Baron of Dunsany

The title Baron of Dunsany or, more commonly, Lord Dunsany, is one of the oldest dignities in the Peerage of Ireland, one of just a handful of 13th to 14th century titles still extant. The other surviving ancient baronies include Kerry, now held by the Marquess of Lansdowne, Kingsale and Trimlestown; there were Irish earls before there were any barons as peers in Ireland, although most of them are now extinct or forfeited.

History

The first Baron of Dunsany was Sir Christopher Plunkett, second son of Christopher Plunkett, 1st Baron Killeen. The elder Christopher married Joan Cusack, heiress of Killeen and Dunsany and passed Killeen to his eldest son and Dunsany to the second. The date at which Christopher Plunkett became a peer, and an hereditary member of the Irish Parliament, is uncertain; according to Cokayne's "Complete Peerage", there is no record of a Dunsany as a peer before 1489, and the creation may well have been as late as 1462, the year Sir Christopher died. ["Complete Peerage" "Dunsany" Vol. IV, p.552] On the other hand, Debrett's listed the date of creation of the peerage as 1439 (by writ; the Complete Peerage denies that peerages by writ exist in Ireland), confirmed by Letters Patent in 1461.

The first Lord Dunsany's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson, the eleventh Baron, was a follower of King James II and was outlawed after the Glorious Revolution. He was, however, restored to his estates after the Treaty of Limerick, but neglected the necessary measures needed to have himself recognised as the holder of the peerage, and, as such, was not summoned to Parliament.

His son, the twelfth Baron, conformed to the Church of Ireland, but also did not take the necessary steps to confirm his right to the title and to the seat in the Irish House of Lords it bestowed. His son, the thirteenth Baron, however, did go through the necessary procedures to have his title and claim to a seat in the former Irish upper house admitted, and thus sat in that august body as a peer as of proven right. He was succeeded by his son, the fourteenth Baron, who served as Lord Lieutenant of County Meath, and also sat in the British House of Lords as an Irish Representative Peer from 1836 to 1848. His son, the fifteenth Baron, represented Drogheda in the House of Commons and was an Irish Representative Peer from 1850 to 1852. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the sixteenth Baron. He was an Admiral in the Royal Navy, and also served as an Irish Representative Peer between 1864 and 1889.

His son, the seventeenth Baron, sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire South and was an Irish Representative Peer from 1893 to 1899. His brother, Horace Plunkett was a key figure in the development of Irish agriculture and the Irish co-operative movement.

The seventeenth Baron was succeeded by his son, the eighteenth Baron. He was a well-known poet, playwright and author of short stories and novels, best known now for his short stories in the field of fantasy and his novel "The King of Elfland's Daughter". His younger brother, Reginald Drax's descendants bear not only the Dunsany's surname Plunkett, but also other surnames inherited from their mother, Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Ernle-Erle-Drax, née Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Jessica Burton (1855-1916), giving them a rare quadruple-barrelled surname of Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.

As of 2007, the title is held by the eighteenth Baron's grandson, Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany, who succeeded his father in 1999, and has two sons.

eat

The ancestral seat of this branch of the Plunkett family is Dunsany Castle in County Meath in the Republic of Ireland.

tyle

The title is listed in "Burke's Peerage and Baronetage" and "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" as Baron "of" Dunsany, but in "The Complete Peerage" as Baron Dunsany without the "of". In either case, the holder of the title is called "Lord Dunsany" in all but the most formal contexts.

Barons of Dunsany (1439)

*Christopher Plunkett, 1st Baron of Dunsany (1410-1463)
*Richard Plunkett, 2nd Baron of Dunsany (d. c. 1480)
*John Plunkett, 3rd Baron of Dunsany (d. 1500)
*Edward Plunkett, 4th Baron of Dunsany (d. 1521)
*Robert Plunkett, 5th Baron of Dunsany (d. 1559)
*Christopher Plunkett, 6th Baron of Dunsany (d. 1564)
*Patrick Plunkett, 7th Baron of Dunsany (d. 1601)
*Christopher Plunkett, 8th Baron of Dunsany (d. 1603)
*Patrick Plunkett, 9th Baron of Dunsany (1595-1668)
*Christopher Plunkett, 10th Baron of Dunsany (d. 1690)
*Randall Plunkett, 11th Baron of Dunsany (d. 1735)
*Edward Plunkett, 12th Baron of Dunsany (1713-1781)
*Randall Plunkett, 13th Baron of Dunsany (1739-1821)
*Edward Wadding Plunkett, 14th Baron of Dunsany (1773-1848)
*Randall Edward Plunkett, 15th Baron of Dunsany (1804-1852)
*Edward Plunkett, 16th Baron of Dunsany (1808-1889)
*John William Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany (1853-1899)
*Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (1878-1957)
*Randal Arthur Henry Plunkett, 19th Baron of Dunsany (1906-1999)
*Edward John Carlos Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany (b. 1939)

The heir apparent to the barony of Dunsany is the Honourable Randal Plunkett, the present holder's eldest son, issue of his lordship's second marriage.

ee also

*Earl of Fingall

References and Footnotes

External Sources

*G.E Cokayne: "The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, by G.E.C." New edition, rev. and much enl., edited by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs. London, 1910 et seqq., "Dunsany" Vol. IV, p.552; Vol I, Appendix A.
*Dunsany, 2000: Carty, Mary-Rose and Lynch, Malachy - "The Story of Dunsany Castle", ISBN (978)-0-95173821-4.
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors): "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
* [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page]