Who Do You Think You Are?

One aspect of Notorious that I expected to receive some comment upon and didn't was that the Irish hero, Sir James Devlin, was the holder of a hereditary knighthood. In the English system there are no hereditary knighthoods. Unlike a baronetage a knighthood cannot be passed on and is only held for life. However, there are three Irish hereditary knights, titles that have existed since feudal times. All three were conferred upon the FitzGerald family. These are The Knight of Kerry (the Green Knight), The Knight of Glin (the Black Knight), and The White Knight. To me these sound impossibly romantic – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight probably inspired me in this – even though I know some people think they sound more like something out of Monty Python!

 By a twist of genealogical fate I am related to the FitzGerald knights on my father's side through descent from Princess Nest of Wales and so I thought it would be nice to give Devlin a title that commemorated that fact. The Irish knights have a long and fascinating history and it seemed to me that Devlin, explorer, sailor and adventurer, was worthy of following in their tradition. I'm fascinated by genealogy and often find that real life throws up some amazing stories that are far stranger than fiction.

Do you have any interesting ancestors? Who are you descended from – or who would you like to be related to? I'm offering two copies of Notorious to commenters between now and Monday!

©2011 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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