Richard Hobart FitzGibbon, 3rd Earl of Clare (2 October 1793 – 10 January 1864) 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 noble. Born at

Mountshannon House Mountshannon House was a large mansion in Lisnagry, near Castleconnell, County Limerick, built in the mid-18th century. It was the home of John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare. It was burnt down during the Anglo-Irish war in 1920. Today it is m ...

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

, FitzGibbon was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

. He joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, and was present at the Battle of Oporto and

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish ar ...

. At the 1818 UK general election, he stood in Limerick County for the Whigs, winning the seat. He rarely spoke in Parliament, and did not always vote in line with the Whig leadership. In turn, they offered him little support, but he nevertheless held his seat, sometimes describing himself as an independent. He served until 1841, when he stood down. He was appointed Governor of Limerick in 1818, and later served twice as

Lord Lieutenant of Limerick This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Limerick. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 1831. ...

. In the 1820s, FitzGibbon has a child with Diana Woodcock, who was then married to Maurice Crosbie Moore. He obtained a divorce in 1825, by act of the House of Lords, and FitzGibbon and Woodcock immediately married. However, Moore secured custody of FitzGibbon's illegitimate child, despite stating that he was doing so purely out of vindictiveness. The couple had one legitimate child, John Charles Henry FitzGibbon, who was killed in the

Battle of Balaklava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea. The eng ...

in 1854. In 1851, FitzGibbon succeeded his brother as the

Earl of Clare Earl of Clare was a title of British nobility created three times: once each in the peerages of England, Great Britain and Ireland. The title derives from Clare, Suffolk, where a prominent Anglo-Norman family was seated since the Norman Conques ...

. He died in 1864.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGibbon, Richard 1793 births 1864 deaths 19th-century Anglo-Irish people FitzGibbon, Richard British Army officers Lord-Lieutenants_of_Limerick_.html" ;"title="Lord-Lieutenants_of_Limerick.html" ;"title="Lord-Lieutenants of Limerick">Lord-Lieutenants of Limerick ">Lord-Lieutenants_of_Limerick.html" ;"title="Lord-Lieutenants of Limerick">Lord-Lieutenants of Limerick Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Limerick constituencies (1801–1922) People educated at Harrow School People from County Limerick UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 Whig (British political party) MPs for Irish constituencies