Otway Cuffe, 1st Earl of Desart (25 November 1737 – 9 August 1804), 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 ...

peer and lawyer.

Biography

Desart was the second son of John Cuffe, 1st Baron Desart, by his second wife, Dorothea Gorges. He was educated 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 ...

. He was a barrister and became a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1756. On 25 November 1767 he succeeded his elder brother, John Cuffe, 2nd Baron Desart, in his title, and assumed his 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 ...

.Edmund Lodge
''The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage''
(Saunders and Otley, 1838), p. 140. Desart served as

Mayor of Kilkenny The Mayor of Kilkenny () is an honorific title used by the head of Kilkenny Borough Council. The Council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area which is the city of Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland. The office was established in th ...

between 1771 and 1772 and again between 1779 and 1780. On 6 January 1781 he was created Viscount Desart, of Desart in the County of Kilkenny, 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 ...

. He was further honoured when he was made Earl of Desart and Viscount Castlecuffe, also titles in the Peerage of Ireland, on 4 December 1793. Following the implementation of 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 ...

, Desart was elected as one of the original 28 Irish representative peers, and attended 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 ...

until his death four years later. He married Lady Anne Browne, daughter of Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont, and Elizabeth Kelly, on 18 August 1785. Together they had three children. He was succeeded by his eldest son, John Otway Cuffe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desart, Otway Cuffe, 1st Earl of 1737 births 1804 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Earls of Desart Members of the Irish House of Lords Irish representative peers Mayors of Kilkenny Members of the Inner Temple