Viscount Dillon
Encyclopedia
Barony of Costello
Costello was one of the baronies of County Mayo. In the pre-Norman times the area was called Sliabh Lugha and was ruled by the Ó Gadhra dynasty. In the 12th century, Milo de Angelo removed the O'Gadhra seat from in Airtech Mór to Costello...
-Gallen
Barony of Gallen
The Barony of Gallen is one of the nine baronies in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated in the eastern part of the county south of the town of Ballina, bordering County Sligo...
in the County of Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
. It was created in 1622 for Theobald Dillon
Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon
Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon , was an Irish military commander and adventurer, reputedly descended from the Anglo-Norman Henry le Dillon. He held extensive lands in Connaught and Westmeath. He was a loyal supporter of Elizabeth I of England in her Irish wars...
, Lord President of Connaught
Lord President of Connaught
The Lord President of Connaught was a military leader with wide-ranging powers, reaching into the civil sphere, in the English government of Connaught in Ireland, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.*1569-1572 Sir Edward Fitton...
. The Dillons were an Hiberno
Hibernia
Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe , Pytheas of Massilia called the island Ierne . In his book Geographia Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of...
-Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
landlord family from the 13th century in a part of County Westmeath was called 'Dillon's Country'. His great-grandson, the seventh Viscount, was a supporter of the Catholic King James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
and was outlawed after the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
. He founded 'Dillon's Regiment
Dillon Regiment
The Dillon's Regiment was first raised in Ireland in 1688 by Theobald, 7th Viscount Dillon for the Jacobite side in the Williamite War. He was then killed at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691....
' of the Irish Brigade in the French Army, which was supported by the Wild Geese
Flight of the Wild Geese
The Flight of the Wild Geese refers to the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on October 3, 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland...
and achieved success at Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...
in 1745.
However, his son, the eighth Viscount, managed to obtain a reversal of the outlawry in 1694 and later served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon
Lord Lieutenant of Roscommon
This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon.The office was created on 23 August 1831.* Robert King, 1st Viscount Lorton 7 October 1831 – 20 November 1854* Arthur French, 1st Baron de Freyne 18 December 1854 – 29 September 1856...
. His nephew, the tenth Viscount, was given the French
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
title of Count Dillon in 1711 and was also created "Earl of Dillon" by James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
, the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
claimant to the throne. His younger brother, the twelfth Viscount, was a Colonel in the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
, but Dillon's Regiment was disbanded in 1793 due to the turmoils of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
His son, the twelfth Viscount, notably represented Westbury
Westbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Westbury was a parliamentary constituency in Wiltshire from 1449 to 2010. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, and then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801...
in Parliament and conformed to Anglicanism in 1767. His son, the thirteenth Viscount, sat as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Harwich
Harwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Harwich was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until its abolition for the 2010 general election it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
and County Mayo
Mayo (UK Parliament constituency)
Mayo was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.-History :...
. His great-grandson, the nineteenth Viscount, was a Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in the Army. the viscountcy and French earldom are held by the latter's great-grandson, the twenty-second Viscount, who succeeded his father in 1982.
Viscounts Dillon (1622)
- Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount DillonTheobald Dillon, 1st Viscount DillonTheobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon , was an Irish military commander and adventurer, reputedly descended from the Anglo-Norman Henry le Dillon. He held extensive lands in Connaught and Westmeath. He was a loyal supporter of Elizabeth I of England in her Irish wars...
(d. 1634) - Lucas Dillon, 2nd Viscount Dillon (1610–1629)
- Theobald Dillon, 3rd Viscount Dillon (1629–1630)
- Thomas Dillon, 4th Viscount DillonThomas Dillon, 4th Viscount DillonThomas Dillon, 4th Viscount Dillon was an Irish peer.In 1630 converted to become a Protestant when he succeeded his nephew as Viscount Dillon. He subsequently took his seat in Parliament....
(1615–1672) - Thomas Dillon, 5th Viscount Dillon (d. 1674)
- Lucas Dillon, 6th Viscount Dillon (d. 1682)
- Theobald Dillon, 7th Viscount DillonTheobald Dillon, 7th Viscount DillonTheobald Dillon, 7th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallin was a supporter of King James II and was attainted on 11 May 1691 in the Williamite War...
(d. 1691) - Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount DillonHenry Dillon, 8th Viscount DillonHenry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon was Lord Lieutenant of Roscommon.He managed to obtain a reversal of the outlawry against his deceased father, Theobald, the 7th Viscount in 1694, and later served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon....
(d. 1713) - Richard Dillon, 9th Viscount Dillon (1688–1737)
- Charles Dillon, 10th Viscount Dillon (1701–1741)
- Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount DillonHenry Dillon, 11th Viscount DillonHenry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen was an English peer.Henry's father was the Hon. Arthur Dillon , a son of the 7th Viscount, who was Colonel and founder of the Dillon Regiment in 1688...
(1705–1787) - Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount DillonCharles Dillon, 12th Viscount DillonCharles Dillon-Lee, 12th Viscount Dillon, KP, PC was Member of Parliament for the English borough of Westbury ....
(1745–1813) - Henry Augustus Dillon, 13th Viscount DillonHenry Dillon, 13th Viscount DillonHenry Augustus Dillon-Lee, 13th Viscount Dillon was an Irish peer, writer and MP for Harwich and for County Mayo.His daughter Henrietta Maria married Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley.- Biography :...
(1777–1832) - Charles Henry Dillon, 14th Viscount DillonCharles Dillon, 14th Viscount DillonCharles Henry Dillon, 14th Viscount Dillon, was born 20 April 1810 in Dublin and died in 1865. He was descended from Charles II.- Family :He married Lydia Sophia Story, granddaughter of Sir Francis Baring, founder of the London merchant house of Barings...
(1810–1865) - Theobald Dominick Geoffrey Dillon, 15th Viscount Dillon (1811–1879)
- Arthur Edmund Denis Dillon, 16th Viscount Dillon (1812–1892)
- Harold Arthur Dillon, 17th Viscount DillonHarold Dillon, 17th Viscount DillonHarold Arthur Lee-Dillon, 17th Viscount Dillon CH FBA was an English antiquary and a leading authority on the history of arms and armour and medieval costume....
(1844–1932) - Arthur Henry Dillon, 18th Viscount Dillon (1875–1934)
- Eric FitzGerald Dillon, 19th Viscount DillonEric Dillon, 19th Viscount DillonBrigadier Eric FitzGerald Dillon, 19th Viscount Dillon, CMG, DSO was an Irish peer and British Army officer who served in World War I....
(1881–1946) - Michael Eric Dillon, 20th Viscount Dillon (1911–1979)
- Charles Henry Robert Dillon, 21st Viscount Dillon (1945–1982)
- Henry Benedict Charles Dillon, 22nd Viscount Dillon (b. 1973)
The heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
is the present holder's uncle, Richard Arthur Louis Dillon (b. 1948)
The heir presumptive's heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
is his son Thomas Arthur Lee Dillon (b. 1983)
In France
Being of foreign origin, the Dillons needed to be "reconnus nobles en France" as "noblesse d'origine etrangere" and "maintenus nobles". They were "maintenus nobles" in 1759.What's more, they were acknowledged as being of "extraction chevaleresque" (very old nobility), having been noble since 1347, and so allowed to the "Honneurs de la Cour" by the King of France in 1750, 1769, 1770, 1775, 1777, 1785 and 1788.
So they are very near the top of French nobility, since for the title of Duke, titles mean nothing in France.
See also
- Earl of RoscommonEarl of RoscommonEarl of Roscommon was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 5 August 1622 for James Dillon, 1st Baron Dillon. He had already been created Baron Dillon on 24 January 1619, also in the Peerage of Ireland. The fourth Earl was a courtier, poet and critic. The titles became dormant on the...
- Baron ClonbrockBaron ClonbrockBaron Clonbrock, of Clonbrock in the County of Galway, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 3 June 1790 for Robert Dillon, who had earlier represented Lanesborough in the Irish House of Commons. His grandson, the third Baron, sat in the House of Lords as an Irish Representative...
- Peerage of FrancePeerage of FranceThe Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
- Jacobite PeerageJacobite peerageAfter the deposition by the English parliament in February 1689 of King James II and VII from the thrones of England and Ireland , he and his successors continued to create peers and baronets, which they believed was their right...