Lady Adelaide Forbes FitzGerald: The Last Chatelaine of Johnstown Castle
- Bart Forbes
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Jonathan Forbes, Viscount Forbes
Johnstown Castle in County Wexford, Ireland, is a striking Gothic Revival estate surrounded by lush gardens, lakes, and rich history. The current castle was built between 1836–1872, though the site’s first fortification was a Norman tower house from the late 12th century. The last private owner was a Forbes of Granard by birth, a FitzGerald by marriage, and the final chatelaine of Johnstown Castle.
Lady Adelaide Jane Frances Forbes was born in 1860 as the eldest daughter of George Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard, and Jane Frances Grogan-Morgan. Lady Jane was the Wexford heiress whose family seat would eventually pass to Lady Adelaide. (Gaul, Liam. 2014. Johnstown Castle: A History. Cheltenham, England: The History Press Ltd.)
A Marriage That Bound Two Great Houses
At twenty, Adelaide married Lord Maurice FitzGerald, the younger son of the 4th Duke of Leinster. In doing so, she became connected to one of Ireland’s most prominent aristocratic families. She didn’t spend her life swanning off to London or drifting through the social seasons as many women of her background did. Instead, she stayed put. Johnstown Castle was her centre of gravity (Ibid.)
The Lady of Johnstown
At a time when much of the Anglo-Irish gentry were distancing themselves from local affairs or leaving Ireland entirely, Adelaide’s approach was different. She served on the Wexford Board of Guardians, engaging with poverty relief and workhouse administration. She supported children’s welfare, public health, and animal welfare, often through practical, local societies that rarely enter the historical record but form the real fabric of community life (“Johnstown Castle, County Wexford, a Heritage Trust property,” IrishHistoricHouses.com. 2023).
Her compassion wasn’t abstract. Contemporary descriptions present her as someone who responded quietly and without fuss when families in the district needed help, particularly in matters related to health or general welfare.
War and Loss
The First World War expanded her sense of duty further. She organised clothing collections for soldiers, supported Belgian refugee relief, and worked within Wexford’s broader wartime charitable efforts (Ibid.).
Then tragedy struck.
Her only son, Captain Gerald Hugh FitzGerald, serving with the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, was killed in France in September 1914 — one of the earliest Wexford officers to die in the conflict (“How war claimed life of the heir to Johnstown Castle,” The Irish Independent. 5 September 2014).
Of her four children, only one daughter survived to adulthood (Gaul, 2014). Yet even through grief, Adelaide sustained her work for the district.
The Last Chatelaine
As the Irish Free State emerged and the old landlord class declined, many families of her background chose to relocate to England. Adelaide did not.
She remained at Johnstown Castle, maintaining the estate and continuing her involvement in Wexford’s civic and charitable life (Kavanagh, Art; Murphy, Rory. 1944. The Wexford Gentry. Dublin: Irish Family Names Society).
Her death in November 1942 marked the end of private occupation of the house (Gaul, 2014). Her grandson later transferred the estate to the Irish State in lieu of death duties — a process formalised in the Johnstown Castle Agricultural College Act 1945 (Irish Statute Book, 1945).
Today, the castle is home to the Irish Heritage Trust and Teagasc, but the landscape Adelaide knew remains remarkably unchanged.
The Legacy of Lady Adelaide Forbes FitzGerald
Johnstown Castle still carries her family’s imprint: the muzzled bear heads of Forbes appear alongside the griffin of Morgan in the armorial stonework (Gaul, 2014). In the estate’s private cemetery, Adelaide rests beside her family — including her cousin Ronald Forbes, long connected with the running of the estate (Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives. 2020).
Visiting Johnstown Castle
Visitors can tour Johnstown Castle through guided castle tours, self-guided walks of the gardens and lakes, and visits to the Irish Agricultural Museum. The highlights include restored rooms with chandeliers and wood panelling, views over the lakes, and the 86‑metre servants’ tunnel (the longest domestic tunnel in Ireland). Pre-booking is recommended for castle tours, while the gardens and museum can be explored freely. You can book online at johnstowncastle.ie.