Earl of Clancarty

Coat of arms of the Earls of Clancarty, with a superimposed escutcheon of the Marquessate of Heusden.
Richard Trench,
2nd Earl of Clancarty

Earl of Clancarty is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland.

It was created for the first time in 1658 in favour of Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty. He had earlier represented County Cork in the Irish House of Commons. Lord Clancarty had already been created a baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in c. 1638, before he succeeded in the viscountcy. The title of Viscount Muskerry had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1628 for his father Charles MacCarty. The first Earl Donough MacCarty was succeeded by his grandson Charles, the second Earl; he was the son of Charles MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry, who was killed during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Charles, Lord Clancarty died as an infant and was succeeded by his uncle Callaghan MacCarty, the third Earl. On his death the titles passed to his son Donough MacCarty, the fourth Earl. He was a supporter of King James II and was attainted in 1691, with his titles forfeited. His son and heir apparent Robert MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry, served as Governor of Newfoundland but was excepted from the Indemnity Act 1747 which pardoned Jacobites.

The title was created for a second time in 1803 in favour of William Trench, 1st Viscount Dunlo. He had previously represented County Galway in the Irish Parliament and had already been created Baron Kilconnel, of Garbally in the County of Galway, in 1797, and Viscount Dunlo, of Dunlo and Ballinasloe in the Counties of Galway and Roscommon, in 1801. These titles were in the Peerage of Ireland. Trench was a descendant of a daughter of the first Viscount Muskerry, hence his choice of title when elevated to an earldom in 1803. Lord Clancarty had nineteen children and was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was a prominent politician and diplomat. Lord Clancarty notably served as President of the Board of Trade and as Ambassador to The Netherlands and sat in the House of Lords as an Irish Representative Peer from 1808 to 1837. In 1815 he was created Baron Trench, of Garbally in the County of Galway, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and in 1823 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Clancarty, of the County of Cork, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. On 8 July 1815 he was entered into the Netherlands Nobility by King William I of the Netherlands and granted by Royal Decree the title Marquess of Heusden (Dutch: Markies van Heusden).[1]

Lord Clancarty's great-grandson, the fifth Earl, is notable for marrying an English music-hall singer Belle Bilton (1867–1906)[2] in July 1889 against the opposition of his father who sold off much of the estate in retaliation.[3][4][5][6] The fifth Earl's eldest son, the sixth Earl, died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his younger brother, the seventh Earl (the fourth son of the first marriage of the fifth Earl). He died childless and was succeeded by his half-brother, the eighth Earl. He was a ufologist. As of 2010 the titles are held by his nephew, who succeeded in 1995. He is the only son of the Hon. Power Edward Ford Le Poer Trench, second son of the fifth Earl from his second marriage. The Earls of Clancarty sat in the House of Lords as Viscount Clancarty until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 and was re-elected as a Cross-Bench Peer on 23 June 2010.[7][8]

Several other members of the Trench family have gained distinction. Eyre Trench, brother of the first Earl, was a Lieutenant-General in the Army. The Most Reverend the Hon. Power Trench, third son of the first Earl, was Archbishop of Tuam. The Hon. William Le Poer Trench, fourth son of the first Earl, was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy. The Venerable the Hon. Charles Le Poer Trench, fifth son of the first Earl, was Archdeacon of Ardagh. His son Henry Luke Trench was a Major-General in the Bengal Staff Corps. The Hon. Sir Robert Le Poer Trench, ninth son of the first Earl, was a Colonel in the Army and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. The Hon. William Le Poer Trench, third son of the third Earl, was a Colonel in the Royal Engineers and briefly represented County Galway in the House of Commons.

The Trench family claims French Huguenot descent,[9] although a Scottish origin is possible. The Barons Ashtown are members of another branch of the family. William Trench, 1st Earl of Clancarty, was the great-grandson of Frederick Trench, whose brother the Very Reverend John Trench was the great-grandfather of Frederick Trench, 1st Baron Ashtown.

Trench Town in Jamaica gets its name from its previous designation as Trench Pen, 400 acres of land once used for livestock by Daniel Power Trench, an Irish immigrant of the 18th century (descendants of the Earls of Clancarty).

The family seat was Garbally Court, near Ballinasloe, County Galway.

Viscounts Muskerry (1628)

Earls of Clancarty, first creation (1658)

Earls of Clancarty, second creation (1803)

There is no heir to the peerages.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hoge Raad van Adel, Wet op Adeldom: 1 Aug 1994, art.1, Royal Decree (K.B. nr. 14 of 1815 to the count Clancarty) By law, the only other non-Netherlander to have been entered into the Netherlands Nobility was another Irishman Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington by Royal Decree nr. 13 of 8 July 1815, being granted by William I of the Netherlands the title prins van Waterloo in reference to his successes as a Field Marshal in ending Napoleon's Hundred Days campaign the previous month on 18 June 1815 near a village in Belgium that shares the name of the title bestowed upon him. Richard Trench, 2nd Earl Clancarty, had replaced the Duke of Wellington as the United Kingdom's representative at the Congress of Vienna during the last few weeks when the latter was forced to leave Vienna to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days campaign. The city of Heusden lies on the River Meuse (Maas) in the Province of North Brabant, which borders modern-day Belgium in the southern Netherlands.
  2. ↑ Portrait of Belle Bilton in 1889, NPG. Retrieved 30 November 2008. She was Isabel Maud Penrice Bilton (1867 – d 31 December 1906)
  3. ↑ "The Earl of Clancarty Dead: Viscount Dunlo, husband of Belle Bilton, now takes the title"New York Times 30 May 1891. Retrieved 30 November 2008. According to the article, her husband then Viscount Dunlo attempted to divorce her for adultery in July 1890, but the couple were reconciled in August 1890.
  4. ↑ "BELLE BILTON DEAD.; Ex-Actress's Husband, Earl of Clancarty, Was Disowned for Wedding Her." New York Times 1 January 1907. The Countess, who had enjoyed the title since 1891, died at Garbaldy Park, Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland. The article notes that the 4th Earl had left all the unentailed property away from his son, but that the entailed property was sufficient for the needs of the new Earl and Countess.
  5. ↑ "Countess of Clancarty" Washington Post 10 January 1905. Retrieved 30 November 2008. This mentions the Countess suffering from cancer, and her popularity among the tenantry and landed gentry. It also contains details of the 4th Earl's will:
    When the will was opened it was found that [the 4th Earl] had left everything he possibly could away from his oldest son and heir, with whom he had been at daggers drawn since the divorce suit. The possession of the entailed estates, however, was sufficient to relieve Lady Dunlo, who had now become Countess of Clancarty, from any further necessity of remaining on the stage. A lawsuit was started by the new earl to upset his father's will, and ultimately a compromise was effected, whereby he recovered much of the nonentailed residuary property of his father. Lord and Lady Clancarty have now four sons, the oldest of them twins, and a girl of eleven years of age. Their eldest boy bears the name of Lord Kilconnel. The countess, I may add, is likewise Marshioness Huesden, in the Netherlands.
  6. ↑ "Death of Countess of Clancarty Washington Post January 2, 1907. Retrieved 30 November 2008. The daughter was Lady Beryl Franziska Kathleen Bianca Le Poer Trench (1893–1947), thrice married (Lundy, Darryl. "Lady Beryl Franziska Kathleen Bianca Le Poer Trench". The Peerage. External link in |publisher= (help)).
  7. ↑ Viscount Clancarty, TheyWorkForYou House of Lords, UK.
  8. ↑ Address by the Viscount Clancarty to the UK House of Lords upon the "great privilege to have been returned to your Lordships' House following the recent Cross-Bench by-election" HL Deb 22 July 2010 c1108.
  9. ↑ Stirnet: Trench01 (subscription required to view without interruption)
  10. ↑ "My daughter is the victim of a flawed system". Daily Telegraph. 17 Dec 2012.

References

External links

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