younger branch penetrating to the Teutonic domains of Charlemagne to found the royal families of Brunswick and Hanover in what is now Germany. Some records say that Otho went to Normandy in the caravan of King Canut of England who had passed through Florence on his way home from a pilgrimage to Rome. It is said that he came into England later with Edward the Confessor when he was called back from exile to be King of England. There is an old lyric quote in English records which says "the Earldom which to Otho brave, the Saxon sainted Edward gave". His son, Otho Fitz-Othoer appears in 1058 in the Domesday Book as a baron of England.

This man, Otho, was the ancestor of Gerald de Windsor. Gerald was the ancestor of the Fitzgeralds,,Barrys,Barrymore, Fitzmaurices, Carews, Redmonds and Keatings of Ireland,