Sir Hercules Langrishe, 1st Baronet (1729 – 1 February 1811) was an Irish politician.

Life and career

He was the only son of Robert Langrishe of Knocktopher,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

and Anne Whitby, daughter of Jonathan Whitby of Kilcreggan, and educated at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1763. He was a commissioner of barracks 1766–74, supervisor of accounts 1767–75, commissioner of revenue 1774–1801, and commissioner of excise 1780–1801. After the

Act of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Irela ...

he played no further role in politics. He was first elected to represent Knocktopher in the Irish House of Commons in May 1761, and sat until he resigned his seat in March 1800. In 1776 he was also returned for

Callan Callan is a given name and surname of Irish and Scottish origin. It can derive from Ó Cathaláin, meaning ''descendant of Cathalán''. Callan can also be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Allin or Mac Callin. Notable people with the name includ ...

, but was declared not duly elected. He was strongly attached to the "unreformed" Parliament, but also supported Henry Grattan in his move to make it genuinely independent of the British Parliament. He was a strong supporter of relaxation of the Penal Laws against Catholics, and was one of the principal sponsors of the

Catholic Relief Act 1793 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793 (33 Geo. III, c.21) is an Act of the Parliament of Ireland, relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. The Act was introduced by the Chief Secretary for Ireland, ...

. His views are said to have been influenced by his lifelong friendship with

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...

, who wrote an open "Letter to Sir H. Langrishe" in 1792, encouraging his efforts to secure relief for Catholics from the rigours of the Penal Laws. On 19 February 1777 he was created a Baronet, of Knocktopher,

, in the

Baronetage of Ireland Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) James I of E ...

. On 27 February 1792, he was appointed to the

Irish Privy Council 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 ...

. Though he frequently supported the Government in the Commons, he prided himself on his independence of mind. He was noted for his wide culture and personal charm. In Dublin, he was a member of

Daly's Club Daly's Club, with premises known as Daly's Club House, was a gentlemen's club in Dublin, Ireland, a centre of social and political life between its origins in about 1750 and its end in 1823. History Daly's had its origins in a Chocolate House ...

.T. H. S. Escott, ''Club Makers and Club Members'' (1913)
pp. 329–333
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Family

He married Hannah, the daughter and coheiress of Robert Myhill of Killerney, County Kilkenny, and sister of Jane Myhill, who married

Charles Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely Charles Tottenham Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely, Order of St Patrick, KP, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (23 January 1738 – 22 March 1806) was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. Life Born Charles Tottenham, he assumed the additional surname o ...

. He and Hannah had two sons and three daughters. The elder son Robert succeeded as second baronet, and died in 1835, having sat in the Irish parliament as M.P. for Knocktopher from 1796 to 1800. The second son James was archdeacon of Glendalough, dean of Achonry, and rector of Newcastle Lyons, and Killishin,

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

. Langrishe's daughter Elizabeth married the Reverend Christopher Robinson, Rector of Granard, only son of the eminent judge Christopher Robinson and had several children, including Sir Bryan Robinson, who was a judge like his grandfather, and Admiral Hercules Robinson, father of Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead. Hercules Langrishe was the great-great-grandfather of Lt Col

John Du Plessis Langrishe Lt Col John Du Plessis Langrishe FRSE DSO (11 September 1883 – 28 February 1947) was a British physician, soldier and landowner. As a trained physician he was a specialist in public health. Life He was born on 11 September 1883 to Amitia (“Am ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

Arms

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090601105535/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/irelandcommons.htm * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langrishe, Hercules 1729 births 1811 deaths Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies