Raymond Fitzgerald

Raymond (or Redmond) FitzGerald (died 1185/1198), nicknamed Le Gros, was a Cambro-Norman commander during the Norman invasion of Ireland.. He grew up in Wales. He was sent by Strongbow to Ireland in 1170, and landed at Baginbun Head at the Hook Peninsula, near Waterford, where he was besieged in his entrenchments by the combined Irish and Ostmen, whom he repulsed. Although vastly outnumbered in this battle, (his cousin Gerald of Wales gives the numbers at 3000 Irish against Le Gros's forces of about 100 including 10 Knights) he won a resounding victory which he achieved by rounding up a nearby herd of cattle which his men had foraged and driving them headlong into the oncoming enemy ranks. The result was that about 1000 of the combined...