The Peerage of Ireland

The Peerage of Ireland

• The first Parliament of Ireland, called by Ireland's Anglo-Norman rulers in Dublin, is said to have been held in 1264. By 1310 a Parliament representative of the main temporal and spiritual interests had been established. In the 15th century the lay magnates were said to be "eagerly seeking parliamentary peerages and jealous of their precedence". By the end of the 15th century, the number of temporal peers had dwindled to 15, reflecting the difficulty the central government had in trying to establish control over the country. A Parliament of two separate houses was confirmed in 1537. In 1535, it was reported, Henry VIII was planning to make barons in Ireland "for the encrese of the number of temperal lordes of his parlament there".
• Henry VIII conferred peerages on native Irish Chiefs: Con O'Neill, Chief of the O'Neills in Ulster, was created Earl of Tyrone and Baron Dungannon in 1542; Murrough, Chief of Clan O'Brien, was created Earl of Thomond and Baron Inchiquin in 1543.
• The majority of Irish peerages were created in the 18th century and Irish peers, mainly representing Anglo-Irish landed interests, were entitled to sit in the Irish House of Lords in Dublin, but not its equivalent in London. Irish peerages could be given to Englishmen who, it was said, did not merit an English or a Great Britain dignity, and their designations were not necessarilly Irish (for example, Earl of Mexborough, Lord Kensington and Lord Teignmouth).
• The Union with Ireland Act 1800 terminated the Parliament of Ireland and provided that the Irish peers should elect 28 of their number to sit, for life, as their representatives in the House of Lords in London. The total number of Irish peers was to be maintained at 100. Those not elected were allowed to stand, for a constituency in Great Britain, for the House of Commons. All the privileges of the peers of Great Britain were granted to Irish peers, except those elected to the House of Commons - such as Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784-1865).
• Irish peerages continued to be created during the 19th century, the last being the barony conferred on Lord Curzon before he went to India as viceroy in 1898. New representative peers were chosen from time to time to replace those who had died. No Irish peerage has been created since the proclamation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The last Irish representative peer, the 4th Earl of Kilmorey, died in 1961.

Lineages currently on Geni

Dukes of Ireland

• ===Current Dukedoms===
• James Hamilton Duke of Abercorn 1811-1885
• James Fitz Gerald 20th Earl of Kildare,1st Marquess of Kildare,1st Duke of Leinster
• ===Extinct Irish Dukedoms===
• James Butler, 12th Earl of Ormonde, 5th Earl of Ossory,1st Marquess of Ormonde and later 1st Duke of Ormonde
• John Brownlow Duke of Tyrconnel

Earls of Ireland

• ===Current Irish Earldoms===
• John Browne 1st Baron Monteagle later 1st Viscount Westport later 1st Earl of Altamont
• Francis Charles Annesley 2nd Viscount Glerawly later 1st Earl Annesley
• Arthur Gore 1st Viscount Sudley later 1st Earl of Arran
• Thomas Taylour 1st Baron Headfort later 1st Viscount Headfort later 1st Earl of Bective
• Armar Lowry 1st Baron Belmore later 1st Viscount Belmore later 1st Earl Belmore
• ===Extinct and Dormant Irish Earldoms===
• Godard van Reede 1st Earl of Athlone

Marquesses of Ireland

• ===Current Irish Marquessates===
• Henry Conyngham 3rd Baron Conyngham,1st Viscount Conyngham,1st Earl Conyngham and later 1st Marquess Conyngham
• Arthur Chichester 1st-Marquess-of-Donegall
• Wills Hill 2nd Viscount Hillsborough later 1st Earl of Hillsborough later 1st Marquess of Downshire
• Charles Tottenham 1st Baron Loftus ,1st Viscount Loftus,1st Earl of Ely and later 1st Marquess of Ely
• Thomas Taylour 2nd Earl of Bective later 1st Marquess of Headfort
• Robert Stewart 1st Baron Londonderry,1st Viscount Castlereagh, 1st Earl of Londonderry later 1st Marquess of Londonderry
• John Denis Browne 3rd Earl of Altamont later 1st Marquess of Sligo
• George de la Poer Beresford 2nd Earl of Tyrone later 1st Marquess of Waterford
• ===Extinct Irish Marquessates===
• Randal William MacDonnell 6th Earl of Antrim later 1st Marquess of Antrim
• Ulick John de Burgh14th and 2nd Earl of Clanricarde later 1st Marquess of Clanricarde
• James Wandesford Butler 19th Earl of Ormonde later 1st Marquess of Ormond

Viscounts of Ireland

• The Viscount Gormanston (1478)
• The Viscount Mountgarret (1550)
• The Viscount Valentia (1622)
• The Viscount Dillon (1622)
• The Viscount Massereene (1660)
• The Viscount Charlemont (1665)
• The Viscount Downe (1680)
• The Viscount Molesworth (1716)
• The Viscount Chetwynd
• The Viscount Midleton (1717)
• The Viscount Boyne (1717)
• The Viscount Gage (1720)
• The Viscount Galway (1727)
• The Viscount Powerscourt (1744)
• The Viscount Ashbrook (1751)
• The Viscount Southwell (1776)
• The Viscount de Vesci (1776)
• The Viscount Lifford (1781)
• The Viscount Bangor (1781)
• The Viscount Doneraile (1785)
• The Viscount Harberton (1791)
• The Viscount Hawarden (1793)
• The Viscount Monck (January 1801)
• The Viscount Gort (1816)

Barons of Ireland

• The Baron Kingsale (1340?)
• The Baron Dunsany (1439?)
• The Baron Trimlestown (1462)
• The Baron Dunboyne (1541)
• The Baron Louth (1541)
• The Baron Inchiquin (1543)
• The Baron Digby (1620)
• The Baron Carbery (1715)
• The Baron Aylmer (1718)
• The Baron Farnham (1756)
• The Baron Lisle (1758)
• The Baron Newborough (1776)
• The Baron Macdonald (1776)
• The Baron Kensington (1776)
• The Baron Massy (1776)
• The Baron Muskerry (1781)
• The Baron Sheffield (1783), Stanley of Alderley (UK, 1839) and Eddisbury (UK, 1848) (known as the Lord Stanley of Alderley)
• The Baron Auckland (1789)
• The Baron Kilmaine (1789)
• The Baron Waterpark (1792)
• The Baron Graves (1794)
• The Baron Huntingfield (1796)
• The Baron Rossmore (1796)
• The Baron Hotham (1797)
• The Baron Crofton (1797)
• The Baron ffrench (1798)
• The Baron Henley (1799) and Northington (UK,1885) (known as the Lord Henley)
• The Baron Langford (1800)
• The Baron Dufferin and Claneboye (1800)
• The Baron Henniker (1800) and Hartismere (UK,1886) (known as the Lord Henniker)
• The Baron Ventry (1800)
• The Baron Dunalley (1800)
• The Baron Clanmorris (1800)
• The Baron Ashtown (1800)
• The Baron Rendlesham (1806)
• The Baron Castlemaine (1812)
• The Baron Decies (1812)
• The Baron Garvagh (1818)
• The Baron Talbot of Malahide (1831)
• The Baron Carew (1834, and UK 1838)
• The Baron Oranmore and Browne (1836) and Mereworth (UK, 1926) (known as the Lord Oranmore and Browne)
• The Baron Bellew (1847)
• The Baron Fermoy (1856)
• The Baron Rathdonnell (1868)