Dominic West’s marriage to aristocrat Catherine FitzGerald as he insists they’re together
Dominic West and Catherine FitzGerald’s marriage was thought to be on the rocks after he was snapped kissing and cuddling Lily James but the husband and wife have stated their “marriage is strong”
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Dominic West and wife Catherine FitzGerald’s marriage has been thrust into the limelight after the actor was pictured kissing and cuddling fellow screen star Lily James during a trip to Italy.
After the snaps emerged on Monday, Dominic flew home for crisis talks with Irish aristocrat wife Catherine, and the couple have put on a defiant display and stated they have not split.
With the pair appearing to work through Dominic’s slip-up, here is a look inside their marriage.
Catherine and Dominic met at Trinity College Dublin where they both studied.
Writing in the Irish Independent in 2016, The Affair star shared how prior to meeting Catherine he had heard about her from a pal as she was “causing quite a stir” on campus due to being “beautiful, intelligent and spectacularly disdainful”.
They were introduced by a mutual pal but things didn’t start well as he told that “Catherine thought very little of me”, but he was besotted with her.
However, he managed to woo her, and the pair were together for his last four months at Trinity, during which time they visited her enormous stately home, Glin, on the Shannon.
The duo often stayed at Castle Glin, the ancestral pile of the late Knight of Glin, Desmond Fitzgerald – Catherine’s father.
The actor and royal descendant split after college and Catherine wed Viscount Lambton, the 7th Earl of Durham, in 1995, but the pair divorced in 2002.
During their split Dominic was in a relationship with Polly Astor – who he shares daughter Martha with.
Speaking about the break-up with Polly, West told MailOnline in 2012: “Martha was about three when Polly and I split up, and The Wire was very much a part of it. Women were extremely important to me and I wanted to be selfish for a bit longer. I wanted to play the field, I suppose.”
After Catherine’s divorce and the breakdown of Dominic’s romance with Polly, the exes rekindled their love.
The two of them got engaged in 2007 and married in the grounds of Castle Glin in 2010.
The husband and wife share four kids – Dora, 13, Senan, 10, Francis, nine, and five-year-old Christabel.
Catherine is a landscape gardener, currently working on a project for the grounds of Hillsborough Castle.
This morning Dominic told photographers and reporters, outside his home: “I just want to say our marriage is strong and we are still very much still together.”
He then handed out a note stating the same thing before turning to kiss Catherine and walking off to their home together.
He refused to answer any questions about what had happened in Italy.
They left their home moments later, driving off together to an unknown destination.
Dominic, who starred in Showtime drama The Affair, was seen on what appeared to be a romantic break with Mamma Mia star Lily, 31, who recently split “for good” from Doctor Who star Matt Smith.
Dominic and Lily, who also starred in Downton Abbey, were pictured having an intimate lunch together in Rome.
Dominic was caught on camera stroking Lily’s hair and nuzzling and kissing her neck.
They were also seen messing around on a scooter as he wrapped his arms around Lily and they hopped on the vehicle together.
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