This is a study of both the lordships and colonial infrastructure of Anglo-Norman Co. Kerry. The pattern of lordship is explored from the initial conquest and colonization to the subsequent descent of the various cantredal lordships, most of which in time came into the possession of the Geraldine earls of Desmond from their original owners, the de Clahull, de Clare, de Mareis, de la Rokele and other families. Additionally, the first two centuries of the Desmond Geraldine line are explored, and new evidence adduced concerning the rise of this house and the motivation of its lords in the complex politics of the era. The colonial infrastructure of Kerry is examined and the relationship between the counties local government and its lords on the one hand, and the Dublin administration on the other, is dealt with. The nature of the relationship between colonial Kerry and the quasi-independent MacCarthy lordship in the south is dealt with fully, and an entirely new picture emerges to demolish the `received wisdom¿ in relation to the reality of lordship here. Finally, the situation in north Kerry where a `cameo¿ situation of native lordship and colonial overlordship, similar to that in the south but on a smaller scale, existed involving the FitzMaurice lords and the O Connor Oireacht, is dealt with.