Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster

In 2010, however, DNA evidence was presented that indicates that Paul FitzGerald is related to the wife of the 5th Duke, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe. As reported in The Scotsman,

The elder son of Gerald, 8th Duke of Leinster, and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Philip Smith, he was educated at Millfield School, Street, Somerset. Upon his father's death in 2004 he succeeded to the dukedom as the 9th Duke.

The present Duke's only son died childless in 1997, thus his brother, Captain Lord John FitzGerald (1952–2015), became heir presumptive to the family titles; educated at Millfield and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he served as a captain in the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and later was a horse trainer by profession.

Lord John married Barbara Zindel, daughter of Andreas and Daniela Zindel, of Lausanne and St. Moritz, Switzerland, at St. Nicholas Church, Chadlington, Oxford, on 11 December 1982; they divorced in 2013 and Lord John died on 3 August 2015. Lord and Lady John FitzGerald had two children:

A controversial claim by the supposed descendants of the 5th Duke (largely debunked by Michael Estorick in 1981) was made in 2006 and rejected in 2007 by the Lord Chancellor, who accepted the claim made by the 9th Duke of Leinster.

Maurice FitzGerald, then styled Earl of Offaly, married Fiona Mary Francesca Hollick on 19 February 1972. The Duke and Duchess have had three children:

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster (born 7 April 1948), styled Earl of Offaly before 1976 and Marquess of Kildare between 1976 and 2004, is an Anglo-Irish nobleman and landscape designer.