Fitzgerald, George Robert (c.1746–1786), duellist, was born in Turlough, Co. Mayo, elder son of George Fitzgerald, landowner, and his wife, Lady Mary Fitzgerald, daughter of John, Lord Hervey. His mother's brother was Frederick Augustus Hervey (qv), 4th earl of Bristol. His parents separated when he was a child, and he was raised in London by his mother and grandmother. Educated in Eton, he left abruptly to join the army and was stationed in Co. Galway. He quickly acquired a reputation as a womaniser and duellist, prepared to quarrel over the slightest insult, real or imagined. He left the army and on 4 March 1770 eloped with and married Jane Conolly, daughter of William Conolly of Castletown, Co. Kildare, despite the opposition of her brother, Thomas Conolly (qv). They moved to Paris, where Fitzgerald revelled in a decadent lifestyle. He was obliged to borrow heavily and on one occasion provoked a duel with one of his creditors in an attempt to absolve the debt. The plan backfired, however, and he was forced to flee the field.
Moving to London, he continued to act dishonourably. In July 1773 he was publicly humiliated after an altercation with the Rev. Henry Bate, editor of the Morning Post, who published an account of Fitzgerald's dishonesty in the paper. His reputation in tatters, Fitzgerald attempted to redeem himself in August by challenging Capt. John Scawen. Scawen chose pistols, as was his prerogative, but Fitzgerald refused, and the two men fought over the choice of weapons. The duel finally took place at Lisle (Lille) in northern France and Fitzgerald missed with his pistols; he threw himself to his knees, the seconds intervened, and Scawen withdrew.
In 1776 Fitzgerald returned to Ireland and was financially dependent on his father, who unsuccessfully contested a parliamentary seat in Co. Mayo. During the campaign the younger man provoked uproar when he killed a man in a duel at Ballinrobe. In 1779 he fought Alexander ‘Buck’ English, another notorious duellist. They met with swords on St Stephen's Green, Dublin, and English's superior strength proved decisive: Fitzgerald was wounded several times and would have been killed but for the intervention of the seconds.
Residing in Turlough, he compelled his father to pay him a regular income, and later seized his house and estate, at one point chaining him to his bed. He supported the legislative independence of the Irish parliament and helped form volunteer companies in Mayo. In 1781 his brother, Charles, took legal action against him for the treatment of his father and he was fined £500 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He escaped and fled to Dublin, taking his father as a hostage, but was recaptured and imprisoned, although he was released after a few months for good behaviour. In 1782 he published anonymously a satirical verse, The riddle. His final duel was in 1784 against another notable duellist, ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin (qv), but neither man was injured.
Fitzgerald was arrested in 1786 for his role in the murder of Patrick Randle McDonnell, an attorney. The jail was attacked by friends of the murdered man and Fitzgerald beaten to the point of death, but he survived and was successfully prosecuted by John Fitzgibbon (qv). On 12 June 1786 he was hanged, quartered, and beheaded at Castlebar, Co. Mayo. He was known by the sobriquet ‘Fighting Fitzgerald’, and with over twelve recorded duels ranks as Ireland's leading duellist.
He had one daughter from his first marriage, Mary Anne, who died unmarried on 31 March 1794. He was widowed in 1779 and married secondly (1782) an heiress, Sydney, the only daughter of Matthew Vaughan of Mayo.