The title 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 , before he succeeded his father in the
viscountcy. The title of
Viscount Muskerry had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1628 for his father
Charles MacCarthy. 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 supported
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). Lord Clancarty's great-grandson,
the fifth Earl, is notable for marrying an English music-hall singer Belle Bilton (1867–1906) in July 1889 against the opposition of his father who sold off much of the estate in retaliation. 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. 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 Earl 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. 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, 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. == Earl of Clancarty, first creation ==