the fitzgerald / fitzmaurice dynasty ( or "clann gearailt") is a cambro-norman and anglo-norman, and later hiberno-norman, aristocratic and royal dynasty. they have been peers of ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the annals of the four masters as being "more irish than the irish themselves" or galls, due to assimilation with the native gaelic aristocratic and popular culture. the dynasty has also been referred to as "the geraldines". they achieved power through the conquest of large swathes of irish territory by the sons and grandsons of gerald of windsor (c. 1075 – 1135). gerald of windsor (gerald fitzwalter ) was a norman castellan in wales, and he is the male progenitor of the fitzmaurice and fitzgerald dynasty ("fitz", from the anglo-norman "fils" indicating "sons of" gerald).