Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet (c. 1675 – 23 February 1733) 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 ...

Whig politician and baronet, who was

Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland and a member of the Dublin Castle administration under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Kingdom of Ireland. In early times the office was sometimes called ...

from 1717 until his death, and concurrently Speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 1729. He is now chiefly remembered for building Belle Isle Castle.

Early life

Gore was the eldest son of Sir William Gore, 3rd Baronet and his wife Hannah Hamilton, daughter and co-heiress of James Hamilton of

Manorhamilton Manorhamilton () is the second-largest town in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is located on the N16 from Sligo and from Enniskillen. History Before the Plantations of Ireland, the settlement was known, and continues to be known in the ...

and niece of

Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Viscount Boyne Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Viscount Boyne PC (Ire) (1642–1723) was an Irish soldier and politician. In his youth, he fought in his cousin Sir George Hamilton's regiment for the French in the Franco-Dutch War. About 1678 he obtained a commiss ...

. Ralph inherited the estate of Manorhamilton from his mother. In 1693 he entered

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 Unive ...

and may have subsequently trained in law at

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

. In 1703 he inherited his father's baronetcy and estates, which included over 7,000 acres in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, where Gore subsequently settled. His grandfather had acquired Belle Island in

Lough Erne Lough Erne ( , ) is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the second-biggest lake system in Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the fourth biggest in Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River E ...

; Gore then built Belle Isle Castle on the island, which was extended and improved by his son. He was appointed High Sheriff of Leitrim for 1710.

Parliamentary career

Gore was first elected to the Irish House of Commons as a member of parliament for Donegal Borough in 1703. He held the seat until 1713, when he was elected to sit for

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

on the interest of his kinsman, James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn. In 1714, he was made a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland 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 executi ...

having supported the

Hanoverian succession The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

. Gore was a supporter of the powerful speaker, William Conolly and it was with Conolly's backing that Gore became Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland in 1717. In 1727, he was elected to represent

Clogher Clogher (; , ) is a village and civil parish in the border area of south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, 5.8 miles from the border crossing to County Monaghan. It stands on the townlands of Clogher Demesne ...

, a seat he held until his death. When Conolly resigned as speaker in 1729, Gore was elected by the house to replace him. He served as one of the

Lords Justices of Ireland The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch ...

in 1730 and 1732. After becoming ill in January 1733, Gore died the following month and was buried in

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...

Family

He married firstly Elizabeth Colville, daughter of Sir Robert Colville of Newtown House,

Newtownards Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...

; Elizabeth was most likely the child of Colville's third wife Rose Leslie. Gore married secondly, Elizabeth Ashe, daughter of St George Ashe,

Bishop of Clogher The Bishop of Clogher (, ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and ...

and his wife (and distant cousin) Jane St George, daughter of Sir George St George of Dunmore, County Galway and Elizabeth Hannay. By his first wife, he had two daughters, including Rose, who married Anthony Malone, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, but had no issue. By his second wife, he had seven children, including St George Gore-St George, who succeeded to the baronetcy, but died young without issue, Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross, Richard, father of Sir Ralph Gore, 7th baronet, and Elizabeth, who married James Daly and had issue, including the High Court judge St George Daly and the politician Denis Daly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gore, Ralph, 4th Baronet 1670s births 1733 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland High sheriffs of Leitrim Irish MPs 1703–1713 Irish MPs 1713–1714 Irish MPs 1715–1727 Irish MPs 1727–1760 Chancellors of the Exchequer of Ireland Speakers of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Donegal constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Tyrone constituencies