CLARE 255 Enrldom of [I.], cr. (with a spec, rem.) 1776; the Viscountcy of Clare (con- trariwise) becoming extinct (on the death of the grantee) in 1788. EARLDOM [I.] I. John FitzGibbon, 2nd, but ist surv. s. of John FiTzG.jof Mount Shannon, CO. Limerick,() by Eleanor, da. I. 1795. °^ John Grove, of Ballyhimock, co. Cork, was k 1748, entered Dublin Univ. (as a Fellow Commoner) 1763, ob- taining nearly all the honours open to him; B.A. 1767, LL.D. /wnoris causa 1779; matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.), 7 June 1769, being then aged 21; was incorporated B.A. 2 Mar. 1770, M.A. 9 May 1770 ; called at King's Inns 1772; M.P.() for Dublin Univ. 1778-83, and for Kilmallock 1783-89. P.C. [I.] 20 Dec. 1783, [U.K.] I Oct. 1790. Having greatly distinguished himself at the Bar, he was in Nov. 1783, made Attorney Gen. [I.], and in June 1789 promoted to be Lord Chancellor [L], an office he held till his death. On 6 July 1789, he was cr. BARON FITZGIBBON OF LOWER CONNELLO, CO. Limerick [I.], on 6 Dec. 1793, cr. VISCOUNT FITZ- GIBBON OF LIMERICK, co. Limerick [I.], on 12 Tune 1795, EARL OF CLARE [I.l, and, finally, 2+ Sep. I799,(^) BARON FITZGIBBON OF SIDBURY,^co. Devon [G.B.]. Vice Chancellor of Dublin Univ., 22 June 1 79 1 till his death. He ;;/. (spec. lie. in Dublin), i July 1786, at St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, Anne, ist da. of Richard Chapel Whaley, of Whaley Abbey, co. Wicklow, by Anne, da. of the Rev. Bernard Ward. He i/. in Ely Place, Dublin, 28, and was ^ur. 31 Jan. 1802, at St. Peter's there, aged 53.('*) Will pr. 1 802. His widow ^. 13 Jan. 1 844, in Belgrave Sq., Midx. Will pr. Feb. 1 844. (^) He was a barrister of some repute in Dublin, and M.P. in the Irish Parlia- ment for Newcastle 1761-68, and for Jamestown 1768-76. C") Sir John Blaquiere writes of him then, "A lawyer of great eminence — generally in opposition, and yet will ask great favours at a most critical time." V.G. (■=) His peerage [G.B.] was given him for his services in forwarding the Union, but Lord Cornwallis privately recommended that he should not be kept waiting till " the day of general remuneration " should arrive. For a list of creations in the Irish Peerage at the time of the Union, see Appendix D to this volume. V.G. {^) His sombre and splendid oration in favour of the Union delivered in the Irish House of Lords in Feb. 1800 can still be read with interest, and a great deal of it is as true now as when the words were uttered. He expresses his desire to advance Ireland from her degraded post of a mercenary province to the proud station of an integral and governing member of the greatest empire in the world. He naturally incurred the bitter hatred of its opposers. Such a one was Sir Jonah Barrington, whose character of him, in his Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation, is a piece of eloquent vitu- peration. He considers, indeed, that the Union " effected his total overthrow," inasmuch as " his importance had expired with the Irish Pari." — " during the twenty momentous and eventful years, the life of Lord Clare is, in fact, the history of Ireland — as in romance, some puissant and doughty chieftain appears prominent in every feat of chivalry — the champion in every strife — the hero of every encounter — and, after a life of toil and battle, falls, surrounded by a host of foes, a victim to his own ambition and temerity."
