Richard Malone, 1st Baron Sunderlin (c.1738 – 14 April 1816) 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 State rel ...

politician and peer.John Lodge and Mervyn Archdall, ''The Peerage of Ireland: Or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom'', Volume 7 (J. Moore, 1789), 292-293. Sunderlin was the eldest son and heir of

Edmond Malone Edmond Malone (4 October 174125 May 1812) was an Irish barrister, Shakespearean scholar and Literary editor, editor of the works of William Shakespeare. Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his ...

, judge of the

Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is sti ...

, and Catherine Collier, a cousin of the Earl of Catherlough. His uncle was the

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and politician,

Anthony Malone Anthony Malone (5 December 1700 – 8 May 1776) was an Irish lawyer and politician. Life The eldest son of Richard Malone of Baronston (or Baronstown) House, Ballynacarrigy, County Westmeath, who was a barrister like his three eldest sons, and M ...

, from whom Sunderlin inherited extensive estates in the counties of Westmeath, Roscommon, Longford, Cavan, and Dublin. He was educated at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

, from where he graduated in 1755, before studying for an MA at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, which he achieved in 1759. He also attended

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

and became a

, practising in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He served as the Member of Parliament for

Granard Granard () is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland, and has a traceable history going back to 236 CE. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne, at the point where the N55 ...

between 1769 and 1776, and then as the MP for

Banagher Banagher ( or ) is a town in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. The town had a population of 3,000 at the height of its ...

from 1783 to 1785. On 30 June 1785, he was created Baron Sunderlin of Lake Sunderlin in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

, thus entitling him to a 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 the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

. As Sunderlin had no children, a patent was created in 1797, when he was made Baron Sunderlin of Baronston, also in the Peerage of Ireland, with special remainder to his brother, Sir James Prior, ''Life of Edmond Malone, Editor of Shakespeare'' (Smith, Elder & Company, 1860), 240. the noted Shakespearean scholar and editor,

. However, his brother predeceased him, and both titles became extinct upon his death. There followed a protracted dispute over the Malone inheritance, which was blamed on his Uncle Anthony, who though a very eminent lawyer, failed to make sufficiently clear in his will what should happen in such a contingency.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunderlin, Richard Malone, 1st Baron Year of birth uncertain 1816 deaths Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for King's County constituencies