Charles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton (22 December 1736 – 14 July 1809), 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 ...

clergyman of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

. He served as

Dean of Kilmore The Dean of Kilmore is based at the Cathedral Church of St Fethlimidh in Kilmore in the Diocese of Kilmore within the united bishopric of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. Prior to the 1841 amalgamation the cathedral was in the bishopric of Kilmore an ...

, as

Bishop of Cloyne The Bishop of Cloyne is an episcopal title that takes its name after the small town of Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is a separate title; but, in the Church of Ireland, it has been united with other bishopri ...

, as

Archbishop of Cashel The Archbishop of Cashel () was an archiepiscopal title which took its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Following the Reformation, there had been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church ...

, and finally as

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

from 1801 until his death.

Early life

Agar was the third son of

Henry Agar Henry Agar (1707–1746) was an Irish politician, and the father of the 1st Viscount Clifden and the 1st Earl of Normanton. Agar was the eldest son of James Agar of Gowran Castle and his second wife Mary Wemyss, daughter of Sir Henry Wemyss ...

Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is in the centre of Gowran, close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course are one kilometre from the centre of ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

and his wife Anne Ellis, daughter of the Most Reverend Welbore Ellis,

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...

. His brothers included

James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden (25 March 1734 – 1 January 1789), was an Peerage of Ireland, Irish peer and politician and held the office of one of the joint Postmasters General of Ireland. Family He was the second son of Henry Agar, a f ...

, and

Welbore Ellis Agar Welbore Ellis Agar FRS (1735 – 30 October 1805) was an Anglo-Irish gentleman, senior officer of HM Revenue and Customs, and art collector, who lived most of his life in Mayfair, Westminster. Life Agar was the middle son of Henry Agar of Gowr ...

, a notable art collector.

Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, PC, FRS (15 December 1713 – 2 February 1802) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons for 53 years from 1741 to 1794 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Mendip. He held a number of po ...

, was his maternal uncle. Agar was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

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 ...

, where he matriculated on 31 May 1755, aged 18. He graduated BA in 1759, promoted by seniority to MA in 1762. On 31 December 1765, he was created a

Doctor of Civil Law Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; ) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees. At Oxford, the degree is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of except ...

Career

Agar is known to have held particularly marked Calvinistic positions. He served as

from 1765 to 1768, and then as

until 1779. In 1776 he married Jane Benson, a daughter of William Benson, of

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. In 1779 he was appointed as

and also joined the

Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal execut ...

. In 1784, while he was in office, the new St. John's Cathedral, Cashel, was completed, and two years later its important Samuel Green organ was built. Godfrey Day, Henry Patton, ''The Cathedrals of the Church of Ireland'' (London, S.P.C.K., 1932), p. 123 In 1794 Agar was raised to 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 ...

as Baron Somerton. In 1801, he was translated to become

and was created Viscount Somerton. In 1806 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Normanton. These titles were all in the Peerage of Ireland. He remained as archbishop of Dublin until his death in 1809, and from the beginning of 1801 onwards sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as one of the twenty-eight original

Irish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords after the Kingdom of Ireland was brought into union with the Kingdom of Great Britain. No new members were added to the House after ...

, following the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 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 Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of G ...

which united Ireland and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Archbishop Normanton died in July 1809, aged 72, and was succeeded in his secular titles by his son

. He is buried in the north transept of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

; his widow Jane, Countess of Normanton, was buried alongside him following her death in 1826. His tomb dates from 1815 and was created by John Bacon.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Normanton, Charles Agar, 1st Earl 1736 births 1809 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Anglican archbishops of Cashel Anglican archbishops of Dublin Anglican bishops of Cloyne Deans of Kilmore Irish representative peers Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Ordained peers Peers of Ireland created by George III People educated at Westminster School, London Christian clergy from County Kilkenny Irish Anglican archbishops Earls of Normanton People from Gowran