Valentine Charles Browne, 5th Earl of Kenmare (1 December 1860 – 14 November 1941), styled Viscount Castlerosse from 1871 to 1905, was an Irish peer who served in the

Senate of Southern Ireland The Senate of Southern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Southern Ireland, established ''de jure'' in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The Act stipulated that there be 64 senators, but only 39 were selected ...

, and was

Lord Lieutenant of Kerry This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Kerry. 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 and ...

Public life

Lord Castlerosse was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

of 4th (

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

) Battalion,

Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot) (abbreviated as ''WFR'') was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment served as the county regiment for Derbyshire, Nottingham ...

. He was appointed

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

to the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

(a position in the Viceregal household) in January 1903, and served as such until his succession as

Earl of Kenmare The title of Earl of Kenmare was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1801. It became extinct upon the death of the 7th Earl in 1952. All of the Earls bore the subsidiary titles of Viscount Castlerosse (1801), Viscount Kenmare (1798), and Baron ...

in 1905. As Earl of Kenmare he was a

peer of the realm A peer of the realm is a member of the highest aristocratic social order outside the ruling dynasty of the kingdom. Notable examples are: * a member of the peerages in the United Kingdom, who is a hereditary peer or a life peer * a member of the ...

and though he was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, he was also a unionist, which was uncommon at the time for Roman Catholics. He sat 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 a member of the

Irish Unionist Alliance The Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA), also known as the Irish Unionist Party, Irish Unionists or simply the Unionists, was a unionist political party founded in Ireland in 1891 from a merger of the Irish Conservative Party and the Irish Loyal and ...

. He also was a member of the

in 1921, but did not attend. Lord Kenmare took an active part in the military. He was

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

in command of the 4th (

) Battalion of the

Royal Munster Fusiliers The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1922. It traced its origins to the East India Company, East India Company's Bengal European Regiment raised in 1652, which later became the 101st Regiment ...

(previously the Kerry Militia) from 1896 to December 1902, when he retired and took over from his father as Honorary Colonel of the regiment. He was also a colonel of the

King's Regiment (Liverpool) The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which we ...

. He married Elizabeth Baring, daughter of

Baron Revelstoke Baron Revelstoke, of Membland in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 30 June 1885 for the businessman Edward Baring, head of the family firm of Barings Bank and a member of the Baring family ...

. His daughter, Lady Dorothy Margaret, married Lord Edward Arthur Grosvenor, youngest son of The 1st Duke of Westminster. He was succeeded by his son,

Valentine Browne, 6th Earl of Kenmare Valentine Edward Charles Browne, 6th Earl of Kenmare (29 May 1891 – 20 September 1943), styled Viscount Castlerosse from 1905 to 1941, was the Earl of Kenmare and the son of Valentine Browne, 5th Earl of Kenmare. Lord Castlerosse, an Anglo-Iris ...

. On his death in 1941 aged 80, he was buried in the family vault in Killarney Cathedral.

References

Book link

* 1860 births 1941 deaths Irish unionists Irish Unionist Party politicians Lord-Lieutenants of Kerry Members of the Senate of Southern Ireland Kenmare, Valentine Browne, 9th Viscount 5 Valentine {{Ireland-earl-stub