Earl of Roscommon

For Baron Dillon of the Holy Roman Empire, see Dillon Baronets

Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon.

Earl of Roscommon was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 5 August 1622 for James Dillon, 1st Baron Dillon. He had already been created Baron Dillon on 24 January 1619, also in the Peerage of Ireland. The fourth Earl was a courtier, poet and critic. The titles became dormant on the death of the eleventh Earl in 1816. However, in 1828 the House of Lords decided that the rightful heir to the peerages was Michael Dillon, who became the twelfth Earl. The House of Lords Lords decided against Francis Stephen Dillon, a rival claimant. The titles became extinct on the death of the twelfth Earl on 15 May 1850.

The Viscounts Dillon and Barons Clonbrock were members of other branches of the Dillon family.They were a long-established Anglo-Norman family who were recorded in Ireland from about 1185, and held substantial lands in Meath, Westmeath, Longford and Roscommon. Sir James Dillon ( died 1507 ) great-grandfather of the first Earl was a distinguished judge, as were several of his descendants.

Earls of Roscommon (1622)

• James Dillon, 1st Earl of Roscommon (d. 1642)
• Robert Dillon, 2nd Earl of Roscommon (d. 1642)
• James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon (c. 1605–1649)
• Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon (c. 1630–1685)
• Carey Dillon, 5th Earl of Roscommon (1627–1689)
• Robert Dillon, 6th Earl of Roscommon (d. 1715)
• Robert Dillon, 7th Earl of Roscommon (d. 1721)
• James Dillon, 8th Earl of Roscommon (1702–1746)
• Robert Dillon, 9th Earl of Roscommon (d. 1770)
• John Dillon, 10th Earl of Roscommon (d. 1782)
• Patrick Dillon, 11th Earl of Roscommon (1769–1816)
• Michael James Robert Dillon, 12th Earl of Roscommon (1798–1850)

See also

• Viscount Dillon
• Baron Clonbrock

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• www.thepeerage.com