Mabel Browne

Mabel Browne, 11th Countess of Kildare (c.1536- 25 August 1610), was the wife of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, Baron of Offaly (25 February 1525- 16 November 1585).

Family

Mabel was born in Sussex, England around the year 1536, to Sir Anthony Browne KG, Master of the Horse, and his first wife Alice Gage. Her paternal grandparents were Sir Anthony Browne, Standard Bearer of England and Governor of Queenborough Castle, and Lucy Neville. Her maternal grandparents were Sir John Gage and Philippa Guildford. Mabel had five brothers, including Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, and two sisters. [www.Tudorplace.com.ar/Browne1] One of her aunts was Elizabeth Browne, a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn.

In 1540, her mother died. In 1543, when Mabel was about seven years of age, her father married secondly, Elizabeth FitzGerald, an Irish noblewoman, also known as "The Fair Geraldine", after a sonnet written for her by the Earl of Surrey.The Brownes were staunch Roman Catholics. This fact, however, did not deter King Henry VIII from granting Mabel's father, the ownership of Battle Abbey in East Sussex after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Mabel spent her childhood mostly at Battle Abbey and Cowdray Castle, in West Sussex which came into Sir Anthony's possession in 1542.

Her father died 6 May 1548, and his widow married secondly Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln.

Marriage

On 28 May 1554, when she was about 18 years old, Mabel married a brother of her step-mother, Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, known as "The Wizard Earl", whom she had met at the court of King Edward VI. He was given this sobriquet on account of his interest in alchemy. They were married in the Chapel Royal during the reign of Queen Mary I, who held the Browne family in high esteem. In fact, FitzGerald had helped supress the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt in February of that year. Mabel went to live with her husband in Kilkea Castle, Kildare, Ireland. The marriage produced five children

List of children

# Elizabeth FitzGerald (died 12 January 1617), married Donnchadh MacConchobhair O'Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond. Had issue.
# Gerald FitzGerald, Baron Offaly (28 December 1559 Maynooth- 1580/1585), married in October 1578, Catherine Knollys, a granddaughter of Mary Boleyn. They had a daughter Lettice who married Robert Digby. These were the ancestors of the celebrated adventuress Jane Digby.
# Henry "Na Tuagh" FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare, (1562- 1597 Drogheda), married Frances Howard. Had issue.
# William FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Kildare (died April 1599)
# Mary FitzGerald, married Christopher Nugent, 3rd Baron Delvin. Had issue.

Death

Mabel died in Ireland on 25 August 1610. She was about 74 years of age.

In fiction

Mabel Browne is a minor character in Anya Seton's historical romance Green Darkness, where her brother Viscount Montagu, his wife Magdalen Dacre, and Cowdray Castle are featured prominently.

References

# [http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/BROWNE1.htm#Mabel%20BROWNE%20(C.%20Kildare) Mabel BROWNE (C. Kildare)]
#http://thePeerage.com