Earl of Bantry, of Bantry in the County of Cork, was a title in 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 ...

. It was created in 1816 for Richard White, 1st Viscount Bantry, who had helped repelling the French invasion at

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay ( ga, Cuan Baoi / Inbhear na mBárc / Bádh Bheanntraighe) is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 mi ...

in 1797. He had already been created Baron Bantry, of Bantry in the County of Cork, and Viscount Bantry, of Bantry in the County of Cork, in 1800, and was made Viscount Berehaven at the same time he was given the earldom. These titles were also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was the grandson of Richard White, who had made an immense fortune through his work as a lawyer. Lord Bantry was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He sat on the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as an

Irish Representative Peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords after the Kingdom of Ireland was brought into union with the Kingdom of Great Britain. No new members were added to the House after ...

from 1854 to 1868. His younger brother, the third Earl, assumed in 1840 by Royal licence the additional surname of Hedges, which was that of his paternal grandmother. He was an Irish Representative Peer from 1869 to 1884. The titles became extinct on the death of his son, the fourth Earl, in 1891. The family seat was

Bantry House Bantry House is a historic house with gardens in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland. Originally built in the early 18th century, it has been owned and occupied by the White family (formerly Earls of Bantry) since the mid-18th century. Opened to the p ...

, near

Bantry Bantry () is a town in the civil parish of Kilmocomoge in the barony of Bantry on the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies in West Cork at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for to the west. The Beara Peninsula is ...

, in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The house is still in the hands of the White family.

Earls of Bantry (1816)

Richard White, 1st Earl of Bantry Richard White, 1st Earl of Bantry (6 August 1767 – 2 May 1851) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and peer. White was born in a gentry family in Ireland. He was the son and heir of Simon White of Bantry by his wife Frances Jane Hedges, daughter of Ri ...

(1767–1851) *

Richard White, 2nd Earl of Bantry Richard White, 2nd Earl of Bantry DL (16 November 1800 – 16 July 1868), styled The Honourable from birth until 1816 and subsequently Viscount Berehaven until 1851, was an Irish peer and Conservative politician. He was the eldest son of R ...

(1800–1868) * William Henry Hare Hedges-White, 3rd Earl of Bantry (1801–1884) *William Henry Hare Hedges-White, 4th Earl of Bantry (1854–1891)

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bantry Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of Ireland Noble titles created in 1816

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...