Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore

Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore (April 7, 1740 - February 2, 1802) was an Irish nobleman and politician.

He was High Sheriff of County Tyrone from 1769 and of County Fermanagh from 1779. He was also Member of Parliament for County Tyrone in the Irish House of Commons from 1769 to 1781 and was in that year created Baron Belmore in the Peerage of Ireland. On December 6 1789 he was further created Viscount Belmore and on November 20 1797 was created Earl Belmore.

He was married firstly on October 3 1771 to Lady Margaret Butler (who died in April 1776), eldest daughter of Somerset Butler, 1st Earl of Carrick, and had issue:

*Galbraith Lowry-Corry (b. 1772 d. 1773)
*Somerset Lowry-Corry, 2nd Earl Belmore

He was married secondly on March 2 1780 to Lady Harriet Hobart (who died on July 14 1805), eldest daughter and co-heir of John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire, who was at the time the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and had issue:

*Lady Louisa Mary Anne Julia Harriet Lowry-Corry (b. 1781 d. April 19 1862), who was married to George John Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich, and had issue: (i) Lady Harriet Mary Montagu (May 14 1805 - May 4 1857) and (ii) John William Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich (November 8 1811 - March 3 1884)

Lord Belmore's second marriage was subsequently dissolved by an Act of Parliament in 1793, with Lady Belmore later marrying William Kerr, 6th Marquess of Lothian. He was married thirdly on March 1 1794 to Mary Anne Caldwell, eldest daughter of Sir John Caldwell, Bt., of Castle Caldwell, County Fermanagh, who died on December 13 1841. Lord Belmore died on February 2 1802.

The 1st Earl and Castle Coole

Recent research in the papers of the Lowry-Corry family has shown that the 1st Earl's political ambitions were a significant factor in the building of Castle Coole, which is widely regarded as the most palatial late 18th century house in Ireland, celebrated as the masterpiece of James Wyatt. In his characteristically incisive introduction to the catalogue of the Belmore papers at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Dr Anthony Malcomson writes that: "Castle Coole was built as part and parcel of Belmore's plans for his own and his family's political and social aggrandisement...it was well-situated to mark the nucleus of a north-western political power bloc in the Irish Parliament...That parliament, its autonomy enhanced by the so-called Constitution of 1782 looked as if it would last forever...Castle Coole therefore reflects Belmore's confidence in his own political future and in the future of the political institutions of the day. It was to be the home of a great Irish political family: not merely a place to live in, but a showpiece to proclaim Belmore's position in Irish society and influence in the Irish House of Commons." Fact|date=November 2007

Unfortunately for Lord Belmore that confidence proved to be misplaced. Although he had inherited various family estates totalling some 70,000 acres (280 km²) (with a rent roll of at least £12,000) and had risen through the ranks of the peerage, ultimately the Act of Union 1800 ended his chances of political influence. All that remained of his ambitions was Castle Coole itself, and that was really more a source of satisfaction to posterity than to himself, for he effectively handed over his various properties to his son, Somerset, on his coming-of-age in 1795.

References

* Hugh Montgomery Massingberd and Christopher Simon Sykes, "Great Houses of Ireland." Lawrence King, London 1999.
* Lodge, Edmund, Anne Innes, Eliza Innes, and Maria Innes. "The Peerage of the British Empire As at Present Existing Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility : to Which Is Added a View of the Baronetage of the Three Kingdoms." London: Saunders and Otley, 1832. [http://books.google.com/books?id=grFfysva5rkC&pg=PA48&dq=Armar+Lowry-Corry,+1st+Earl+Belmore&ei=dnc0R8vIIZ6KpwLM1pnJDw googlebooks.com] Accessed November 9, 2007
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p1138.htm thepeerage.com] Accessed November 9, 2007