Memorial to Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, Stradbally Church

Memorial to John Charles Henry Fitzgerald, Stradbally Church. Click to enlarge.

Memorial to John Charles Henry Fitzgerald, Stradbally Church

There is a memorial to FitzGibbon in the church at Stradbally, near Mountshannon.

"In memory of

John Charles Henry

Viscount Fitzgibbon,

only son of Richard 3rd Earl of Clare

and Lieutenant in the 8th Hussars

who was killed whilst gallantly

leading on his troop

in the glorious and memorable charge

of the Cavalry Light Brigade

at the battle of Balaclava

in the Crimea

on the 25th of October 1854.

Aged 24 years

A dutiful son

charitable, noble-minded, generous and brave.

He was respected and esteemed

by his brother officers,

honoured and loved by his soldiers,

adored by his family & friends,

where his gentle and mild influence

could only be equalled by his coolness and courage in the field.

This tablet is erected by his inconsolable parents

as a token of their affection

and their deep and everlasting sorrow

for his untimely fate.

'As the lot of heaven's favourites

is an early death

The Lord so loved and took him'

'Blessed be the name of the Lord'"

The phrase 'As the lot of heaven's favourites is an early death' is adapted from Lord Byron's poem Child Harold's Lament (Canto IV, 101): "Heaven gives its favourites — early death".

There was a particular personal connection between Byron and the Fitzgibbon family since the future John Fitzgibbon — 2nd Earl of Clare [uncle] was the "subject of a schoolboy crush" by the poet, four years his senior [Byron is said to have visited Mountshannon].


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