Arthur St Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile (died 7 July 1727) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

politician and peer. Doneraile Court - geograph

St Leger was the son of John St. Leger and his first wife Lady Mary Chichester, the daughter of Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall and his first wife Dorcas Hill. He was a descendant of Sir Anthony St Leger. Sir John St Leger, Baron of the

Court of Exchequer (Ireland) The Court of Exchequer (Ireland) or the Irish Exchequer of Pleas, was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was the mirror image of the equivalent court in England. The Court of Exchequer was one of the four royal courts of justic ...

, was his half-brother, the son of his father's second marriage to Aphra Harflete, an heiress from

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. John, who was not highly regarded as a lawyer, was said to have owed his success largely to his brother's support, and the two were close throughout their lives. St Leger represented

Doneraile Doneraile (), historically Dunerayl, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is on the R581 regional road east of the N20 road, which runs from Limerick to Cork. It is about north of Mallow town. It is on the River Awbeg, a branch of the ...

in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

from 1692 to 1693. On 23 June 1703 he was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

as Viscount Doneraile and Baron Kilmayden. In 1715, he was invested as a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. His most noted contribution to public life was during the debate in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...

on the much-debated case of ''Sherlock v Annesley'' in 1719. The Barons of the Court of Exchequer, including Doneraile's brother John, had given effect to a decree of the

British House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in ...

, ignoring a contrary decree of the Irish House. The Irish peers, infuriated by this challenge to their authority, summoned the judges to appear before them and after a short, ill-tempered hearing committed them to prison for three months. The only peers to vote against committing the judges were Doneraile and the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

, Lord Midleton. While the Lord Chancellor was concerned at the political implications of the Lords' conduct, warning rightly that the House was at risk of losing its judicial powers altogether, Doneraile seems to have been moved by simple family loyalty, as he and his brother were close. He married Elizabeth Hayes, the daughter of John Hayes and Mehitabel Ottrington, on 24 June 1690. Elizabeth brought him substantial estates in

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

, which she inherited from her maternal grandfather. Together they had four children. Both of his two surviving sons would, in turn, succeed to his titles. A third son, John, was killed in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

by the future judge Arthur Blennerhassett in 1741. His daughter

Elizabeth Aldworth Elizabeth Aldworth (1693/1695''AQC'' and ''Memoir'' both indicate a birthdate of 1693, while the cathedral plaque indicates 1695.–1773/1775''AQC'' indicates 1773, ''Memoir'' and the cathedral plaque both indicate 1775.), born Elizabeth St Lege ...

achieved fame as "The Lady

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

", and was also the progenitor of the Viscounts Doneraile of the second creation.Edmund Lodge, ''The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage: With Sketches of the Family Histories of the Nobility'' (Saunders and Otley, 1838), 151-2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doneraile, Arthur St Leger, 1st Viscount Year of birth unknown 1727 deaths Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by Queen Anne 17th-century Anglo-Irish people 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish MPs 1692–1693 Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cork constituencies