In 1825, at the age of 24, Clanricarde was created
Marquess of Clanricarde in the
Peerage of Ireland, a revival of the title which had become extinct on his uncle's death in 1797. The following year he was made
Baron Somerhill, of Somerhill in the County of Kent, in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom, which entitled him to a seat in the
House of Lords. In January 1826 the
Earl of Liverpool appointed him as
Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (alongside
Lord Howard de Walden), a post he held until August of the same year. He was sworn of the
Privy Council in December 1830. Between 1838 and 1840, Lord Clanricarde served as
British Ambassador to Russia. In 1846, he was appointed
Postmaster General, with a seat in the cabinet, by
Lord John Russell, an office he retained until the government fell in 1852. He held his last ministerial post when he was briefly
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal under
Lord Palmerston for a few weeks in February 1858. Apart from his political career, he was also
Lord-Lieutenant of County Galway between 1831 and 1874, Colonel of the Galway Militia from 1831 and
Vice-Admiral of Connaught from 1841 until 1847. In 1831, he was made a
Knight of the Order of St Patrick. He served as president of the
Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland from 1844 to 1863. ==Great Hunger==