Baron Fermoy is a title 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 ...

. The title was created by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

of 10 September 1856 for Edmond Roche. Previous letters patent had been issued on 14 May 1855 which purported to create this barony for Roche, but these were ruled invalid in 1856. Under 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 Irela ...

, three pre-1801 Irish peerages had to go extinct for each new Irish peerage created. The three extinct peerages cited in 1855 were Viscounts

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

Tyrconnel Tyrconnell (), also spelled Tirconnell, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Donegal, which has sometimes been called ''County Tyrconnell''. At times it also included parts of County Fermanagh, Cou ...

, and the

Earl of Mountrath There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Coote family. The first is Coote of Castle Cuffe, while the second is Coote of Donnybrooke, both in the Baronetage of Ireland. As of 2020, the first creation is still extant. The ho ...

. However, although the earldom went extinct in 1802 with the death of the 7th Earl of Mountrath, the

subsidiary title A subsidiary title is a title of authority or title of honour that is held by a royal or noble person but which is not regularly used to identify that person, due to the concurrent holding of a greater title. United Kingdom An example in the Unit ...

of Baron Castle Coote passed by

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the n ...

and remained extant (until 1827). As a result, the

Committee for Privileges The Committee for Privileges and Conduct was a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom which considered issues relating to the privileges of the House of Lords and its members, as well as having oversight fo ...

of 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 ...

reasoned that while the number of peerages had reduced in 1802, the number of peers had not, thus the 1855 patent was incompatible with the terms of the Act of Union. The 1856 patent substituted

Viscount O'Neill Viscount O'Neill, of Shane's Castle in the County of Antrim, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1795 for John O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill, who had earlier represented Randalstown and County Antrim in the Irish House of Common ...

for Earl of Mountrath and was accepted.

History

The first Baron represented

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

and then

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

in the British

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, taking the

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the day the spurious 1855 patent was issued. He also served as

Lord Lieutenant of County Cork This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of County Cork. 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 183 ...

. His younger son, the third Baron, sat as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Kerry East. He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Baron. He notably represented

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

in Parliament. The title is currently held by his grandson, the sixth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1984. The family seat is Nethercote House, near Nethercote,

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. The first Baron was named after his relative

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"> ...

, and they are descended from the

House of Burke A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

Royal connections

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, was a great-great-granddaughter of the 1st Baron Fermoy through her mother,

Frances Shand Kydd Frances Ruth Shand Kydd (previously Spencer, ''née'' Roche; 20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was the maternal grandmother of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectivel ...

. Shand Kydd was the younger daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy, a friend of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

and the elder of the twin sons of the American heiress

Frances Ellen Work Frances Ellen Work (October 27, 1857January 26, 1947) was an American heiress and socialite. She was a great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and her great-great-grandchildren include the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, a ...

and her first husband, the Hon. James Boothby Burke Roche, who, after their divorce, became the 3rd Baron Fermoy. Diana's maternal grandmother, Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy, was a confidante and lady-in-waiting to

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

, and the founder of the annual

Festival (of classical music) in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England.

Barons Fermoy

* Edmond Burke Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy (1815–1874) * Edward FitzEdmund Burke Roche, 2nd Baron Fermoy (1850–1920) * James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (1851–1920) * (Edmund) Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (1885–1955) * Edmund James Burke Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy (1939–1984) * (Patrick) Maurice Burke Roche, 6th Baron Fermoy (born 1967) The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

is the present holder's brother, the Hon. Edmund Hugh Burke Roche (born 1972).
The heir presumptive's

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is his son, Archie Edmund Roche (born 2007).

Male-line family tree

Line of succession

'' Edmund Burke Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy (1815–1874)'' ** Coronet of a British Baron

'' Edward FitzEdmund Burke Roche, 2nd Baron Fermoy (1850–1920)'' ** Coronet of a British Baron

'' James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (1851–1920)'' *** Coronet of a British Baron

'' (Edmund) Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (1885–1955)'' **** Coronet of a British Baron

'' Edmund James Burke Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy (1939–1984)'' ***** Coronet of a British Baron

(Patrick) Maurice Burke Roche, 6th Baron Fermoy (born 1967) ***** (1) ''Hon.'' Edmund Hugh Burke Roche (born 1972) ****** (2) Archie Edmund Roche (born 2007) ** ''Hon. Alexis Charles Burke Roche (1853–1914)'' *** ''George Denis Burke Roche (1893–1954)'' **** (3) Alexis Martinus Burke Roche (born 1922) ***** (4) Peter Martin Burke Roche (born 1974)

References

Sources

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. *

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fermoy Baronies in the Peerage of Ireland 1856 establishments in Ireland Noble titles created in 1856 Noble titles created for UK MPs