fitz Gerald, Maurice (c.1110–1176), second son of Gerald of Windsor, castellan of Pembroke , and his wife Nesta, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, king of Deheubarth, Wales, was one of the early leaders of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland and was ancestor both of the earls of Kildare and of the earls of Desmond. Fitz Gerald was not a young man when he came to Ireland in 1169, having played a prominent role in the defence of the English conquests in Wales from as early as 1136, when he appears as one of the leaders of an English expedition to put down a revolt. He was swayed by the offers made by Diarmait Mac Murchada (qv), king of Leinster, and in 1169 persuaded Rhys ap Gruffydd to release his half-brother Robert fitz Stephen (qv) so that they could go to Ireland.
Fitz Stephen landed in Ireland in May 1169 and fitz Gerald followed shortly after with reinforcements. The brothers were jointly granted the city of Wexford by Mac Murchada, and fitz Gerald took part in Mac Murchada's campaign against Domnall Mac Gilla Pátraic (qv), king of Osraige, in Laois and the subsequent campaign to secure the submission of Dublin in 1169. He was not present when Richard de Clare (Strongbow) (qv), earl of Strigoil, and Raymond fitz William (qv) captured Waterford, but he arrived soon afterwards and accepted Strongbow's leadership, left Waterford with Strongbow and Mac Murchada, and took part in the battle that captured Dublin from the Ostmen. Fitz Gerald was one of the emissaries sent by Strongbow to placate Henry II (qv) after the death of Mac Murchada in May 1171, but he returned in time to be caught in the siege of Dublin by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (qv), king of Connacht; he was one of the leaders of a surprise attack that routed Ua Conchobair's army and lifted the siege. Fitz Gerald lost his grant of Wexford when the king took the city into his own hands, but he was later granted a cantred of land in Uí Fáeláin (Kildare) by the king, and custody of Wicklow castle by Strongbow.
He was assigned to the garrison of Hugh de Lacy (qv) in Dublin by the king, seems to have remained in Ireland during the wars of 1173–4, and took part in the series of marriage alliances that attempted to bind the Anglo-Normans in Ireland together. His eldest son, William, married Strongbow's daughter Aline, while his own daughter, Nesta, married Hervey de Montmorency (qv). There are no records of fitz Gerald's marriages, but he had at least six sons and a daughter; Gerald of Wales (qv) mentions that he brought a wife and children to Ireland. He died in September 1176 and was buried in Wexford.