Otway Cuffe, 1st Earl of Desart (25 November 1737 – 9 August 1804) was an Anglo-Irish peer and lawyer. Desart was the second son of John Cuffe, 1st Baron Desart by his second wife, Dorothea Gorges. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He was a barrister and became a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in 1756. On 25 November 1767 he succeeded his elder brother, John Cuffe, 2nd Baron Desart, in his title, and assumed his seat 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 ...

.Edmund Lodge
''The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage''
(Saunders and Otley, 1838), p.140. Desart served as

Mayor of Kilkenny The Mayor of Kilkenny ( ga, Cathaoirleach) is an honorific title used by the head of Kilkenny Borough Council. The Council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area which is the city of Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland. The office w ...

between 1771 and 1772 and again between 1779 and 1780. On 6 January 1781 he was created Viscount Desart, of Desart in the County of Kilkenny, 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 ...

. He was further honoured when he was made Earl of Desart and Viscount Castlecuffe, also titles in the Peerage of Ireland, on 4 December 1793. Following the implementation of the

Acts 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 Ir ...

, Desart was elected as one of the original 28 Irish

representative peers In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

, and attended the

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 Westminste ...

until his death four years later. He married Lady Anne Browne, daughter of

Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont (c. 1731 - 28 December 1780) was an Irish landowner, absentee slaveholder and MP. He was the son of John Browne, 1st Earl of Altamont, and Anne Gore. He married Elizabeth Kelly, the only legitimate child and h ...

and Elizabeth Kelly, on 18 August 1785. Together they had three children. He was succeeded by his eldest son, John Otway Cuffe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desart, Otway Cuffe, 1st Earl of 1737 births 1804 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Earls of Desart Members of the Irish House of Lords Irish representative peers Mayors of Kilkenny Members of the Inner Temple