Osborn Wyddel

Osborn Wyddel the Irishman (fl. 1280), also known as Osborne Fitzgerald, was the founder of the Fitzgerald House of Corsygedol, Wynne of Ynys maengwyn, Wynne of Maes y neuadd, and other important families in Merionethshire. arriving in Wales around 1237. Tradition, the only authority for his career, asserts that he was a Geraldine, of the Desmond branch of Fitzgerald dynasty, and was attributed, by Sir William Betham, the Ulster King of Arms, as the son of John FitzThomas, 1st Baron Desmond, the first Geraldine lord of Decies and Desmond (d. 1261).

Genealogists have noted with certainty that Osborn's ancestry was to have descended through numerous Irish Fitz families of Norman-Irish descent; starting with magnate Roger de Montgomery a Norman Knight who fought in the Battle of Hastings, himself a descendant of Danish and Swedish royalty. Then it's speculated that Roger's descendant, Walter FitzOther married Gladys ap Conwym the daughter of a Welsh Prince.

The Norman-Irish families continued to establish themselves after the Norman invasion; the 1st Lord of Offaly was established as the ancestor of the Duke's of Leinster in Dublin, Osborn's father has been noted as John FitzThomas, 1st Baron Desmond a man who he fought alongside at the Battle of Callann. John FitzThomas's great-grandmother is noted as being Nest ferch Rhys, daughter Rhys ap Tewdwr the last king of Deheubarth.

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