Coolkenno History

How many know of the tragic circumstances regarding the death of our last Earl Fitzwilliam, Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam? On May 13th 1948, Lord Peter died in a tragic plane crash, whilst on his way to the French Riviera. The crash was caused by high altitudes within severe weather conditions, and he perished alongside Kathleen Kick Kennedy. Kathleen, the Marchioness Hartington, was a sister of the future US President John F. Kennedy of Boston and it has been highly speculated that Fitzwilliam and Kathleen Kennedy were lovers at the time of their death. Their plane, at dangerously high altitudes within an electrical storm, failed to be controlled by the crew and resulted in a disintegration of the fuselage within the air. The plane spiralled out of control into the peaks of the French Cevennes Mountains in Saint-Bauzile, killing all on board. Kennedy was buried in her late husband's burial plot in the UK whilst Lord Peter Fitzwilliam was taken back to Yorkshire, leaving his £45 million fortune and Coolattin House to his daughter, Lady Juliet. It was through the death of Peter that the successive titles of the Fitzwilliams ended, apart from some honours that were bestowed on his distant cousin, Eric. It is interesting to note that Kathleen Kennedy's great grandfather, Patrick Kennedy of Dunganstown, Wexford, probably sailed alongside Coolattin emigrants, aboard the Dunbrody; the same emigres who were financially supported by Lord Peter's own great-great grandfather, the Fourth Earl.