FITZGERALD CASTLE BURNS TO GROUND!
Tongues are wagging all around Darby1, everyone talking about last night’s terrible inferno that took down the legendary Fitzgerald Castle mansion2.
The entire castle, a replica of centuries-old ornate Italian design3, was consumed in a hellish blaze. Destroyed were invaluable heirlooms, antiques, and figurines4; original twelfth-century Persian rugs5; and many first-edition books including a rare Shakespeare folio6 said to be worth millions.
Fortunately, owner of the castle, Armistead Fitzgerald, was away at the time deep-sea fishing in the Strait of Magellan. Alas, Mrs. Fitzgerald (Blanche)7 and the five Fitzgerald children — Fergus, Finn, Fiona, Faustus, and Wally8 — were at home. God rest their souls.
Notes:
A town in southwestern Montana in the Bitterroot Mountains.
Built by Hamilton Fitzgerald in 1893 after he moved to Montana with a fortune earned mining in Australia. Generations of family have resided in the castle ever since.
Influenced by Italian Renaissance design, with a mazed garden modeled after the Palace of Versailles, and fountains and fontanelles spread around a lush, delicately manicured lawn.
Notable pieces include several one-of-a-kind Rococco furnishings, Capodimonte porcelain figurines with elaborate scenes, ancient bronze sculptures, and Baroque-era carvings. The prize possession may have been a ceramic handheld mirror, carried over on the Mayflower.
Primarily of Caucasus origin, with intricate floral patterns and natural dyes, woven with thread of silver and gold. Most valuable were the Eagle Kazaks and Bidjar Persian pieces from the Golden Age (purchased at auction).
Book collectors and Shakespeare scholars claim Armistead Fitzgerald (great-grandson of Hamilton) owned a rare and complete Second Folio with original binding, candle wax drips, and Shakespeare engraving on title page. Worth untold millions. Alas, it was reduced to ash in the mansion inferno.
Blanche Fitzgerald (Smith), 31 years old upon her death, married Armistead Fitzgerald at age 26. There is no record of her upbringing or where she was born.
Other than being schooled at home, there is nothing known of the five Fitzgerald children.
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